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​Ask the Expert ft. Vish ❓ | Mastering Freshservice to drive success in 2022 | Ask our in-house expert

​Ask the Expert ft. Vish ❓ | Mastering Freshservice to drive success in 2022 | Ask our in-house expert
rashmi.nag
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Hey Everyone,

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year (16 days late! :smile: )

*Drumroll please* 

We are all set to kick off 2022 with Ask the Expert session ft. Vish, as we take on all things Freshservice.

What were your challenges, opportunities, doubts, and wins with Freshservice? The month of January is a great time to reflect on last years work and identify areas of improvement for the year to come. To help you do that, we've open the floor to your questions on how you can get better and work more efficiently with Freshservice, and make delight easy for your employees and in turn yourselves.

Topic: Mastering Freshservice to drive success in 2022

An introduction to our host, Viswanatha Mehta (aka Vish) @viswanatha.mehta, is a Technical Account Manager at Freshworks - Freshservice. With a keen eye and great attention to detail towards solving problems. He has been a great asset to our customers and the Freshworks community. Beyond work he's interested in technology, cars and spending time on the beach, surfing.

As conversations progress, you will be able to connect with and learn more about our in house product specialist. Watch out for him in the comments.

Start your year with helpful tips, tricks, and hacks from our in-house experts and your peers. Vish is available from January 17 until January 26, answering your burning questions. So, fire away in the comments below… 

A few cues to get you started:

  • What are some key metrics I should look into to measure my ServiceDesk success?

  • How can we better utilise automation within Freshservice to improve the overall experience?

  • How can we extend ITSM capabilities to other business functions?

  • What features within Freshservice can we better utilise in 2022 to delight my employees?

  • What was the most used Freshservice feature last year?
That’s Vish right now, all ready to chat with you!

PS: This is a text-based conversation open till January 26. Add your questions down below, and Vish will respond with a solution at the earliest. Peers are certainly allowed to help each other. That’s what our community is all about!

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Refresh Community

42 replies

viswanatha.mehta
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Userlevel 3
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Hello Everybody!
I hope everyone is staying safe and bringing in this Year full of vim and vigor. 

I sure am :blush:

Ask me anything on how Freshservice can help drive success this year and I will be happy to help! 

Talk to you all soon.
 

Cheers, Vish | Delight Made Easy
viswanatha.mehta
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Userlevel 3
Badge +3

I need to create a workflow that incorporates an attached word doc.  The word doc needs to be sent to a non agent ti fill out and then reattached to the ticket.  How can this be done?

 

Hello @pporcari,
Great Question! 

Freshservice does not support reattaching a Word Doc via workflows to the same Ticket.

The non-agent must use an API call to add a note to the ticket with the attachment. Even this might not be ideal since the non-agent will need to use an Agent’s API key. 

There might be two workarounds for your use-case: 
1. Are you trying to capture information from a external/third party vendor about the ticket?
If yes, you could just forward the conversation to the Third Party and their reply will get added as a Private Note, keeping the information away from the Requestor. 

2. Use our super powerful Orchestration Apps in Workflows to send templated Envelopes to external third parties for verification. 

We support DocuSign and Adobe Sign.
 

Cheers, Vish | Delight Made Easy
Tryan
Rank

The Analytics and reports are very helpful in Freshservice but they are also one dimensional (can’t drill down or easily view the details of the underlying data). What is the recommended approach to investigate and take action on an analytical report? Specific example: a report is created to show all service requests that are not fulfilled and have not been updated in 14 days by agent. You want to look at the tickets for the agent with the highest number of stale tickets, what is the most efficient way to browse that set of data?

I’m familiar with the trick of going into edit mode to interactively drill down, but that can be cumbersome and you risk inadvertently modifying the report.

BrynCYDEF
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +10

Hi @viswanatha.mehta - thanks for the chance to ask a question!

In Fresh Service, I’d really like to be able to build a Dashboard with widgets to share with client users when they log in to the service portal.  No reason you couldn’t use basically the exact same technology that works for Agents - just extend it to Contacts that have been selected by the Admin.

I find the analytics reports have a ton of weaknesses but the really big issue for me is due to the PDF format (only way to email a report to a client user) the list tables are restricted to the single page (no pagination) so the lists are always truncated.

Thanks for considering!

Bryn at CYDEF.ca

cybersecurity specialists

viswanatha.mehta
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Userlevel 3
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How can startups look into using a service desk for more than just the IT requirements?

 

Thank you in advance @viswanatha.mehta 


Hi @Jadespire45,
Glad you asked!
Having recently graduated out of the Startup phase, We realize how important the right products are for Startups.

The Freshworks Startup Program -  An initiative where we engage with curated startup communities globally to give back to the ecosystem and also help startups scale efficiently with our products. 
Please visit our landing page here and feel free to write to us at startup@freshworks.com

I you have specific questions on how Freshservice could service your growing business needs, Let me know.

All the best!!

