OP Software Joins NAACE
OP Software is proud to announce that it now a member of NAACE (The National Association for Advisors in Computer Education) and is currently under going assessment for the NaaceMark Quality Assurance for Service Providers (NMSP 2.0)
This is great news as it is yet another independant pointer that we as a company are committed to providing the best services we can to education.
More information about NAACE can be found here – http://www.naace.co.uk/about
OPSD v2.0.3780 Released
We are happy to announce that an interim update has been released, v2.0.3780
This update is for both the Lite and Pro versions and have fixed some issues identified by a number of our users, these are:
OP SmartDesk Pro – 2.0.3780
===========================
Release date 10th May 2010
- 0000146: [Staff Area] Print Work Order – Description – resolved.
- 0000136: [Staff Area] Incoming emails in html break tooltips – resolved.
- 0000140: [Staff Area] No wordwrap when logging calls – resolved.
- 0000069: [User Area] User profile images – New Feature.
- 0000134: [Staff Area] Staff calendar error – resolved.
- 0000132: [Staff Area] Allow tech staff to log incidents for themselves – New Feature.
- 0000102: [Staff Area] Assigning Incidents to Technicians – New Feature.
- 0000127: [User Area] Secure File Download Access – New Feature.
- 0000093: [Admin Area] Increase scope of SLA timimng – New Feature.
- 0000124: [Staff Area] Adding Notes to incidents – resolved.
- 0000125: [Admin Area] Adding Resources – resolved.
- 0000123: [User Area] User access to helpdesk – resolved.
- 0000120: [Admin Area] Maintenance Mode -New Feature.
- 0000116: [Admin Area] User still visible – resolved.
- 0000115: [User Area] Password Reset – resolved.
- 0000117: [Staff Area] User still visible – resolved.
- 0000118: [Staff Area] Queue still visible – resolved.
- 0000119: [User Area] Queue still visible – resolved.
- 0000111: [User Area] User frontpage Links – resolved.
- 0000077: [Admin Area] Custom fields – New Feature.
- 0000103: [Staff Area] Calendar Events – Title Change – resolved.
- 0000100: [Staff Area] Addition of a ‘Do Not Send E-Mail’ feature – New Feature.
- 0000110: [Staff Area] Adding New Incidents For Users – resolved.
- 0000101: [User Area] ServiceDesk Automated Emails – Link incorrect – resolved.
- 0000109: [Staff Area] Email Signatures – New Feature.
- 0000068: [Staff Area] Staff Profile Image – New Feature.
- 0000098: [Admin Area] Upgrade Notifications not working from behind a proxy – resolved.
- 0000089: [Staff Area] Edit Announcements – resolved.
- 0000095: [Staff Area] FCKEditor not showing – resolved.
- 0000096: [Admin Area] FCKEditor Not Showing – resolved.
- 0000097: [User Area] FCKEditor Not Showing – resolved.
- 0000104: [Admin Area] More detail in ‘My Incidents’ area – resolved.
- 0000108: [Admin Area] Adding new users – resolved.
- 0000107: [Staff Area] Order of My Incidents on Staff Dashboard – resolved.
- 0000105: [Staff Area] Spelling Mistake – Priority – resolved.
- 0000092: [User Area] Announcements misspelled – resolved.
- 0000099: [Staff Area] Ability to Sort Queues/Users alphabetically – resolved.
PLEASE NOTE: There is no direct upgrade path from MLH to OP SmartDesk if you wish to retain your exisiting data please contact our support team so we can arrange a data migration for you.
OP Software Online Services Portal Launched
We are happy to announce the launch of our new Online Services Portal for customers.
This is a new one stop portal that will allow customers to do the following:
- Update contact details
- Download Software Licenses
- Renew Software Licenses
- Raise New Orders
- Open/View/Update Support Incidents
- Get Software Updates
- Sign Up for our BETA Program.
All existing customers will receive an email over the next couple of days with thier login details.
Access to the portal can be found here: https://licensing.opsoftware.net/
If anyone has any problems please email the support team.
