ITS: MRequest Service

MRequest is a web-based service that allows central tracking and management of customer support and other issues. More than 20 U-M schools, colleges, and major administrative units use the service. Combined, they account for almost 300 projects, or individual databases.

While primarily used by campus IT departments, campus units have discovered other uses for MRequest as well. For example, ITS uses it to help manage its annual budgeting process and for managing facilities. Another unit uses MRequest for procurement-related issues.

MRequest uses Numara Software's FootPrints software as its engine. We have highly customized it for the U-M environment, and you can further customize it for your needs.

OTHER FOOTPRINTS SERVERS: In addition to ITS MRequest, the Medical School, University Library, and Institute for Social Research (ISR) maintain their own FootPrints servers.

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Benefits

We believe both you and your customers will benefit by using MRequest.

Your Benefits

Customizable Interface	Department administrators can define shared views, while individual users can create views that help make them most efficient.
E-mail Alerts	Rules can be created for e-mail notifications of critical support issues.
Searching	Provides extensive search capabilities, including full text.
Reporting Features	Agents can view issues assigned to them as well as a summary of all active and closed issues. Provides over a dozen pre-defined reports, including historical tracking, as well as customizable reporting.
Time Tracking	Includes providing total time devoted to an issue.
Knowledgebases	Allows users to create knowledgebases containing tips and solutions.
Create Global Issues	Allows a wide-spread problem to be consolidated so that all individual issues are linked to it.

Customer Benefits
Project managers can customize projects to provide:

Automatic E-mail Notification	Customers receive automatic e-mail notification whenever an issue has been opened in their names and whenever the issue has been updated.
Online Self-Service	Customers can login to FootPrints to open a new issue or to review the history of all open and closed issues in their names.
Global Issue Notification	When multiple customers are affected by a similar issue — such as a network printer being offline — they can subscribe to receive notification when the issue is resolved.

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Support

MRequest Community	Joinable peer listserv mailing list. Ask questions, get answers, and share tips. The MRequest Service Team also monitors the messages and will resolve issues unanswered within the community.
Test Server	Test projects and configurations before going into production.
Documentation	Available at request.umich.edu; click on Documentation and resources.
Knowledgebase	Maintained by Numara Software. Leaving this site.
MRequest Service Team	The MRequest Service Team provides consulting.

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Costs

Campus units are billed at the initiation of service and then annually at the beginning of the University's fiscal year. Sub-units within a campus unit may create projects at no additional cost. There is no limit to the number of projects a unit or subunit can have. The campus unit contracting person can authorize sub-unit projects by sending a message to mreq-st@umich.edu.

The MRequest fees are:

a $1,000 one-time service initiation fee that includes the first year's (or part thereof) maintenance fee
every July 1, a $250 maintenance fee

View the MRequest Service Agreement in Acrobat (pdf) format.

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Test Before You Buy

We offer several no-cost, no-commitment opportunities to help you find out if MRequest is right for you.

U-M faculty and staff interested in MRequest can join MRequest Community, a peer listserv mailing list. Project administrators and agents use it to ask questions, get answers, and share tips. The MRequest Service Team also monitors the messages and will resolve issues unanswered within the community.
We provide a test server — available to all U-M faculty and staff — at request-test.itcs.umich.edu. Set up a test project and determine for yourself the benefits. Combined with MRequest Community, you'll have a great learning experience.
Documentation is available at request.umich.edu; click on Documentation and resources.
Numara Software maintains a FootPrints Knowledgebase.

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Terminology

MRequest uses FootPrints software terminology.

Project	a single database
Issue	a record in a Project (field can renamed to e.g,, Call or Ticket)
Agent	a standard, full-strength user. Typical agents are Help Desk Agent, Call Center Agent, Developer, Engineer, Manager, and Project Member
Customer Account	intended for employee end-users or external customers, allowing those users to submit and track their own requests and to search the knowledge base

Individual License Types (Permissions)

Agent	typically help desk personnel, customer service representatives, or engineers; able to use all functions including creating and managing Issues, and running queries
Project Administrator	all Agent capabilities, plus adding custom fields, setting options, and adding users
System Administrator	all of the above, plus has control over the whole FootPrints software tool, including administration of any project, adding new projects, and administering licenses

Customer License Types (Permissions)

Read KB	View and search the Knowledgebase.
Read KB/ Requests	View and search Knowledge Base, and check the status on their requests (entered by an internal user, or via e-mail)
Read/Submit	In addition to the functionality described above, users can submit Requests via the web interface
Read/Submit/ Edit	In addition to the functionality described above, these users have limited edit privileges of their own Requests

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Questions?

Please contact the MRequest Service Team.

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