Agiloft Features

This page provides summary information about Agiloft's features. We recommend viewing demos and tutorials for additional information. The Full Administrator Manual also provides more detailed instructions in using the many features.

See our Agiloft Edition Comparison page to learn which features are included in the Free Edition of Agiloft.

Tables and Fields

Database Schema

Unlike products that force your company into the 'tract house' of a fixed database schema, the Agiloft schema adapts to meet the exact needs of your company with custom fields and custom tables and custom relationships between tables.

You can even create custom relationships to external databases and dynamically display those external fields within Agiloft.

Custom Tables and Web Forms

Custom tables and web forms, each with the full power of reports, charts, escalation rules, custom fields and workflows can be created using your browser in just a few minutes.

For example, the above web-form and associated table for managing project tasks was created in just 25 minutes.

↑ top

Custom Data Fields

Fields can be added, removed, modified or rearranged, without interrupting production use.

↑ top

Field Types

A full range of field types are available to accurately capture and manage your data.

↑ top

Drag&Drop Customization

Custom forms and layout are easily created or modified using the drag and drop layout editor.

↑ top

Multi-Tab Input Forms

Multi-tab input forms provide a clean and intuitive interface. Naturally, you can create new tabs and move fields from one tab to another with the drag and drop editor.

↑ top

Choice Tables

Custom choice tables can be created, modified or deleted using the point and click interface, and the system default choice tables can be modified in exactly the same fashion.

↑ top

Table Relationships

Custom relationships between tables can be created with equal ease to precisely model your business and data structures and relationships.

↑ top

Working with Records

Staff Homepage

Customizable Home Pages for staff users give direct create access to records in any table, views of saved searches on any tables, and so on. from which users can launch all of the actions of interest to them. Users can create their own home pages or admins can create several pages and make them available to users.

↑ top

Data Views

Unlimited custom views allow you to zero in on the information that matters most.

You can choose a different view with a click of the mouse.

A few more clicks is all it takes to create a custom view with color coding to highlight the most important records.

↑ top

Edit Multiple Records

You can edit multiple fields in multiple records at once to re-assign issues or update related records with a solution.

↑ top

One Click to Save and Open the Next Record

Make it quick and simple for staff to tackle issues in the right order using Finish and Next. With just one click, this button saves the changes to the current ticket and opens the next one in the list, while the Finish and New buttons saves the current issue and creates a new one.

↑ top

Attached Files

Multiple files of any kind may be attached to a record either though the Web interface or via incoming e-mail.

↑ top

HTML Editor

The integrated HTML editor makes it easy to create rich online content from anywhere in the system: within text fields of records, in outbound emails, in field labels and instructions, and in reports.

Linking Records

Related records can be linked so they can be addressed as a group.

↑ top

Easy Hyperlinks

Text containing URL information, such as http://www.agiloft.com is automatically converted into working hotlinks.

↑ top

Standard Solutions   

To streamline your customer support process, you can designate the answers to common issues as "Standard Solutions". Your technicians can find the best standard solution using a keyword search while they are responding to new customer inquiries.

If they find a relevant solution, a single click copies it into the relevant field of the new ticket.

↑ top

ITIL Support

Agiloft's pre-configured ITIL solution makes adopting the best practices of ITIL quick and painless. Because it has all the structures and automation designed from the start, it can be ready to go live with a minimum of additional customization.

↑ top

Document Management

Attached Document Revision Control

Full document revision control limits who has access to particular documents and creates an audit trail of both those who edited and what changes were made. It even provides comparisons between different revisions of Word documents.

↑ top

File Check-in and Check-out

Check-in/Check-out ensures that updates will not be lost, allowing many individuals to work together effectively while always having access to the most up to date version.

↑ top

PDF / Word Print Templates

The print format wizard allows records to be formatted into a pre-designed Word or PDF format for easy distribution and printing. A special rule action can be run that automatically creates the Word or PDF file and attaches it to a field in the record for emailing.

↑ top

Full Text File Searching

Powerful full text searching is available even within attached documents.

↑ top

Automated document assembly

Create an entire contract with a single mouse click. Dates, fields and formulas are substituted into the Word document template, without the need for messy client or Active X controls.

