| This is one of the mechanisms
that has the potential for saving companies and agencies much time
and therefore cost. It's also an example of business software at
its best - the software anticipates a waste of resource, notifies
the user, but leaves the final decision up to him or her.
When faults occur in public places,
or common areas in office buildings, many calls which refer
to the same fault may be taken. Leaks, broken windows, damaged
floor tiles, etc. are examples. If a leak occurs in a toilet,
for instance, many people may call the help desk before the
situation is contained. The mechanism keys on building, work
type and the date and time that calls are logged. When recent
calls have been logged for the same work type in the same building
within the last 24 hours, the software prompts the user to
check for duplicates. At this point, the operator can decide
to cancel the current call, or continue to log it if it not
a duplicate.
The lead time for the warnings can
be varied - certain users would want to see a whole week's worth
of possible duplicates, while others perhaps the last 48 hours. |
