Definition

EndDefinition

Each knowledge article:

• Can be created:
  • Via an incident, a problem or an action.
  • Individually.
• Can be accessed via the Self Service portal and the Back Office.  See Access rules.
• Can be associated with keywords to facilitate searches.
• Has a status used to monitor progress.
• Can be linked to a parent article in a tree structure. This enables in-depth analysis of the error through more specific questions/responses at each level.  See the example.
• Can be communicated in a news article.

In the Operation menu in the Back Office interface, a knowledge article can be associated with a category from the incident catalog. This can be used in the ticket to display:

• Only knowledge articles defined for the same category as the incident.
• All knowledge articles if the category of the incident is not specified in order to qualify the incident.

Examples

Creation of a tree structure of knowledge articles

Application perimeter limited to a department and its lower-level departments

• Create a restriction for the PC Administration Department.
• An incident is reported by a user. The Support person is associated with the Workstation Support Department (a higher-level department comprising the PC Administration Department).
  • The knowledge article is public ==> Users can consult it via the portal.
  • The knowledge article is not public ==> It can only be consulted via the Back Office interface.

Notes

• You can access a knowledge article as follows:
  • Via the Self Service portal by selecting Home > Knowledge Base or Home > Full Text Search in the menu. Users can only see public knowledge articles whose application perimeter is compatible with their location or department.
  • Via the Back Office interface:
    • By selecting Operation > Problems & Known Errors or Transition > Knowledge in the menu. Users can see all knowledge articles, regardless of their application perimeter.
    • In a ticket or an Action form:
      • The Search link provides access to the full text search. Users can only see the knowledge articles whose application perimeter is compatible with the location or department of the recipient.
      • The Known Errors link provides access to the full text search. Users can only see the knowledge articles whose application perimeter is compatible with the location or department of the recipient and whose category corresponds to the one in the incident/request.

• The New Knowledge wizard available in Incident, Problem and Action forms enables you to create a new article in the knowledge base that is automatically associated with the current object.

• Unlike other process elements managed by a workflow, the status of knowledge articles is updated manually in the Update Status wizard based on rules defined in the Knowledge Status reference table.

• You select a parent article when creating a new knowledge article. You can use the Reorganize wizard to modify it subsequently.

• The Transition > Knowledge > Search Statistics enables you to display various statistics on searched keywords in the knowledge base like the search date, the user, the number of results, etc.

Best Practice

• In the list of known errors available in the Operation menu, you can select the Knowledge Base filter.
• Use the tree structure to break the parent article down as accurately as possible. You can create different levels of questions/responses to help users find the appropriate solution.   See the example.
• Remember to modify the knowledge article when the solution is updated. To do this, use the Update wizard.
• If you want to hide the knowledge article in the full text search, you should assign the For Approval status to it.
• Remember to update the knowledge base regularly to ensure that it contains useful, value-added articles only.

Menu access

Service Transition > Knowledge

           See Other access.

Description of tabs

TabUpdateRules_After2016Versions

Alphabetical order of the tabs

QuickAccess

Details

ObjectNumber

Status: Current status of the knowledge article, manually updated using the Update Status wizard. 

• Only statuses specified in the Next Status tab of the current status can be selected. The rules are defined in the Knowledge Status reference table.
• The For Approval status is used to hide the knowledge article when a full text search is run. This is the default status assigned when the form is created.

Title: Title of the knowledge article, based on which searches are run in the knowledge base.

Contents: Contents of the knowledge article, e.g. procedure, recommendations.
                                         
Implementation Time: Time required to apply the solution described in the knowledge article, expressed in HH:MM.

HyperlinkDocument

Keywords: List of keywords associated with the knowledge article. Click Keywords to select the ones you want from the list in the knowledge base. You can also add new keywords.

Manager: Name of the main contact person for the knowledge article, in charge of its update.

Group: Group in charge of the knowledge article and its review.

• The group can access the form by selecting Operation > Problems & Known Errors > Known Errors for My Groups. Users should then select the Knowledge Base filter.

Creation Date: Date on which the knowledge article was created.

Next Review Date: Frequency based on which the knowledge article should be reviewed. 

Version: Version number of the knowledge article, generally updated at each major review.

Public: Used to indicate if the knowledge article will only be visible in the Operation menu for Back Office users (box is not checked) or if it will also be visible to users in the Self Service portal (box is checked).

Category (Note: Only when the knowledge article is displayed using the Operation menu): Record in the incident catalog associated with the knowledge article. All tickets with this category will display the knowledge article.

