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<chapter id="first-steps">
<title>First steps</title>

<abstract>
<para>
This chapter's goal is to give a quick overview of OTRS and the structure of its web interface. The terms agents, customers and administrators are introduced. We also login as the OTRS admininstrator and take a closer look at the user preferences available for every account.
</para>
</abstract>

<section id="agent-interface">
<title>Agent web interface</title>

<para>
The agent web interface allows agents to answer customer requests, create new tickets for customers or other agents, write tickets about telephone calls with customers, write FAQ entries, edit customer data, etc.
</para>

<para>
Supposing your OTRS host is reachable via the URL
<ulink url="http://www.example.com/">
<citetitle>http://www.example.com</citetitle>
</ulink>
, then the OTRS login screen can be reached by using the address
<ulink url="http://www.example.com/otrs/index.pl">
<citetitle>http://www.example.com/otrs/index.pl</citetitle>
</ulink>
in a web browser (see Figure below).
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>index.pl - Agent login screen</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="index.pl - screenshot" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/login.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Login screen of the agent interface.</emphasis>
</para>

</section>

<section id="customer-interface">
<title>Customer web interface</title>

<para>
Customers have a separate web interface in OTRS, through which they can create new accounts, change their account settings, create and edit tickets, get an overview on tickets that they created, etc.
</para>

<para>
Continuing with the above example, the customer login screen can be reached by using the URL
<ulink url="http://www.example.com/otrs/customer.pl">
<citetitle>http://www.example.com/otrs/customer.pl</citetitle>
</ulink>
with a web browser (see Figure below).
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>customer.pl - Customer login screen</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="customer.pl - screenshot" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/customer-login.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Login screen of the customer interface.</emphasis>
</para>

</section>

<section id="public-interface">
<title>Public web interface</title>

<para>
In addition to the web interfaces for agents and customers, OTRS also has a public web interface that is available through the FAQ-Module. This module needs to be installed separately. It provides public access to the FAQ system, and lets visitors search through FAQ entries without any special authorization.
</para>

<para>
In our example, the public web interface can be reached via either of the URLs below:
<ulink url="http://www.example.com/otrs/faq.pl">
<citetitle>http://www.example.com/otrs/faq.pl</citetitle>
</ulink>
,
<ulink url="http://www.example.com/otrs/public.pl">
<citetitle>http://www.example.com/otrs/public.pl</citetitle>
</ulink>
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>public.pl - Public web interface</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="public.pl - screenshot" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/public-interface.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Public web interface.</emphasis>
</para>

</section>

<section id="first-login">
<title>First login</title>

<para>
Access the login screen as described in the section <link linkend="agent-interface">Agent web interface
</link>. Enter a user name and a password. Since the system has just been freshly installed and no users have yet been created, login as OTRS administrator first, using 'root@localhost' for username and 'root' for password.
</para>

<warning>
<para>
This account data is valid on every newly installed OTRS system. You should change the password for the OTRS administrator as soon as possible! This can be done via the <link linkend="user-preferences">preferences</link> screen for the OTRS administrator account.
</para>
</warning>

<para>
If you don't want to login as OTRS administrator, just enter the user name and password for your normal agent account.
</para>

<para>
In case you have forgotten your password, you can request the system for a new password. Simply press the link below the Login button, enter the mail address that is registered for your OTRS account into the input field, and press the Submit button (see Figure).
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>login.pl - Request new password</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="login.pl - screenshot" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/request-new-password.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Request new password.</emphasis>
</para>

</section>

<section id="gui-overview">
<title>The web interface - an overview</title>

<para>
On successfully logging into the system, you are presented with the Dashboard page (see Figure below). The Dashboard is completely customizable. It shows your locked tickets, allows direct access through menus to the queue, status and escalation views, and also holds options for creation of new phone and e-mail tickets. It also presents a quick summary of the tickets which are pending, escalated, new and open.
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screen after first successfull login</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="First screen - screenshot" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/first-screen.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Dashboard of the agent interface.</emphasis>
</para>

<para>
To improve clarity, the general web interface is separated into different areas. The top row of each page shows some general information such the current username, the logout button, icons listing the number of locked tickets with direct access to them, links to create a new phone/e-mail ticket, etc. There are also icons to go to the queue, status and escalation views.
</para>

<para>
Below the icons row is the navigation bar. It shows a menu that enables you to navigate to different areas or modules of the system, lettng you execute some global actions. Clicking on the Dashboard button takes you to the dashboard which is the default start page after login. If you click on the Tickets button, you will get a submenu with options to change the ticket's view, create a new ticket (phone/e-mail) or search for a specific ticket. The Statistics button presents a menu that allows choosing from an overview of the registered statistics, creating a new one or importing an existing one. The Customers button leads you to the Customer Managment screen. By clicking the Admin button, you can access all the administrator modules, allowing you to create new agents, queues, etc. There is also a Search button to make ticket searches.
</para>

<para>
If any associated applications are also installed, e.g. the File Manager or the Web Mailer, buttons to reach these applications are also displayed.
</para>

<para>
The red bar below the navigation bar shows different system messages. If you are logged in as OTRS administrator, you get a message warning you not to work using this system account.
</para>

<para>
Below the title of the section you are currently in, there are several subsections each in a separate box. These boxes can be relocated within the same column by clicking on and dragging the box header, and dropping them elsewhere.
</para>

