Lesson #146
Connect – Support Tickets function
Your clients and resources can get help and support within RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM). They can look up information in the online user guide or they can contact you via support tickets to ask questions and get assistance, then track the resolution of their issues.
Manage RB Connect users’ questions and problems, and maintain a paper trail of their resolution in the Support Tickets function. You can provide support tickets to everyone who uses your RB Connect — or only your contacts or only your resources. You can also choose not to use support tickets at all and have your clients and resources rely on other methods such as phone calls, texts, and email to contact you about issues.
Set up your support tickets
To use support tickets in RB Connect/RBCM, first turn on access for your contacts and/or resources in Connect Preferences. Then set what your email responses to support requests say. You can set up different email responses for contacts and resources. You can make the email a generic alert that there is a response to their ticket in RB Connect; or include response information in the email.
You can insert RB9 data fields into the Subject and Message fields of the email so your responses automatically include relevant information. For example, you can include the data field that will insert the text of the latest reply so the user does not have to go to RB Connect to see your reply.
Designate who on your staff will be alerted when a support ticket comes in. The staff you list can use the Support Ticket function whenever they are alerted to a ticket or as fits their work process to handle support requests received online.
Managing support tickets
The default view in the Support Tickets function lists all requests awaiting your response from the most recent to the oldest. Each listing includes:
- Ticket number
- Current status
- Who initiated the ticket
- Subject line of the ticket
- When it was issued
- When it was last updated
- Any rating from the user
You can sort the list by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, RB9 will revert back to the default order). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.
You can also view the list by:
- Client or resource tickets only.
- Tickets you are waiting for the user’s response to, tickets the user has closed and rated your response, and/or tickets you have resolved/closed (in addition to the default view of tickets awaiting your response).
- Tickets initiated during a specific date or date range.
- Tickets from a single firm, contact, or resource.
Click the hyperlinked ticket number of any ticket to read the message, view the message thread, and follow up. When you send your reply, the support ticket’s status automatically changes to Pending Customer Response, leaving it open while waiting for the user’s response unless you choose to close the ticket. If you close the ticket, you can include an explanation in your follow-up comment that is sent to the user.
When you reply — whether you are furthering the conversation or closing the ticket — RB9 updates the user’s support ticket log in their RB Connect and records your reply in the ticket’s thread so you have a paper trail.
NOTE: This is an RB9-only function. It is not included in RB Lite.
TL;DR: Manage RB Connect/RB Connect Mobile users’ questions and problems, and keep a paper trail of their resolution.
RB concepts in this lesson
Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with.
RB Connect: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and resources. More >
RB Connect Mobile: Clients and resources can access your RB Connect on their smartphones and tablets in an interface optimized for mobile devices. More >
Resource: Person or thing that provides your business with a service.
