Service Desk App Overview

Centralize employee and customer support in one place with the Service Desk App—submit requests through a visual service catalog, track status and SLA timelines, collaborate with assignees, enable self-service resolution through a built-in knowledge base, and provide external customers access via a branded public portal.

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What is the Service Desk App?

The Service Desk App is an internal and external helpdesk for support requests (IT, HR, facilities, finance, procurement, and more). It provides a structured ticket workflow (assignment, in-progress, resolution, closure), configurable routing options, AI-powered features for sentiment analysis and summarization, knowledge base search to reduce repeated requests, and a public customer portal for external ticket submission.

Core Value Proposition:

• 🎯 Faster Resolution — Priorities, SLAs, AI summarization, and structured workflows help tickets move reliably to completion
• 🤝 Better Collaboration — Comments (including internal notes), ticket tasks, and email threading keep requesters and agents aligned
• 📚 Self-Service First — Knowledge base search, deflection tracking, and AI-powered answers reduce repetitive tickets
• ⚙️ Operational Control — Admin settings for routing, approvals, notifications, AI features, and multi-channel support (web + email + public portal)
• 🌐 External Customer Support — Public portal for non-employees to submit and track requests

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At a Glance

🧾 Core Functions	🧩 Channels	🧭 Routing & Assignment	📊 Operations
Tickets + KB + Catalog + Tasks	Web UI + Email + Public Portal	Workload / Skills / Teams + Rules	Analytics + SLA + AI Insights

Perfect For:

• 🧑‍💼 Employees — Submit requests, track status, and provide satisfaction feedback
• 🎧 Help Desk Agents — Manage assigned tickets, due dates, escalations, and AI-generated summaries in an agent dashboard
• 🛠️ Admins / Help Desk Managers — Configure routing rules, staff/teams, SLAs, AI features, and knowledge base workflows
• 🌐 External Customers — Submit tickets and track status via the public support portal

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How It Works

Ticket Lifecycle

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                           SERVICE DESK TICKET FLOW                            │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐                   │
│  │  SUBMITTED   │───▶│   ASSIGNED   │───▶│  IN PROGRESS  │                   │
│  └──────┬───────┘    └──────┬───────┘    └──────┬───────┘                   │
│         │                  (SLA timer)          │                           │
│         │                                        ▼                           │
│         │                              ┌──────────────┐                     │
│         │                              │   RESOLVED    │                     │
│         │                              └──────┬───────┘                     │
│         │                                     │                             │
│         │                                     ▼                             │
│         │                              ┌──────────────┐                     │
│         └─────────────────────────────▶│    CLOSED     │                     │
│                                        └──────────────┘                     │
│                                                                              │
│  Optional paths:                                                             │
│  - Pending Approval (for configured request types / costs)                   │
│  - Escalated (manual or SLA-driven escalation)                               │
│  - Cancelled (requester/admin in early stages)                               │
│  - Reopen (after closure, with permission)                                   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Multi-Channel Support Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        MULTI-CHANNEL TICKET INTAKE                            │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                              │
│     ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐                   │
│     │  WEB UI     │    │   EMAIL     │    │   PUBLIC    │                   │
│     │  Service    │    │  Inbound    │    │   PORTAL    │                   │
│     │  Catalog    │    │  Channel    │    │  External   │                   │
│     └──────┬──────┘    └──────┬──────┘    └──────┬──────┘                   │
│            │                  │                  │                           │
│            ▼                  ▼                  ▼                           │
│     ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐                  │
│     │              UNIFIED TICKET QUEUE                   │                  │
│     │   (Business scoping + AI classification + SLAs)     │                  │
│     └────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘                  │
│                              │                                               │
│            ┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐                            │
│            ▼                 ▼                 ▼                            │
│     ┌───────────┐     ┌───────────┐     ┌───────────┐                      │
│     │ Routing   │     │   Agent   │     │   Auto    │                      │
│     │  Rules    │     │ Dashboard │     │ Response  │                      │
│     └───────────┘     └───────────┘     └───────────┘                      │
│                                                                              │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Self-Service: Knowledge Base → Ticket (Deflection-Aware)

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                          SELF-SERVICE RESOLUTION                              │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  User searches KB ──▶ Views content ──▶ (Optional) Ticket prevented           │
│         │                         │           │                              │
│         │                         │           └──▶ Deflection tracked         │
│         └───────────────▶ Creates ticket anyway ──▶ Support workflow          │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Key Features

🌟 Service Catalog (Visual Request Entry)

Browse a card-based catalog of request types (with search) and open the request form in a side panel.

