The support mailbox to which the requester sends an email would need to be added to Freshservice. Once this is done, email to ticket conversion can be set up in one of the two ways mentioned below.
Default Forwarding rule:
A forwarding rule would be set up at the support mailbox to forward emails to the Forwarded To address provided by Freshservice. Emails sent to your service desk would be automatically forwarded to this address and created as tickets on your portal.
Setting up your Support Email
Custom Mail Server:
In this instance, you would be using your own mail server for your support mailbox. Incoming emails would be fetched by Freshservice from the mailbox using IMAP connections and created as tickets on the portal.
Setting up a custom mailbox in Freshservice
A note is a comment that is added to the ticket by the agent. An agent can choose to add either a public note or a private note to a ticket. The public notes will be visible to the requester when they’re viewing the ticket on the portal, whereas private notes would be visible only to agents who have access to the ticket.
A reply is an email communication that is sent out to the requester’s mail address. The replies sent by agents would be visible on the portal for the requester and also be sent directly to the mailbox of the requester.
In Freshservice, the maximum size limit for attachments to a ticket reply is 40 MB. Our system does not accept any file attachments exceeding 40 MB in size to ensure smooth and efficient functioning and prevent potential storage and file management issues.
However, you can make use of our integration with Google Drive or Dropbox for larger attachments.
Yes, you would be able to choose multiple files when sending a reply to the requester. However, the total size of all the attachments shouldn’t exceed 40 MB.
However, you can make use of our integration with Google Drive or Dropbox for larger attachments.
You can add attachments which are larger than 25 MB by integrating with Google Drive or Dropbox.
If you need any assistance on the integrations, please reach out to our support team at [email protected] for further assistance
You can add the footer into your replies by navigating to Admin-->Email Notifications and editing the “Agent Reply Template”. The content added in this reply template would be added by default to all the agent replies that are triggered from the helpdesk.
When we close a ticket, if you try closing the ticket by using the Keyboard shortcut (Alt+~) or you can press Shift and click on the close button on the ticket to skip Closure email notifications.
We would not be able to automatically forward a ticket to an non-agent whenever a new ticket is created, however we would be able to use the CC option available in workflow automator, you can configure a rule which adds the non agent as CC onto the ticket, which in turn would trigger a notification to the non-agent. Also, agents can forward the ticket manually to another user in the system.
Yes, in situations where a particular ticket requires the attention of multiple agents, the ‘Add watcher’ option can be used. When an agent is added as a watcher on a ticket they will receive notifications whenever there is an activity on the ticket.
The Agent collision feature on the ticket view page displays information about other agents who are currently viewing the same ticket. You can check this from the eye icon on top of the ticket just below the ticket ID information.
The Agent collision feature on the ticket view page displays information about other agents who are currently viewing and replying to the same ticket. You can check this from the eye icon/pencil icon on top of the ticket just below the ticket ID information. The name of these agents would be listed as ‘Currently replying’ on the ticket.
By default, Freshservice doesn't allow requesters to set the priority of a ticket. However, administrators can enable this option by following the below steps,
- Go to Admin > Service Management > Service Desk Settings > Field Manager.
- Click on Ticket Fields.
- Under the Ticket Forms tab, scroll down to find the Priority field.
- Click on the Pencil icon next to the Priority field to edit its properties.
- Under the Behavior for Requesters section, check the box for Requester can edit option.
- Click Done and Save and Confirm the changes.
Now, requesters should be able to change the priority of a ticket from their end.
Closed tickets would still be present on the portal. Customers can click on “Your Tickets” and in the ticket list page, select the ‘Resolved or Closed’ view to easily access your closed tickets.
Yes, we do not require the user to be logged in to download attachments from the public ticket URL, provided the option to access public URLs is not enabled for logged in users only. This can be checked from Admin-->Service Desk Security.
Yes, if you are looking to retrieve and display the other requester information on the ticket view page, we have an app for the same in our marketplace and that should help you on the same. Please find the link for the app here: https://www.freshworks.com/apps/freshservice/detailr
Yes, desktop notifications in Freshservice are by default accompanied by an audio alert. This can be muted in the notification preferences tab. You can click on the bell icon on your service desk to view the notification preferences.
