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ALVAO Outlook Add-in

ALVAO Outlook Add-in is an extension for Microsoft Outlook which allows to work with requests from ALVAO Service Desk directly in the Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2013, and 2016 environments.

Overview of Terms Used

Term Meaning
Target request Request detail in the ALVAO WebApp in ALVAO taskbar regardless the currently viewed tab (General, Links, …).
Edit Mode In this mode, a change to a selected item does not update the ALVAO taskbar.

View requests

  1. In the MS Outlook select an item (e-mail, event, meeting, task) containing a valid request symbol from ALVAO Service Desk (example: T123ALVAO) in the subject.
  2. The ALVAO taskbar displays the request log (target request).
Tips:
You can work with the target request directly in the MS Outlook environment using the commands provided by ALVAO WebApp.
For work with the request in a separate window outside MS Outlook use the Display request command from the context menu above the message, opening the request in the ALVAO Service Desk Console or ALVAO WebApp application, based on the extension settings.
Another option is to use the Open in separate window button in the title bar of the ALVAO taskbar.

Creating New Requests from Message

Using the following procedure in ALVAO Service Desk Web you can create requests based on the messages which are not related to any requests yet.

  1. 1. In the MS Outlook select one or more messages you want to create requests in the ALVAO Service Desk. One request will be created for each message.
  2. On the Home tab select the New request from report command, eventually select this command from the context menu above the selected message.
  3. In the New request from report window, select the requester and service and, if necessary, edit the request name. Then click OK.
Notes:
The message sender is the default requester of the newly created request. If the sender is not recognized, an unregistered user (Host) is selected. The request is created with the default SLA of the selected requester.
All the initial prefixes RE: and FW: are removed from the message subject.
If only one request has been created and the ALVAO taskbar is not in edit mode, the created request will be displayed in the taskbar. Otherwise the content of the taskbar will not change.
For each request, notifications are sent to its requesters and operators.

Saving the message into the existing request log

Using the following procedure you can save the selected messages not related to any request (i.e. not having the request symbol in the subject) nor saved in its log (e.g. they have not been sent as a copy to the service address), later to the existing request log.

  1. In MS Outlook, select the message/s you want to save to the existing request log.
  2. If you don't have the ALVAO Taskbar displayed, display it using the Show taskbar command on the Home tab.
  3. In the ALVAO taskbar search for (e.g. by the Search in requests command) an existing request which log you want to save the messages to.
  4. On the Home tab select the Save to request log command, eventually select this command from the context menu above the selected message.
  5. This opens a window with the prompt to confirm the action. Check the request number in the prompt and confirm the action by clicking Yes.
Notes:
Loaded messages are saved to the log with the sent time, so the may not be displayed immediately in the upper section of the log when ordered into a Date column. They are ordered chronologically behind potential newer records.
If the message sender is not recognized, the sender is registered as the Guest (but the sender's e-mail address in shown in the log).
If the loaded message does not have the subject filled in, the placeholder text "(without subject)" is used. The quotation marks are not a part of the string.

Creating a New Outlook Item Based on Request

You can create a new Outlook item, i.e. e-mail message, event, meeting, or task for the request currently displayed in the ALVAO taskbar using the New item from request command in the taskbar.
The tag and name of the selected request will be filled in automatically in the form for item creation.

Searching the target request for processing the unrecognized items

If the selected item does not have a valid request symbol in the subject, in the ALVAO taskbar there are requests overviews available for the user, from which he can quickly select the target request further usable e.g. for saving the message into the request log.

Notes:
The ALVAO taskbar changes into edit mode by using any of the links.
The closed requests are also listed in the overviews.

Last communication with the sender

In the section there are listed a maximum of 5 requests, in which the sender (or meeting organizer or task author respectively) communicated last time, i.e. he is the sender (or the author eventually) or the recipient of at least one record in the log.

The overview is ordered by the Last activity column date.

Use the Show more link at the end of the section to display the entire communication of the sender.

Notes:

The section does not display if:

  • no item is selected.
  • the sender (or the meeting organizer or the task creator respectively) e-mail address is not registered in the ALVAO Service Desk.
  • all items from the selected items group do not have the same sender (or meeting organizer or task creator respectively) e-mail address.
  • the user does not have permission to display requests.

The latest viewed requests

In the section there are listed a maximum of 5 last target requests not listed in The latest sender's communication section.

Use the Requests link to display all requests.

ALVAO Add-On settings

Set the extension using the File – ALVAO Add-On settings command displaying the ALVAO Add-On Settings form.

 

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