Automation Rules

Automation rules is an if this — then do that engine built into the app. A rule says when X happens — and Y conditions are met — do Z. Rules are commonly used to build a fully automated ticketing system including SLA enforcement, escalation, staff and customer notifications, workflow management, and auto-responding. Rules can automate up to 40% of your work.

Examples:

1. "When a ticket becomes overdue — send an alert to administrator" (handy for SLA policies)
2. "When a new ticket is created and the subject-line contains 'XYZ' — move the ticket to category ABC"
3. "When a new ticket is created and the category is XYZ — assign the ticket to technician John Doe"
4. "When a ticket has not been updated and the status is XYZ — reply to ticket or send an email to someone"
5. "When a ticket is created and it has keywords A, B, C in the subject — send a link to a Knowledge Base article"
6. "When a new reply is added to a ticket — send an HTTP POST request to an external API"

Creating a Rule

To create an automation rule, go to Admin > Automation Rules and click the "new rule" button. You are presented with a rule editing dialog with three areas:

1. When — Describes WHEN this rule will be launched: when a ticket is submitted, when it is closed, when it becomes overdue, etc.
2. What conditions should be met — What other conditions should be met? For example: ticket priority is "High", or ticket contains some text in the subject.
3. What should be done — Add one or more actions here. For example: move the ticket to a category, change the priority, send an email, etc.

Available Trigger Types

1. Ticket is created
2. Ticket becomes overdue
3. Ticket has not been updated for 30 minutes or more
4. Ticket is closed
5. A new reply is added to a ticket
6. Ticket is moved to a new category
7. Ticket is assigned to a tech
8. Ticket status has changed
9. Ticket priority has changed
10. A new reply from ticket-submitter
11. Ticket is re-opened
12. A custom field has been edited
13. Ticket due date has changed
14. Tag is added to a ticket
15. Ticket is deleted
16. Ticket satisfaction is rated by submitter
17. Ticket is closed as duplicate
18. Ticket subject or body have been edited
19. Trigger manually

Note About Time-Based Triggers

Time based automation rules run ONLY ONCE for a given ticket to prevent infinite alerts. For example, if you set up an overdue alert, you would receive it only once — because the ticket would still be overdue until someone moves the due date.

Execution Order

Rules are executed in list order. Use drag-and-drop to reorder. An "abort further rules" action can stop further execution.

Note: If a rule changes a category, it may trigger "Category has changed" rules. This can lead to infinite loops. Safeguards exist to stop circular execution.

Important: Exercise Caution

When building automation rules, you are essentially writing a computer program. This provides incredible power to streamline and automate tasks, but with this power comes responsibility. You may encounter bugs or infinite loops (for example, a rule updates a ticket, which triggers another "ticket updated" rule, causing it to update again). Test your rules thoroughly, monitor their behavior, and be prepared to troubleshoot.