Impact (Note: Only when the knowledge article is displayed using the Operation menu): Level of the adverse effect of the incident associated with the knowledge article on the organization's activities.

Urgency (Note: Only when the knowledge article is displayed using the Operation menu): Level defined by the requestor or Technical Support person based on the disruption to the recipient's business activities. The level determines the speed at which incidents linked to the knowledge article must be solved. 

Create Task (Note: Only when the knowledge article is displayed using the Operation menu): Used to create a new task that is automatically associated with the knowledge article in order to store a trace of the action outside the workflow.

• The task can be charged back by entering hourly costs or fixed costs. Click Calculate Costs to update the Total Hourly Costs and Total Costs calculated fields.
• An action with the description of the task will automatically be generated in the Actions tab.

Related Knowledge Articles

Note: Only in the Service Transition menu

List of knowledge articles linked to the current knowledge article for batch management.

Actions

List of actions performed for the knowledge article.

• Update:
  • Create the task in the Details tab.
  • Or use the Update or New Knowledge wizard.

Location

Application perimeter of the knowledge article, restricting its visibility to users at the selected location (or lower-level location), provided they are authorized to access the Self Service portal and Back Office.

Department

Application perimeter of the knowledge article, restricting its visibility to users in the selected department (or lower-level department), provided they are authorized to access the Self Service portal and Back Office.

News Articles

List of news articles associated with the current knowledge article.

Related Incidents

List of incidents linked to the current knowledge article for batch management.

• Update:
  • Use the Link to an Incident wizard.
  • Or use the New Knowledge wizard in an incident, [ticket>>doc:Quick Call]] or incident action.
• If non-closed incidents are already linked to the current knowledge article, they will automatically be displayed. You can then delete the link using .
• The Update wizard allows to move the workflow of incidents linked to the knowledge article onto the next step.

Related Problems

List of problems linked to the current knowledge article.

• Update: Use the New Knowledge wizard in a problem.

Related Services

List of service requests linked to the current knowledge article.

• Update:
  • Use the Link to a Service Request wizard.
  • Or in this tab.
• If non-closed requests are already linked to the current knowledge article, they will automatically be displayed. You can then delete the link using .

Related Changes

List of change requests linked to the current knowledge article.

• Update: in this tab.

Related Equipment

RelatedEquipmentTab

Licenses

LicenseTab

Contracts

ContractTab

CI

List of configuration items (CI) associated with the current knowledge article.

• Impacting and impacted CIs linked to the new CI will not be associated with the knowledge article.
• The Known Errors tab in the CI form is automatically updated.

History of Changes

HistoryOfChangeTab

• This is the SD_KNOWN_PROBLEMS table.

Discussions

DiscussionTab

Attachments

AttachmentTab

Knowledge Prerequisites

Note: Only in the Service Transition menu

List of prerequisites associated with the knowledge article, used to restrict access to knowledge articles when a full text search is run.  See the example.

User Ratings

Note: Only in the Transition menu

List of scores awarded to a knowledge article when a full text search is run. The score is based on the quality and relevance of the knowledge article.

Procedure and Wizards

How to create and process a knowledge article

Step 1: Create the knowledge article.

In an incident or a problem

1. Open the relevant incident or the problem.

2. Run the New Knowledge wizard.

3. (Optional) Create a news article associated with the knowledge article using Publish This Element as News Article.

In a known error

1. Select Service Operation > Problems & Known Errors > Known Errors in the menu.

2. Select the relevant known error.

3. Run the Update Status wizard.

4. Select the Knowledge Base status.

5. Click Finish.

Create a knowledge article individually

1. Select Service Transition > Knowledge > Knowledge in the menu.

2. Click .

3. Complete the form.

4. Save it in the knowledge base by clicking Finish.

5. (Optional) Create a news article associated with the knowledge article using Publish This Element as News Article.
The news article will be displayed in the ticket of all new incidents with the same category as the knowledge article.

Step 2: Close the knowledge article once the malfunctioning will no longer occur.

1. Run the Update wizard.

2. (Optional) Create a news article to report the closing of the knowledge article by clicking Publish This Element as News Article.

How to use a knowledge article

1. Click the Search link in a ticket.

2. Enter the text you want to search for.

3. Select Knowledge Base in the list of search engines.
The results list will be displayed.

Rate the knowledge article

• Click the number of  stars you want to award.

Wizards

Update
Update Status (only if the current status is not associated with the Solved meta-status)
Reorganize