How Service Desk & Ticketing Works
End-to-end ticket lifecycle — creation, triage, assignment, SLA tracking, resolution, and how tickets connect to the rest of the platform.
What the Service Desk does
The Service Desk is the operational hub for support. Every request, problem, or question from a client — however it arrives — becomes a ticket. Tickets track who reported the issue, what the issue is, who is working on it, what was done, and whether SLA targets were met. Everything is logged, nothing falls through the cracks.
How a ticket is created
Tickets enter the Service Desk through four channels:
| Channel | How it works |
|---|---|
| Manually by staff | Agent clicks "+ New Ticket" in the Service Desk |
| Client portal | Client submits via their self-service portal — appears instantly |
| An inbound email to your support mailbox is automatically converted to a ticket (requires a Mailbox configured in Settings → Mailboxes) | |
| Automation rule | Any event anywhere in the platform (e.g. monitoring alert, contract expiry) can automatically create a ticket |
The ticket lifecycle
Open → In Progress → Pending (waiting on client) → Resolved → Closed
Each status transition is timestamped. You can reopen a Resolved ticket if a client follows up. Closed tickets are archived but searchable.
SLA tracking
Every ticket is measured against a Service Level Agreement (SLA) policy. An SLA defines:
- First response time — how long before the client gets an initial reply
- Resolution time — how long before the ticket is resolved
Both are tracked per priority (Critical / High / Medium / Low). The SLA clock counts business hours only (based on your tenant's business hours setting). A red indicator on the ticket means an SLA breach is approaching or has occurred.
SLA policies are configured at Settings → SLA and assigned to tickets automatically based on rules (e.g. ticket priority, client tier).
AI Triage (Enterprise)
On Enterprise plans, the AI Autonomy module automatically analyses every new ticket the moment it is created:
- Classifies the issue (Connectivity, Performance, Printer, Software, Storage, etc.)
- Identifies the affected device from the ticket description
- Runs the matching diagnostic playbook against that device
- Posts an internal note with findings — before any agent opens the ticket
This means by the time a technician opens the ticket, they already have a classification, a confidence score, and live diagnostic data from the device. See How Autonomy Works for details.
How tickets connect to the rest of the platform
CRM: Every ticket is linked to a CRM contact and company. The company's CRM record shows a full timeline of all their tickets.
SLA: Each ticket tracks first response and resolution targets from an SLA policy. Breaches are visible on the ticket and in Reports.
Knowledge Base: When resolving a ticket, agents can search the KB directly from the ticket sidebar. Resolved tickets can be converted to KB articles.
Billing (time entries): Agents log time on tickets. Those time entries flow to Billing for client invoicing — so billable support time is captured without a separate process.
Field Service: A ticket can generate a Work Order (dispatched to a field technician) if the issue needs on-site resolution. The work order links back to the original ticket.
RMM: From the ticket's Linked Device panel, agents can run scripts, check patch status, or open an RDP session without leaving the ticket.
Automation: Any ticket event (created, assigned, escalated, SLA breached, resolved) can trigger an Automation Rule that acts elsewhere — notify a Slack channel, escalate to a manager, create a follow-up task.
Client Portal: Clients can see their own tickets, add comments, and receive automated status-update emails. They cannot see internal notes.
The Knowledge Base
The KB lives inside Service Desk and serves two audiences:
- Internal — staff search the KB while working tickets
- Public — clients access it via the Portal and via the AI Chatbot widget (if configured)
KB articles are tagged by category and full-text searchable. When the AI Chatbot can't answer a client's question, it falls back to creating a ticket automatically.
Key settings
- Settings → SLA — Create/edit SLA policy templates
- Settings → Mailboxes — Connect inbound email addresses for automatic ticket creation
- Platform → Email Templates — Customise the emails clients receive at each ticket status
- Platform → Workflow Rules — Auto-assign tickets to agents based on category, company, or keyword
Where to go next
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