Service Catalog

Yes, we can add custom fields to a service item by following the steps below. 

1. Navigate to Admin. 
2. Under the Service Management section, go to the Service Request Management sub-section, and click on the Service Catalog option.
3. Click on the required Service Item.
4. Select the Custom Fields tab to add a new field to the Service Item.
5. Choose the type of field you want to add (e.g. text, dropdown, checkbox, date).
6. Enter the name for the custom field and any other relevant details (e.g. options for a dropdown field).
7. Click on "Save" and choose to save it as draft or publish the changes.
   
   

For Loaner items, the location that is mapped to the associated loaner assets will be automatically taken as the default location. To prevent this information from being manually modified, the location field is greyed out.

You can restrict the visibility of Service Items to specific requester groups by following the steps below.

1. Navigate to Admin. 
2. Under the Service Management section, go to the Service Request Management sub-section, and click on the Service Catalog option.
3. Click on the required Service Item and select the Settings tab.
4. Under the "Choose who can view this service item" section, select the required Agent groups and Requester groups who can access the service item.
   
   

Once the restriction has been applied, the service item will only be visible to the selected users or groups when they are logged in to Freshservice. Other users will not be able to see or access the item.

A particular service item can only be associated with one service category. However, as a workaround, we suggest creating multiple clones of the service item and associating each clone to different categories.
Use the clone option available against the Service Item in the item list view to create a copy.

You can edit the subject for service requests by following the steps below,

1. Navigate to Admin. 
2. Under the Service Management section, go to the Service Request Management sub-section, and click on the Service Catalog option.
3. Click on the required Service Item and select the Settings tab.
4. Under the Compose Service Request Subject section, customize the subject line of the Service Request. 
5. Using the Insert Placeholders option,  include additional information in the subject, such as the type of request, the category, or the priority level.
   
   

Yes, you can allow attachments when raising a service request in Freshservice. Here's how:

1. Navigate to Admin. 
2. Under the Service Management section, go to the Service Request Management sub-section, and click on the Service Catalog option.
3. Click on the required Service Item and select the Settings tab.
4. Under the Service Item settings section, toggle on the Allow Attachments button and Save the changes.
   
   
   

In Freshservice, several types of fields can be added to a service item to capture relevant information. These include:

1. Single line Text: This field allows for including a single-line or multi-line text.
2. Paragraph Text: This field allows for including a longer text or paragraph.
3. Checkbox: This field allows for boolean (true/false) values to be selected.
4. Number: This field is for numeric data entry.
5. Dropdown: This field presents a set of predefined options.
6. Multi dropdown: This field presents a set of predefined multiple options.
7. Date: This field is used to capture a date.
8. Dependent field: This field changes its values based on a parent field value.
9. Decimal: This field is used for the input of decimal values.
10. URL: This field is for including website URLs.
11. Content: This field allows for including a snippet of information.
    
    
    

These field types help you collect and organize the relevant information needed to provide the service and can be customized to fit your specific business needs.

These are temporary items which can be requested by a user for a specific period of time. These items are tied to assets marked as ‘usage type : temporary’ in your inventory.
Loaner items are subject to availability. If the item is not available in the inventory for the requested time slot, the request cannot be placed.

A permanent item will be indefinitely assigned to the user while a loaner item is temporarily assigned to the user for the requested time period. 
There is no cap on the number of requests that can be placed for a permanent item. Loaner items, on the other hand, are subject to availability. If the item is not available in the inventory for the requested time slot, the request cannot be placed.

Please check whether the service item is in published state. If it is currently in draft, then the item will not be visible in the service catalog.
Also, the item will be hidden from requesters who do not have access to it.

No, we cannot perform bulk actions on service items. Each service item must be updated individually.

To view service items that are saved as draft and not yet published in Freshservice, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Admin. 
2. Under the Service Management section, go to the Service Request Management sub-section, and click on the Service Catalog option.
3. Click on the dropdown next to All Service Items and select Drafts.
4. You can see the list of service items that aren’t published but saved as draft.
   
   
   
   

To reorder service items in a bundle in Freshservice, 

1. Go to Admin > Service Management > Service Request Management > Service Catalog.
2. Click the Service Item bundle you wish to reorder.
3. Navigate to the Additional Items section, and drag and drop the service items to the desired order.
4. Once done, click Save > Save & Publish to update the changes.
   
   
   

The service items in the bundle will now be reordered according to the changes you made.

Freshservice does limit the number of fields that can be added to the service item form. 

Limits by Field Type:

  Text field + Drop down --> 50

  Checkboxes --> 25

  Number field -->10

  Date field --> 10

  Paragraph --> 10

  Decimal Field --> 10 

  lookup field --> 10

  Multi-select fields --> 20

The following are the specifications for an image that can be used as a thumbnail for a service item,

• Only Image files can be used

• For best results please select images which are 130 * 130 pixels

No, We cannot have shared fields between Service Items.

Yes, you can do this using the ‘Reorder’ button next to the service category list. Click on reorder and then drag and drop the categories in the order you want them listed.