<para>
In the left column, you can see information on some tickets clasified as - reminder, escalated, new and open. In each of the categories, you are also able to see all tickets you are allowed to access, how many tickets you have locked and how many are located in "My Queues". "My Queues" are queues that you identify in your user configuration <link linkend="user-preferences">account preferences</link> as those you have a special interest in tracking.
</para>

<para>
In the right column is the Settings button. Click on it to expand the section and see the various settings, as shown in Figure. You can then check or uncheck the individual settings options, and save your changes. This section is fixed, so you can not drag and drop it.
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Edit the Dashboard settings</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="Dashboard settings" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/edit-settings.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Dashboard Settings.</emphasis>
</para>

<para>
Below the settings area, you can see a section with a graph of ticket activity over the past 7 days. Further below is a section showing Upcoming Events and OTRS News.
</para>

<para>
Finally at the bottom of the page, the site footer is displayed (see Figure below). It contains links to directly access the OTRS official website, or go to the Top of the page.
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Footer</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="Footer" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/footer.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Footer.</emphasis>
</para>

</section>

<section id="what-is-a-queue">
<title>What is a queue?</title>

<para>
On many mail systems, it is common for all messages to flow into an Inbox file, where they remain stored. New messages are appended at the end of the Inbox file. The mail client program used to read and write mails reads this Inbox file and presents the content to the user.
</para>

<para>
A queue in OTRS is somewhat comparable to an Inbox file, since it too can store many messages. A queue also has features beyond those of an Inbox mail file. As an OTRS agent or user, one needs to remember which queue a ticket is stored in. Agents can open and edit tickets in a queue, and also move tickets from one queue to another. But why would they move tickets?
</para>

<para>
To explain it more practically, remember the example of Max's company described in an <link linkend="basic-tts-example">example of a ticket system</link>. Max installed OTRS in order to allow his team to better manage support for company customers buying video recorders.
</para>

<para>
One queue holding all requests is enough for this situation. However, after some time Max decides to also sell DVD recorders. Now, the customers have questions not only about the video recorder, but also the new product. More and more emails get into the one queue of Max's OTRS and it's hard to have a clear picture of what's happening.
</para>

<para>
Max decides to restructure his support system, and adds two new queues. So now three queues are being used. Fresh new mails arriving at the ticket system are stored into the old queue titled "raw". Of the two new queues, one titled "video recorder" is for video recorder requests, while the other one titled "dvd recorder" is for dvd recorder requests.
</para>

<para>
Max asks Sandra to watch the "raw" queue and sort (dispatch) the mails either into "video recorder" or "dvd recorder" queue, depending on the customer request. John only has access to the "video recorder" queue, while Joe can only answer tickets in the "dvd recorder" queue. Max is able to edit tickets in all queues.
</para>

<para>
OTRS supports access management for users, groups and roles, and it is easy to setup queues that are accessible only to some user accounts. Max could also use another way to get his requests into the different queues, with filter rules. Else, if two different mail addresses are used, Sandra only has to dispatch those emails into the two other
queues, that can't be dispatched automatically.
</para>

<para>
Sorting your incoming messages into different queues helps you to keep the support system structured and tidy. Because your agents are arranged into different groups with different access rights on queues, the system can be optimized even further. Queues can be used to define work flow processes or to create the structure of a company. Max could implement, for example, another queue called "sales", which could contain the sub queues "requests", "offers", "orders", "billing", etc. Such a queue structure could help Max to optimize his order transactions.
</para>

<para>
Improved system structures, such as through the proper design of queues, can lead to significant time and cost savings. Queues can help to optimize the processes in your company.
</para>
</section>

<section id="user-preferences">
<title>User preferences</title>
<para>
OTRS users such as customers, agents and the OTRS administrator can configure their account preferences as per their needs. Agent can access the configuration screen by clicking on their login name at the top right corner of the web interface (see Figure below), and customers must click on the "Preferences" link (see Figure below).
</para>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Account Preference screen for Agents</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="index.pl - screenshot" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/agent-preferences.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Agent's personal preferences.</emphasis>
</para>

<para>
An agent can configure 3 different categories of preferences: user profile, email settings and other settings. The default posibilities are:
</para>

<itemizedlist>
    <title>User Profile</title>
    <listitem>
        <para>Change the current password.</para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>Adjust the interface language.</para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>Switch the frontend skin.</para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>Shift the frontend theme.</para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>Activate and configure the out-of-office time.</para>
    </listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<itemizedlist>
    <title>Email Settings</title>
    <listitem>
        <para>Select events that trigger email notifications to the agent.</para>
    </listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<itemizedlist>
    <title>Other Settings</title>
    <listitem>
        <para>Select the queues you want to monitor in "My Queues".</para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>Set the refresh period for the queue view.</para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>Set the screen to be displayed after a ticket is created.</para>
    </listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Account preferences screen for customers</screeninfo>
<graphic srccredit="customer.pl - screenshot" scale="40" fileref="screenshots/customer-preferences.png"></graphic>
</screenshot>
</para>

<para>
<emphasis>Figure: Customer's personal preferences.</emphasis>
</para>

<para>
A customer can select the web interface language, set the refresh interval for the ticket overview, and choose the maximum amount of shown tickets. It is also possible to set a new password.
</para>
</section>

</chapter>