PROJECT WORK

Help Desk Automation

By
What is an ‘Online Discussion
Forum’?
Online Discussion Forum is an
electronic forum for staff or like-minded
professionals to exchange ideas, post
questions, offer answers or offer help
on relevant subjects. Electronic forums
also provide ways of archiving (or
storing) and searching for previous
exchanges / queries.
About the Project
This project automates Discussion Queries held
on a website. Queries are posted on the Forum
by Registered Users. Person(s) designated to
respond to the queries posts replies. For the
answer given User may respond with further
clarifications. When a User logs on to the site,
array of Discussion Topics will be provided.
When User selects a particular Topic for
discussion, entire history of discussion for that
particular Topic will be available. The User can
avail Search facility to search for required
information / query. There is also provision for
Rating replies and giving Feedback.
Existing System
The existing system is manual and not
organized. Some of the current methods of
obtaining answers to queries are:
Library reference
Discussions with knowledgeable persons
Sending in queries to magazines, journals etc.
Mail / Phone / Chat
Online reference
The above methods offer limited scope for
achieving the objective.
Limitations of Existing System

Time consuming.
Possibility of delayed response.
Access to knowledgeable persons
sometimes limited.
No certainty that queries will be answered.
Difficult to zero in on what is required.
Extensive work necessary.
Limited Interaction.
Software Specification

Enterprise Technology : J2EE

Front – End : JSP
Middleware : JDBC & Servlets
Back – End : Oracle9i
Application Server : Apache Tomcat
Server : Windows 2003 Advanced
Server
Platform : Microsoft Windows
Hardware Specification

Processor : Intel Pentium III

Processor Speed : 500 MHz
Hard Disk : 1 GB
RAM : 64 MB
Modules Involved
(15 Modules)

Registration
General User Registration
Expert User Registration
User Removal
General User Removal
Expert User Removal
Category Selection
Query Display
Inline Search
Query Posting
Query Forwarding
Query Reply
Reply Intimation (Email)
Feedback & Rating
Chatting
 SYSTEM CHART
Online Discussion Forum

Registration Category Query Feedback

Selection Posting &
Rating

User Inline Query Chatting

Removal Search Reply

Query Query
General Display Forwarding
User
Regn.
Reply
General Intimation
User (Email)
Expert
Removal
User
Regn.
Expert
User
Removal
Registration
Objective:
To allow users to register.
Activity:
Users are of two types – General User &
Expert User. The two types of users have
different registration procedures. While
registering required type has to be chosen.
Sub-Modules:
General User Registration
Expert User Registration
General User Registration

Objective:
To enable registration of general
users.
Activity:
Getting personal and contact details
of user and user preferences
regarding intimation of reply.
Expert User Registration
Objective:
To enable registration of expert users.
Activity:
Expert Users have to first apply for registration,
giving details of their qualifications and work
experience, apart from their personal and contact
details. This is followed by a trial period of one
month, in which the administrator / forum
coordinator monitors the performance of the
applicant. Based on the rating the applicant
receives, he is informed of his acceptance or non-
acceptance as an expert user.
User Removal
Objective:
To allow removal of users.
Activity:
This module involves removal of users
based on misuse, rating or being
inactive.
Sub-Modules:
General User Removal
Expert User Removal
General User Removal
Objective:
To enable removal of general user.
Activity:
General user can be removed by the
administrator / forum coordinator for
misuse. The misuse may be noted
based on complaints by other users
or through monitoring by the
administrator / forum coordinator.
Expert User Removal
Objective:
To enable removal of expert user.
Activity:
If an expert user has been inactive for two months,
he is served notice by the administrator / forum
coordinator that his registration will lapse in a
week’s time if he does not respond to queries. An
expert user can be removed from the panel by the
administrator / forum coordinator if he repeatedly
gets a low rating for a period of two months. An
expert user can cancel his registration at any time,
by informing the administrator / forum coordinator.
Category

Objective:
To list out all categories and sub-
categories of discussion topics
available on the forum.
Sub-Module:
Query Display
Query Display

Objective:
To display selected query.
Activity:
When a query is selected, the query
and the entire history of discussion for
that query should be visible.
Search

Objective:
To provide search facility.
Activity:
Ways for searching the site for
previous exchanges / discussions on
specific topics.
Query Posting
Objective:
To enable posting of query.
Activity:
Queries are posted under relevant
category. This involves category selection
and query posting. While posting date, time
and author name will be noted and
displayed.
Sub-Module:
Query Forwarding
Query Forwarding

Objective:
To forward query to relevant
expert(s).
Activity:
Posted query is forwarded to
corresponding expert(s) based on
expert(s) user preferences.
Query Reply
Objective:
To enable replies to be given to queries.
Activity:
Any number of people can reply to a query.
If a query is in the open forum then anyone
can reply to the query, otherwise only
corresponding expert(s) can reply to the
query. Date, time and author name are
posted along with replies.
Sub-Module:
Reply Intimation
Reply Intimation

Objective:
To intimate posting of reply to
questioner.
Activity:
Intimation will be sent to questioner
based on user preferences along with
a link to the reply.
Feedback & Rating
Objective:
To provide for users / guests to give feedback on
all aspects of the site and also for users to give
rating for replies.
Activity:
Feedback for the entire site can be given by
anyone – registered and non-registered users
(guests). Along with feedback, user-id (registered
user) or mail-id (guest) have to be given.
Only registered users can rate replies. Rating is a
form of grading replies on a scale of 1 to 5 :-
1  Poor 2  Below Average 3  Average
4  Good 5  Excellent
Chatting

Objective:
To enable users to chat with experts.
Activity:
Chatting refers to an online live chat /
private messaging between any
registered user and an expert or any
two experts.
Benefits of Proposed System
Time saving.
Quick response.
Ready access to experts.
Ongoing, in-depth discussions.
Entire history of discussion remains available.
Discussion is visible to anyone, not restricted to
current participants.
Message board posts are browsable and
searchable.
Minimal work required.
Organized, hence easy to navigate.
Feedback & Rating facility.
Future Enhancements

Provide intimation of replies through

mobile.
Link related queries.
Provision for different grades of
membership.
Track user activity on the site.
THANK YOU !!