↑ top

Powerful Searching   

Full Text Search

The integrated Full Text Search (FTS) engine provides a fast natural language search capability with synonym support, to assist staff and end users in finding the information they need, in the database and in attached files.

↑ top

Complex Database Searches

Advanced searches with complex logic are easily defined or customized using a Saved Search GUI that supports parentheses, variables and global values. For example, the above search took less than 1 minute to define.

↑ top

Database Sorting

During a search of the database, any field or combination of fields can be used to specify the order in which results are displayed to the user.

The results can also be sorted interactively by simply clicking on the column heading.

↑ top

Saved Searches

Custom searches can be saved with your choice of name.

Saved searches are immediately available from the pull down menu bar.

↑ top

Run-time searches for reporting

Run-time search filters allow you to add a criterion to a saved search at runtime to reduce the number of saved searches you need. For instance, you can save a search for all open tickets created in the past month, but when running it, put in the customer name you are interested in and just see tickets for that customer.

↑ top

Charts and Reports   

Graphical Charts

Charts, reports and dashboards provide a wealth of graphical feedback. There are too many charts to list here, but they include charts showing lead conversion rates, sales projection, the number of outstanding requests, the rate at which issues and requests are submitted on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis, the severity of tickets, the average time taken by staff members to resolve problems, and so on.

An unlimited number of additional custom charts may be defined and the default charts modified in a couple of minutes each using the wizard driven browser interface.

↑ top

Dashboards   

The drag and drop customization allows custom charts from multiple tables to be combined to form dashboards in a few seconds.

The data behind the charts is available with the click of a button.

↑ top

Trend Charts and Reports

Trend charts and reports show how your company is progressing and provide the business intelligence you need to judge the impact of strategic decisions.

↑ top

Interactive Reports

With a few mouse clicks, managers can define custom reports, view them immediately and save them for re-use later.

↑ top

Scheduled Report Distribution

Reports, charts, and dashboards can be scheduled to be run at any time interval and they can be automatically emailed to a team or some users, or distributed to a fixed URL so users at your company can access them in real time.

↑ top

Communication & E-mail Integration

E-mail Integration   

Incoming e-mail can be popped from multiple email accounts with full SSL security to automatically generate different kinds of records and send immediate confirmation to the sender in regular text or full HTML format.

For example, the sender might receive the above confirmation message.

↑ top

Outgoing E-mail Integration

Agiloft provides for both automatic and manual generation of outgoing e-mail messages in plain text or HTML format. These messages can contain variables such as the user's name ($Name in the example above) that are automatically substituted into the text.

↑ top

E-mail Alerts and Escalation   

Supervisors and/or staff can be notified by e-mail of newly submitted tickets or particular situations, such as response times exceeding specified limits or new tickets assigned to them. Escalation rules are unlimited and easily customized.

For example, an alert triggered by a system monitoring script may automatically alert your staff and customers of critical problems and keep them apprised of the resolution status.

↑ top

Email Hotlinks   

To make it easy for customers to provide additional information or approvers to approve records awaiting their feedback, the Workflow and Business Rules engine can generate automatic hotlinks as part of outgoing emails (see sample email above) that can log the user back into the individual record:

These hotlinks may also be configured to set specific field values (i.e. to set an Approved field to Yes) and take the user to your choice of URL when he has finished.

↑ top

Chat Integration

The integrated chat facility allows your staff to communicate with multiple customers concurrently, reducing support costs and telephone charges.

↑ top

Broadcast Messaging

The broadcast messaging feature can be used to send messages to specific individuals or teams in real time.

↑ top

Auditability   

Activity Logs and Reports

Any kind of user activity can be tracked with the desired level of granularity and the results displayed as graphical charts, HTML reports or Excel spreadsheets.

↑ top

Audit Trail and History

Auditability is critical for government compliance and it is fully supported in Agiloft through automated tracking of all record changes.

Not only is the full history available, but a snap-shot of the record as it existed at any point in the past can be obtained with a single mouse click.

