Difference between revisions of "Support Departments"

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==Departments==
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Support departments help you categorize tickets. The first step in the user ticket submission process is to choose a department. You can assign different staff to different departments with different people handling the different areas. Sales, Support, and Billing are common departments.  
Support Departments are the categories for tickets. The first step in the user ticket submission process is to choose their department. Different staff can be assigned to different departments so you can have the different areas handled by different people if required. Common departments are '''Sales, Support, Billing''' etc...
 
  
<noinclude>More information on the Support Ticket system can be found at [[Support Tickets]]</noinclude>
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You can access this feature at '''Configuration (<i class="fa fa-wrench" aria-hidden="true"></i>) > System Settings > Support Departments''' or, prior to WHMCS 8.0, '''Setup > Support > Support Departments'''.
  
===Creating Departments===
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For more information about the Support Ticket system, see [[Support Tickets]].
[[File:Videotutorial.png‎|center|link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm6cAc5C3hg&hd=1|Watch Video Tutorial]]
 
  
*To setup departments, go to '''Setup > Support > Support Departments''' and click Add New Department.
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==Creating Departments==
*When creating a department you can enter a name and description to display to users. The email address will be used to send notifications relating to the ticket to clients and should be unique for each department..
 
* The '''Clients Only''' option defines if it's a clients only department thereby requiring a login to submit there - for example Sales would be a public department while Support might be set to clients only.
 
* The '''Pipe Replies Only''' option requires clients to login to the client area to open new tickets, attempts to open new tickets via email will not be successful. Tickets can still be responded to via email.
 
*You can also setup if no auto responder email should be sent when a new ticket is opened and whether it's hidden or visible; hidden departments can only be accessed via a direct link.
 
* The '''Feedback Request''' option defines whether or not an email request will be sent for a user to provide feedback for their support ticket experience. The results of the feedback emails can be reviewed via the [[Reports#Ticket_Feedback_Scores|Ticket Feedback Scores]] and [[Reports#Ticket_Feedback_Comments|Ticket Feedback Comments]] reports.
 
*After creating a department, you need to assign yourself and other staff to it as appropriate in '''Setup > Staff Management > Administrators''' by editing the staff profile before you will be able to access that department in Support > Support Tickets
 
* For staff to receive email notifications of new tickets and client responses in a particular department, tick the '''Enable Ticket Notifications''' checkbox on the aforementioned page. Ticket attachments will not be emailed to staff.
 
*In order to have '''emails from users automatically import''' into the ticket system as tickets, you need to configure [[Email Piping]].
 
  
Once a department has been created it is possible to create [[Custom Fields]] to be asked for during ticket submission. Click the Edit icon next to the department and then the Custom Fields tab.
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To set up departments:
  
===Assigning Staff to a Department===
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# Click '''Add New Department'''.
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# Enter a '''Department Name''' and '''Description''' to display to users. The system will use the email address to send notifications relating to the ticket to users. Make this unique for each department.
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# For '''Assigned Admin Users''', check the boxes for each admin who will have access to the tickets in this department.
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# For '''Clients Only''', specify whether it's a clients-only department, which requires you to log in. For example, Sales would be a public department while you might set Support to clients-only.
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# For '''Pipe Replies Only''', select whether to require users to log in to the Client Area to open new tickets. Attempts to open new tickets via email will fail, but users can still respond to tickets via email.
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# For '''No Autoresponder''', check the box to prevent sending an autoresponder email when a new ticket opens
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# For '''Feedback Request''', check the box to send an email request for a user to provide feedback for their support ticket experience. You can review the results of the feedback emails via the '''Ticket Feedback Scores''' and '''Ticket Feedback Comments''' reports.
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# For '''Hidden''', check the box to hide the department. Users can only access hidden departments via a direct link.
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# If you want to poll your mailserver using mail importing, enter the appropriate information at the bottom of the form. For more information, see [[Email Importing]], [https://help.whmcs.com/m/support_tools/l/1328652-setting-up-pop3-importing-with-oauth-via-google Setting Up POP3 Importing via Google], and [https://help.whmcs.com/m/support_tools/l/1600723-setting-up-importing-via-microsoft Setting Up Importing via Microsoft].
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# Click '''Add New Department'''.
  