Many Thanks,
OP Software Development Team
OPSD v2.0.3775 Released to Testers
Hi All,
Just a quick update to let you know that we have closed new development of the next release of OPSD v2.0.3775.
This has now been released to our live testers and based on thier feedback changes may occur however the estimated release date for this version is 3rd May 2010.
If you would like to see what is going to be in this release please take a look here: http://tracker.opsoftware.net/changelog_page.php
Many Thanks,
OP Software Development Team.
Online Tracker Now Live
We have made public our online tracker which will allows users of our software the ability to see what is coming in future releases as well as the chance to suggest thier own enhancements or features.
The change log shows what has been fixed or added for each furture release as well as an estimated release date.
The tracker can be found here: http://tracker.opsoftware.net/
Feedback on this new service is welcomed and we look forward to seeing your feature requests 
OPSD New Version Released
We are happy to announce that an interim update has been released, v2.0.3740
This update is for both the Lite and Pro versions and have fixed some issues identified by a number of our users, these are:
OP SmartDesk Pro – 2.0.3740
===========================
- 0000087: [Staff Area] Print Work Order (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000080: [User Area] Room Booking (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000088: [Admin Area] Automatic Upgrade Notifications (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000076: [Staff Area] Updating Incident details (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000065: [Admin Area] Adding Quick Links (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000064: [Admin Area] Adding Quick links (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000086: [User Area] User login show incidents (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000081: [Staff Area] Post reply Formatting (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000082: [Staff Area] Ability to change status ‘On Hold’ (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000084: [Staff Area] Directly Close an incident (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000083: [Staff Area] Increase textbox size (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000085: [Admin Area] Editing Announcements (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000060: [Admin Area] User Roles (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000079: [Staff Area] New Incident SLA Base Dates (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000062: [Admin Area] Editing Queues (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000061: [Admin Area] Adding Queues (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000078: [Web Services (API)] Email Polling (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000066: [Staff Area] Unable to read tabs on incident details (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000063: [User Area] Viewing KB Articles (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000073: [Admin Area] Version Name (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000075: [User Area] Version Name (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000074: [Staff Area] Version Name (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
OP SmartDesk Lite – 2.0.3740
===========================
- 0000088: [Admin Area] Automatic Upgrade Notifications (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000076: [Staff Area] Updating Incident details (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000065: [Admin Area] Adding Quick Links (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000064: [Admin Area] Adding Quick links (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000086: [User Area] User login show incidents (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000081: [Staff Area] Post reply Formatting (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000082: [Staff Area] Ability to change status ‘On Hold’ (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000084: [Staff Area] Directly Close an incident (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000083: [Staff Area] Increase textbox size (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000085: [Admin Area] Editing Announcements (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000060: [Admin Area] User Roles (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000079: [Staff Area] New Incident SLA Base Dates (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000062: [Admin Area] Editing Queues (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000061: [Admin Area] Adding Queues (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000066: [Staff Area] Unable to read tabs on incident details (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000063: [User Area] Viewing KB Articles (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000073: [Admin Area] Version Name (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000075: [User Area] Version Name (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
- 0000074: [Staff Area] Version Name (ozanpakyuz) – resolved.
Existing user simply login to your customer area ( here ) and use the download link to get the latest version, full upgrade instructions are in the zip file PLEASE ensure you read these prior to doing anything.
Sneek Peek: Room Booking
As promised here is a sneek peek at OP SmartDesk Room Booking or Resource Manager.
You can have an unlimited number of resources i.e. Rooms, equipment or anything else you may loan out or have a requirement for it to be booked.
Time slots are broken down into 10 minute sections and each booking can be colour coded for easy viewing. The main viewing area can also be filtered via a dropdown selector which will then hide all other bookings apart from the requested resource.