Yes, we can delete all the default Service Items by using the “Delete” option available in the service item edit page. 

No, it is not possible to import or export Service Items from Freshservice. Please reach out to the Freshservice support team at support@freshservice.com to request an export of catalog items from the backend.

The mandatory fields which are required to submit a loaner service request are 

• From Date and Time

• To Date and Time

• Location

The Child service items are visible in the end-user portal in order to avoid duplicate requests being raised. Plus it also enables ease of access to the user as they can receive multiple items by raising a single Service Request with Child Items linked to it.

You can automate service request approvals by creating a workflow using the Workflow Automator. Let’s assume a scenario where you must send a service request for an Apple Macbook to the requester’s approval manager and the department head whenever you get a service request. The service request will be sent to the fulfillment team only after approval from both managers. 

Also, refer to the article below for further reference:

https://support.freshservice.com/support/solutions/articles/211198-setting-hierarchical-approvals-for-service-requests-using-workflow-automator-

Once a Service request is raised, you would be able to change the stage of the item by clicking on Requested items and then the Stage field next to the service item.

You can set approval reminders to be sent to approvers every x number of hours. You can define the interval at which the reminder emails must be sent. Here's how you can do it.

1. Navigate to Admin.
2. Under the Account settings section, click on the Email Notification option.
3. Under the Tickets tab, scroll down to the Agent Notifications section.
4. Toggle ON the Service Request Approval option and click on it to edit the notification.
5. Modify the Subject and Message of the approval reminder notification and use the Insert Placeholder option to include dynamic placeholders.
6. Enable the Send a reminder to approvers every .... hour(s) checkbox.
7. Set the frequency in the hours field.
8. Click Save.

Child Service requests will be automatically created when the additional service items associated with a Service Request are also enabled and requested by the user. We cannot manually create a child service request as they will be automatically triggered.

With the use of workflow Automator, you can configure an Automator so that once a ticket has been approved, you can trigger an action to send an email to the requester and include the placeholder for “Approval Comments” under the tickets category.

Yes, We can convert an Incident into a Service Request

We can change the type by selecting “Service Request” from the “Type” field available under Ticket “Properties” tab against the corresponding ticket.

We will lose all the requested items when we convert a Service Request into an Incident because we cannot request service items by raising an Incident.

An incident can be raised to report any unplanned disruption which hampers productivity, Whereas a Service Request can be raised to request for specific service items in your helpdesk.

We can use Workflow automation to trigger automation scenarios for a Specific Item or a Service Category. You can choose the condition to be “Requested items include” or “Service category.”

Eg: When there is a service request is raised with a request for Asset Type as Laptop, it can be automatically assigned to the Hardware Team.

Using the workflow automator, you can choose the condition block to be as Requested Items include and enter the service item details. After this, you will see an option to add sub condition, clicking on that, you should be able to set conditions based on a specific field within the service item, as shown below:

The approval link by default would have the requested item information on the page, however, if you want the email to contain the information, the email template can be edited from Admin-->Email Notifications-->Service Request Approval. Here you can include placeholders to include the service item details if needed.

No, We cannot set visibility restrictions for Service category. They can only be enabled for Service Items.

Yes, you can make attachments mandatory for a service item. This can be done easily from the user interface (UI) without the need for screenshots.

Here are the steps to make attachments mandatory for a service item:

1. Go to Admin > Service Management > Service request management > Service Catalog.
2. Click the service item you want to make attachments mandatory for.
3. Scroll down to the Service Items settings section.
4. Under the Allow Attachments toggle, you will see a checkbox labeled Make as mandatory. Check this box to make attachments mandatory for this service item.
5. Click Save > Save & Publish.

   
   

   

Once you have made attachments mandatory for a service item, your customers will not be able to submit a request without attaching the required files. This will help you gather all the necessary information and documents from your customers, making it easier for you to provide them with the best possible service.

1. I have enabled ‘Display to Requester’ but requesters are still unable to see this field. 

1. Check the ‘Display to Requester’ box

2. Check the “Requester can edit” option as well. The field will appear for the requester only when the "Requester can edit" option is enabled. This is the default behavior. 

2. How do we restrict the catalog item visibility based on the requester’s location? 

1. The visibility of the service item can be restricted only based on the agent and requester groups, as shown below. 

2. You can also add the requester to groups based on their respective locations and select the groups for which the item must be visible. 
   
   

3.  How do I ensure the visibility of employee off-boarding bundle item? 

The Employee offboarding bundled item will be visible only under the HR workspace by default when multiple workspaces are created. 

4. How to hide a specific service item from all the requesters? 

1. By default, we can only set the visibility based on requester groups.

2. Create a dummy requester group and add a dummy requester profile as a workaround. Now, give visibility only to this group. This way, you can hide the item from all the requesters. 
   
   

5. How do I ensure the “Request for someone else” option shows for the requester? 

Click on the “Place request” option to get the “Request for someone else” field to be displayed.