Help desk

How to manage customer support requests using the built-in help desk in Nexudus — including departments, priorities, internal notes, and AI auto-replies.

Overview

The Help desk lets your customers submit support requests directly from their members portal, and lets your team manage, assign, and resolve those requests from the dashboard. Each request becomes a threaded conversation where staff can reply publicly or leave internal notes.

Help desk messages can be routed to departments, assigned to specific owners (staff members), prioritised, and optionally answered automatically by AI using your FAQ articles.

How to access

• Help desk messages: Navigate to Operations → Front-desk → Help desk
• Help desk departments: Navigate to Operations → Front-desk → Help desk departments

Requires the helpDeskMessage role.

Key concepts

Term	Meaning
Help desk message	A support request submitted by a customer, containing a subject, message, and optional attachment
Comment	A reply to a help desk message — can be public (visible to the customer) or internal (staff-only)
Department	A category for routing requests to the right team (e.g., “Billing”, “Technical support”, “Events”)
Owner	The staff member assigned to handle a specific request
Priority	The urgency level of a request (Low, Normal, High, Critical)
Internal reply	A comment only visible to staff — useful for discussing a request before responding to the customer

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The help desk message list

The message list shows all support requests, with quick filter segments:

Segment	Shows
Open (default)	All unresolved requests
Critical	Open requests with Critical priority
Closed	Resolved requests

Messages are sorted by creation date, with the newest first. You can search by subject line.

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Viewing a help desk message

When you open a help desk message, the page is split into two areas:

Conversation thread (centre)

• The original message from the customer (with any attachment)
• All subsequent replies in chronological order
• Each reply shows who posted it and when
• Internal replies are visually marked and hidden from the customer
• AI-generated replies show a link to the FAQ article used as the source

Message details (right sidebar)

Field	Description
Customer	The customer who created the request (read-only)
Location	The location the request was submitted from (read-only)
Department	The department this request is assigned to
Owner	The staff member responsible for this request
Priority	Low, Normal, High, or Critical
Resolved	Checkbox to mark the request as closed

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Creating a help desk message (as staff)

While customers typically create help desk messages from the members portal, staff can also create them on behalf of a customer:

1. Navigate to the help desk

   Go to Operations → Front-desk → Help desk and click the ”+” button.

2. Enter a subject

   Write a brief title describing the request.

3. Write the message

   Describe the request in the message field. Markdown formatting is supported.

4. Attach a file (optional)

   Upload an image or document if relevant.

5. Save

   Click Save. Then assign a customer, department, owner, and priority from the sidebar.

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Replying to a message

1. Open the message

   Click on a help desk message from the list.

2. Write your reply

   Use the reply composer at the bottom of the conversation thread. Markdown formatting is supported.

3. Choose visibility

   • Leave the Internal checkbox unchecked to send a public reply (customer will see it and be notified).
   • Check Internal to post a staff-only note that the customer cannot see.
4. Attach a file (optional)

   Upload an image or document with your reply.

5. Submit

   Click the send button or press Ctrl+Enter to submit.

When a staff member posts a public reply and the message has no owner yet, the replying staff member is automatically assigned as the owner.

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Assigning and managing requests

Departments

Assign a request to a department to route it to the appropriate team. When a department is assigned:

• All department managers receive a notification about the new request
• If the department has a linked task list, that task list is automatically started for the customer

Owner

Assign a specific staff member as the owner to indicate who is responsible for resolving the request. The owner receives:

• Notifications when the customer replies
• Periodic reminders about open requests they own (if they have reminders configured in their profile)

Priority levels

Level	When to use
Low	General questions, non-urgent feedback
Normal (default)	Standard requests that need attention within normal timeframes
High	Important issues that need prompt attention
Critical	Urgent problems affecting the customer’s ability to work

Resolving a request

Check the “This help request is resolved” checkbox in the sidebar to close the request. The closure time is recorded automatically.

If a customer replies to a closed request, it is automatically re-opened.

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Departments

Departments help you organise and route incoming help desk requests. Navigate to Operations → Front-desk → Help desk departments to manage them.

Department fields

Field	Description
Name	The department name shown to customers when they submit a request (unique per location)
Description	Explains what type of requests should be sent here (shown to customers)
Active	Whether this department appears as an option for new requests
Department managers	Staff members who receive notifications for requests in this department
Start task list	An optional task list that is automatically assigned to the customer when a request is created in this department

Use the “Start task list” feature to create onboarding checklists or standard procedures that run automatically when a customer submits a specific type of request — for example, a “New member setup” task list triggered by the “Onboarding” department.

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AI auto-replies

When AI help desk replies are enabled, the system automatically attempts to answer incoming customer messages using your FAQ articles.

How it works

1. A customer submits a help desk message (or replies to an existing one)
2. The system searches your FAQ articles for a relevant answer
3. If a match is found, an AI-generated reply is posted automatically, including a link to the source FAQ article
4. The message is marked as “AI responded”
5. If no relevant FAQ is found, the message is marked as “AI not responded” (requires manual follow-up)

AI processing states

State	Meaning
Not processed	AI reply is not enabled or was not attempted
Responded	The AI found a relevant FAQ and posted an automatic reply
Not responded	The AI was unable to find a relevant answer — requires staff attention

AI replies are posted as public comments visible to the customer. They appear in the conversation thread with a reference to the FAQ article used. Staff can follow up with additional details if needed.

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Notifications

When a new request is created

Recipient	Condition
Department managers	If a department is assigned
Help desk notification subscribers	If no department is assigned

When a customer replies

Recipient	Condition
The assigned owner	If the request has an owner
Department managers	If no owner but a department is assigned
Help desk notification subscribers	If neither owner nor department is assigned

When staff replies (public)

Recipient	Condition
The customer	Always (email + push notification)

Reminders

Staff members who own open help desk requests receive a weekly reminder email about their unresolved requests every Monday at 8:00 AM (in the location’s local time).

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Webhooks

The following webhook events are triggered by help desk activity:

Event	Triggered when
Help desk message created	A new request is submitted
Help desk message updated	A request is modified (priority change, department change, closure, etc.)
Help desk comment created	A reply is posted (public or internal)

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SLA metrics

The help desk tracks response time metrics for each request:

Metric	Meaning
First response time	Minutes between the request creation and the first staff reply
Minutes to close	Total minutes from creation to resolution

These metrics are available in the request data and can be used in reports to track your team’s support performance.

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Member portal settings

Customers can submit help desk requests from their members portal. To control this:

Setting	Location	Effect
Users can request help using the help-desk module	Settings → Members → Portal features	Enables or disables the help desk section in the members portal

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Best practices

• Create departments that match your team structure (e.g., “Billing”, “Facilities”, “IT Support”) so requests reach the right people immediately.
• Assign owners as soon as possible to ensure accountability and prevent requests from being missed.
• Use internal replies to discuss sensitive matters with your team before responding to the customer.
• Set up FAQ articles comprehensively — when AI auto-reply is enabled, well-written FAQs can resolve common questions automatically, reducing staff workload.
• Monitor the “Critical” segment daily to ensure urgent requests get immediate attention.
• Use the task list automation on departments to trigger standard procedures (e.g., “WiFi issue” department triggers a troubleshooting checklist).
• Review first response time regularly to ensure your team is meeting customer expectations.

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Related pages

FAQ articles

Create FAQ articles that power AI auto-replies and help customers self-serve.

Members

View a customer’s help desk history from their profile.

Webhooks

Set up automations triggered by help desk events.

AI assistant

Learn more about AI-powered features in Nexudus.