What is Redmine?

Redmine is one of the programs designed to manage the organization. This is a server-side web application for managing projects and tasks in the enterprise.

Redmine provides the user with strategic planning opportunities based on time, project reporting, customizable task execution status and participant roles, filters for organizing task information, forums, project news, work with documents, an internal Redmine wiki documentation system.

Redmine is also a convenient bug tracker (bug tracking system). Developers usually test several versions of a program in order to determine which one is more stable. In the Redmine task, you can create different versions and fix errors on them. It is very convenient for tracking statistics of occurrence of errors, types of errors. The Redmine task will clearly show in which version of the program the errors have been fixed.

Other organizations use versions in the Redmine task as “milestones” — the milestones of any type of project. This setting of Redmine allows you to control the achievement of intermediate goals (milestones) and errors. The Redmine task will show at which stage the problems arose, who was responsible for fixing the errors, as well as for meeting the deadlines of each milestone.

By default, Redmine's tasks are open to all users of the system, which makes the process of work monitoring transparent. Open access to projects and tasks of Redmine simplifies the work by the fact that you do not need to add participants each time to conduct a new Redmine task. This is especially convenient for organizations with a large staff of developers.

The Redmine enterprise management system will be conveniently used by all participants in the workflow.

Ease of Use of Redmine Tasks for a Technical Support Manager / Employee

A customer service manager or technical support employee should be able to provide information on a client’s issue with maximum reliability, detail and efficiency. With Redmine tasks, this becomes feasible: all information on a specific work order will be stored in a separate Redmine task, with the necessary files, data, work correspondence. The manager will be able to quickly navigate and answer the client’s question, because to get a complete picture of the work, he will just need to open the corresponding Redmine task. It will be enough for the client to name the number of the Redmine task, its topic or at least the keywords from the Redmine task.

Ease of use of Redmine tasks for a job performer

An employee of any specialty performing an order: a programmer, designer, copywriter will be able to do his job more efficiently with competently set technical specifications (terms of reference), transparent deadlines for fulfilling the order, and established feedback both with the client and with the authorities. With the Redmine system, you will not need to play the “dead phone”, passing on the order information by words. Also, there will be no need to spend time searching for documentation and possible disputes about which of the employees and what part of the work should be performed (in case  if there are several workers for one order). The management assigns a Redmine task to a specific worker, which clearly indicates the task, deadlines. In the Redmine task, you can set the priority of the importance of the work, appoint observers - employees who will monitor the progress of the work. The provider will have a clear idea of ​​his orders, and this will help him to complete the work on the assigned task of Redmine with the highest quality. And if questions arise during the course of the assignment, they can be discussed in the comments on the Redmine task. There you can also send options for the execution of work, indicate the status of work in percentage terms.

Ease of use of Redmine tasks for enterprise director

It is important for the head of the organization to control the workflow and employee performance. At the same time, other urgent matters require time and attention: business trips, meetings with partners, legal documents. How to do everything on time? By installing the Redmine enterprise management system, you can monitor the actions of your employees remotely by monitoring the progress of work on the comments in the Redmine tasks. You will be in touch with your customers - messages from them will also be recorded in discussions of the Redmine task. This will allow you to devote more time to development issues and communication with partners. You can effectively run the company, even on a business trip!

Ease of use of Redmine tasks by company employees for a client

By organizing the workflow, you will provide the customer with a better service. Of course, the client will not know what kind of enterprise management application you are using. But he will see the result of the work - high-quality and efficient fulfilment of the order. A satisfied client is more likely to subsequently turn to you and advise your services to your friends!

Automation Software Service implemented the integration of Redmine with Asterisk and HelpDesk, it allowed to reveal new features of Redmine.

Redmine HelpDesk plugin: creating email tasks

Redmine HelpDesk plugin (Service Desk) simplifies customer communication with technical support and contractors. Now Redmine tasks are created automatically - the client just sends an email to the organization. In the created Redmine task, the phone number and the mail address of the client are recorded - this data is transferred from the sent letter. The Redmine HelpDesk plugin simplifies the communication of a manager with a client in working correspondence. In order to answer a question that interests a client, the company employee does not need to search for a letter in his mail - just write a comment in HelpDesk (in the Redmine task). When an employee leaves an open comment in the system, they are duplicated to the client’s mail using the Redmine HelpDesk plugin (Servise Desk). The client, in return, can write an answer to the employee without changing the subject of the letter. The client’s response in this case will appear as a comment in the task - this is done by the HelpDesk Redmine system.