Feature	Description
Categorized request types	Request types are grouped and displayed as cards with icons and descriptions
Search	Search by service title/description/examples
Popular types	Frequently used request types highlighted for quick access
Sidepanel submission	Submit a new request via a dedicated sidepanel endpoint

Use Case: An employee searches “VPN” in the catalog, selects the IT Support card, and submits a ticket without navigating away from the catalog.

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🧾 Ticket Creation, Attachments, and Anonymous Requests

Employees can submit a help request with type, title, description, priority, and optional location. Admin settings control whether anonymous requests and attachments are allowed.

Feature	Description
Anonymous submission	Support for anonymous tickets (when enabled in configuration)
Attachments & screenshots	Tickets support file attachments and screenshots
Request type taxonomy	20+ ticket types including IT, HR, facilities, procurement, legal, and more
Auto-priority assignment	Automatic priority based on request type configuration
KB article suggestions	Suggest relevant articles when submitting (if enabled)

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🔁 Workflow Actions: Assign, Resolve, Close, Reopen, Cancel, Escalate, Approve

Service Desk uses explicit workflow actions to move tickets forward and keep both requesters and assignees informed.

Action	What it does
Assign	Set an assignee and begin SLA tracking
Start Progress	Move assigned tickets into active work
Resolve / Close	Resolve tickets with resolution notes and close after resolution
Reopen	Reopen closed tickets (permission-based)
Cancel	Cancel early-stage tickets (permission-based)
Escalate	Escalate to a specific user or an auto-selected escalation target
Approve	Approve tickets that require manager/admin approval

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💬 Comments (Public + Internal) with Threaded Replies

Ticket discussions support top-level comments and replies, with visibility rules for internal comments.

Feature	Description
Threaded comments	Comments support replies via parent/child relationship
Internal vs. public	Internal comments are restricted; public comments are visible to requester/assignee (and admins)
Edit/delete windows	Authors can edit/delete within time windows; admins can override
Email threading	Proper Message-ID, In-Reply-To, and References headers for email client thread grouping

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✅ Ticket Tasks & Checklists

Break down complex tickets into trackable tasks with checklist items for structured resolution workflows.

Feature	Description
Task creation	Add tasks to tickets with title, description, and assignee
Checklist items	Tasks can include checklist items for step-by-step tracking
Task completion	Mark tasks complete, track progress percentage
Task types	Simple tasks or tasks with checklists

Use Case: An IT ticket for new employee onboarding includes tasks for laptop setup, software installation, and access provisioning—each with its own checklist.

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⏱️ Priority-Based SLAs + Monitoring

Tickets compute SLA due times and track breaches. A background job monitors approaching breaches and breach events.

Feature	Description
SLA due time per priority	SLA due timestamps computed from configuration (critical: 4h, high: 8h, medium: 24h, low: 72h default)
Breach tracking	Tickets track breach flags and timestamps
Monitoring job	Job scans enabled businesses and triggers warnings/breach handling
Expected response display	Email confirmations show expected response time based on priority

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🧭 Routing: Workload, Skills, Teams, and Routing Rules

Service Desk supports multiple assignment strategies, including team-based routing and rule-driven targeting.

Capability	Description
Workload-based assignment	Selects least-loaded agents with capacity checks
Skills-based assignment (Enhanced mode)	Uses help desk skills and proficiency tiers (L1–L5) to recommend assignees
Support teams	Tiered teams with specialization, capacity, and membership
Routing rules	Rules can match by request type, priority, keywords, business-hours logic, department, and location
Assignment history	Assignment decisions can be logged as an audit trail

Sample Routing Rules:

• Urgent priority → L3 Technical Escalation team
• Keywords (network, VPN, password) → L2 IT Support team
• Keywords (benefits, payroll, leave) → L2 HR Support team

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📚 Knowledge Base (Articles + Documents/URLs/FAQs/Videos) with Search and Analytics

The Service Desk knowledge base supports authored articles and imported content (documents, URLs, FAQs, videos) with unified semantic search.

