Helpdesk Fundamentals¶

Estimated Time: 1.5 hours Audience: All employees, helpdesk team members Prerequisite: None — this is the starting point

What You'll Learn¶

By the end of this course, you'll understand:

Why we use a helpdesk system and how it benefits everyone
The anatomy of a helpdesk ticket — every field and what it means
How tickets move through stages from creation to resolution
How teams and assignment work
Priority levels and when to escalate
How to communicate effectively using the chatter
When to create a maintenance request from a ticket
Best practices for writing and managing tickets

Lesson 1: Why We Use a Helpdesk (10 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Understand why a ticketing system matters
Know the benefits of tracking every request

The Problem Without a Helpdesk¶

Without a centralized system, support requests get lost in a tangle of emails, phone calls, sticky notes, and hallway conversations. Nobody knows:

What's been reported
Who's working on it
How long it's been waiting
Whether it was actually resolved

What the Helpdesk Gives Us¶

Benefit	How It Helps
Tracking	Every request gets a ticket number (HT00001, HT00002...) — nothing falls through the cracks
Accountability	Each ticket has an assigned owner — someone is responsible
Visibility	Managers can see the full backlog, team workloads, and resolution times
History	The full conversation and timeline lives on the ticket — anyone can pick it up and understand the context
Reporting	We can measure how many requests come in, how fast they're resolved, and where problems cluster

The Bottom Line¶

If something needs to be done — whether it's fixing a printer, resolving a customer complaint, or reporting a broken dock door — make a ticket. If it's not in the system, it doesn't exist.

Lesson 2: Understanding Tickets (15 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Know the anatomy of a helpdesk ticket
Understand what each field means and when to fill it in

Anatomy of a Ticket¶

Every ticket has these key fields:

Field	What It Is	Example
Number	Auto-assigned ID (HT00001) — you never set this	HT00042
Title	Short description of the issue	"Printer on 2nd floor not printing"
Description	Detailed explanation — steps to reproduce, context, screenshots	HTML-formatted text
Team	Which helpdesk team handles this	IT Support
Assigned User	The person responsible for resolving it	John Smith
Stage	Where the ticket is in the workflow	In Progress
Priority	How urgent is this	Medium
Contact	Who reported the issue (customer or employee)	Jane Doe
Category	What type of request (IT, Equipment, Billing)	IT / Software
Channel	How it came in (Web, Email, Phone, Other)	Phone
Tags	Color-coded labels for filtering	"Urgent", "Customer-Facing"

The Three Fields That Matter Most¶

When creating a ticket, these three fields are the most important:

Title — A clear, specific title helps everyone understand the issue at a glance
Description — The more detail you provide upfront, the faster the issue gets resolved
Priority — Set this accurately so urgent issues get attention first

What Makes a Good Description¶

A good ticket description answers:

What happened? — Describe the problem clearly
When did it happen? — Date, time, how often
What were you doing? — Steps that led to the issue
What should have happened? — Expected behavior
What actually happened? — Actual behavior
Any error messages? — Copy the exact text or attach a screenshot

Lesson 3: Ticket Lifecycle (15 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Know the default stages and what each means
Understand when tickets should move between stages

The Stage Pipeline¶

New → In Progress → Awaiting → Done / Cancelled / Rejected

Stage Details¶

Stage	What It Means	Who Moves It Here	What Happens
New	Just submitted, nobody has started work	System (auto)	Ticket counts as "unattended"
In Progress	Someone is actively working on this	Assigned user	Ticket is no longer "unattended"
Awaiting	Work is paused — waiting on someone else	Assigned user	Waiting for customer reply, parts, approval, etc.
Done	Resolved and closed	Assigned user	`closed_date` is set, notification email sent
Cancelled	No longer needed	Anyone	Duplicate, or request withdrawn
Rejected	Reviewed and declined	Manager or assigned user	Out of scope or invalid request

Rules of Thumb¶

Move to "In Progress" as soon as you start work — this clears the "unattended" flag so managers know it's being handled
Use "Awaiting" honestly — don't park tickets here to hide them from your backlog
Close tickets promptly — when the work is done, move to "Done" immediately
Don't skip stages — moving directly from "New" to "Done" loses tracking data

How to Move a Ticket¶

Two ways:

Form view: Click the stage name in the status bar at the top of the ticket
Kanban view: Drag the ticket card from one column to another

Lesson 4: Teams & Assignment (15 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Understand how helpdesk teams are organized
Know how ticket assignment works
Understand the "Assign to me" workflow

Helpdesk Teams¶

A helpdesk team is a group of people who handle a specific category of requests. Examples:

Team	Handles	Members
IT Support	Software issues, computer problems, Odoo questions	IT staff
Customer Service	Customer complaints, billing questions, account changes	CSRs, managers
Maintenance	Equipment repairs, facility issues	Garage staff, facilities

When you set a team on a ticket:

The Assigned User dropdown filters to only show team members
The available Stages filter to stages configured for that team
The Dashboard counts this ticket in the team's stats

How Assignment Works¶

Method	How It Works
"Assign to me"	Open an unassigned ticket and click the button — you're now the owner
Manual assignment	Set the Assigned User field to any team member
Auto-assignment	If enabled, the ticket creator is automatically assigned (if they're on the team)

Picking Up Unassigned Tickets¶

The Dashboard shows an Unassigned count for each team. Click it to see tickets that need an owner. Open one and click Assign to me to take responsibility.