↑ top

Automation

Graphical Workflow   

Full Workflow functionality allows you to control, automate and enforce how data is processed. Even complex processes can be modeled in a matter of minutes.

Based on the rules you define with the point and click interface, information is routed directly to the correct individuals or groups. With support for automatic e-mail notification, data updates, re-assignment and scripting, Workflow reduces administrative load, increases transparency and automates the flow of information throughout the business.

↑ top

Business Rules Engine   

While Workflow automates the flow of control from department to department, the Business Rules engine automates backend processes and interaction with other enterprise systems. For example, it might send an alert if an urgent issue has been left standing for too long, or distribute reports and notifications necessary for regulatory compliance.

↑ top

Business Rules Wizard

Creating a business rule is easy with the wizard driven interface.

Rules can be triggered by real-time events, time intervals or a combination of conditions.

Integration with the GUI, API and Email systems provides power and flexibility.

The system understands that different rules and assignments need to apply at different times for organizations that operate across multiple time zones with distributed suppliers, sales and support organizations.

Business rules can interact directly with other business processes or third party databases, trigger emails and update system data.

It is like having a dedicated staff that works 24/7 to keep your business running smoothly. Each of your business goals is implemented precisely, without human errors or cost.

For example, you no longer have to worry about issues dropping through the cracks when someone goes on vacation - the system can automatically re-assign and provide pro-active notification of issues that have been dormant for too long.

↑ top

Ensure that agreements are met

Fully configurable alerts and escalations notify your staff to ensure that SLA requirements are met

Charts show the amount of time that issues were assigned to individuals or teams and whether or not SLA requirements were met. Reports and History provide a detailed breakdown of how long the issue spent in each stage.

↑ top

Round Robin Assignment   

Automatically and fairly distribute issues to team members with round-robin assignments.

↑ top

Automatic Backups

To prevent against the loss of data though disk failures, a fully automatic backup utility is built into the product.

↑ top

Brandable Customer Portal

Custom End User Portal

A completely custom interface can be created using tools such as DreamWeaver or Fusion. Simply insert XML tags for dynamic elements such as tables, status messages, and menu actions, and let the wizard generate the content for you.

↑ top

Custom Look and Feel

The colors, fonts, graphic images and style of the default Agiloft interface can be modified through the Look and Feel wizard without writing a line of code.

↑ top

Multiple Custom Brandings

The Look and Feel editor allows you to create multiple simultaneous custom brandings, so that each of your customers can be greeted with a look and feel that matches their corporate standard.

Creating a new look only takes a few minutes.

↑ top

Custom Graphic Images

The graphic images can be replaced with your own images as needed.

↑ top

Custom Fonts

The fonts and colors can be replaced with the fonts and colors needed to match your corporate website.

↑ top

Multi-language Support

Multi-language support allows your sales, support and marketing organizations to provide 24/7 support and services worldwide.

You do not have to choose between languages, the product can be accessed in multiple languages simultaneously, with all messages, wizards, status reports and field labels automatically provided in the language of the user's browser, or chosen manually.

↑ top

Interactive FAQs

Users can be given easy access to standard answers via an FAQ interface that is fully integrated with the knowledgebase and the customizable look and feel provides a seamless experience with the rest of the web site.

↑ top

Accessing the System & Permission Control

Single Sign-On

Now your staff and users no longer have to supply a login name and password, they can login instantly using single sign-on / NT authentication.

↑ top

Self Registration

Agiloft supports self-registration to eliminate the burden of manually creating new users. Once registered, users can submit tickets via web forms and check the status of existing issues, without taking the time of your staff.

The ability of users to self-register can be enabled or disabled with a couple of mouse-clicks.

↑ top

Configurable Password Controls

Extensive options are provided to configure password security.

Record Level Permissions

The admin can define precise record level access permissions.

SQL search based permissions provide sophisticated permission structures such as "Allow resellers to view issues submitted by their customers, but not the customers of other resellers"

↑ top

Field Level Permissions

The admin can also define permissions for access to individual fields within a record.

In the above example, users in the selected group can View and edit the Assigned Person field in records that they own, but they cannot Edit it in records they do not own.

It takes just one mouse click by the administrator to change any one of these permissions.