Content Type	Storage	Features
Articles	HelpArticle (HTML)	Rich text, categories, approval workflow
FAQs	KnowledgeBaseEntry	Quick Q&A format
Documents	KnowledgeBaseEntry	PDF, Word, Excel with chunking and embeddings
URLs	KnowledgeBaseEntry	External links with content extraction
Videos	KnowledgeBaseEntry	Video content with metadata

Search Features:

• Hybrid search (keyword + semantic/vector)
• Category filtering by request type
• Chunk-level search for precise results
• AI-enhanced query expansion

Analytics:

• View counts and engagement metrics
• Deflection tracking (tickets prevented)
• Content health scores
• Popular searches

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📧 Email-to-Ticket Channel

Inbound emails to support@... addresses can create tickets, with business detection and optional AI/keyword-based classification.

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                             EMAIL → TICKET                                    │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Inbound email ──▶ Detect business ──▶ Find/create requester                 │
│        │                                       │                             │
│        ▼                                       ▼                             │
│  Classify (AI or keywords) ──▶ Create ticket ──▶ Attach files               │
│        │                                       │                             │
│        └───────────────── Send confirmation email ───────────────────────────│
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Feature	Description
Multi-tenant routing	Supports custom domains, platform subdomains, and plus-addressing
Unknown sender handling	Configurable: block or create anonymous ticket
AI classification	Automatic category detection with fallback to keywords
Attachment handling	Validates file types and sizes (10MB limit)
Duplicate prevention	Advisory locks and message ID tracking prevent duplicates

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🌐 Public Customer Support Portal

External customers and visitors can access a branded support portal without authentication.

Feature	Description
Knowledge base browsing	Browse and search published KB articles
Ticket submission	Submit support requests with email and name
Ticket tracking	Track ticket status via secure token link
Comment/reply	Add comments to existing tickets
Ticket lookup	Find tickets by email + ticket number
Branded experience	Customizable branding per business

Use Case: A customer visits acme.workforce.mangoapps.com/support, browses KB articles, submits a ticket, and receives an email with a secure link to track progress.

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🤖 AI-Powered Features

When enabled, Service Desk leverages AI for enhanced productivity and insights.

Feature	Description
Ask AI / Service Desk Agent	Natural language ticket creation, status search, and KB search via Ask AI
Ticket Summarization	AI-generated summaries of long ticket threads (3+ comments)
Sentiment Analysis	Analyze emotional tone (positive/neutral/negative/mixed) and detect urgency
Content Translation	Translate ticket content to different languages
Email Classification	AI-powered category detection for email-to-ticket
KB Query Expansion	LLM-enhanced search with synonyms and related terms
Auto-Response Generation	Generate AI responses using KB content

AI Agent Capabilities:

• Create support tickets from conversation
• Search and retrieve ticket status
• Search knowledge base for answers
• Add comments to tickets
• Close tickets with resolution

💡 Pro Tip: Enable sentiment analysis to prioritize frustrated customers and identify trends in support quality.

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📊 Analytics & Reports

Comprehensive analytics for tracking support operations, agent performance, and self-service effectiveness.

Dashboard Metrics:

• Total/open/overdue requests
• SLA compliance rate
• Average first response time
• Average resolution time
• Agent utilization

Report Types:

• Tickets by priority/status/type
• Performance trends (daily submissions/resolutions)
• Agent workload distribution
• Satisfaction analysis
• CSV/PDF export

KB Analytics:

• Content health scores
• View counts and engagement
• Deflection rates (tickets prevented)
• Popular searches
• Content freshness tracking

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🎧 Agent Dashboard

Dedicated workspace for help desk agents to manage their workload efficiently.

Feature	Description
Workload summary	Total assigned, open, overdue, due today, capacity, utilization
My tickets	Personal queue sorted by priority and submission time
Available tickets	Unassigned tickets available to take
Personal statistics	Performance metrics for the agent
AI draft responses	Pending AI-generated responses for review
Skills and profile	Manage help desk skills and certifications

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🔔 Notifications

Comprehensive email notifications with proper threading support.

Notification	Recipients
Ticket created confirmation	Requester (known or guest)
Ticket status update	Requester
Ticket resolved	Requester
Satisfaction survey	Requester (after resolution)
Comment added	Requester/Assignee
Ticket assigned	Assignee
AI auto-response	Requester
Customer reply	Assigned agent (for public portal replies)

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User Roles & Permissions

Role	Capabilities
Employee	Submit and track tickets, comment, view KB, provide satisfaction feedback
Help Desk Agent	Access agent dashboard, manage assigned tickets, take tickets, escalate, use AI tools
Help Desk Manager	Access tickets + analytics views for managed teams
Admin / Super Admin	Full access: analytics, ticket management, settings, KB admin, routing rules
External Customer	Submit tickets via public portal, track via token, add comments

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How We Compare

This table compares verified Service Desk capabilities in MangoApps Workforce against publicly documented capabilities of leading enterprise competitors.

