The hardware shop handles computer hardware problems and requests, as well as the department's PBX. In order to better keep track of the volume of requests that the shop receives, we have created a request tracking system. Each request (or ticket) that enters the system is assigned a tracking number and a log file is created. Electronic mail about the ticket (as well as any comments from the shop) is automatically added to the log file. Also, information such as the ticket's status and the shop staff member who currently owns the ticket is maintained.
ShopReq is based on a tool called Cascabel, which handles the tracking numbers, the electronic mail logs, and the information associated with the ticket. These web pages are intended to provide a convenient front-end to Cascabel and the ShopReq queue.
To submit a request, you can use either:
Please supply as much information as you can about your request in order to help the shop answer it.
After you send your request, you should get an email confirmation with the ticket number that has been assigned to your request.
To check the status of a ticket, once it has been created, you can go to the other web-based form available from this page.
To communicate with the shop staff about a ticket, send mail to shopreq@cs. Staff members may need to check with you while dealing with the request, or you may need to add additional information. The best way to ensure that all of this information gets logged is to send mail to shopreq@cs.utexas.edu, which is an alias watched by the Cascabel system. Any mail messages sent to this address (and properly formatted, which is described below) will be passed on to the hardware shop staff as well as the users associated with a ticket and will be logged with the ticket.
To ensure that Cascabel knows which ticket mail is associated with (as well as which queue, since it can handle more than one), the subject line of your message should contain the following string:
[shopreq #number]
where the number is the ticket number that was assigned when you created the ticket. The format should be exactly as shown; the square braces separate the marker from the rest of the subject line, the word shopreq indicates the ShopReq request queue, and the number specifies the ticket. Without all of the information, Cascabel will not be able to correctly log the message.
The easiest way to ensure the subject line is formatted correctly is to reply to the confirmation note originally sent out or to any mail that the shop staff sends.
The Department of Computer Sciences has a variety of A/V equipment available for checkout by CS faculty and staff. In order to make checking out this equipment easier, we have created a web form to accept the specific information needed to check out A/V equipment.
This information is sent to the ShopReq queue, where the CS departent hardware shop staff tracks requests. Once it is submitted, it is treated identically to the other ShopReq tickets.
For more information on the Computer Sciences department's audio/visual equipment, check the Audio/Visual Equipment page.
To submit a request, follow the Submit an A/V request link above, and fill out the form on that page.
To track a request, follow the Check the status of your requests link above and enter the ticket number or search for the ticket in the ShopReq request queue.
For more information on the Computer Sciences department's audio/visual equipment, check the Audio/Visual Equipment page.
Please send any questions or comments about using ShopReq or these pages to gripe@cs.utexas.edu