In the comments on the Redmine task, you can communicate with both the client and colleagues. Using the Redmine HelpDesk plugin, you can also send the necessary files. Discussing the progress of the order, employees can leave anonymous comments. Such comments are visible only in the Redmine task and are not sent to the client’s mail. You can customize the anonymity of messages yourself.

Redmine HelpDesk plugin (Service Desk) will be useful to each of the participants in the workflow.

Ease of integration of Redmine with HelpDesk plugin for manager / technical support employee

The customer service manager or technical support employee will clearly see the history of work and correspondence, which means that he will be able to competently build communication with the client in the Redmine task. With RedDine's HelpDesk system, you can get away with reporting activity. How exactly?

For example, an organization has a common email address that several employees have access to. The client contacts the organization, his letter is visible to everyone who has access to the mailbox. What about feedback? In this case, an incident may arise: several employees will respond to the letter, and in completely different ways. Or the letter will be ignored, as the employee will consider that his colleague has already answered the appeal. Or it will be necessary to report about the letter to management and wait for the relevant instructions. The Redmine HelpDesk plugin solves this problem by the sequence of correspondence in the Redmine task, the openness of the opinions of all its participants. When integrating with the Redmine HelpDesk plugin, in the comments to the Redmine task, you can configure both a general corporate signature and a personal one for the participant.

Ease of integrating Redmine with the HelpDesk plugin for a job performer

With Redmine's HelpDesk capabilities, it’s easier for the contractor to understand the wishes and needs of the customer, as he sees all the comments in their original form. Indeed, if the wishes of the client were expressed by the manager, he could have been mistaken in interpreting the words of the customer incorrectly. “But the contractor himself can understand the words of the customer in his own way!”, - you may say. Absolutely right! However, by installing the Redmine HelpDesk plugin, the contractor can directly contact the customer and find out if he correctly understood the essence of the task. To do this, it is enough to write an open comment in the Redmine task, which will be sent to the client’s mail from a common mailing address. The convenience of using the Redmine HelpDesk plugin for the executor also lies in the fact that the employee sees all the files with the date of departure. He does not need to spend time looking for files and letters in e-mail, and the specified date will allow the contractor to better predict the order fulfillment time.

Ease of integration of Redmine with HelpDesk plugin enterprise director

By installing the Redmine HelpDesk plugin, the director will be able to see all the nuances of the workflow. Open correspondence when installing the Redmine HelpDesk plugin provides the convenience of customer feedback. The director will see the history of correspondence with the client in the Redmine task. This will let you know if the client is satisfied with the work, what his wishes and suggestions are, how the employees fulfill the order and communicate with the client. Such openness of comments will help in case of conflict. The essence of the conflict will be clear, the actions of employees are visible: whether they solve the conflict situation, or vice versa, force. If desired, the director himself will be able to contact the client by writing a comment in the Redmine task.

Ease of integrating Redmine with the HelpDesk plugin for the client

The client will be able to most clearly convey their wishes on the order and quickly receive feedback from technical support, the contractor, and possibly even the director of the organization in which the Redmine HelpDesk plugin is installed. In order to see the client’s appeal, any of the company’s representatives will just have to look into the Redmine task. And the client will not need to waste his time and nerves, explaining the essence of his question to different people.

Redmine integration with Asterisk with for convenient notification of the customer about the finished order

After the order is completed, you need to notify the client about this. Integrating Redmine with Asterisk automates this process. When an employee closes the Redmine task and presses the button with the image of the phone, the system generates a voice message about the order. It automatically indicates the cost of the order and the name of the customer (if the specialist previously indicated them in the Redmine task). The message itself with a greeting, the address of the organization, and other necessary information can be set earlier in Redmine setup itself. And also quickly change it for any specific call.

