4. Support Tickets

4.1 How to add/edit/delete a Support Ticket Category
        4.1.1 Adding a New Category
        4.1.2 Editing or Changing a Category
        4.1.3 Deleting a Category
4.2 Setting up Autoresponders for Categories
4.3 Other Emails
4.4 What are 'Visible' and 'Not Visible' Categories
4.5 The Open que
4.6 The Replied que
4.7 How to add related directories/categories
4.8 How to edit replies
4.9 How to copy a support ticket to the Knowledge Base
4.10 Deleting a support ticket
4.11 Message Tags
4.12 How to Search Support Tickets
4.13 How to find a ticket by 'Ticket Number'

4.1 How to add/edit/delete a Support Ticket Category

Support Ticket Categories make it easier for you to manage user support requests. This means that customers requesting support can submit a support request to a category that best suites their needs. In a large company with a wide range of products categories can also serve as a means where individuals can be assigned to specific tasks which in turn will  increase productivity.

4.1.1 Adding a New Category

Click on the 'support tickets' tab at the top when in the control panel. Now at the bottom you will see Administrator Functions, and bellow that the 'Manage Categories' link. Click on the 'Manage Categories' link it will then open a new window to the 'Category Manager'. To add a new category click on the 'Add a New Category' link. This will take you to a new screen where you can add the category.

Note that only staff members with super user status may add/edit/delete categories. See Administrator Functions & Configuration (Super User) for more on on this.

Home >> Support Tickets >> Manage Categories

In the text box marked 'Category Name' you can enter the desired name for your support category. There is also a dropdown menu with which you can select if the category should be visible to users requesting support or not. This can be useful to move tickets to that do not fit into any of the categories.

4.1.2 Editing or Changing a Category

Home >> Support Tickets >> Manage Categories

Inside the category manager next to the categories you have created you will see a link named edit. When you click on this link it will take you to the edit category screen where you can edit the category name and certain aspects of the category.

4.1.3 Deleting a Category

To delete a Category simply go to the 'Manage Categories' window - Control Panel >> Support Tickets >> Manage Categories - Then click on the link named 'Delete' next to the category that you would like to delete. The prompt will ask you if you are sure about your choice. Select 'Yes' if you are sure. Otherwise select 'No' and you will be returned to the 'Manage Categories' screen.

4.2 Setting up Autoresponders for Categories

You can set up ActivDesk to automatically send a 'reply email' once a ticket has been 'opened' or 'replied to' by a customer in specific categories. To activate/deactivate this feature for specific categories go to the Control Panel >> Admin Functions (Top Right of Screen) >>  Manage Categories

Next to the categories you will see a link saying either Autoresponder - Enabled or Autoresponder - Disabled to enable or disable the Autoresponder feature for a category click on Autoresponder - Enabled or Autoresponder - Disabled. You will be given one of two choices, either Yes or No. (Enable or disable autoresponder) If you select 'Yes' the 'Autoresponder' will be activated. If you select 'No' the 'Email Autoresponder' will be disabled.

If you selected 'Yes' to enable the Autoresponder then you will be able to customize the email that is sent to a customer when he/she posts a new ticket or reply to a ticket in the category.

4.3 Other Emails

Built into ActivDesk are a range of customizable emails to personalize your responses.

Control Panel >> Admin Functions >> Custom Emails >> Customize Emails

To customize the other email responses available go to the ActivDesk Control Panel and click on 'Admin Functions'. (Top right of screen) You will then see a link named 'Custom Emails' once there at the top you will see a tab named 'Customize Emails' Click on this tab to begin customization.

4.3.1 Customize Support Reply Email

This email informs the customer that a reply has been posted to his/her support message by the support staff.

In the example as indicated above you can customize the email, such as the company name, reply address, subject and content of the mail. It also uses variables that are replaced by ActivDesk within the email when the actual email is sent.

4.3.2 Customize Registration Email

This email acts like an autoresponder when customers register for support.

Here you can customize the email according to your company's needs. This email also uses variables, below are a list of the variables used by ActivDesk.

4.3.3 Customize Registration Email with Quick Post Form

This email acts like an autoresponder when a customer registers an account and posts a message in the same instance. There are 2 ways to register an account. The first way to register an account is to plainly register an account. The second way to register an account is to fill in the registration information and post a new ticket in the same instance. This email will be sent when the customer uses this method to register an account.
Also see: The link where customers can create support accounts automatically with support request (Optional)

Here you can customize the email according to your company's needs. Below are a list of variables used in this email.