Don't Cherry-Pick

Don't skip past difficult tickets to grab easy ones. If there are unassigned tickets, take the oldest or highest-priority one first.

Lesson 5: Priority & Escalation (10 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Know the four priority levels and when to use each
Understand when to escalate

Priority Levels¶

Priority	When to Use	Examples
Low	Nice-to-have, no urgency	Feature suggestion, cosmetic issue, non-urgent question
Medium (default)	Standard request — should be handled this week	General IT request, normal customer inquiry
High	Impacts work or customers — needs attention soon	Customer complaint, system partially down, equipment degraded
Very High	Critical — someone can't work, or a customer is at risk	System completely down, safety issue, major customer escalation

When to Escalate¶

Escalate a ticket (raise its priority or reassign to a manager) when:

The issue is taking longer than expected and the customer is waiting
You don't have the access or knowledge to resolve it
The problem is getting worse
Multiple people are affected
There's a safety concern

To escalate: change the Priority field and/or reassign the ticket, then post a chatter message explaining why.

Lesson 6: Communication & Chatter (10 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Know how to use the chatter for ticket communication
Understand followers and email notifications

The Chatter¶

Every ticket has a chatter at the bottom — a message log that tracks:

Messages — Notes posted by team members, visible to followers
Log notes — Internal notes (not emailed to the contact)
Stage changes — Automatic entries when the ticket moves stages
Assignments — Recorded when the assigned user changes

Posting Messages¶

Open the ticket
Scroll to the chatter at the bottom
Click Send message to post a message (visible to followers, emailed to subscribers)
Click Log note to post an internal note (not emailed)

Followers¶

Followers are people who receive email notifications when the ticket is updated. The ticket's contact and assigned user are automatically added as followers. You can manually add or remove followers.

Email Templates¶

When a ticket reaches certain stages, automatic emails can be sent:

Done / Cancelled / Rejected — "Your ticket has been closed" notification
Stage change — "Your ticket stage has changed" notification

These are configured by admins on each stage.

Lesson 7: Helpdesk + Maintenance (10 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Know when to create a maintenance request from a ticket
Understand the connection between the two systems

When to Create a Maintenance Request¶

Create a maintenance request from a ticket when:

The ticket describes a physical equipment problem (broken forklift, dock door stuck, HVAC not working)
The issue requires garage or facilities staff to do hands-on work
You need to track the repair in the Maintenance module's pipeline

How It Works¶

Open the helpdesk ticket
Click Create Maintenance Request
Fill in the wizard:
- Request Type — Equipment, Vehicle, or Facility
- Responsible — Who will do the maintenance work
- Equipment — Select the equipment record
Click Create

What happens:

A maintenance request is created with the ticket's title and description
All followers and messages are copied over
A link is posted in the ticket's chatter
A Maintenance Requests smart button appears on the ticket showing the count

The ticket tracks the request, and the maintenance request tracks the repair work. Both can be updated independently.

When NOT to Create a Maintenance Request¶

Don't create a maintenance request if:

The issue is software-only (use IT support instead)
It's a question or information request
The issue doesn't involve physical equipment

Lesson 8: Best Practices (10 min)¶

Learning Objectives¶

Know how to write effective tickets
Understand categorization best practices
Learn habits for keeping the system healthy

Writing Good Tickets¶

Do	Don't
Use specific, descriptive titles	Use vague titles like "Problem" or "Help"
Include steps to reproduce	Assume the reader knows what happened
Attach screenshots	Describe visual issues without showing them
Set the correct priority	Mark everything as "Very High"
Select the right team and category	Leave these fields blank

Categorization Matters¶

Always set a Category — this powers reporting and helps managers spot trends
Always set a Channel — knowing whether issues come from email, phone, or portal helps improve processes
Use Tags sparingly — tags are for cross-cutting concerns (e.g., "Recurring", "Customer-Facing") not for duplicating categories

Keeping Tickets Updated¶

Post chatter updates when you make progress — even "Still working on this, waiting for parts" is helpful
Move stages promptly — don't leave a ticket in "New" if you've started work
Close tickets when done — don't let resolved tickets sit in "In Progress" forever
Add resolution notes — before closing, post what was done and what fixed it

What Not to Do¶

Don't create tickets and immediately close them just to "log" something — use the chatter on an existing ticket instead
Don't create a new ticket for every back-and-forth on the same issue — use the same ticket
Don't reassign tickets without telling the original owner in the chatter

What's Next?¶

Now that you understand the concepts, it's time to practice:

Helpdesk Sandbox Workout — Hands-on exercises in the training sandbox
Helpdesk Software Guide — Detailed reference for all features

Quick Reference¶

Priority Cheat Sheet¶

Level	When to Use	Response Expectation
Low	No urgency, nice-to-have	When time permits
Medium	Standard request	Within a few days
High	Impacts work or customers	Within 1 day
Very High	Critical — can't work, safety issue	Immediately

Ticket Stages¶

Stage	Meaning
New	Reported, waiting to be picked up
In Progress	Someone is working on it
Awaiting	Paused, waiting on external input
Done	Resolved and closed
Cancelled	Withdrawn or duplicate
Rejected	Declined

Good Ticket Checklist¶

When creating a ticket, always include: