Autotask

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Important

You must purchase this integration separately for both your Remote Support software and your Autotask solution. For more information, contact BeyondTrust's Sales team.

Service desks and customer support organizations using Autotask can integrate with BeyondTrust to improve service levels, centralize support processes, and strengthen compliance. This document describes the installation and configuration of the BeyondTrust Remote Support integration with Autotask.

The Autotask integration with BeyondTrust Remote Support provides the following functionality:

• A BeyondTrust support session can be initiated from within Autotask.
• At the end of a session, the incident can be updated with session information, including a chat transcript, system information, session notes, and customer and representative surveys.

Prerequisites

To complete this integration, ensure that you have the necessary software installed and configured as indicated in this guide, accounting for any network considerations.

Applicable versions

• BeyondTrust Remote Support: 14.x and newer
• Autotask: Current release

Network considerations

The following network communication channels must be open for the integration to work properly:

Prerequisite installation and configuration

The Autotask integration is a BeyondTrust Middleware Engine plugin.

Configure Autotask

The following steps describe the creation of an API user as well as the configuration of two LiveLinks in Autotask for generating session keys and launching a Jump session to a Configuration Item.

Create an API user

1. In Autotask, go to Admin > Resources (Users).

2. Hover over the arrow next to the New button and click New API User.

3. Fill in the required fields under GENERAL

   • First Name
   • Last Name
   • Email Address
   • Security Level
   • API User (System)
   • Primary Internal Location

4. Click Generate Key to generate a random key under CREDENTIALS.

5. Click Generate Secret to generate a random secret under CREDENTIALS.

6. Under API TRACKING IDENTIFIER, click the Custom (Internal Integration) radio button to generate a random tracking identifier.

7. Copy the generated Credentials (key, secret) and API Tracking Identifier which is the API Integration Key needed to add them in the Middleware Engine configuration.

Create BeyondTrust application

1. In Autotask, go to Admin > Extensions & Integrations > Autotask Add-ons > LiveLinks Designer.
2. On the Applications tab, click the New button.
3. Enter BeyondTrust as the LiveLinks Application Name and the LiveLinks Application Description.
4. Click Save & Close.

Create the BeyondTrust Jump LiveLink

1. In Autotask, go to Admin > Automation > Autoforms & LiveLinks > LiveLinks Designer.

2. On the LiveLinks tab, click the New button.

3. Create the LiveLink with the following settings:

4. On the Configuration tab, ensure both Ticket Details Window - Service Desk and Ticket Grid - Service Desk are checked.
5. Click Save & Close.
6. Right-click the BeyondTrust Jump to CI LiveLink in the list and select Publish LiveLink.
7. Using the Security Levels, Departments, and/or Resources tabs, select the appropriate groups or users that should be able to view and use the LiveLink.
8. Click Save & Close to publish the LiveLink.

Create the BeyondTrust session key LiveLink

1. Create another LiveLink with the following settings:

2. On the Configuration tab, ensure both Ticket Details Window - Service Desk and Ticket Grid - Service Desk are checked.
3. Click Save and Close.
4. Follow the same steps as with the previous link to select the appropriate groups and users, and then publish the LiveLink.

Configure Remote Support

Several configuration changes are necessary on the BeyondTrust Appliance B Series to integrate with Autotask. You must make these changes on each appliance for which you intend to create a plugin configuration.

All of the steps in this section take place in the BeyondTrust /login administrative interface. Access your Remote Support interface by going to the hostname of your B Series Appliance followed by /login (e.g., https://support.example.com/login).

Verify the API Is enabled

This integration requires the BeyondTrust XML API to be enabled. The BeyondTrust Middleware Engine uses this feature to communicate with the BeyondTrust APIs.

Go to /login > Management > API Configuration and verify that Enable XML API is checked.

Create an OAuth API account

The Autotask API account is used from within Autotask to make Remote Support Command API calls to Remote Support.

1. In /login, navigate to Management > API Configuration.
2. Click Add.
3. Check Enabled.
4. Enter a name for the account.
5. OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret are used during the OAuth configuration step in Autotask.
6. Under Permissions, check the following:
   • Command API: Full Access.
   • Reporting API: Allow Access to Support Session Reports and Recordings, and Allow Access to Presentation Session Reports and Recordings.
7. Click Save at the top of the page to create the account.

Add an outbound event URL

1. Go to /login > Management > Outbound Events.
2. In the HTTP Recipients section, click Add and name it Integration or something similar.
3. Enter the URL to use:
   • If using an appliance ID of default: http://:/ERSPost. The default port is 8180.
   • If using an appliance ID other than default: http://:/ERSPost?appliance= where is the hostname where the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine is installed. The default port is 8180. The is an arbitrary name, but note the value used, as it is entered later in the plugin configuration. This name accepts only alphanumeric values, periods, and underscores.
4. Scroll to Events to Send and check the following events:
   • Support Session End
   • Customer Exit Survey is Completed
   • Representative Survey is Completed
   • Someone Joins a Support Session (Optional)
5. Click Save.

