Welcome to KevPT. It can be used to track problems, questions, or requests from your clients. You can track problems of your clients, of your clients' assets, and any actions you take to solve their problems. KevPT was primarily designed for help desks and technical support operations but can be used in any situation which requires tracking problems and requests from your clients.
KevPT was developed using FileMaker Pro and AppleWorks on Macintosh computers. KevPT is ©1998 by Kevin Hayes
Double-click the KevPT (or KevPT.fp5) icon to open KevPT. If asked, enter the FileMaker Pro password to enter the KevPT system. After opening KevPT, you will see a login screen. Type your username and password in the space provided and click login. You will then be presented with your Home Screen.
The Home screen shows important information that should be viewed
whenever logging on. The home screen shows open problems (problems
that have not been solved) assigned to you and to everyone. This
screen serves to remind you the problems for which your clients are
still waiting for resolution. Navigation buttons are present to go
directly to the problem .
Messages are also displayed that are posted for you and everyone. You
can return to the Home screen at any time by clicking the Home
button.
Note: you can only navigate records found from the last search
performed. To navigate through all records, perform a search without
entering search criteria.
You can leave messages for fellow staff members. You can leave
them to one or all staff members. To leave a message go to the Home
Screen and click the New Message button .
A message screen will appear. Select the recipient for your message
(select All Users to leave a message for everyone). When you have
finished entering your message, click the Enter Message button
.
Once you have read your message you can delete it by clicking the
Delete Message button
.
Only administrators can delete messages belonging left for all users.
You can navigate through records in KevPT using the navigation
buttons
at the bottom of every window. There are buttons for first record,
previous record, next record, and last record. If you click on the
record number, a dialogue will appear allowing you to navigate to a
specific record.
When viewing Details screens that show related records you can
bring up the details of the related record by clicking the Go To
Details button
or
.
For example, a Client Details screen showing problems and assets
belonging to that client shows the Go To details button beside each
problem and asset.
You can search for clients, their assets, their problems, and
their problems' actions. To perform a search by clicking the
appropriate search button ,
entering search criteria, and clicking the perform search button
in the upper right corner. If you do not enter any search criteria,
all records will be found. The search criteria can be enhanced by
using the following symbols in the search fields:
Symbol |
Meaning |
Example |
< |
less than |
< 5 will find a field value less than 5 (4, 3, 2, 1, etc.) |
<= |
less than or equal to |
<= 5 will find a field value less than or equal to 5 (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, etc.) |
> |
greater than |
> 5 will find a field value greater than 5 (6, 7, 8, 9, etc.) |
>= |
greater than or equal to |
>= 5 will find a field value greater than or equal to 5 (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, etc.) |
= |
exact match |
=Jim will find Jim but not Jimbo. Matches individual words only. =Bob MacDonald will find Bob, MacDonald, Bob MacDonald |
... |
range |
3...6 will find 3, 4, 5, or 6. 12/01/2000...12/03/2000 will find 12/01/2000, 12/02/2000, and 12/03/2000 |
! |
duplicates |
will find any record that appears twice in a database. The records must be exactly equal. |
// |
todays date |
will find any field value with todays date |
@ |
@ one character wild card |
B@th will find Both but not Booth |
* |
general wild card |
Jim* will find Jim, Jimmy |
|
literal text |
Bob MacDonald will find Bob MacDonald, but not Bob or MacDonald. |
== |
field content match |
Like but with any type of field |
After searching, if only one record has been found, the details
screen will be displayed for viewing and/or editing. If more than one
record has been found, a list will appear with the search results. To
view the details of a particular record, click the Go To Details
button (
or
).
When contacted by a client, perform a search for the client using
the Client Search button .
If the client is not found, click the New Client button
and enter the client's contact information.
If a clients problem is with an asset, add it using the New Asset
button .
It will automatically be linked to the client or problem currently
displayed. An new asset must be linked to the current client. The
Asset can be removed from the client later if need be. (for example,
if the asset changes ownership).
If you have an existing asset which you wish to link to an
existing client or problem, search for the client or problem. Then
search for the asset you wish to link and click the Link to Asset
button.
or
Similarly, if you wish to remove a link between a client or
problem and an asset (note this will not delete the client, problem,
or asset; just the link between them.) perform the same procedure,
but click the appropriate Remove Link button instead.
or
New problems must be attached to a client. To add a new problem,
first search for the client. If the client that reported the problem
cannot be found in the database, the new client must first be
entered. Once the client has been entered (or found), click the New
Problem button
and enter the new problem information.
An action is a record any work done on a client's problem. This
can be a phone call with instructions, an email message, or whatever
is appropriate in your situation. To add an action, search for the
client's problem and click the New Action button
and enter the action information.
When you have the details record on screen (after searching, for
example) and you have editing privileges, you can edit the data in
the record. To edit a record, simple change the data and click the
Edit button .
Often, staff members may wish to have a colleague help them solve a client's problem. KevPT allows you to assign the Problem to another staff member. You can do this by setting the "Assigned To" field on the Problem details screen to the appropriate staff member and editing the problem. You can assign it to an individual staff member or all staff members by assigning it to "All Users"
Email can be sent to clients from the Problem Details screen.
Click on the Send Email button
beside the client name on the Problem Details screen. Your preferred
email client will be launched with a new message addressed to the
client.
You may delete a record by clicking the Delete button .
After you delete a record, it is recoverable until your administrator
has performed the "Expunge Deleted Records" procedure. Your
administrator must recover the record for you.
Clicking the Reports button
will bring up the Reports screen. You can view reports based on
Problems or Actions. When selecting a report, you will be asked if
you wish to view a report based on all records, or the current found
set of records. The current found set is the records last searched
for. If you wish to print the report choose Print Report from the
Script menu after selecting the report. Reports are only available to
FileMaker Pro clients. They are not available to Web browser clients.
When you are finished using KevPT, click the Logout button
.