Managing numerous devices in a single operation is an everyday activity for many analysts. Considering the complexity of this task and the scale of large companies, we prepared this content in which we address the importance of issuing the technical note in the RMM.
As you read on, you will learn the productive advantages that this functionality delivers to your team, ensuring continuity in adjustments, services, and solutions. Now, don’t waste time and find out more about the topic!
The definition of technical notes
Basically, it is a feature of N-able MSP’s software that allows analysts to observe all interactions through the notes field. Because of this, this resource ends up encouraging the recording of every technical intervention made by a user, forming a history of actions performed on each device.
These notes should be understood as a tool for transferring knowledge and information, ensuring the preparation of a new technician as soon as he is faced with the observations and comments left by a previous analyst. With this, the operation gains points in agility, preventing the new analyst from carrying out a deep investigation to solve problems, but proceeding from the observations left in the last adjustment.
The setup and importance of the technical note in RMM
Now, you need to know how to use this functionality in everyday life with RMM, implementing the practice among your team. To do so, just follow the steps below:
- Right-click on the device on which you want to make a note;
- Select the option “Add server note”;
- Then, you will notice the “technical note” and “customer note” fields.
Writing your note in the first field (technical) will make this observation private, being for use and reading exclusively by MSP users and analysts. If you choose the second field, you will create an open note, which can be read by both your client and other analysts.
Ready! Through this quick procedure, you can communicate any observation about the project. After making a note to the client, he will be notified in his RMM panel, just updating the dashboard so he can check the note left by the analyst.
The preparation and importance of the grade report
Of course, here we are dealing with an initial example, demonstrating the creation of a single note. But as you well know, the passage of time added to the numerous technical interventions will make these notes multiply, with many observations about the same client or project.
To solve the reading of these notes, N-able has implemented the reporting feature. See how to do it:
- With the RMM panel open, select the upper tab “Reports”;
- Then, click on the “Grade Report” option;
- A configuration window will open, allowing you to choose:
- The client;
- The issuance period;
- The report file format;
- The type of note — technician, customer, or both;
- The device type.
In less than a minute, you and your analysts will be able to produce entire reports, retracing the history of interventions and comments on each device worked on. Although simple, this is a feature that adds a lot of efficiency to the operation, saving time and energy for technicians responsible for some resolution.
The main care in generating technical notes
The standardization. It is essential that the team adopt a communication standard in the use of notes, respecting a language code, the fields of use, and the importance of these comments. For the latter case, the RMM has functionality that, once activated, forces the creation of notes after any technical intervention.
With this, the manager manages to circumvent the moments when analysts forget to tabulate the observation. The use of appropriate fields is a logical requirement, as it restricts the most critical communications to team members only, preventing some unpleasant information from reaching customers.
Finally, the adoption of a language standard. A clear and objective way to communicate the interventions with speed, both for those who comment and for those who read. This can be accomplished by using acronyms and abbreviations to make comments shorter and more direct.
The importance of saving device and client specifications
Basically, it’s important to make the work of everyone on the team easier. In a complex operation, which manages up to hundreds of devices, it is quite logical to think that it will not be possible to dedicate one analyst per device. Therefore, it is essential that everyone collaborates with the company’s collective conscience, informing as many vital details as possible for the next adjustments.
There are 3 very important examples of the use of technical notes. The first case is about the disk space alert, with the warning that the server is low on space, suggesting deleting something on the drive. But there are situations in which the analyst has nothing more to delete, needing to consult the client’s opinion.
1st example
The technician then contacts the customer, explains the situation, and suggests that something needs to be moved or deleted to create extra space. This is the type of contact that must be reported in the technical note, because if the first analyst does not observe this situation in the RMM, the second will not know that this communication has already been carried out, re-contacting, losing productive time, and, possibly, generating a small dissatisfaction in the customer.
2nd example
A second example is the report of false positives when the analyst makes a note to alert that a certain recurring problem is already known to the team, but is still pending resolution. With this, the new analyst does not need to worry about this small issue, understanding its recurrence.
3rd example
Finally, there is the observation of the deleted files. This is a practice that usually occurs due to the need to free up disk space, but it is very important that analysts get into the habit of reporting what has been deleted. Thus, new interventions can be more efficient, without wasting time with the deletion of non-existent files.
Finally, it is still worth remembering the importance of technical notes for companies that do not have a service desk. Although not a SAC function, it can still be used as a way to alert the customer with direct notifications to them.
Despite this, the notes are also important for operations that rely on the service desk, although they have a more secondary role since the issuance of service tickets is mandatory and automatic. In these cases, the technical note ends up being a good auxiliary tool in the description of the machines, reporting interventions on more specific issues.
