Configuring Your Ticket System

Ticketing Best Practices

• Respond promptly — Real-time presence tracking shows customers when you're online. Acknowledge incoming tickets quickly, even if you need to follow up with a full response later.

• Use snoozing strategically — Snooze tickets waiting on customer follow-up or internal information. The system automatically unsnoozes them, keeping your queue clean and preventing forgotten tickets.

• Mention colleagues when needed — Use @mention to bring the right person's attention to a ticket without disrupting the full conversation thread.

• Leverage the Claude Assistant — Use the in-app Claude panel to draft responses, clean up grammar, or rephrase messages while maintaining context and professionalism.

• Assign tickets clearly — Use agent assignment to distribute work and avoid duplicate responses. Presence avatars show who is available.

• Automate repetitive workflows — Set up automation rules to assign tickets, tag conversations, notify teams, and escalate issues without manual intervention.

Configuring Ticket Types

Ticket types allow you to categorize support requests and ensure that each type captures the appropriate information. While the detailed configuration interface is being finalized, ticket types are stored server-side and surface in the ticket creation and detail forms.

How Ticket Types Work

• Ticket Type configuration — Each ticket type defines its own ticket types based on support categories (e.g., Bug Report, Feature Request, Billing Issue, General Inquiry).

• Custom fields per type — Each ticket type can have its own set of custom fields, ensuring agents collect only relevant information.

• White-labelled experience — The ticket portal inherits your brand color, logo, and company name, creating a seamless customer experience.

Creating and Managing Ticket Types

To create and configure your ticket types, click Customize > Custom Fields > Tickets

Customizing Ticket Fields

Custom fields allow you to capture additional information beyond the standard ticket fields (title, description, status). This is especially useful when you need to track company information, priority levels, or domain-specific details.

Field Types Available

The ticketing system supports multiple field types to match different data needs:

• Text fields — Single-line or multi-line text input for descriptions, notes, or short responses.

• Dropdown/Select fields — Pre-defined options for standardized choices (e.g., severity level, product category).

• Company field — Track which company or customer a ticket belongs to, enabling better organization and filtering.

• Custom fields — Tenant-specific fields tailored to your support workflow.

Adding Custom Fields to Tickets

1. Work with your system administrator to define the custom fields you need.

2. Specify the field type (text, dropdown, company, etc.) and whether it should be required or optional.

3. Fields will appear in the ticket creation form and detail view for all agents.

4. Customers creating tickets through the portal will see only the fields configured for their ticket type.

Updating Existing Tickets with Custom Fields

If you created tickets before custom fields were available, you can add field values to those tickets:

• Open the ticket detail view — Click on any existing ticket to view its details.

• Locate the custom field — Scroll to the custom fields section in the ticket detail panel.

• Enter or select a value — Add the company, category, or other custom field information.

• Save changes — The system automatically saves field updates.

This approach allows you to backfill information on older tickets without recreating them.

Automating Ticket Workflows with Automation Rules

Automation rules eliminate repetitive manual tasks and ensure consistent ticket handling across your team. Using a simple WHEN-IF-THEN structure, you can automatically assign tickets, send notifications, add tags, and more.

Understanding Automation Rules

An automation rule watches for a specific event (the WHEN trigger) and executes one or more actions (the THEN actions) when that event occurs. You can optionally add conditions (the IF filters) to narrow when the rule fires.

Key Components:

• WHEN (Trigger/Event) — The event that kicks off the rule, such as:

  • Conversation started

  • Ticket created

  • Ticket status changed

  • Ticket age (e.g., unresolved for 7 days)

• IF (Conditions) — Optional filters that must be true before actions run. Examples:

  • User has a specific tag

  • Ticket priority is "High"

  • Company matches a value

  • Ticket type is "Bug Report"

• THEN (Actions) — What happens when the rule fires:

  • Assign to a help agent

  • Tag the conversation or ticket

  • Send a Slack notification

  • Add an internal note

  • Create a project

  • Notify the ticket owner

• Condition Logic — Controls how multiple conditions are evaluated:

  • ALL — Every condition must be true (AND logic)

