HaloPSA

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Documentation to assist with the setup and configuration of the HaloPSA platform

Guides > The Service Catalogue - Advanced Configuration

The Service Catalogue - Advanced Configuration

In this guide we will cover: 

- What are services and when are they used? 

- Creating a new service with a breakdown of each setting

- Change the service image/logo



What are services and when are they used?

Services in Halo are used to organise the services you provide to your end users, rather than tickets being organised by their ticket type they can be organised by the service the ticket relates to. Users will have access to a catalogue of services within the portal, which they can use to request a service (e.g. request a new mobile) or report a service incident (e.g. server down), providing a streamline user-friendly experience. There are two catalogues users will have access to the incident catalogue and the services and products catalogue Services are used over ticket types when the request/incident relates to a specific service you provide. There are additional configuration options around services that allow for greater customisation and organisation of requests. 


Creating a new service (setting breakdown)

To create a new service head to the 'Service Catalogue' module and hit 'New' in the top right. Now you will be able to configure a new service for users request/log incidents against. 


When creating a service it is important to keep in mind whether it is a monitored service or not, that is is it a service you are providing to your users that needs to be monitored in case issues with the service arise. For example if you provide Microsoft 365 software for your users/customers you will want this service to be monitored so you can track the status of the service, and if issues arise you will be alerted and the status of the service will be visible to users in the portal so they know this service is currently experiencing issues. 


Here, we will focus on settings that apply to both monitored and non-monitored services. We will not cover monitored services in this guide, as we have a dedicated guide on setting up monitored services here. 


Details Tab

Fig 1. Details tab under service


Name- This determines what the service is called.

Service Category - Determines what category this services comes under. Services can be organised by category to make them easier to view in lists.


Creating/editing a service category:

 To make a new category change the filter profile in the service catalogue module so you are viewing services by category. Then right-click on a service and select the option 'Create new category'. 

Fig 2. Create/edit service category


When creating/editing a service category the screen shown in figure 3 will appear.

Fig 3. Edit service category screen


If the service category is given a 'Parent Category; this category will be classed as a sub-category of the chosen parent category. Allowing for more hierarchy in the organisation of services. The 'Sequence in lists' setting will determine where this service appears in lists, a lower number indicates this service will be higher in lists. The summary and portal description will be used when users are viewing service categories in the portal, these only appear if 'Service Category must be selected before selecting a Service on the end user portal' is enabled. 


User access can also be set against each service category, determining which users can see services that have this category. The user access to the service will be inherited from the category but can be overridden for each service within this category (see user access section of the guide for more information on this).


Minimum Cost - Here you can enter the minimum expected cost of the service, this will show against the service in the portal so the user knows what the minimum cost of this service is, this may help in deciding whether to complete a request. 

Maximum Cost -  Here you can enter the maximum expected cost of the service, this will show against the service in the portal so the user knows what the maximum cost of this service is, this may help in deciding whether to complete a request. 

By default the pricing information will only appear against the service in the portal once the user has selected this service. To have the pricing display against the service during tile view enable the setting 'Show the pricing on the tile view for Service Catalogue on the self-service portal' in configuration > service catalogue.

Estimated Delivery (days) - Here you can enter the days the user can expect the service to be completed in. This is typically only used for hardware requests, this gives the user an idea of how soon they can expect to receive hardware once a request is submitted. 

Summary - The text entered here will appear below the name of the service in the portal to give users a summary on what the service is for. 

Fig 4. Service summary


Business Owner- Here you can set the business owner for this service. This can be used in conjunction with approval processes, if an approval process is set to use the service business owner as the approver the change advise board selected here will be the approvers.

Technical Owner - Here you can set the technical owner for this service. This can be used in conjunction with approval processes, if an approval process is set to use the service technical owner as the approver the change advise board selected here will be the approvers for the service request, alternatively a fixed agent can be selected in this dropdown. 

Compliance Owner - Here you can set the compliance owner for this service. This can be used in conjunction with approval processes, if an approval process is set to use the service compliance owner as the approver the change advise board selected here will be the approvers for the service request.


Related Workday - The summary of the workday selected here will appear under the service description in the portal (provided you have the preview screen containing the service description set to show). 