↑ top

Group Security Permissions

The admin can define precise access to menu items, records and specific fields within records for each User Group.

Standard groups include admin, staff, registered users and unregistered users. An unlimited number of additional groups may be added as needed, and the permissions for the default groups may be easily modified.

↑ top

Alternate Web Interfaces for End Users

The system support an unlimited number of fully custom web interfaces for end users that make it easy to submit requests and upload or download patches, updates, or other files. These interfaces can be branded to precisely match your website look and feel.

It also supports a simple interface that can dynamically adjust to match the branding of your important customers.

↑ top

Web Interface for Administrators

All administration is done through a GUI-based admin interface that makes it possible for business managers to do their own customization of their business process.

↑ top

Web Interface for Technicians and Staff Users

A space-efficient Web interface for staff and power users makes it easy to respond to assigned records and to work with a variety of tasks.

↑ top

Mobile interface

Agiloft is accessible over mobile devices such as the iPhone, any android-supported cell phone, and also over the web as an ADA compliant interface. The mobile interface allows individuals out in the field to stay connected and eliminates the need to manually reenter tickets or forms when they return.

↑ top

System Integration and API's

Systems Integration

As detailed on our integration page, prebuilt integration is included for standard systems such as MS Exchange, QuickBooks, Excel and LDAP.

Our API's provide everything you need to integrate Agiloft with your in-house systems, and if your staff is busy we provide a full range of consulting, integration and custom development services.

↑ top

LDAP/MS Active Directory Integration

Full integration with LDAP and Microsoft Active directory is supported to eliminate the overhead of maintaining user accounts on multiple servers.

LDAP users are treated exactly like regular users with group access permissions and configurable mapping between user fields and LDAP attributes

Skype and TAPI Integration

Skype and TAPI integration provides features such as a screen pop with that users's record when then call, or an option to create a new user if they are unknown, as shown in this video.

Scripts API

Custom business logic and intelligence can be added to Agiloft through custom scripts that are invoked when records are created or modified. Data is transferred to these scripts through the XML transport layer and the scripts themselves may be written in languages such as Perl or Java or the language of your choice.

↑ top

Web Services API

For advanced server side scripting and custom batch processing, Agiloft supports a full Web Services API.

↑ top

REST API

The REST interface provides a clean and easy integration method when the full sophistication of WebServices is not required. The REST interface supports the essential CRUDS operations of Create, Read, Update, Delete, Select.

This allows automation of actions from external agents such as user forms, Javascript/AJAX and external programs.

↑ top

Import / Export

In addition to exchanging data and integrating systems through the the Perl, Java, REST and Web Services API's, data files in ASCII, XML or Excel format can be scheduled for automated import or export at times of your choosing.

Agiloft can import and export data in standard, tab-delimited ASCII, or proprietary formats for the exchange of information with database, spreadsheet, contact management and word-processing applications.

↑ top

Asset Discovery and WMI Support

Automatic asset discovery is supported through WMI integration, allowing automatic capture of whatever hardware, OS and software information you need from the user's PC.

↑ top

QuickBooks Integration

The Agiloft Synchronization sub-system provides powerful facilities for automatic synchronization between an Agiloft table and corresponding records in external systems. Agiloft comes with built in synchs for File Directories, Exchange, QuickBooks, and Excel.

↑ top

Outlook and iCalendar Integration

The calendar can be made available for subscription by other calendaring systems like Outlook and iCal and more.

↑ top

MS Exchange Integration

The Agiloft Synchronization sub-system provides powerful facilities for automatic synchronization between an Agiloft table and corresponding records in external systems. Agiloft comes with built in synchs for File Directories, Exchange, QuickBooks, and Excel.

↑ top

Rapid Installation and Upgrades

Installation Time

Installation takes less than 7 minutes and the product is ready for immediate use. Full customization for production use typically takes less than two weeks.

Upgrades

The upgrade wizard automatically creates a backup, downloads the latest release, and runs the upgrade, performing full integrity checks afterwards. Please see this tutorial Upgrading on Windows and Linux for an illustration of the upgrade process

↑ top

Next Steps