cape IT adopts ideas of customers and community 10.10.2011 KIX4OTRS is in the version 4.0 available c.a.p.e. IT GmbH, a company from Chemnitz, extended the IT service management for the Open Ticket Request System, OTRS. In the latest version 4.0, you will find many ideas and add-ons from already realised customer projects and from the community.

Chemnitz, 10.10.2011 – In spite of many extensive improvements within KIX4OTRS 4.0, user of the software solution developed by capeIT don't have to adjust themselves to the latest release. The ergonomic towards among all GUI has been developed already in cooperation with the Chemnitz University of Technology (TU Chemnitz) since framework 3.x. Now, the layout didn't change the logical sequence of functioning, but only got enhanced. Therefore, you won't miss the established tabbed browsing to get clear splitting of ticket data for the agents working within the system on the customer requests and orders. As a consequence, you retain the essential data like articles, connected items and involved persons. Basically, KIX4OTRS keeps extended surface and at the same time, it entails essential enhancements to the core.

The most important change is separation of basic functions of KIX4OTRS into so called KIXCore and packaging of other additional features into a separate package of KIX4OTRS. It was one of the significant wishes of the community. Such segmentation makes it easier to user and developers to continue the idea of Open Source Solutions through programming own developments. KIX4OTRS has been still published under the free licence of AGLP v3.

Around KIXCore, KIX4OTRS 4.0 includes many functional enhancements that simplify working with tickets to agents from service teams and for end-users. There are additional tabs for ticket summary and ticket core data. Agents can document overview notes related to a ticket and easily change classification data. Furthermore, 16 text fields of classic OTRS weren't enough for users and capeIT adjusted the requested requirement. KIX4OTRS offers unlimited amount of text fields now. The navigation to single tickets (=requests, procedures) within the system has been extended. You can see the structure of queues (=areas, departments), where tickets are gathered, with the tree view known from f.e. mail clients. This is the easiest and best method of their presentation. It allows a concentrated overview of tickets with their details that are needed as information for agents. This was one of the wishes from the projects realised by capeIT.

Moreover, there is a customer information board with details to every single customer or end-user with matched, related tickets and their processing stage. Additionally, end-user can report incidents or requests themselves. They might use so called quick tickets that are ticket templates with already pre-configured formulas like header, content, ticket type or queue attribution. Such procedures are useful for request types that are reported often. The same pre-configured text modules (=templates for filling message content) and ticket templates (=quick tickets) can be available for agents as well. It significantly saves recording time time.

The IT service desk gets noticeably better overview about every procedure (=ticket) within the configuration management module. With every data record, you can see directly related inventory data like information about PC, notebooks, monitors, network connections, plugged printer and installed software as well as contract data. While getting a request from a customer, you can easily select one of listed items related to the chosen customer.

Further workflows can be configured to operate automatically in the backgroud. You can attribute queue, ticket type or status sequences. Moreover, you might connect tickets with additional links that conduct you to related, central documents like user manuals or help texts/FAQ or to involved persons. You might also involve other service agents, customers or external service providers into tickets.

“KIX4OTRS 4.0 has been developed as a collaboration with our customers and the OTRS-Community” says Rico Barth, executive director of the capeIT. “We are very thankful to our customers and the community for the enhancement ideas that they didn't want to keep to ourselves, but that they shared with others in terms of Open Source to all users. Who aims to develop ITIL-conform IT service management based on Open Source can't skirt our enhancement of the standard OTRS anymore.”