Focus on one task and give direction
Focus on one task
Section titled “Focus on one task”When the ticket has open tasks, the Support Advisor tab offers Focus on:
- All open tasks (the default) answers the ticket as a whole.
- Choosing one task answers that task only, using the rest of the ticket as context. A drafted email covers that task only.
With exactly one open task, it is chosen for you and shown as Focus: and the task. With no open tasks there is no choice.
After an answer focused on one task, Next open task starts a new conversation on the next one, with the same message. A divider, New conversation · and the task, marks where it starts.
Give context and direction
Section titled “Give context and direction”What you write in the box does two things:
- Context. Facts you add, such as “the user already reinstalled the printer driver” or “this only happens on the VPN”, are treated as information about this ticket, as if they were in it.
- Direction. An instruction, such as “draft an email saying we don’t support this” or “ask the user for the serial number”, is followed even when your history has nothing on it. The answer then says it follows your direction, cites no past ticket, and never makes up a fix.
Your message does not change what is searched for, and it never turns an unconfirmed fix into a confirmed one. Where your direction and your company’s instructions disagree, your direction wins.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”| You write | Support Advisor |
|---|---|
| (nothing) | Reads the ticket and advises. |
| “Customer is on a Mac.” | Advises with that in mind. |
| “Ask for the error message and a screenshot.” | Drafts that request to the customer. |
| “We don’t support this software; write a polite no.” | Drafts the email, citing no past ticket. |
| “Make sure to search Microsoft’s Community Board.” | Searches only that site. See Search the web. |