Autoresponder is the term used for acknowledgement email dispatched when a new ticket is created in helpdesk. You can configure when it should be dispatched, and also modify the content as well as layout.
Configure dispatch
- For tickets created from Support Center: Dispatched per the user group of the active user. Can be set from ‘Receives new ticket autoresponder’ setting for a user group in Admin interface.
-
For tickets created via REST API
Boolean value set for ‘ignoreautoresponder’ POST variable is responsible in case of ticket creation from REST API.
For Staff API, Boolean value set for ‘sendautoresponder’ node in XML payload for creating a new ticket is considered. - For tickets created from emails: Can be disabled globally for each email queue via ‘Send new ticket autoresponder’ setting in Admin interface.
In case you want to nullify autoresponder for emails received from particular sources or on basis of certain criteria, you can make use of ‘Pre Parser’ action set available in Mail Parser rules to disable autoresponder.
Location: Admin interface > Options > Email Parser > Rules
New emails from a source not resulting in autoresponder? Presuming, you have already cross-checked rules and email queue setting (mentioned previously), you may want to check loop blockages and fine tune existing loop blocker rules in your helpdesk. These rules are designed to prevent loops created by autoresponder/out-of-office emails dispatched from user’s end.
Location: Admin interface > Options > Email Parser > Loop Blockages / Loop Blocker rules
- For ticket created from Staff interface: Selection for ‘Send autoresponder’ checkbox while creating a ticket ‘As User’ determines whether autoresponder will be dispatched.
‘Send Email’ acts as an email client and only allows staff to send a copy of ticket content.
On Premise clients can tweak default checkbox selection via making custom tweaks to ‘class.View_Ticket.php’ under ‘__apps\tickets\staff’ in document root of helpdesk.
Modifying autoresponders
Language phrases in helpdesk contain the content, are referred to in templates and templates in turn are responsible for layout of outgoing emails. Template and language selection is determined via how the ticket has been created.
Templates for autoresponder email are ‘email_ticketautoresponderhtml’ and ‘email_ticketautorespondertext’ and can be accessed from ‘Tickets’ group under Admin interface > Options > Templates > Templates
Language phrases for a language pack can be searched and modified on the basis of identifier or text from Admin interface > Options > Languages > Search
Identifiers for autoresponder emails: ‘arintro’, ‘arsubfooter’ and ‘arfooter’
Template and language selection
For tickets created from Support Center: Template group accessed by user and active language determines the language and template selection.
For tickets created from REST API: Value set for ‘templategroup’ POST variable (template group id) and default language of that template group is used.
For tickets created from email queues: Template group linked to email queue from which email is parsed determines the template group to be used. Default language linked with the selected template group is used in case an explicit default language isn’t specified for user profile.
Note: If a default language is selected to user profile from which ticket is created, it is prioritized over default language linked to applicable template group. This can be checked via ‘Language’ setting under ‘Profile’ tab of a user profile from Staff interface > Users > Manage Users.
For tickets created from Staff interface: User Group of user and it’s linkage to a template group is considered for an existing user. If user group is not explicitly linked to a template group or a new user is created (via ‘Send Email’), default template group and its default language is considered.
Variables you can use in autoresponder templates
You can customize your autoresponder emails by including field variables in the templates. These will supply the relevant value for whatever field you specify in the template.
| Variable |
Function |
<{$_ticketNotification[subject]}>
|
Ticket subject |
<{$_ticketNotification[ticketid]}>
|
Ticket ID/mask |
<{$_ticketNotification[ticketlink]}>
|
Ticket hyperlink |
<{$_ticketNotification[fullname]}>
|
Customer's full name |
<{$_ticketNotification[email]}>
|
Customer's email address |
<{$_ticketNotification[phoneno]}>
|
Customer's phone number |
<{$_ticketNotification[creator]}>
|
Creator (i.e., user/staff) |
<{$_ticketNotification[department]}>
|
Ticket department |
<{$_ticketNotification[owner]}>
|
Ticket owner's full name |
<{$_ticketNotification[type]}>
|
Ticket type |
<{$_ticketNotification[status]}>
|
Ticket status |
<{$_ticketNotification[priority]}>
|
Ticket priority |
<{$_ticketNotification[slaplantitle]}>
|
SLA plan on ticket |
<{$_ticketNotification[templategrouptitle]}>
|
Template group used |
<{$_ticketNotification[created]}>
|
Ticket creation date & time |
<{$_ticketNotification[updated]}>
|
Last activity date & time |
<{$_ticketNotification[userorganization]}>
|
User's organization name |
<{$_ticketNotification[changedby]}>
|
Person who made changes |
<{$_ticketNotification[changes]}>
|
Changes that took place |
<{$_ticketNotification[content]}>
|
Last ticket post contents |
<{$_ticketNotification[duedate]}>
|
Reply due date & time |
<{$_ticketNotification[resolutionduedate]}>
|
Resolution due date & time |
| Custom fields: |
|
<{$_customFields[GroupName][FieldName]}>
|
Custom field data. NOTE: You can use any custom field as a variable by copying this tag and swapping in the group and field name for your custom field. |
Sukhpreet Anand