Administrative Concerns
Items that Dovetail/Clarify administrators should be aware of.
Application User
The DovetailDatabaseSettings.ApplicationUsername is a username of a valid Clarify user. This is the user who SelfService activities are performed by. For example, when a case is created in SelfService, the contact is the one creating the case, but the activity is actually a user under the hood. This ApplicationUsername setting is how this is controlled.
Recommendation: Create a "dummy" user that represents the SelfService application. Examples:
- First/Last Name: "Dovetail SelfService" with a username of "selfservice"
- First/Last Name: "Web Support" with a username of "websupport"
With this setup, case history entries will be more meaningful.
For example, a case created by the Contact Scott Davis would show in the case history as:
Auto-Destination
When a case is created or re-opened, the SelfService application will attempt to dispatch the case to a queue based on an Auto-Destination rule. It will use the rule whose operation is specified in the SelfServiceSettings.AutoDispatchOperation setting within the application config file. The actual auto-destination rule can be configured using the auto_dest_rule.dat file, or using the Dovetail Admin web application. For more assistance with auto-destination rules, consult your Clarify Sys Admin guide, or contact Dovetail Support.
Reset lost password
Dovetail SelfService allows users to reset their lost or forgotten password. They do this by entering their username, then the application will create an email_log in the database, and Rulemanager will send this email to the user. The email will include a link with a unique token that is good for a short time period, and can only be used once.
- For security reasons, the application will not tell the user if the username they entered is valid or not. This helps prevents phishing.
- The user must enter a username to reset their password. An email address might be better. However, email addresses are not typically unique within the system. If they are in your environment, your implementation team can customize the app to allow users to enter an email address to reset their lost password.
- If the user has forgotten their username, then there is helpful text on the page explaining thet they should contact support. It is recommended that this text be customized to include an email address or phone number to better help the customer.
Time Zone Handling
Any date/timestamps from the database are sent to the client browser in UTC. These timestamps are then converted to the browser's timezone using Javascript. That way all timestamps are presented in the local timezone of the user. When a user enters a date/timestamp, that timestamp is converted to UTC before it is sent to the server. The server then converts it from UTC to the database's timezone The database timezone is determined by the entry in table_time_zone where is_default = 1. All timestamps are stored in the database in that database timezone.
Page Visit Tracking
Everytime a user visits a page, that is recorded within table_dt_web_log. This allows for reporting and analysis of user behaviors, most visited pages, etc.
Search Tracking
Everytime a user performs a search, that is recorded within table_dt_search. This allows for reporting and analysis of user behaviors, areas to add missing content, etc.