Public replies and internal notes
Each ticket has one conversation with the customer and, beside it, internal notes only your team sees. When the customer answers a ticket that waits on them, it goes back to work by itself.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- A technician's remark about the customer goes out in an email by mistake.
- The team discusses a job on WhatsApp, so the history of the ticket is spread over five phones.
- A ticket waits on the customer, the customer answers, and nobody notices for two days.
- Nobody can say when the first reply went out, so response times cannot be proved.
How it works
- Open the ticket. In the message area, Send message writes to the requester; Log note writes an internal note.
- A reply reaches the requester by email and shows on their ticket page in the portal and the app. Attach files, mention a colleague with @, or insert a canned reply by typing :: and its shortcut.
- Your team's first public reply is recorded as the first response and reaches the response target.
- The customer answers from the portal, the app or by replying to any email about the ticket. Their message lands in the same conversation, and the technician is told.
- If the ticket was in Waiting on Customer, the customer's answer moves it back to In Progress and the clock runs again.
Everything it does
What the customer sees
- Only public replies, with their files; replies from your side are marked Service team, messages sent by the system carry your company's name
- The latest 60 messages on the ticket page, oldest first
- Never internal notes, costs, margins or the happy code
- A reply box with several files at once; a closed ticket asks them to raise a new one
Internal notes
- Log note: seen by the service team only, with files and @mentions
- Notes from a subcontractor's people are internal too, never sent to the customer (Scale)
- Changes of stage, technician, priority and coverage are written in the same history with the name and time
Replies and the clock
- First public reply from the team = first response for the target
- A customer reply on a ticket in Waiting on Customer resumes the work; other waiting stages stay as they are
- Canned replies: Helpdesk > Configuration > Tickets > Canned Replies
In the app and on WhatsApp
- Technicians reply or write an internal note in the app, with photos
- A note written on site without signal carries the time it was written (Scale)
- With tickets over WhatsApp (Scale), public replies also go to the customer on WhatsApp within 24 hours of their last WhatsApp message. After that a note says it was not sent there
Who uses it
Technician / AgentReplies to the customer and writes internal notes.
Team LeadReads the whole conversation and the history, and writes notes for the team.
RequesterReads replies and answers on the portal, in the app or by email.
Helpdesk AdministratorKeeps the canned replies.
Where you use it
- Web: the message area of every ticket (Send message, Log note)
- Customer portal: Messages on the ticket page, also from the email link without a login
- The SmartMy Desk app: replies and notes for technicians, replies for requesters (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Email: a reply to any email about a ticket is added to it
- Not a live chat: there is no chat window on your website
What you control
Settings
- Canned replies with their shortcuts
- Stages with Waiting On Customer, which customer replies end
- Email to the Requester per stage, for an automatic email when a ticket reaches a stage
Notifications
- Your public reply: to the requester and followers, by email
- Customer Replied: to the ticket's technician, in the app's Inbox; app push is built and not switched on yet
- Ticket Waiting for You: to the requester, in the app's Inbox and by WhatsApp or SMS where switched on, from message credits
Questions
Can a customer ever see an internal note?
No. Notes are left out of the portal, the requester app and the emails. Only your service team sees them.Does a reply by email go on the ticket?
Yes. When the customer replies to an email about a ticket, the reply and its attachments are added to that ticket.What counts as the first response?
The first public reply written by someone of your team. Internal notes do not count.Do we have saved answers for common questions?
Yes. Keep canned replies with a shortcut, and type :: in the message box to insert one.Related features
SET-UPTechnician skills, saved replies and tagsRecord which technician has which skill and at what level, so tickets can go to someone who can do the job. Answer common questions with saved replies typed in two keystrokes, and sort tickets with coloured tags that can also set response times.CUSTOMER PORTALCustomer portal for tickets, without a login from the emailYour customers and requesters raise and follow tickets on the web. They get a list with plain status, the times you promised, the conversation, visits, the service report, and buttons to confirm or reopen and rate. A link in every ticket email opens the ticket without signing in.RESPONSE TIMESResponse and resolution targets in working hoursResponse-time policies set how fast your team must reply and solve, per priority, for chosen teams, kinds of issue, customers and tags. Targets count in working hours and holidays or round the clock, pause while a ticket waits, and are never typed by hand.MORE IN THE PRODUCTTickets over WhatsAppCustomers send a WhatsApp message, photo or voice note to your number and a ticket opens for them, or their open ticket continues. Your team's replies on the ticket go back to them on WhatsApp.PRIVACY, AUDIT, PLATFORMTicket history, and what customers never seeEvery ticket keeps a history of who changed what and when. Customers see their own tickets, the public replies and the status, never your internal notes, costs or margins. Time and material lines lock once they are invoiced.RAISING A TICKETTickets from email, with unknown senders heldEach team can have its own email address, such as support@ or maintenance@. An email to it becomes a ticket for that team, and replies land on the same ticket. Senders you do not know are held for review, added by their email domain, or turned away.
See one of your own jobs run through it.
Tell us how a complaint reaches you today and what you bill for. We will show you the same job in SmartMy Desk.