So, the order is ready, and you need to inform the customer about it! Previously, for this, it was necessary to do a number of actions: find the data on the order, the phone number of the customer, make a call and agree on the payment. With the integration of Redmine and Asterisk, everything is much easier! Now the manager only needs to click on the image of the handset in the Redmine task - a message will appear that can be changed if desired. From a work phone, a call is automatically made to the client. The system plays the message specified in the Redmine settings and asks the client to give feedback by pressing the buttons on the phone (you can even make voice control). At the end of the dialogue, the client can choose a convenient way to receive an order. For example, select “order delivery” or notify that he will arrive at the company’s office later. The robot records the success of each step of the operation: in the Redmine task, comments automatically appear that the call was sent to the system, received by the system and then by the client, the item selected by the client is indicated. As you can see, when integrating Redmine with Asterisk, you can literally inform a client about the completed order and find out a convenient payment method for him in just one click!

The manager or contractor can contact the client during the work on the order. It will also be very simple - just click on the image of the handset in the Redmine program. The employee’s work telephone will dial the customer’s telephone number.

The connection between Asterisk and Redmine is a universal solution to the problems of the client, technical support manager, contractor and director.

Ease of integrating Redmine with Asterisk for a technical support manager / employee

A technical support employee can call a customer only by clicking on his phone number specified in the task. The integration of Redmine with Asterisk is convenient because the manager does not need to spend time searching and dialing the client number. The time is also reduced due to autoinformation. When integrating Redmine with Asterisk, a manager can notify more customers in the shortest possible time, without forgetting the details of the order.

Convenience of integration of Redmine with Asterisk for the contractor

The employee can also contact the customer with a single click on a number in the Redmine system. This is convenient if the contractor urgently needs an answer to a question, and the customer rarely scans email. The faster the performer learns about the wishes of the customer, the faster they will be able to fulfill them.

Ease of integrating Redmine with Asterisk for enterprise director

By integrating Redmine and Asterisk, the director will be able to quickly and conveniently contact both his employee and client. As they say, time is money. The head of the enterprise has to solve a large number of problems. It takes time and attention. Taking advantage of the integration capabilities of Redmine with Asterisk, you will not be distracted by the search for numbers and will be able to pay attention to more important issues!

Ease of integrating Redmine with Asterisk for the client

The clients will appreciate both the level of service and reliability of the organization, as well as attention to their order. If a person knows that after completing an order they will definitely be called back - he will feel psychologically more comfortable and more confident. When integrating Redmine with Asterisk in the auto-ringing system, you can set feedback buttons to survey customers on the quality of service. The person who contacted the organization will appreciate the fact that his opinion is significant for the employees of the company and will be taken into account in further work.

What do I need to configure the Redmine HelpDesk plugin?

In order to install the Redmine HelpDesk plugin, you need corporate mail with a domain. You can use regular mail on Google or Yandex, however, mail with a domain name looks more professional. You can go beyond just one address and register different mailboxes associated with the Redmine HelpDesk system. If you place different email addresses on different advertising resources, this will help determine the flows and conversion. The task generated by HelpDesk will display the address of the mail from which the client’s letter arrived. Despite this, all Redmine tasks with customer letters will be in one special project. This will allow you to quickly find the needed Redmine task and start working on it.

Wiki Redmine Convenience

Another handy tool on the Redmine system is the Redmine Wiki plugin. This is a kind of mini-Wikipedia for your enterprise. Using the Redmine Wiki, you can organize your company’s internal documentation. In the Redmine Wiki, you can store internal regulations, codes, forms for filling out documents, job descriptions. Also in the Redmine Wiki it is convenient to store help information for employees, for example, branch addresses, call scripts and call answering. Depending on the focus of the organization, you use this Redmine plugin in different ways.

Specifications for integrating Redmine with Asterisk

Do you want to integrate Redmine with Asterisk and thereby make the workflow more systematic, easier and more enjoyable? In this case, you need to:

• Install the Redmine server-side web application.
• Install the Service Desk plugin for Redmine.
• Install a digital software exchange. For example, Asterisk, FreePBX or Elastix.

If you have any difficulties with these items, we will help you!

Our experts will install these systems and integrate them, select and configure the necessary functionality.

By integrating Redmine with Asterisk and HelpDesk, you will organize your work and won’t miss a single order!

If you have any wishes for integrating Asterisk with other Redmine systems and plugins, we can implement them! Moreover, our programmers can write a Redmine plugin to automate your company's business processes. For example, you can set additional conditions for checking the work, create a certain type of task only if you have the required document format, set reminders and automatically reassign Redmine tasks. And if special attention is required to complete the Redmine task with the highest priority, we can configure Redmine in the way: when such task appears, the executor’s phone will be called.

We will help you implement the best software solutions for your business!