The list of outbound events contains the event just added. The Status column displays a value of OK if communication is working. If communication is not working, the Status column displays an error which you can use to repair communication.

Add a custom link

BeyondTrust custom links can be configured to allow representatives to quickly access the Autotask item that is associated with the session.

BeyondTrust 15.1 and later

1. Browse to Rep Console > Custom Links.
2. Enter a name for the link, and then set the URL to:
   https://ww<#>.autotask.net/Autotask/Views/ServiceDesk/ServiceDeskTicket/service_ticket.aspx?ticketID=%SESSION.CUSTOM.EXTERNAL_KEY% where <#> is the customer's Autotask instance number. If needed, you can use any of the available macros to customize the link according to your specifications.
3. Click Save to save the new link.

Configure the Autotask plugin

Now that you have configured Autotask and the BeyondTrust Appliance B Series, deploy and configure the Autotask plugin.

1. Copy the provided plugin ZIP file to the server hosting the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine.

2. Extract the plugin ZIP file to the Plugins folder in the directory where the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine is installed.

3. Restart the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine Windows service.

4. From the server, launch the middleware administration tool. The default URL is http://127.0.0.1:53231.

5. The Autotask Plugin shows in the list of plugins. Click the clipboard icon to add a new configuration.

BeyondTrust Appliance B Series

The first portion of the plugin configuration provides the necessary settings for communication between the plugin and the B Series Appliance. The configuration sections include:

1. Plugin Configuration Name: Any desired value. Because multiple configurations can be created for a single plugin, allowing different environments to be targeted, provide a descriptive name to indicate how this plugin is to be used.
2. Appliance Id: This can be left as Default or can be given a custom name. This value must match the value configured on the outbound event URL in the B Series Appliance. If outbound events are not being used, this value is still required, but any value may be used.
3. BeyondTrust Appliance B Series Host Name: The hostname of the B Series Appliance. Do not include https:// or other URL elements.
4. BeyondTrust Integration API OAuth Client ID: The client ID of the OAuth account.
5. BeyondTrust Integration API OAuth Client Secret: The client secret of the OAuth account.
6. Locale Used for BeyondTrust API Calls: This value directs the B Series Appliance to return session data in the specified language.
7. Disabled: Enable or disable this plugin configuration.
8. Allow Invalid Certificates: Leave unchecked unless there is a specific need to allow. If enabled, invalid SSL certificates are allowed in calls performed by the plugin. This would allow, for example, self-signed certificates. We do not recommend this in production environments.
9. Use Non-TLS Connections: Leave unchecked unless it is the specific goal to use non-secure connections to the B Series Appliance. If checked, TLS communication is disabled altogether. If non-TLS connections are allowed, HTTP access must be enabled on the BeyondTrust /login > Management > API Configuration page. We strongly discourage using non-secure connections.

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Note

When using OAuth authentication, TLS cannot be disabled.

1. Outbound Events Types: Specify which events the plugin processes when received by the middleware engine. Keep in mind that any event types selected here must also be configured to be sent in BeyondTrust. The Middleware Engine receives any events configured to be sent in BeyondTrust but passes them off to the plugin only if the corresponding event type is selected in this section.
   • Support Session End
   • Customer Exit Survey is Completed
   • Representative Survey is Completed
2. Polling Event Types: If network constraints limit connectivity between the B Series Appliance and the middleware engine such that outbound events cannot be used, an alternative is to use polling. The middleware engine regularly polls the B Series Appliance for any sessions that have ended since the last session was processed. At this time, only the Support Session End event type is supported.

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Note

One caveat to polling behavior versus the use of outbound events is that if a session has ended but the customer exit survey has not yet been submitted within the same polling interval, the customer exit survey is not processed. This does not apply to representative surveys since the session is not considered to be complete if a representative survey is still pending.

1. Polling Interval: Enter only if polling is used. This determines how often the middleware engine polls the B Series Appliance for sessions that have ended.
2. Retry Attempt Limit: Enter the number of retries that can be attempted if the plugin fails to process an event.
3. Retry Outbound Event Types: Specify which outbound events the plugin retries if it fails to process an event.
4. Retry Polling Event Types: Specify which polling events the plugin retries if it fails to process an event.

Autotask instance

The remainder of the plugin configuration provides the necessary settings for communication between the plugin and the Autotask instance. The configuration settings include:

1. Autotask Services URL: The services URL for the Autotask instance (e.g., https://webservices<#>.autotask.net/ATServicesRest, where # is the same number found in the URL used to access the Autotask web interface (e.g., https://ww<#>.autotask.net).
2. Autotask Username: The username of the API account.
3. Autotask Password: The password of the above user.
4. Autotask Note Type: The type of note used for BeyondTrust Session information (default value is 1).
5. Autotask Update Time Entry: Choose if you want the integration to create time entries based on the session duration and primary representative.
6. Autotask Publish Notes as Public: If enabled, notes are published as public notes, meaning that they can be seen by end-users.
7. Time Entry Default Data: Only used if Autotask Update Time Entry is enabled. This setting contains a JSON string used to represent default data passed for certain fields when creating the time entry. Most can be left 'null', but a few are required.
   • defaultDomain: To identify a user in Autotask which matches the primary representative in the session, the BeyondTrust username is combined with this default domain to construct an email address. The email address should match a user in Autotask.
   • roleName: This is a required field for time entry creation. The supplied role name must be a role in which any common BeyondTrust/Autotask users are members.
   • summaryNotes: This is also a required field for time entry creation. The value supplied is used for all sessions.
8. Enable Automatic Ticket Creation on Session Start (Rep joins session): Enables the automatic creation of a ticket when a session that is not already tied to an existing ticket starts.