After creating a department, you need to assign yourself and other staff to it as appropriate, this enables you to define which staff can see certain messages. So for example you can have dedicated billing staff who can only see tickets in the billing department.
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<div class="docs-alert-warning">
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<span class="title">Re-using email addresses</span><br/>
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Using the same POP3 details on multiple support departments is not recommended and will likely cause duplicate tickets to be imported.
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</div>
  
Navigate to '''Setup > Administrators''' and edit the staff profiles, tick the appropriate department checkbox to enable them to access that department in Support > Support Tickets.<noinclude>
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==Custom Fields==
  
===Email Piping===
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After you create a department, you can create [[Custom Fields|custom fields]] to display during ticket submission.
Emails from users can be configured to automatically import into the ticket system as tickets, this is called [[Email Piping]], please refer to the [[Email Piping]] documentation for configuration instructions.</noinclude>
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To do this:
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# Click the '''Edit''' icon for the desired department.
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# Choose '''Custom Fields''' tab.
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# Enter the requested field information and choose a field type.
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# Check the appropriate checkboxes to show or hide the field or require a response.
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# Click '''Save Changes'''.
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For more information about custom field configuration, see [[Custom Fields]].
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==Email Piping and Importing==
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You can automatically send user emails into the ticket system as tickets and ticket replies. To do this, you will need to either pipe or import the email into WHMCS (email piping and email importing).
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* For more information about email piping, see [[Email Piping]].
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* For more information about email importing, see [[Email Importing]].

Latest revision as of 18:01, 7 September 2022

Support departments help you categorize tickets. The first step in the user ticket submission process is to choose a department. You can assign different staff to different departments with different people handling the different areas. Sales, Support, and Billing are common departments.

You can access this feature at Configuration () > System Settings > Support Departments or, prior to WHMCS 8.0, Setup > Support > Support Departments.

For more information about the Support Ticket system, see Support Tickets.

Creating Departments

To set up departments:

  1. Click Add New Department.
  2. Enter a Department Name and Description to display to users. The system will use the email address to send notifications relating to the ticket to users. Make this unique for each department.
  3. For Assigned Admin Users, check the boxes for each admin who will have access to the tickets in this department.
  4. For Clients Only, specify whether it's a clients-only department, which requires you to log in. For example, Sales would be a public department while you might set Support to clients-only.
  5. For Pipe Replies Only, select whether to require users to log in to the Client Area to open new tickets. Attempts to open new tickets via email will fail, but users can still respond to tickets via email.
  6. For No Autoresponder, check the box to prevent sending an autoresponder email when a new ticket opens
  7. For Feedback Request, check the box to send an email request for a user to provide feedback for their support ticket experience. You can review the results of the feedback emails via the Ticket Feedback Scores and Ticket Feedback Comments reports.
  8. For Hidden, check the box to hide the department. Users can only access hidden departments via a direct link.
  9. If you want to poll your mailserver using mail importing, enter the appropriate information at the bottom of the form. For more information, see Email Importing, Setting Up POP3 Importing via Google, and Setting Up Importing via Microsoft.
  10. Click Add New Department.

Re-using email addresses
Using the same POP3 details on multiple support departments is not recommended and will likely cause duplicate tickets to be imported.

Custom Fields

After you create a department, you can create custom fields to display during ticket submission.

To do this:

  1. Click the Edit icon for the desired department.
  2. Choose Custom Fields tab.
  3. Enter the requested field information and choose a field type.
  4. Check the appropriate checkboxes to show or hide the field or require a response.
  5. Click Save Changes.

For more information about custom field configuration, see Custom Fields.

Email Piping and Importing

You can automatically send user emails into the ticket system as tickets and ticket replies. To do this, you will need to either pipe or import the email into WHMCS (email piping and email importing).