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Unisoft Footprints
Footprints is developed by UniPress and is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Unisoft. The product can be downloaded from the Internet as a 30-day trial; unlike most other vendors Unisoft claims its product can be installed in a couple of hours and configured quite readily by the customer.
The Footprints user interface is entirely web-based with all staff and clients accessing a single central web server. Your existing mail and web servers provide for all communication paths. Various functions, such as “service desk” and “change management” may be assigned to separately defined “projects” which may share data as required. The package as priced contains two main modules (HelpDesk and SL Management) but both Asset and Change management modules are available.
Project templates include ITIL-compliant schemes using the appropriate terminology but by default Footprints avoids much of this jargon. Item labels can all be changed as required (modules and features) and when entering data all mandatory fields are clearly shown in red and marked with an asterisk.
The new customer can log in and (according to their privileges) browse the knowledgebase, initiate or check on a service request or request to be given updates on a specific global issue (a problem in ITIL terminology). Customers can also request service via email or call the service desk and have staff log an incident on their behalf.
When processing or reviewing an incident service desk staff members are not confronted with extraneous fields. During editing fields may appear only when previous choices make them necessary. When viewing existing incidents empty fields are not displayed—this allows the user to focus quickly on the data present.
A problem may be logged as a “global issue” in a similar manner to a standard incident. Links can then be formed between problems and incidents so that all people affected by changes can be kept up to date, and upon closure of the underlying issue all associated incidents closed. Customers online may elect to be kept informed of a global issue in which case an incident is automatically logged and linked to the global issue, with messages regarding global issues broadcast to all users. Resolved issues are automatically included in the knowledgebase and staff can manually add items in a fashion similar to logging an ordinary incident.
Adding a customer is a simple two-step process; the administrator enters personal details and then customer details. Issue escalation is well provided for and rule definition is straightforward and very powerful. Issues can be identified on the basis of any relevant configuration item which allows various changes and tasks to be initiated by an escalation event. Changes might affect status, colour coding or assignee and users can be alerted on these by automatically initiated emails and third-party applications.
A variety of charts and tables can be created (custom or by template) allowing managers and other staff to assess aspects of the service being provided. Standard charts were quickly located and launched to display the status of existing jobs and the priority of those still active. All aspects of a chart can be configured and exported to JPEG or they can be printed out.
UniPress says it is proud of its software’s usability, and rightly so. As a result product support is optional (though recommended); full product and staff support is available. It is expected that staff will require little or no training to start using the product. Administrators might need a few days of training so that they may properly configure the system to company needs and this can be offered onsite or at Unisoft. We found the helpfile content to be very thorough and easy to use ourselves, though depending on resolution you may find the link to help disappearing off the bottom of the screen.
Footprints provides a convenient and yet powerful IT management solution at a very competitive price. We found the product easy to use and believe it will undoubtedly serve many businesses well. The standard interface may not serve highly complex service procedures but given the flexibility of configuration I doubt this is a major concern. Given our 20-user scenario the product price would be $31,625 with training attracting additional fees. Businesses with relatively small IT departments could benefit from a relatively simple and inexpensive solution such as this.