Freshservice enables you to schedule tickets at periodic intervals to remind the service desk of essential tasks from Admin > Automation & Productivity > Agent Productivity > Scheduler. For example, you can schedule tickets once every month to remind you to review access to your team’s critical data.
To learn more about schedulers, you can refer to our solution article on auto-scheduling recurring tickets to manage IT operations.
Ticket numbers appear in the subject of email notifications because of the inclusion of a ticket ID placeholder in the notifications. To remove the ticket number from the email subject:
- Navigate to Admin in your Freshservice account.
- Click on Account settings.
- Select Email notifications.
- Find the email notification that you want to modify.
- Modify the subject of the email notification by removing the placeholder for "Ticket ID" - {{ticket.id}}.
- Click Save.
After completing these steps, the ticket number will no longer appear in the subject of email notifications.
In order to log the time spent on a ticket, please navigate to the ticket details page of the ticket for which you would want to track time.
Click on an individual ticket to open it.
On the right pane, you can see the Time Tracked section.
You can click on Start Timer to start the clock and then click on the Stop Timer link to stop it.
You can click on Edit to manually edit a time entry.
You can delete the time entry by clicking Delete.
To add a new entry, click on Add Time.
In the pop-up that appears, you can enter the Agent name and the time you wish to log. You can choose whether the hours logged are billable to the client or not, by checking Billable.
You can also add a note on the time entry for future reference.
We would not be able to stop the time tracker by default. However, we would be able to install an app called "Auto Start Timer - Freshservice" which would help you in configuring the timer based on ticket status.
The timers are based on the Service Desk time zone that can be configured according to your timezone. Please navigate to Admin -> General settings -> click on Service Desk to change the timezone for your helpdesk.
Ticket properties is a side panel in your tickets that comprises many pre-defined fields, like ticket status, assignee, priority, etc. These fields capture and categorize the general working of the tickets.
- Check if you have filled in the mandatory ticket fields.
- Check the “Business rules for forms” section for mandated fields.
If you encounter issues while updating ticket properties, there could be a few reasons tethered. Perform the following checks to solve the problem.
Check if you have filled in the mandatory ticket fields.
The action may sometimes fail when you try to update the ticket properties. The reason is that you still need to fill in the mandatory fields marked with a red asterisk. Ensure to fill these fields before you update the ticket properties.
If you want to check and manage the mandatory fields, you can access them under the “Business rules for forms” section. For example, if you have mandated the field “tags” and wish to make it non-mandatory, you can modify the rule under business rules for forms accordingly.
To update the business rules for forms.
Go to Admin from the Menu.
Under Service Management, select Business Rules for Forms.
Click on the business rule to mandate ticket fields.
Navigate to Actions and check for Mandate action.
Add or remove the mandated fields as needed.
Click Save.
You can now update the ticket properties without hassle.
If the issue persists, please reach out to [email protected] with a HAR(HTTP Archive Format) file from your web browser to better understand the problem.
When a business-impacting incident occurs, it is common for users to report the incident across multiple tickets. In such cases, you can manage the communication with stakeholders working on the incident through one parent ticket and associate the rest of such similar tickets as child tickets.
Similarly, when a requester raises many service requests for multiple service items, linking all the requests as child tickets to a service request is an effective way to curate and link all the requests.
If you are unable to add a child ticket to an incident or service request,
- Check if the tickets are of the same type.
- Check if the service request has any pending approvals.
- Check if the child ticket has landed in Spam.
- Check if the child ticket has landed in Trash.
Check if the tickets are of the same type.
Check if the ticket you are trying to add is an incident ticket because only tickets of the same type can be associated.
For example, if you are trying to link a service request to an incident ticket, the ticket will not show. Only an incident ticket can be linked as a child ticket to an incident.
Check if the service request has any pending approvals.
If you are unable to add a child ticket to a service request,
Check if the service request you are trying to associate with the child ticket has pending approvals.
It is important to note that child tickets can only be associated with a service request after the service request is rejected.
Check if the child ticket has landed in Spam.
If you are trying to link an existing child ticket and it does not appear in the searches, follow the below steps.
