Non-functional Requirements

1. The system shall allow managers to submit and view replies to queries from any computer with intranet access without having to install additional software.
2. The system shall allow only payroll personnel and payroll manager to reply to queries, view history and comments of a query and view all previously submitted queries.
3. The system shall allow only payroll manager to view the performance of each of the payroll personnel.
4. The system must be easy to use by having a well-designed graphical user interface.
5. The system shall retrieve queries and replies within 30 seconds.
6. The system shall be designed in such a way to allow future development.
7. The system shall support a maximum of 100 simultaneous users (87 managers, 12 payroll personnel and 1 payroll manager)

Proposed System

The solution to the problem will use a database to store the originally submitted query, any replies, history of the query and data needed for query management. The database will provide central storage for all payroll queries for within the organisation and should reduce time wasted by manually searching for queries using the existing solutions. The new system should provide the managers with an easy to use graphical user interface (GUI) at which they can submit and view replies to payroll queries for their employees. Existing solutions (email) do not ensure that the manager provides the payroll department with all the necessary information in order to resolve the query, whereas the new system should include rules to prevent this and once this information has been stored it will not need to be duplicated for any other purpose. The managers should be able to receive faster replies to their queries providing the personnel staff use the system effectively as the system will ensure queries are resolved in order of submission.

The new system will provide the payroll personnel with a different GUI that will enable them to view, reply and manage the payroll queries. The GUI interface and database will allow payroll personnel to view the history of any query, add and view comments associated with a query and retrieve previously resolved queries at the touch of a button knowing only one of the attributes of it e.g. the employee's name. The GUI will have additional features allowing the payroll manager to query the database to produce reports. The new system incorporating the above features and the system requirements will save the payroll department a lot of time making it more efficient and reducing costs.