Using External Tasks

An external task is a task that is acted upon by an outside organization, usually with whom you have a contract for services. For example, if your business provides a web hosting service, you might be able to provide some services internally (such as web development or email), but you might have an agreement with an outside vendor to provide various levels of access for your customers (fast, medium, or normal, for example).

You can track the costs for defined external tasks but not for ad-hoc tasks.

Accessing the External Task Workspace

Creating an External Task

Accessing the External Task Workspace

1.Log into the Service Desk console.

2.Open the External Task workspace. A list of external tasks opens.

3.To see details, do one of the following:

Double-click a task.

Click the vendor name link.

Creating an External Task

1.Log into the Service Desk console.

2.Open the External Task workspace. A list of external tasks opens.

3.Click New External Task.

4.Enter information into the fields.

Field Description
Summary Subject or title of the task.
Details Details of the task.
Job Item This field is automatically generated by the system.
Unit Price A price for each occurrence of the task.
Unit Quantity The number to charge for the task.
Total This field is automatically generated by the system, and is a product of the values of the Unit Price and Unit Quantity fields.

Status

The status. The system automatically sets the default status to logged.
Priority The priority. Choose from the drop-down list: 1 (lowest priority) to 5 (highest priority).
Service The service.
Vendor The vendor. Depends on the selection in the Service field.
Contact Name The name of the vendor contact.
Email The email address of the vendor contact.
Phone The phone number of the vendor contact.
UC

The underpinning contract for the vendor. If there is only one item on the list, the system automatically enters it.

 

NOTE: The system only displays this field if the selected vendor has a current underpinning contract.

Task Catalog

The task catalog for the vendor. See Creating an External Task Catalog Item.

 

NOTE: The system only displays this field if the selected vendor has a current underpinning contract.

Vendor Case # The case number for the vendor, if they have one.
Acceptance Target The system automatically displays this based on priority and urgency.
Completion Target The system automatically displays this based on priority and urgency.
Attach file Attaches any images or documents related to this task. If this option does not appear, then you do not have privileges to attach files.
Comments Comments. Click Create, then choose a comment type (such as email, notes, or voice activity log) to add comments to the task.
Team The team.
Owner The owner.

5.Click Save.