Capability	MangoApps Workforce	ServiceNow	Jira Service Management	Freshservice	Zendesk
Service catalog	✅	✅	✅	✅	⏭️
Knowledge base / help center	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Email-to-ticket	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Workflow automation	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
SLA management	✅	✅	✅	✅	⏭️
AI agents / assistance	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sentiment analysis	✅	✅	⏭️	✅	✅
Ticket summarization	✅	✅	⏭️	⏭️	⏭️
Public customer portal	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Skills-based routing	✅	✅	✅	✅	⏭️
Unified platform (HR, IT, etc.)	✅	✅	⏭️	⏭️	⏭️

Legend: ✅ = Verified from official source

⏭️ = Not verified or limited

Why MangoApps Workforce?

• 🔗 Unified Platform — Service Desk integrates natively with Recognition, Onboarding, Training, and other MangoApps modules
• 💰 No Per-Module Pricing — All features including AI, public portal, and analytics included without add-on fees
• 🤖 AI-Native — Built-in AI agents, sentiment analysis, and summarization—not bolted-on afterthoughts
• 🌐 Multi-Channel — Web, email, and public portal support out of the box

Competitor sources (public):

• ServiceNow: What is a Service Desk, AI Agents
• Jira Service Management: Features, ITSM
• Freshservice: Features, ITSM
• Zendesk: Service, Help Center, Knowledge Base

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Getting Started

For Employees

1. Go to Apps → Service Desk
2. Use Catalog to find the right service type (or choose General Support)
3. Submit your request, then track it under Requests
4. Use KB for self-service answers and guides

For Help Desk Agents

1. Open Agent Dashboard to review your workload and due dates
2. Start progress, add notes/comments, and resolve tickets with clear resolution notes
3. Use Summarize on long threads to quickly understand ticket history
4. Escalate tickets when needed (or when SLAs are at risk)

For External Customers

1. Visit {company}.workforce.mangoapps.com/support
2. Browse Knowledge Base for self-service answers
3. Click Submit a Request to create a ticket
4. Check your email for a tracking link

For Administrators

1. Go to Settings to configure AI, KB, request types, workflow/approvals, SLAs, notifications, and email channel
2. Set up staff, skills, support teams, and routing rules
3. Enable the public portal for external customers
4. Use Analytics to monitor trends and performance

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Best Practices

• ✅ Encourage self-service first by keeping KB content current (and tracking deflections)
• ✅ Define routing rules for common request types to reduce manual triage
• ✅ Use priority + SLAs consistently so agents understand urgency
• ✅ Use internal comments for internal-only troubleshooting notes and escalation context
• ✅ Enable AI summarization for tickets with long conversation threads
• ✅ Enable sentiment analysis to identify frustrated customers early
• ✅ Use ticket tasks to break complex requests into trackable steps
• ✅ Close the loop with satisfaction feedback to measure support quality

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I submit a request anonymously?
A: It depends on your admin settings. The new-request flow supports anonymous tickets when enabled.

Q: Can I reply to a ticket without exposing internal notes to the requester?
A: Yes. Ticket comments support internal visibility rules, so internal comments can be restricted.

Q: Can Service Desk create tickets from emails?
A: Yes—when the email channel is enabled. Inbound emails can create tickets, attach email files, and send confirmations.

Q: Does Service Desk support priority-based SLAs?
A: Yes. Tickets compute SLA due times and track breaches; an SLA monitor job checks approaching/breached SLAs.

Q: Can external customers submit tickets?
A: Yes—when the public portal is enabled. External customers can submit requests, track status via token link, and add comments.

Q: What AI features are available?
A: Service Desk includes AI-powered ticket summarization, sentiment analysis, content translation, email classification, and a conversational agent for Ask AI.

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Related Resources

• Apps & Extensions Overview — Marketplace apps and suites
• Knowledge Base Management — Managing KB content across the platform
• AI Introduction — How AI features work in MangoApps Workforce
• Procurement Apps Ecosystem Product Guide — Procurement workflows and integrations

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Service Desk helps your organization respond faster, reduce repetitive requests through self-service, provide external customer support, and create predictable support operations with SLAs, AI insights, and intelligent routing.