Send Email Recipients - This setting will restrict the 'send email to all subscribers' and 'send sms to all subscribers' buttons for this service. If set to 'All subscribed users' all users who are subscribed to this service will receive an email when the 'send email to all subscribers' button is used. When this is set to 'Designated Communication users - Only subscribed users who are marked as communication users will receive an email when the button is used. A user can be marked as a communication user using the setting 'Is a Designated Service Communications User' found under the service catalogue tab of their user profile. 

Criticality - Used to denote how important the service is. This will determine the colour node that will be used for this service on asset diagrams, High = Red, Medium= Yellow, Low=Green. 

Tags - Key words related to the service can be entered here, this helps return this service in search results.

Service Description - Here is a rich text box in which you can enter a description for the service. This will only display if you have the service preview screen set to show for services, this is set under configuration > self service portal > edit the service catalogue button using the 'Preview Screen When Logging' setting. If using the AI virtual agent to search for services the service description will also be returned.

Fig 5. Setting to show/hide preview screen for services


When the service preview screen is set to show an additional screen will appear when a user selects a service in the portal, showing the service description. From here they can select an additional button to log the service request. 


To skip the preview screen for services that do not have a description enable the setting 'Automatically proceed to the new Ticket screen on the self-service portal if logging a Service with no description' in configuration > service catalogue, this is useful when only some of your services use a description. 


Configuration Tab

The settings here determine how the service functions. 


Is a Monitored Service (Track Service Status) - When enabled the service is marked as a monitored service and additional configuration options become available. For information on how to set up monitored services see our guide here.

Show in Service Catalogue for End-Users - Determines whether end users can see and log this service in the portal. This should only be disabled for services that will only be used/logged by agents (agents can log service incidents/request through the services module using the 'log and Incident/Request' buttons against the service).

Fig 6. Buttons to log service request/incident in the agent app


Users can subscribe to this Service - When enabled this allows users to be added as subscribers of the service automatically (typically used for monitored services). When disabled, users can only be subscribed to a service via the agent application under the 'subscribers' tab of the service. For more information on how to use this setting and automatic subscriptions see the 'automatic subscribing' section of our article here.


Allow Subscribers to log Incidents - When enabled subscribed users will have an additional option when selecting this service to log an incident ticket. When used an incident ticket will be raised that is linked to this service. This is typically used for monitored services when using ticket driven service statuses as it allows users to log service incidents and have the service status updated accordingly automatically. 

Note: When this is enabled the service preview screen will show when users use this service.


Only show in incident catalogue- When enabled this service will only show in the 'Incident Catalogue' and will not appear in the 'Service Catalogue' catalogue. Services can be filtered by the catalogue they appear under in the agent app using the toggle highlighted in figure 5. 

Fig 7. Catalogue filter


The incident catalogue contains services that can have incidents logged against them. In order for users to be able to access the incident catalogue the 'Log an incident' button will need to be added to the portal. To do this head to configuration > self service portal and ensure you have both the 'Service Catalogue' and 'Log an Incident' buttons tin the button list. 

Fig 8. 'Service Catalogue' and 'Log an Incident' buttons


Allow Users to log Service Requests again after subscribing - This setting is used in conjunction with the setting 'When a Service Request is logged, subscribe' found under the 'subscribers' tab. The latter setting allows a user to be automatically subscribed to a setting following logging a service request, if this occurs the user will not be able to log another service request for the same service unless the setting 'Allow Users to log Service Requests again after subscribing' is enabled. 

Show Service in Related Service Catalogue - This setting is used in conjunction with the 'Related Service Catalogue' field against ticket types. When this setting is enabled this service will be an available option for users to select from in the 'Related Service Catalogue' field against tickets. If left unchecked users will not be able to select this service in the 'Related Service Catalogue' field. 

Preview Screen When Logging - This setting determines whether the preview screen displays or not when users select this service in the portal. Showing the preview screen will show an additional screen containing the service description before the user can log a service request/incident. The global default is determined by the setting against the service catalogue button configuration under configuration > self-service portal. 

Screen after a ticket has been logged - Here you can set which screen the user is re-directed to after logging an incident/request for this service. 


Service Request Details Table:

Here, you can set up buttons users can use to log a request for this type of service. Most services will only require one button to be configured however, you can add additional options to allow various ticket types to be logged for this service. For example if the service is used to request new software you may want different ticket types to be logged based on the software the user is requesting. In this scenario you can set up multiple buttons under once service, one to 'request software X' another to 'request software Y' etc. 


