The Knowledge Base is a place to record, organize and manage important information for a FootPrints Workspace database. This can include, but is not limited to: solutions to common problems, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, patches, and documents. By using the FootPrints Knowledge Base feature, you can turn the past experiences of individual customers and agents into a database of Solutions for all Workspace members. This can assist Agents in finding quicker resolutions to recurring problems and in empowering customers to find the answers to their questions without submitting a request.
Records in the Knowledge Base are called "Solutions". Solutions can be developed specifically for the Knowledge Base or can be Issues that were resolved and contain a solution to a problem. Users may be required to obtain an "approval" before a Solution that they submitted is accepted into the Knowledge Base. Approvals are described in more detail below.
Solutions can be designated to go into the internal Knowledge Base. The internal Knowledge Base is only available to internal FootPrints users, i.e., it is not accessible by anyone in a customer role. Internal users can also be configured in roles to restrict access to the Knowledge Base.
Solutions can be designated to go into the public Knowledge Base. The public Knowledge Base is accessible by all internal users as well as any customer with permissions.
In addition to the FootPrints Knowledge Base, which comprises Issues that are designated as Solutions, FootPrints can provide links to external Knowledge Bases. Links are pre-configured for the following external Knowledge Bases:
Administrators can add external Knowledge Bases to FootPrints.
By default, Agents in FootPrints can submit Solutions to both the public and internal Knowledge Bases. Using role permissions, Administrators can limit designated users from submitting Solutions to the Knowledge Bases, and/or can require designated users to receive approval before their Solutions are published. This allows the Administrator to have better control over which information is published to Customers and to review Solutions before Customers see them.
When Agents are required to receive approval before publishing Solutions, one or more users must be designated as approvers. These users (usually Administrators) receive email when a Solution is submitted for approval and can approve, edit, or reject the Solution.
Once approvals are configured for at least one user role, the approval process is in place automatically.