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UniPress Software has expanded its focus from the helpdesk to the larger-- model service desk with its latest Footprints customer-- problem-management software. Version 5.5 offers unrestricted browser-based access, easy implementation, mass e-mail support and configurable templates for e-mail notification messages sent to wireless devices and pagers. The product supports IMAP, SMTP and POP for managing incoming messages containing queries or new requests. FootPrints' new accounting system includes time-tracking features that allow for multiple billing rates and customization of rates based on incident type, as well as time and date stamps that offer a more complete view of time spent on individual incident reports and projects.
The product is available for Digital Alpha, HewlettPackard HP-UX, IBM RS/6000, Microsoft Windows NT/2000, Linux (x86, 2.x kernels), Sun Solaris, and FreeBSD. At $995 per agent, Footprints 5.5 is affordable for both internal and external customer support. Its database options, however, are limited: FootPrints can use Microsoft SQL (version 7 and Windows 2000) and Microsoft Access on a Windows platform. All other platforms support Footprints' custom, indexed GDBM database, which requires 3 MB of space per 1,000 entries in the system-so plan well. UniPress says it will add support for Oracle as a back-end database in a later release.
I installed a copy of Footprints 5.5 in our RealWorld Labs(R) in Green Bay, Wis., on a Dell PowerEdge 2400 with dual processors and 512 MB of RAM running Red Hat Linux 6.2 (kernel 2.2.14). The installation took 15 minutes from start to finish, requiring only minor modifications to the Apache 1.3.12 Web server. Because the entire application is Web-based, I had to configure the Web server to recognize the product's directory structure. The additions necessary for the Web server configuration are specified in a readme file, but a simple configuration file generated for the appropriate installation directories and bundled with the aliases would be better. UniPress says it has plans to incorporate this feature in a future release.
PERL 5.005 or greater is also required, and 5.005 is included with the distribution. Once you've put the aliases that point to the Footprints installation directory in the Web...