How to Use a Support Desk for
Fast Problem Resolution

Benefits of Using the Support Desk

Unlike eMail that has become so unreliable today, a Support Desk uses a ticket system to permanently record issues in a database. Therefore, there is no eMail to get lost and there is a documented history of the issues and their resolutions.

We have taken the time to provide additional assistance on our Support Desk with the addition of articles to help you resolve an issue yourself. This is faster than opening a ticket and waiting for it to be addressed. By following the information provided in these articles, you also learn more about using the Internet to make purchases. Once you know how to order, download and open your files, you will be able to purchase from any website. Reputable businesses follow an established process for order and product delivery. Although we may use different software, the general process is the same.

Functions of the Support Desk

Using the Support Desk is simple, once you know how. The following functions are the main menu of the Support Desk:

• Register - Allows new users to register a new account to use the system
• New Request - You must be a registered user to create a new problem ticket
• Articles - Detailed articles on common problems encountered by Internet users
• Track Request - Allows you to log in and view all your problem tickets
• Popular Articles - The most recently accessed articles
• Latest News - Important news about our websites and clients are listed here. Such as, if a site is down, we will create a news item. Click on a news item to read it.

What to do When You Have a Problem

1. Review the available articles to find your issue.

First, click on "Articles."
Next, find your website category in the right navigation column; if it's not listed, use the General Category - refer to the image, below:

When you find your website category in the right navigation column, click on the link. You will now see a list of all articles for that category, also known as the department.

For faster results, try using the Query, above the listed articles to find all articles that pertain to your issue.

Click on the applicable article to resolve your issue.

2. When you are unable to resolve your problem with the available articles.

While on the article view as shown above, click on "Return Home." This will take you back to the home page.

If you are new to the Support Desk, you must register a new account.  Click on "Register" on the left side of the page and you will see this image:

All the highlighted (yellow) fields are required; the rest is optional:

	Username - Choose a unique name for your account.  This can be your name or anything else you want it to be.  If the username is already in use, you will be asked to choose something else.
	Password - Select a unique code made up of letters, numbers and symbols to be used as a validation to your account.  You want to use a password that is not easily cracked by a hacker.  For example, blue99 is not a good password, but LLyp24$im is a very good password.
	Name - Please use your full name that we will be able to verify on your order.
	E-mail - Please use an eMail address that you use often.  We will be sending you eMails from the Support Desk and we need one that you check often.

Once you have entered all required information, click on "Submit."

Locate the eMail we sent you from support@gailmetcalf.com.  You must confirm your new account before you can log in.  Click on the link highlighted in yellow in the image, below which you will find in your eMail as a hyperlink in blue:

After clicking on the confirmation link, you will be taken to the Support Desk home page.

If you have already have a registered account at the Support Desk, enter your user and password you used to register your account under "Log In" on the top of the right navigation panel and click "Submit," as shown in the image below; if you don't have your password, use the "Lost Password" option and it will be sent to you:

Once you click "Submit" you will see this page:

Click on "Create New Ticket" in the right navigation panel (highlighted in yellow above).

You will now be at the ticket form, shown below:

Fill in the required ticket information:

	Your name is displayed by the system from your account registration
	Your eMail address is displayed by the system from your account registration. A copy of your ticket will be sent to this eMail address.
	Click on the drop-down arrow to view the categories/departments. Select the correct one for your issue, i.e. if your issue is with House Cleaning Pro, then click on that.
	Priority - #3 is highlighted on new issues. The rating is from 1=Urgent to 5=Low An example of an urgent issue is when you cannot access a membership site because the site is not operational. Most issues regarding download, refund, etc. will use #3.
	Subject - This is extremely important for us to identify urgent issues. Please tell us what your issue is about, such as "Can't find the download link" or "Can't open the file"
	Comments - We need more information to resolve your issue. Please provide the information requested in this section to fully explain your problem. For example, if you can't open the file, then tell us why. Is the file on your computer? Did you download the necessary software as specified on the download page? What happens when you try to open the file? Imagine yourself in our position...we have no idea why you are having the problem and we need all the info you can provide to assist us. This will help us get your issue resolved as quickly as possible.
	Once you have provided all the required information, click on "Submit." This will write the information to the support database, send you a ticket confirmation and alert us that a new ticket is waiting. There may be many tickets ahead of you. For this reason, we will resolve your ticket as specified in the article "Ticket Response."

The system will now try to locate an article to help you resolve the issue on your own as shown in the image, below:

If you are sure these articles do not resolve your issue, click on "Submit."

You will now see this image:

You have now completed the ticket process. Now all you have to do is click on "Logout" in the right navigation panel.

You will receive an eMail when a resolution to your ticket has been completed. Or - you will receive an eMail if the support team has a question. Please log back into the Support Desk to update the ticket with your answer to a question.

If you do not receive an eMail within the ticket resolution time frame, please log back into the Support Desk to get status on your ticket. Since eMail is so unreliable, you may miss or you may not even receive the eMail we sent. Always remember that your support ticket is still in our database and can be accessed at any time.

Click your "back" button or use this link to return to the Support Desk.

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