You are here: Chapter 8: Using FootPrints > Knowledge Base > Using the Knowledge Base to Resolve an Issue

Using the Knowledge Base to Resolve an Issue

The Knowledge Base can be used by the agent to find a Solution to an Issue while working on that Issue.  This allows the agent to quickly resolve an Issue without losing any work.  If a matching Solution is found, it can be imported directly in the Description of the Issue.

Note

If the Auto-Suggest Solutions feature is enabled, you will be able to view suggested Solutions that exist in the Knowledge Base which match the criteria you enter in the Issue Information on the Issue page, and to browse the Knowledge Base from there as well. This will give you the opportunity to more quickly resolve the Issue. (For details, see "Enabling Auto-suggest Solutions for Issues and Requests" in the Administrator's Guide.

To use this feature:

  1. On the Create Issue or Edit Issue page, select Search Knowledge Base above the Description field.  A pop-up window appears containing the Knowledge Base search options.
  2. Enter the keyword for which to search.  For example, to find Solutions regarding password problems, search for the word "password".
  3. Select one of the FootPrints Knowledge Bases listed in the drop-down.  Other Knowledge Base search features are also available from the Issue page, including FAQ categories and the Advanced Search.   Refer to Knowledge Base Search Options for more information.  To place a link in the Issue back to the originating Solution, click the checkbox.
  4. Click GO.  A list of matching Solutions is displayed.
  5. Mouse-over the Titles to view the details of each Solution.
  6. Click the Title of the desired Solution. If none match the current Issue, click the Search button to perform another search.
  7. The Solution is displayed in the Description field. It can be edited if necessary.  Editing the Description does not affect the originating Solution.
  8. If an external Knowledge Base was searched, the results are displayed in a separate window. These results are not automatically pasted into the Description field when selected; you must copy and paste the Solution manually.
  9. Make any other needed changes to the Issue and click GO.  The Issue is updated with the selected Solution and email notification is sent to the assignees and customer if that option is chosen.

Note

The names of many of the fields in FootPrints can be changed by the administrator (Title, Priority, Status, Description, etc.), as well as the name of the records (Issue). Custom fields can also be created.  For clarity, this manual always refers to FootPrints records as “Issues,” and uses the default terms for the other field names.