Requests & Tickets

Requests on ClearFeed are queries from customers or internal users - that should be brought to closure.

• Put simply, every new thread on Slack channels from a requester is (usually) a new request on ClearFeed.

• Any new message that is part of the same thread is treated as a part of the same request.

• Direct Messages posted by users on the ClearFeed Slack App, and new messages received over Email, WebChat or the Support Portal are also all treated as Requests.

In short - all customer queries begin their lifecycle in ClearFeed as a Request.

In certain circumstances, ClearFeed may group multiple top level messages in Slack channels into the same Request. See Merging and Split for more details.

Requests versus Tickets

Unless converted into a Ticket - a Request is not visible to customers or users. A Request is like a private ticket. While it has the concepts of a status and an assignee (like a ticket) - these are not visible to customers unless the request is converted into a Ticket. Requests can be converted into Tickets by the following means:

• Automatically or Manually from Slack and Teams Channels based on configuration settings.

• All direct messages to the ClearFeed Slack App are automatically converted to Tickets

• Similarly, all requests originating over Email, Web Chat or Support Portal, Slack shortcuts like /cf-file are converted to Tickets automatically.

Depending on the configuration, the process of converting a Request to a Ticket may also require the user to fill out a Form. (By comparisons, Forms are never required to create a Request).

ClearFeed versus External Tickets

Requests can be converted to tickets managed by ClearFeed (aka ClearFeed Tickets) or Tickets in external ticketing systems like Zendesk, Intercom, SalesForce, FreshDesk, ClickUp, Hubspot and Linear (aka External Tickets).

Note that requests from Emails, Web Chat & Support Portal can only create ClearFeed Tickets.

Request Fields

The following are the standard fields of each request.

1. Author - The individual who initiates the Slack message is the author of the request.

2. Title - AI-generated title for each request. You can edit the Title of the request from WebApp whenever required.

3. Summary - AI-generated summary for each request.

4. Status - Each request can have one of six different statuses: Open, In Progress, Pending, On Hold, Solved, or Closed.

5. Assignee - Responders who have been assigned the request

6. Priority - Priority of the request.

7. Last Message Time - The timestamp of the last message was received on a request

8. Created Time - The timestamp of when the request was created

All these fields can be browsed and edited from the Inbox in ClearFeed WebApp. Most of them are also visible from the Triage Channels.

If a request is converted to a ClearFeed Ticket, the ticket shares the same request fields.

Requests can have additional fields. Learn how to create Custom Fields here.

Status Field

ClearFeed supports six different statuses out of the box.

Status	Meaning
Open	Pending resonse from responders
In Progress	Has been responded by responders
Pending	Pending response from author
Solved	Resolved, but can be re-opened by requester msgs
Closed	Resolved and can't be re-opened by requester msgs
On Hold	Used when requests are converted to external tickets

There is no support for any custom statuses on ClearFeed yet.

Following are the automatic status transitions supported on ClearFeed.

1. Open:

   • When a new request is initiated by an author it has an Open status

   • A request stays in Open status until there is a response from the responder

   • If the request is in In-Progress, Pending, or Solve status, a reply from the requester or any non-responder on the same request moves the status to Open

     • Our AI can distinguish messages that signal "Thanks" or closure acknowledgments and doesn't move the status in those cases to Open

2. In Progress:

   • The request will move to In Progress status from Open status if there is a reply from the responder on the request

   • If the emoji rules are enabled for the collection and the responder adds an 👀 without any reply on the request thread, the status will move to In Progress. Note that emojis trigger state transitions only when applied in the Request Channel - they do not work from the Triage channel.

3. Pending:

   • Once a request is manually moved to Pending by a responder - any further response to the request from responders will keep the status as Pending.

4. On Hold:

   • If the request is converted to a Ticket using an integration (e.g. Zendesk), then the request will be moved to On Hold status

   • In case of On Hold status, any response from the responder will not move the ClearFeed status to Open

5. Solved:

   • If the emoji rules are enabled for the collection and if the responder adds a check-mark emoji on the request thread in Slack, then the request status will be moved to Solved. Note that emojis trigger state transitions only when applied in the Request Channel - they do not work from the Triage channel.

   • If a linked ticket to a request gets solved in the downstream system (e.g. Zendesk), ✅ is applied on the request thread and it will move the status of the request to Solved

6. Closed:

   • Once a request is moved to Closed , any message from the requester will not re-open the request and it will stay Closed

Each request on the Triage channel and web dashboard has a corresponding color associated with it based on the status.

Color associated with the status of the request.

Requests status can be manually changed on ClearFeed through a variety of methods:

• Using Emojis on the Request channel (if Emoji rules are enabled for the Collection)

• Using Edit button on the Triage Channel (Note Emojis cannot be used in Triage channel)

• From the ClearFeed Web app

• They can also be Closed or Re-Opened using Ticket Message posted in the Request thread if they are converted into Tickets

If a request is not marked as Solved or Closed and a responder replies in the thread, the Status will automatically change to 'Pending.'

This feature may not be enabled for your account directly. Please contact us if you'd like to activate it.

Below is a short demonstration of how a request status is changed from the methods mentioned:

Updating Request statuses from ClearFeed web app and Slack

Priority Field

ClearFeed Requests support four different priorities.

1. Urgent

2. High

3. Normal

4. Low

Request priority can be changed via the ClearFeed Web App or by using the Edit button on the Triage request message.

How does ClearFeed automatically assign priority to requests?

ClearFeed uses in-house AI systems to assign priority to requests, on the basis of keywords used. By default, all requests are classified as Normal priority.

If any request is created by end-customer containing any of the keywords below, used in a positive sense, the request priority will automatically be upgraded to High. The default keywords are:

• critical

• as soon as possible

• asap

• p0

• p1

• urgent

• blocker

• important

• immediate help

• priority

• hipri

• emergency

• immediate

• immediately

• urgency

Only if these keywords are used in a positive sense will this request be classified as a High priority. Please note that these keywords have to be used by a non-responder in any message in a request thread to automatically classify the request as High priority.

For Example: The request containing the text This is not an urgent bug will not be considered as High priority but, the request containing the text This is an urgent bug will be considered as a High priority.

These are the default keywords included, please contact us either via your Slack channel with ClearFeed or via [email protected] to add keywords customized for your workflow.

FAQs

1. Why are my messages merged into a single request/ticket? Answer: We have AI-based Merging and Rule based merging that may be causing the meesages to be merged into a single request/ticket. Learn more here.