To configure a new button add to the table and complete the field 'Label for the "Request this Service" button in the Service Catalogue' with the name you would like to use for this button for this service. If you are only using one button you can use something like 'request this service' but if setting up multiple buttons you will want to call the buttons something more specific like 'Click here to request Microsoft software'/'Click here to request any other software'. 


Set the sequence for the button, this will determine where the button appears in the list. Choose a button icon, this will appear next to the button label in the portal. Next you will need to choose whether the button will log a selected ticket type, template or take the user to a custom URL. 

  • If ticket type is selected you will need to choose the ticket type that will be logged, the user will be prompted to complete the fields against this ticket type.
  • If template is selected you will need to choose the ticket template that will be logged. The user will be prompted to complete the fields set against the ticket type liked to the template, this ticket type will be logged but the template configuration will be used. 
  • If custom URL is selected you will need to enter the URL you would like the user to be taken to, when the user selects this button they will be re-directed out of the portal and to this URL. 

Show the New Ticket screen when requesting this Service - When disabled the user will not be required to complete any fields in order to request the service, the ticket will be logged as soon as the button is selected. If there are mandatory fields against the selected ticket type this setting will need to be enabled, otherwise a ticket cannot be logged. When enabled the user will be prompted to completed the fields against the ticket type being logged. When enabled some additional configuration options will be available. 

New Ticket screen hint- Here you can enter a hint for the service request, this hint will appear under the button label on the new ticket screen, this can be used to prompt users to complete the fields/how to complete the fields. 

Optional Service Items - Here you can choose additional 'service items' for this service, when a user completes a service request they will be able to also request the service items selected here. If they complete an additional request for a service item the service item request will be created as a child ticket under the service request ticket. When setting available service items you will have the options for this service item to be mandatory/included by default or 'expanded by default'. (Monitored services are not available to be service items). For example if a user is requesting a new laptop you may want to add collection of hardware and new software request as service items as the user will likely need to request these services too. This allows you to force users to complete any additional service requests associated with this service, but also can allow for a more streamline user/agent experience as all requests will be automatically linked once logged. 

Show a summary screen before submitting - When enabled the user will be shown a summary of the service request and service item request they have logged before confirming logging the request. 

Once you are happy with your button configuration hit save at the bottom of the pop-up screen and this button will appear as a line in the table. 


In the below example we walk through how to create service buttons and how these appear for users in the portal (we recommend viewing this in full screen mode):


Fig 9. Step-by-step on how to create new request buttons


Incident Details:

Fig 10. Incident Details


In this section of the configuration you can set which ticket type or template is logged when a user logs an incident against this service. Unlike the service request details you cannot configure multiple buttons for users to log incidents, only one button to log incidents is needed but the button configuration is similar to that for requests. By default incidents logged against a service will log an 'Incident' ticket type, but if you would like a custom/different ticket type or template to be logged for incidents with this service, this can be configured here. 


First use the radio list to choose if the button logs  a ticket type, ticket template or takes the user to a custom URL. If ticket type/template is chosen you will need to select which ticket type/template to be used, the default ticket type used will be the 'Incident' ticket type. 

Use the 'Label for the "Log an Incident" button in the Service Catalogue' field to customise the label for this button. You can also use the 'New Ticket screen hint' field to set a hint to appear under the button label. 


Allowed Category Values:

For each of the sections 'Allowed Category Values'/'Allowed Category Values'/'Allowed Category 3 Values'/'Allowed Category 4 Values' you can restrict which category values users are allowed to choose from in each of the respective category fields. This is done by unchecking the setting 'Allow All Values' and adding the category values you would like to be available for this service in the respective table. Now when users log a service request for this service they will only be able to select the category values within the table, regardless of the ticket type settings. This is useful if you have a service category as you can prevent users from setting the incorrect category value for this service. 


User Access Tab

Under this tab you can set which users have access to this service. 

Fig 11. User access tab


The user access to a service can be set against the service category and against the service itself. The user access of a service will be inherited from its service category. To set the category user access edit the category (by right clicking the category in the navigation pane) and head to the user access tab.