4.3.4 Lost Password

This email is sent to a customer in the event where he/she lost/forgot his/her password. The email informs the customer what his/her user name and password is.

Here you can customize the email according to your company's needs. Below are a list of variables used in this email.

4.4 What are 'Visible' and 'Not Visible' Categories

Visible Categories are ones that are available to customers so that they may post support tickets in these categories. A 'Not Visible' Category is exactly what the name says. It's hidden from customer control panels so they can't see this category and post tickets to this category. This has many uses but the most common use is for administrative purposes. You can move tickets here that have no relevant category while answering the ticket.

You can change an existing category from 'Visible' to 'Not Visible' by going to the  
Control Panel >> Support Tickets >> Manage Categories >> Edit

4.5 The Open Ticket Que

The Open Ticket Que is where new or unanswered tickets are placed. This makes it easy to keep track of the tickets that has not received a reply yet. The Longer a Ticket is Open the Higher it will Display in the Open Ticket que. To answer a ticket in the Open Ticket Que click on the Support Tickets Tab. On the right hand side you will see three columns the first one is the Open Ticket Que. Next to the Open Tickets link you will see how many tickets are currently open in that Category. When you click on the 'open tickets' link it will take you to a page where all the open tickets are listed.

Click on the subject and you can see what the customer wrote. Then by assessing the problem you can supply the customer with a possible solution. You can also close the ticket, mark it as replied, move the ticket or copy its contents to the 'Knowledge Base'

4.6 The Replied Ticket Que

The Replied que shows the messages that have been replied to but are still open. This is useful if you want to check on the progress of a fault or to review replies made to customers. You can also edit replies that have been made. To view 'Replied' Tickets click on the 'Support Tickets' tab. Next to the Categories is a link named 'Replied' click on this link. This will take you to the page where the 'Replied tickets' for that category are listed. By clicking on the subject you will open the ticket and be able to view it, set it as an 'open ticket', close the ticket, move it to another category or copy its contents to the knowledge base.

4.7 The Closed Ticket Que

To view 'Closed' Tickets click on the 'Support Tickets' tab. Next to the each Support Category you will see a link 'Closed'. Click on this link and it will take you to a page where the closed tickets are listed. From here you can follow up on closed tickets as well as re-open them.

4.8 How to edit replies

Any replies to tickets can be edited while viewing the support ticket. Note that support staff may or may not edit replies depending on how ActivDesk is setup. To enable or disable the editing of replies by support staff, go to the Control Panel >> Admin Functions (Top right of screen) >> Settings >> Support Ticket Settings

Note that a support staff member with 'Super User' access can always edit replies regardless of the setting as explained above.

 

4.9 How to copy a support ticket to the Knowledge Base

Go to the ticket you want to add to the Knowledge Base. Once you have the ticket in front of you click on the 'Copy to Knowledge Base' button at the bottom of the screen.

4.10 Deleting a support ticket

Go to the ticket you want to Delete. Once you have the ticket in front of you click on the 'Delete' button at the bottom of the screen. This will then permanently delete this ticket from the system.

4.11 Message Tags

Message Tags are used to personalize responses and replies. For instance, let's say that the customer believes that some part of the message has more relevance. In this instance he/she can change the text color to red or bold, etc. Support staff members can also use these 'Message Tags'.

An Example of how to use it in a Message would be as follows:

Example 1: The word [red] RED [/red] is written in red. RED

Example 2: The word [blue] BLUE [/blue] is written in blue. BLUE

Below is how we would implement these tags with Hyperlinks, Images and Others

Use the [image] tag to use an image.
For example: [image]http://www.yourdomain.com/image.gif[/image]

Use the [url] tag to hyperlink something.
For example: [url]http://www.somewhere.com[/url]

Use the [url=http://something.com] tag to hyperlink text.
For example: [url=http://somewhere.com]Somewhere[/url]

Use the [b] tag to mark text as bold.
For example: [b]Some Text[/b]

4.12 How to Search Support Tickets

To Search through the Support Tickets using Keywords click on the 'Support Tickets' tab. In the top right corner of the screen next to the option to search for ticket numbers is a 'Search' button. Click on that and a new window will appear with search options.

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Here you have the option to search for keywords as well as choosing the 'Support Categories' to search. You have three options to search with. The first is using ActivDesk's built in relevance formula. The second option is to search using whole phrases. The third option allows a keyword search where all keywords need to be present in the ticket before it will be displayed.

4.13 How to find a ticket by 'Ticket Number'

Go to the Control Panel >> Support Tickets - Supply the ticket number in the 'Ticket Number' box. (Top right of screen)