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Note

This setting requires an external key to be formatted in a JSON string when the representative first joins the session and also requires the plugin to accept the Someone Joins a Support Session outbound event.

1. Automatic Ticket Creation on Session Start (Rep joins session) when external key is not provided: Enables the automatic creation of a ticket when a session that is not already tied to an existing ticket starts.

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Note

This is used when the session is generated through the support portal's Issue Submission form resulting in an empty external key. It will utilize certain fields from the form such as Issue Type and Description for the new ticket and also requires the Enable Automatic Ticket Creation setting above to be enabled as well as the plugin to accept the Someone Joins a Support Session outbound event

1. Automatic Ticket Creation for these Session Types: Select the type(s) of sessions that you wish to result in ticket creation when all other criteria is met.
2. Ticket Default Data: This setting should be used only if automatic ticket creation is enabled. This setting contains a JSON string used to represent the default data passed for certain fields when creating a ticket. Any values provided in the external key override the corresponding default value provided here.

After saving the configuration, click the test icon next to the new plugin configuration. No restart is needed.

Automatic ticket creation dynamic configuration

Three fields allow for dynamic configuration: ContactID, Title, and Description.

For ContactID, a specifically formatted value can be supplied, which instructs the integration to search for an Autotask contact record, based on the value of a custom field present on the session. This field would most likely have been filled out by the user on the Issue Submission form of the Remote Support site. If no matching contact can be found, the integration uses the static contact identified by the ID in the defaultContactID field configured just below in the JSON code.

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Example

A custom field with a code name of customer_email has been added to the Remote Support site, to collect the user's email address. That value is searched against the emailAddress attribute in Autotask to find a matching Contact record.

The formatted value for ContactID is:

{{emailAddress|customer_email}}

The double curly braces are part of the format and must be included.

The first component within the curly braces is the field/attribute on the Autotask Contact record that is searched for a matching value.

The second component (after the pipe character | ) is the code name of the custom field created on the Remote Support site and filled out by the user prior to starting the session.

Title and Description allow for some dynamic formatting by allowing an admin to place one or both of the following placeholders anywhere within the strings configured for these fields. The two placeholders are {{Issue}} and {{Details}}. As with the ContactID format, the curly braces must be included. The value for the Issue placeholder is pulled from the default Issue Type field. The value for the Details placeholder is pulled from the default Describe Your Issue field.

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Example

A user has selected VPN Access as the Issue Type on the submission form. The issue type can be appended to the ticket title, to create the ticket title BeyondTrust Remote Support Chat: VPN Access.

The formatted value for Title is:

"title": "BeyondTrust Remote Support Chat: {{Issue}}"

Report templates

On the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine server, in the \Plugins\\Templates folder, there are multiple files ending with *.hbs. These are Handlebars template files. These files are used by the plugin to format the session report and exit surveys that are added to the corresponding ticket each time a BeyondTrust session ends or each time a survey is submitted. The templates can be edited if desired.

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Note

If you are editing a template, we recommend copying and saving the original in case the changes need to be reverted.

For more information on Handlebars templates, see the Handlebars website.

Use cases

Generate session key

Support staff can generate a session key that can be given to the end user over the phone or via email to initiate a support session that is automatically associated with the selected ticket.

Import BeyondTrust session data into ticket

Once the session ends, the ticket is automatically updated with information gathered during the session, including:

• Chat Transcript (including files transferred, special actions, and other events)
• System Information (the General section plus other select details such as disk, memory, and network)
• Session Notes
• Surveys (customer and representative)

Jump to configuration item

Support staff can leverage BeyondTrust Jump Technology to access a configuration item associated with a ticket directly from the Autotask ticket.

Access ticket from Representative Console

Using BeyondTrust's custom links ability, a representative can access the associated ticket directly from within the representative console. This saves time searching for the ticket in Autotask and provides the representative with any issue details, history, or other context to help quickly resolve the issue.

Auto-time entry creation

If desired, a time entry can be created and added to the associated ticket once a session ends. The time entry uses the same start and end time as the actual session for accurate time tracking, as well as associating it with the primary representative from the session.

Automatic ticket creation

The automatic ticket creation feature does require a services engagement to implement for each customer. However, the fact that this functionality is even possible without a large custom development effort can be of great benefit to simplifying workflows and reducing the number of clicks necessary for a support representative.