Service Desk: Problems, Changes & Catalog

🗺How the pieces relate

Incidents are symptoms; problems are causes; changes are cures. Navy = desk staff, orange = the system.

🔍Problems

Problem register /ServiceDesk/Problems/Index

When the same incident keeps coming back, stop treating the symptom — open a problem and hunt the cause.

1. Open Service Desk → Problems. Filter by status or search the titles.
2. Click Create — or, better, create it from a case: the case comes along as the first linked incident.
3. Give the problem a clear title, a description of the pattern, and a priority.
4. Link every related incident to the problem as more arrive — the problem page collects them.

Root cause & known errors

1. On the problem's detail page, record the root cause once found, and the workaround agents should use in the meantime.
2. Mark the problem a known error when the cause is confirmed but the fix is still pending — agents see the workaround instead of re-investigating.
3. Set the status to resolved/closed once a change has removed the cause.

🔄Changes

Change register /ServiceDesk/Changes/Index

1. Open Service Desk → Changes and click Create (or create one straight from a problem — the link is kept).
2. Fill in the title and description, pick the change type (standard, normal, emergency) and the risk rating, and set the planned start and end.
3. On the change's detail, write the implementation plan and the rollback plan — what you will do, and how you get back if it goes wrong.
4. Link the configuration items the change touches (see the CMDB section) so the blast radius is on record.
5. Click Submit to send it for approval.

CAB approvals

1. Add each approver (the change advisory board members) to the change.
2. Each approver records a decision — approve or reject — with a comment.
3. Once approved, update the status as the work happens: scheduled → in progress → completed (or rolled back, with notes).

Change calendar /ServiceDesk/Changes/Calendar

1. Open the calendar to see the month's planned changes at a glance — use it to spot two risky changes landing on the same night.

🛒Service catalog

Define the items /ServiceDesk/Catalog/Items

The catalog is the menu of things people can order — a new laptop, an account, access to a system — each with its own little request form.

1. Open Service Desk → Catalog and add an item: name, description, category.
2. Define the item's form fields — the questions the requester must answer (model, cost centre, who approves).
3. Save. The item now appears in the portal's catalog.

Requesting from the portal /ServiceDesk/Catalog/Browse

1. A requester opens Browse, picks the item, fills in the form with their name and email, and submits.
2. The request lands on the Requests queue for the desk.

Approve and fulfil /ServiceDesk/Catalog/Requests

1. Open the request, read the answers, and record the decision — approve or decline, with a comment.
2. When the thing has actually been delivered, click Fulfil. The requester's answer trail stays on the request.

⭐CSAT — satisfaction scores

When a case is resolved, the requester can rate it (1–5) on the portal, with an optional comment — the portal's track page offers the rating once the case is resolved.

1. Ratings attach to the case itself — open the case to see what the requester said.
2. The desk Dashboard /ServiceDesk/Cases/Dashboard shows the average Satisfaction score and how many ratings it rests on (when CSAT is enabled in Setup).

💬Live chat: console & intents

Agent console /ServiceDesk/Chat/Console

Visitors on the portal and public pages click Live support, which drops them into the staffed LetsTalk support room (daily 08:00–20:00). The bot console below applies where the embedded web-chat widget is used instead.

1. Open the Console to see live sessions — waiting ones are flagged.
2. Accept a session to take it over from the bot, then type replies in the thread.
3. If the chat needs follow-up work, click Create case — the transcript goes into a new case.
4. Close the session when done; the visitor can also end it and say whether they were helped.

Teach the bot /ServiceDesk/Chat/Intents

1. Open Intents. Each intent is: a name, the keywords that trigger it, and the answer the bot gives.
2. Add intents for your top repeated questions (password reset, opening hours, how to track a case).
3. Review transcripts now and then and turn unanswered questions into new intents.

🤖AI copilot on a case

The Copilot panel /ServiceDesk/Cases/Details

Every case detail page carries a small Copilot panel with three buttons.

1. Summarise thread — condenses a long case history into a few lines, handy when you inherit a case.
2. Draft a reply — writes a suggested reply from the thread (you can add a hint about the angle to take). Click use the draft to drop it into the reply box, then edit before sending.
3. Suggest triage — proposes a category and priority; apply the suggestion with one click if you agree.

🖥️CMDB impact maps

Impact /ServiceDesk/Cmdb/Impact

Configuration items can be related to each other (“runs on”, “depends on”). The impact map draws those relations so you can answer: if this goes down, what else breaks?

1. Open a configuration item in the CMDB and add its relations — the other item, the relation type, and the direction.
2. Open Impact on the item to see the map: what it depends on, and what depends on it.
3. Check the map before approving a change on the item — the dependents are your blast radius.

❓FAQ & troubleshooting