#### External Helpdesk Integration

Parallels Business Automation - Standard interaction with external trouble ticket systems is implemented via the SOAP protocol, using an open Application Programming Interface (API).

The Parallels Business Automation - Standard integration with an external trouble ticket system is implemented as two modules:

- Parallels Business Automation - Standard-side module (SOAP client) built in Parallels Business Automation - Standard. The Parallels Business Automation - Standard side module is common for all Helpdesk systems.
- Helpdesk-side module (SOAP server) must be placed to a Helpdesk SOAP server. Helpdesk-side modules for supported External Helpdesk systems are shipped with the Parallels Business Automation - Standard distribution as a tar.gz files located in the `/usr/share/hspc-um-ts` directory.

User Data Synchronization

When the external Helpdesk is used, the Parallels Business Automation - Standard side module maps all the users registered in Parallels Business Automation - Standard into external Helpdesk. This synchronization is performed in the following way: Parallels Business Automation - Standard requests an external Helpdesk server, what user IDs from existing in Parallels Business Automation - Standard database are missed at an external server. If some users are missed, they are mapped to an external server. The information about the users passed includes the following (you can take a look at any of Parallels Business Automation - Standard users profile to understand what data is passed):

- id (person ID in Parallels Business Automation - Standard)
- first_name
- insertion
- middle_name
- last_name
- e-mail
- accounts (comma separated list of accounts a person has roles)

The information about users can be updated in the two cases:

- Forced update: The user information is checked and updated each time you click the Synchronize Users button..
- Automated update: In case a particular user information was changed in Parallels Business Automation - Standard (name or e-mail, etc.) this particular user data is updated at external Helpdesk. It does not matter, who changes a user data, provider or reseller, from the Control Center, or a user, from the customer Control Panel. Thus, in this case, a user data synchronization is performed on demand.

If an external Helpdesk is used, then the Helpdesk server status and the data synchronization state is shown on the Support Manager - Setup page.

Communication and Security

Messages are sent from the Parallels Business Automation - Standard side module to an external Helpdesk as SOAP envelopes. SOAP is an open protocol and thus, no secret data is passed.

However, each envelope is protected with a security HTTP header generated using the secret phrase set by you. Thus, no intruder could send fake SOAP requests without knowing the secret passphrase.

The passphrase must be specified both in the Helpdesk-side module configuration file and Parallels Business Automation - Standard side module, in the Support Manager - Setup.

Additional Security: Using HTTPS for Communication

If you would like to use secure HTTP protocol for communication between Parallels Business Automation - Standard and an external Helpdesk server, you can enable SSL for Helpdesk-side module only (please refer to the Helpdesk web server documentation for details).

Parallels Business Automation - Standard side module is based on the SOAP::Lite module available from CPAN, so it supports communication over SSL using the Crypt::SSLeay module.

Note: The Crypt::SSLeay module is included in Parallels Business Automation - Standard distribution.

Helpdesk-Side Module Installation

Helpdesk-side modules are shipped together with Parallels Business Automation - Standard distribution as a tar.gz files located after installation in the `/usr/share/hspc-um-ts` directory. These tar.gz files are named in accordance with the Helpdesk version.

To install a particular Helpdesk-side module:

1. Save the tar.gz file somewhere on the Helpdesk server.
2. Unpack the tar.gz file into a web server document root directory or into a directory under a web server document root.
3. Configure Helpdesk-side module as this described later in this guide:

- Cerberus Helpdesk
- Kayako SupportSuite

In This Section Kayako SupportSuite Module Configuration Cerberus Helpdesk Module Configuration

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