Design ideas

[Sherry]

Hi all

1) I am rank ameture at Access
2) I am having trouble getting started with a particular database project
3) Words are all I have to express my desperation and hopefully appreciation

THE PROBLEM
A call centre takes calls from clients regarding IT related problems and
management wishes me to create a Knowledge base database that will

Record clients requests and solutions provided that resolve the requests so...

when each request is entered the operator must first select the correct
catagory (Hardware-Software-Network etc...) and have that request along with
its solution saved appropriately so it can be searched for with ease and
efficiency

Therefore I would need to Create a user form for call centre operators to;

1) Enter a new request and its subseqent solution

2)Search the database to quickly access requests and the solutions whilst
taking calls from other clients-- to locate (if any) previously recorded
information relevant to the current callers request

Sound simple but... I am having tremendous trouble understanding how best to
construct the tables / forms / queries / reports
and ....
how to provide a user friendly interface enabling operators to work
efficiently

As I said words are all I have but I hope I have explained this clearly.

HELP PLEASE!
Cheers Sherry

 

[DL]

Have a look here http://www.databaseanswers.org/data_models/index.htm
there is a call center model, may help

 

[Sherry]

thanks DL
i will check it out
but...I am still open to other sugesstions on just getting started
I do know how to creat tables forms etc...
but this case senario has me confussed.

ironically I used a knowledge base database to get me here but...using one
is vastly different to designing and developing one

Cheers Sherry

 

[tina]

general advice: forget about queries, forms, reports, until you have first
defined your entities and designed normalized tables and appropriate
relationships. that is the most important part of designing the entire db.
do it wrong, and you'll have enless troubles and headaches in building the
rest of the db. do it right, and the rest of your work will be so so so much
easier.

for help in understanding data normalization and table relationships, see
http://www.ltcomputerdesigns.com/JCReferences.html
focusing first on the "Database Design 101" and "Getting Started" links.

after you've created the tables/relationships, the above webpage has many
links to help you complete your project. and the newsgroups are always here
to help you with specific questions, of course.

hth