Go to Ticket List view and select the Spam folder.
Check if the child ticket is in the spam list.
If yes, click on the ticket.
Click on the cross mark near the spam button to unspam the ticket.
Wait for some time and link the child ticket under the related tickets tab.
Check if the child ticket has landed in Trash.
Similarly, check the Trash folder to check if the ticket was deleted.
Go to Ticket List view and select the Trash folder.
Check if the child ticket is in the deleted list.
If yes, click on the ticket.
Click on the cross mark near the Deleted button to unspam the ticket.
Wait for some time and link the child ticket under the related tickets tab.
If you continue to face issues linking child tickets after performing these checks, please reach out to [email protected]
Ticket list views in Freshservice are a way to group tickets based on specific criteria. You can access pre-built views or create custom ticket views using filters to look at the tickets associated with that view.
If you experience any issues viewing the ticket list view page, follow the checks below to identify the cause and help resolve the problem.
- Check for browser-related issues
- Check for restrictions in custom-defined roles
- Check for restrictions in user groups
Perform the following actions to eliminate browser and network-related issues.
Try accessing your Freshservice account after clearing caches and cookies.
Try opening your Freshservice instance in incognito mode.
Try to perform a hard refresh - Ctrl + Shift + R.
Check if your network connection is stable and if you have enough bandwidth to access Freshservice.
Check for restrictions in custom-defined roles
Check if the user trying to view the tickets has a custom role with appropriate permissions to view the ticket. If the role has limited access permissions, the user cannot view the ticket list view.
Follow the below steps to check and enable access permissions of a custom role,
Navigate to Admin from the menu.
Under the User Management section, select the Roles option.
Click on the role assigned to the user. Navigate to the Permissions section, and under the Tickets module, check if the View tickets option is selected.
If not, check the box next to the View tickets option.
Click on Update to save the changes.
The user will now be able to view the ticket.
Check for restrictions in user groups
Sometimes the user may try to view tickets assigned to a restricted group. Follow the below steps to check and enable access permissions to a user group.
Navigate to Admin from the menu.
Under the User Management section, select the Agent group option.
Go to the group and check for the ‘Restricted group’ tag beside the group name.
If the group is marked as restricted, only users who are a part of it can see the tickets assigned to it. Even agents with access "across all groups in the helpdesk" will not be able to see tickets assigned to such groups unless added as members or observers.
Add the user to the restricted group by clicking on the Edit option next to the group name to fix this.
Under the Edit group page, scroll down to the Agents section.
You can then add the user as a member or an observer to the group as per your business condition.
Click on update to save the changes.
The user will now be able to view the ticket.
If the issue still persists, please reach out to [email protected] with a HAR(HTTP Archive Format) file from your web browser to better understand the problem.
Freshservice performs the following two checks to decide if an email reply should be created as a new ticket or threaded to an existing ticket.
- Email Marker Check
- Requester Check
Email Marker Check
Freshservice uses three email markers to match an email reply with an existing ticket.
Ticket ID,
Message ID and
Freshservice unique ticket identifier.
If there is a match, the incoming email is threaded into the ongoing ticket conversation, thus preventing ticket duplicates.
Pro tip: You can add the Ticket ID to the subject line of your Agent Reply Template to always ensure that the Email marker check is satisfied.
Here’s how you can do it.
Navigate to Admin. Under the Account Settings section, select the Email Notifications option.
Click on the Tickets module and select the Agent Reply Template under Reply templates.
Place your cursor on the Subject field and click on the Insert Placeholders button.
Click on the Ticket ID option and make sure to add the symbol # before the ticket ID in this format [#{{ticket.id}}]
Once done, click on Save.
Requester Check
Freshservice now performs a check for the sender to thread the reply to the existing conversation. The sender's email should be one of the following,
Requester email address of the ticket
Agent email address of the ticket
Email address in the CC of the ticket
Forwarding email address
Freshservice will append the email response to an existing ticket only when an email reply satisfies one of the Email Marker Checks and one of the Requester Checks.
If the issue persists, please reach out to [email protected], and one of our Support Specialists will help resolve the issue.