  • ANY — At least one condition must be true (OR logic)

How to Create a New Automation Rule

1. Go to Customize → Automation.

2. Click New Rule and give the rule a clear, descriptive title.

3. Select the WHEN event that should trigger the rule (e.g., Conversation Started, Ticket Age).

4. Optionally add IF conditions to narrow when the rule fires. Choose ALL or ANY logic if using multiple conditions.

5. Add one or more THEN actions that should execute when the rule fires.

6. Save the rule — it will be enabled by default.

Example: Auto-Assign High-Priority Tickets

1. Create a new rule titled "Auto-Assign High Priority Tickets".

2. Set WHEN to Conversation Started.

3. Add condition: If User Has Tag → enter high-priority.

4. Set condition logic to ALL.

5. Add action: Assign to Help Agent → select your senior support agent.

6. Add a second action: Tag Conversation → add escalated for tracking.

7. Save and enable the rule.

Now, whenever a conversation starts with the high-priority tag, it automatically assigns to your designated agent and adds an escalated label.

Example: Notify Team When Ticket Ages

1. Create a new rule titled "Alert on Stale Tickets".

2. Set WHEN to Ticket Age.

3. Add condition: Older Than (Days) → set to 5 days.

4. Add action: Notify Owner to alert the assigned agent in-app.

5. Optionally add a Send Slack Notification action with the message: Ticket {ticket.name} for {company.name} has been unresolved for 5 days.

6. Save and enable the rule.

This ensures your team is alerted before tickets become forgotten.

How to Reorder Rules

Rules execute from top to bottom in the order they appear. If an earlier rule modifies data (e.g., adds a tag), a later rule may depend on that change.

1. Go to Settings → Automation.

2. Drag and drop rules into the desired execution order using the handle on each rule card.

3. Save your changes.

Using Placeholders in Automation Actions

When writing text-based actions (internal notes, Slack messages, etc.), you can insert dynamic values using placeholders:

• {company.name} — The customer's company name

• {contact.name} — The customer's contact name

• {ticket.name} — The ticket title or identifier

Example Slack message: New ticket from {contact.name} at {company.name}: {ticket.name}

Integrating Tickets with Slack

The Slack integration keeps your team and customers informed of ticket progress in real time without leaving Slack.

What Ticket Information Can Be Published to Slack

From ellocharlie tickets, you can publish the following updates back to connected Slack channels:

• Ticket status changes — Open, in progress, resolved, closed

• Responses and replies — Customer-facing answers to support questions

• Internal notes and comments — Optionally shared with customers

• Ticket assignment changes — When a ticket is reassigned to a team member

• Priority or urgency escalations — When ticket severity is increased

• Resolution summaries and closure messages — Final updates when tickets are closed

How to Connect Slack to ellocharlie

Initial Setup:

1. Navigate to the help desk section of ellocharlie.

2. Go to Slack integration settings.

3. Click Connect Workspace.

4. Complete the Slack OAuth flow to grant ellocharlie permission to post messages to your Slack workspace.

5. ellocharlie will request permissions including chat:write and channels:read to publish messages and access channel information.

6. Once authorized, your Slack workspace is connected to ellocharlie.

Mapping Channels and Configuring Publishing:

After connecting your workspace, configure which Slack channels receive ticket updates. You can map specific ticket types, statuses, or teams to dedicated channels, ensuring the right notifications reach the right people.

Examples

Example 1: Multi-Tier Support with Automation

Scenario: Your support team handles three tiers of issues: General Inquiries, Technical Issues, and Critical Bugs.

Setup:

1. Create three ticket types: "General Inquiry", "Technical Issue", "Critical Bug".

2. Add a custom field "Severity" (dropdown: Low, Medium, High, Critical) to all ticket types.

3. Create automation rules:

   • Rule 1: When Conversation Starts + If Ticket Type = "Critical Bug" → Assign to Senior Engineer + Send Slack notification to #critical-bugs.

   • Rule 2: When Conversation Starts + If Ticket Type = "Technical Issue" → Assign to Technical Support Team + Tag as "technical".