Fig 12. Edit service category


Here there is a 'Service Access level' field and a user access table. Users that you would like to have access to the category will need to be added to the users access table, any users not in this table will not have access to the service category. Users can be added to the table based on an entity such as top level, customer, site etc. Access can then be further restricted by the service access level. The service access level field will grant users access based on the service access level set against their profile. For example, if the service access level against the service category is set to be 2 all users with service access level 2 or 3 against their profile will have access to the service category as users can access services with the same access level as them or lower, users with access level 3 will have access to the most services, those with 1 will have access to the least. 


Note: To set/see the service access level a user has head to the permissions tab under their user profile (Service Access level setting)


Service access level will add additional restrictions on top of the user access table, that is, if the customer 'Acorn construction' is added to the user access table and the service access level is set as 2, only users under Acorn construction who have service access level 2 or 3 will be able to see the service category. A user must meet both criteria in order to have access to the service category. 


Once you have set service category access you can set user access against the service itself. User entities that have access to the service will be inherited from the service category but access for additional entities can be granted by adding these to the user access table. 


User access can also be restricted further by excluding a selected entity from the service, this is useful when you would like all users to have access to a particular service category but would like to restrict a particular user/customer/top level from having access to a specific service. To do this add 'everyone' to the user access table against the service category, then against the service itself select the users you would not like to have access to this service and check the setting 'Exclude this entity from this Service'. In the figure 13 example all users will have access to the service category the 'Desktop' service is under (Hardware) but users under the site 'Melbourne' will not have access to the 'Desktop' service. 


Fig 13a. User access to exclude site 'Melbourne' 


Fig 13b. User access against Desktop service


If a user does not have access to a service category, but they do have access to a service under this category, they will be able to see this service category in the portal but only the services they have access to will appear under this category. 


Subscribers Tab

Users can subscribe to a service to receive updates on the service's status, this is used for monitored services. For information on subscribing to a service see the 'Subscribing to a service' and 'Automatic subscribing' sections in our article here. 


Related Service Catalogue:

Here, you can relate another service to this service, relating two services will result in a user being automatically subscribed to the related service when they log a request for the primary service. This is useful when users raise requests for access to monitored services, for example if a user requests a new licence for/access to a piece of software (e.g. 3CX) this request will be logged under the 'request software' service but it would be beneficial for them to then be subscribed to the 3CX monitored service so they can receive service status updates. To relate a service to this service simply add it to the 'Related service Catalogue' table. 


Assets Tab

Here, you can link assets to this service, if a service incident is raised the asset is automatically linked to the incident ticket. This is used in for monitored services when ticket driven service statuses are being used. 


To link an asset to the service add the asset(s) to the 'Linked Assets' table and set the 'Associated Asset type'. Now assets are linked to the service when a service failure ticket is raise against this service these assets will be linked to the ticket automatically. For more information on raising/using service failure tickets see the 'Ticket Driven Service monitoring' section of our article here. 


Articles Tab

This tab will show any knowledge base articles linked to this service. If the asset you have linked to the service is also linked to a knowledge base article the knowledge base article will appear under the ' Articles' tab under the service. This allows you to create a relationship between a service and an article. If your service does not have an associated asset but you would like to link a KB article to the service you will need to create an asset (called something like Article X asset), link this asset to the KB article then link this asset to the service. 


To link an asset to a KB article head to the knowledge base module, edit the article you would like to link, add the asset to the 'Assets' table and save. 


To have articles that are linked to a service show against the service in the portal enable the setting 'Show Knowledge Base Articles linked to the Assets linked to the service on the self-service-portal' found in configuration > service catalogue. When this is enabled an 'Articles' section will appear against the service when selected with links to the related articles. 


Note: For the articles to appear the user must have access to the article and access to the asset the article is linked through. 


Tickets Tab

Here, you can see all tickets that are associated with this service, by default this shows open tickets but the filter shown in figure 14 can be used to change which tickets show. In order for a ticket to be 'associated' with a service it must either have been raised through this service in the portal (or agent app), or the 'Related Service Catalogue' field against the ticket contains this service. This tab allows you to keep track of incidents and requests for this service. Tickets here can be multi-selected to make changes in bulk. 

Fig 14. Ticket filter within tickets tab


Change service image

To change the image/logo for the service use the button 'Change Image' against the service (figure 15). Here you can upload a new image to be used for the service, this will be the image used for the service both in the agent application and self service portal. 

Fig 15. Change image button 

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