A high level of validation logic has been put in place so that the following rules are oberved:
- If a booking has been started it cannot be amended
- Bookings cannot overlap each other
- When moving a booking it cannot be moved into the past
- Staff can only edit thier own bookings
- Bookings cannot be made within 30 mins of the start time
Bookings can be bulk added either from .csv or by using the custom database query tool in the admin area or you can add single bookings simply by highlighting the required amount of time and then double clicking the selection. The booking is made – simple 
Have a look at some of the screenshots below.
Sneek Peek: Staff Calendars
We have finally managed to add it but it took some work
Each member of technical staff now has thier own fully functional calendar to which they can add reminders and events to.
Within each active support incident there is a “Follow Up” button which allows the assigned tech the ability to have a reminder set for X number of days, this is automatically added to their calendar.
You can also see other tech staffs entries but they can only edit or remove thier own entries all others are simply read only.
Events can be added by simply selecting the desired amount of time and then double clicking the selection, the event is then added – Simple !
Timed events, re-occurring events, all day events, scheduled events are all supported and also the ability to export to csv and iCal formats.
There are 3 different views: day, week, month (see screenshots)
Next Sneek Peek: Resource Booking, Yes Room Booking ……… Coming Soon
OP SmartDesk Update….
Please bear with us as this is likely to be a long post as there is alot to get through
As we will be officially releasing the new version of OP SmartDesk in the coming weeks I though it would be a good time to update you on some changes that have been made to the software and what the plan is for the next 12 months.
Whats the delay?
We had planned to release the new version of OP SmartDesk on the 14th Jan 2010 however this has been delayed due to our trademark and patent applications not being complete. Until this is done then we cannot release the software, we are not in control of how quickly these things get done however we are chasing the patents and trademarks offices on almost a daily basis.
As soon as we have clearence we will publish the new version of OP SmartDesk.
What has changed?
Well, everything really. OP SmartDesk has been rebuilt from the ground up using the latest in web technologies to allow us to provide some very inovative features.
Database Support
As of v2.0 of OP SmartDesk we will no longer be supporting MS Access and MySQL as a database for the software. There are a number of reasons for this however the main reasons are as follows:
- Microsoft now provide SQL Server 2005 express and SQL Server 2008 Express and Web editions for free which are much more stable and robust over MS Access and also provide a higher level of secuirty.
- IIS7 on Server 2008 does not support MS Access by default, although there are ways to hack IIS7 to get this working we do not feel comfortable advising customers to make global changes to their servers in order to get a database working.
We will be providing a migration service to those customers using MS Access and MySQL in which we will convert your data to your preffered SQL Server version so you can take advantage of the new version of OP SmartDesk.
Development Road Map.
Our development roadmap has changed in that we will now release five updates per year four of which will be quaterly “feature packs” and will provide enhancements to the user interface and urgent security / bug fixes and one big upgrade that will be released at then end of each year which will include a database upgrade.
We are sure that this will provide a much more stable upgrade platform as the feature packs will not do any data upgrades.
Automatic Upgrades
Once OP SmartDeak has been released you will see that there is an auto upgrade facility so once an upgrade has been released to our upgrade servers you can simply download and upgrade at the click of a button. The software will download, unpack, verify and upgrade the software automatically for you, all you need to do is ensure you have a data backup before you upgrade.
New Software Editions
When we release OP SmartDesk there will be 3 versions available:
- Lite or Free Version: This will provide entry level access to the world of helpesk software providing access to a single technician in order to log and track requests, unlimited user access and unlimited queues, however this version will not support email polling, SLAs, or asset management. There is no charge for this version.
- Pro Version: This supports unlimited technicians and users, unlimited queues, email polling, SLAs, and email notifications but will not include Asset Management.
- Enterprise Version: This is the same as the pro version but will also include Asset Management.
This new version structure will allow the most amount of flexability as some customers may not need a full enterprise version of the software as the need is only for a helpdesk, while the Lite or FREE version will allow small sites to have a helpdesk without the initial cost outlay and as the need comes along upgrading to the next edition is easy.
Exisiting customers will automatically get the enterprise version once released as a gesture of thanks and for putting up with us
I hope that this brings a level of clarity and look forward to any feedback you may have.