   • Rule 3: When Ticket Age > 3 days + If Severity = "Critical" → Notify Owner + Send Slack escalation.

Result: Tickets automatically route to the right team, critical issues get escalated, and your team stays informed via Slack.

Example 2: Backfilling Company Information on Old Tickets

Scenario: You recently added a "Company" custom field, but have 200 existing tickets without company information.

Process:

1. Open each ticket in the detail view.

2. Scroll to the custom fields section.

3. Select or enter the company name in the Company field.

4. The system automatically saves the change.

Tip: Prioritize tickets by age or status. Start with recent, unresolved tickets to ensure active cases have complete information.

Example 3: Automated Project Creation on Ticket Resolution

Scenario: When a customer's ticket is marked "Resolved", you want to automatically create an onboarding project.

Setup:

1. Create an automation rule titled "Create Onboarding Project on Resolution".

2. Set WHEN to Ticket Status Changed.

3. Add condition: If Ticket Status = "Resolved".

4. Add action: Create Project → select your "Onboarding" template and set the name to {company.name} Onboarding.

5. Save and enable.

Result: Every resolved ticket automatically spawns a follow-up project, ensuring no customer falls through the cracks.

FAQ

Q: Can I add custom fields to existing tickets?

A: Yes. Open the ticket detail view, scroll to the custom fields section, and enter or select values for any custom fields. The system automatically saves your changes. This allows you to backfill information on older tickets without recreating them.

Q: What's the difference between ALL and ANY condition logic in automation rules?

A: ALL means every condition in the rule must be true before the actions run (AND logic). ANY means the rule fires if at least one condition is true (OR logic). You can only pick one logic type per rule — you can't mix AND/OR within a single rule.

Q: Do I have to add conditions to every automation rule?

A: No. Conditions are optional. If you don't add any, the rule will fire every single time the trigger event occurs — for all entities in your account. Use conditions to narrow the scope and prevent unintended actions.

Q: Why isn't my age-based automation rule firing immediately?

A: Age-based triggers (ticket_age, conversation_age) are processed by a background scheduler, not in real time. There may be a delay between when the threshold is crossed and when the rule actually executes. This is by design to avoid overwhelming your system with simultaneous actions.

Q: Can I use Slack notifications in any automation rule?

A: Only if Slack is connected to your account. If Slack isn't configured, the system will warn you and prevent saving a rule that includes a Slack action. Connect your Slack workspace first in the integration settings.

Q: Can a rule trigger another rule?

A: Indirectly, yes. If a rule adds a tag or modifies a ticket status, a second rule listening for that tag or change may fire in the same processing cycle. Rule order matters here — earlier rules execute first, so plan your rule sequence carefully.

Q: What placeholders can I use in automation action text?

A: You can use {company.name}, {contact.name}, and {ticket.name} in any text-based action value, such as internal notes, Slack messages, or project names. These are replaced with actual values when the rule executes.

Q: How do I know which agent is available to assign a ticket to?

A: Presence avatars in the agent assignment dropdown show who is currently online. Agents with a green status indicator are actively available. You can also assign to agents who are offline — they'll see the assignment when they return.

Q: Can I snooze a ticket and have it automatically reappear?

A: Yes. Snooze conversations or tickets that are waiting on customer follow-up or internal information. The system automatically unsnoozes them after the set time, keeping your Open queue clean and preventing forgotten tickets.

Q: How do I mention a colleague in a ticket conversation?

A: Use the @mention system (type @ followed by the colleague's name) to create a focused ping without disrupting the full conversation thread. This brings their attention to the ticket without overwhelming your team with notifications.

Q: Can I use the Claude Assistant to help draft ticket responses?

A: Yes. Use the in-app Claude panel to draft responses, clean up grammar, or rephrase messages. This speeds up your work without breaking context and helps you maintain consistency and professionalism in your messaging.

Q: How do I configure which Slack channels receive ticket updates?

A: After connecting your Slack workspace in the integration settings, you can map specific ticket types, statuses, or teams to dedicated Slack channels. This ensures the right notifications reach the right people without cluttering channels with irrelevant updates.