Cheers, Vish | Delight Made Easy
Glavin Crasta
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Userlevel 4
Badge +6

I need to create a workflow that incorporates an attached word doc.  The word doc needs to be sent to a non agent ti fill out and then reattached to the ticket.  How can this be done?

@pporcari you could also try this. Store the word doc in public cloud and create a service catalog. In the service catalog you can have a URL field that stores the link of the document. You can add instructions in catalog itself to use link, download document, fill the details and upload as an attachment to the same request and submit. To incorporate this in workflow you could add the link to the service request via an email trigger.

Glavin Crasta
raymondcanilao
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

I need to create a workflow that incorporates an attached word doc.  The word doc needs to be sent to a non agent ti fill out and then reattached to the ticket.  How can this be done?

@pporcari you could also try this. Store the word doc in public cloud and create a service catalog. In the service catalog you can have a URL field that stores the link of the document. You can add instructions in catalog itself to use link, download document, fill the details and upload as an attachment to the same request and submit. To incorporate this in workflow you could add the link to the service request via an email trigger.

 

or what you can do is, just create a service request and add all the needed fields based from your  the doc file.  I suggest to have it directly in the freshservice so you have one repository and better tracking of the request. 

raymondcanilao
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

hi @raymondcanilao 

Also, for service catalog, i wish there will be another level like sub- category, this will be helpful for our case like we have ”hardware provisioning” category , right now all assets are being displayed here. we want to have sub-category wherein we can group assets like computer, network devices, mobile devices, consumables/peripherals. 



To achieve subcategory classifications in the service catalog category list page in the new portal, please add the following code in the head layout of the portal customization.

 

Steps to create sub-category on the admin side:

  1. Go to Service Catalog from the Admin Home
  2. For categories with subcategories, use a splitter. For eg, to achieve, "Hardware" as parent category and "Laptops", "Desktops", "Printers" as subcategories, you need to have the category names configured like
    1. Hardware : Laptops
    2. Hardware : Desktops
    3. Hardware : Printers
  3. The separator (:) can be configured as any special characters in the code. You can also have them as "Hardware | Laptops" or "Hardware > Laptops"

Advantages:

  • You can create any number of nested subcategories like "Hardware : Laptops : Dell", "Hardware : Laptops : Microsoft", "Hardware : Laptops : Dell : Inspiron". But please advised not to create more than two subcategories for better UI
  • Admin or agents can rename, add, delete any categories or subcategories at any time without making any code changes in the customization.

 

Examples:

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.32.21%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955035515&api=v2

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.32.32%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955036550&api=v2

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.33.20%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955036859&api=v2

 

Admin Page:

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.35.25%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955158453&api=v2

I’ve attached a detailed PDF for your reference and please reach out to us at support@freshservice.com if you need any help during this process. 

Thank you very much Vish for this. i’ll try this one :)

zachary.king
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Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Man I am sorry I missed this. Just want to give a shout out to @viswanatha.mehta for taking the time to answer some complicated freshservice questions. It’s great to see interaction from the product’s SMEs. Another reason I enjoy being a part of the Refresh Community. :muscle:

-Zach

- Zach
J
Rank
Userlevel 2
Badge

How can startups look into using a service desk for more than just the IT requirements?

 

Thank you in advance @viswanatha.mehta 

pporcari
Rank

I need to create a workflow that incorporates an attached word doc.  The word doc needs to be sent to a non agent ti fill out and then reattached to the ticket.  How can this be done?

pporcari
Rank

OK, Thanks

 

raymondcanilao
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

I hope there’s a way to create ticket via google chat just like in MS teams.

viswanatha.mehta
Rank
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

We struggle with the visibility and functionality of Tasks in their current state in Freshservice.  For example:

 

1.) We can’t search for a Task and easily be able to pull up the Task or Ticket it’s associated with.  This leads us to have to backtrack and get the INC/SR number to be able to navigate to the Task, which is cumbersome.  It would be awesome to just be able to type in TSK-xxxx in the search bar and have it open that Task/Ticket.

 

2.) We can’t put a Group Task view in a Widget on a Dashboard and have everyone be able to look at Group Tasks in a consistent fashion.

 

3.) We can’t put a Group Task view in a Widget on a Dashboard that shows all unassigned Tasks.

 

4.) While we can create a Widget for Tasks in Analytics, again we can’t publish that information that’s someplace right in front of an Agents face (e.g. a Dashboard).

 

5.) The Widget in Analytics isn’t real time and can take up to 30 minutes sometimes to include new information.

 

Are there any plans to enhance Tasks?


Hi ​​​@pderencius and @raymondcanilao 
Subscribe to our Product Updates and keep an eye out on our Product Updates section here in the community - We are exploring how we can improve our Tasks and I Will ensure our Product Managers are aware of these requests. 

Our Analytic sync times are 20 to 30 minutes only the Dashboard Module is designed to be live.

Cheers, Vish | Delight Made Easy
viswanatha.mehta
Rank
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

hi @raymondcanilao 

Also, for service catalog, i wish there will be another level like sub- category, this will be helpful for our case like we have ”hardware provisioning” category , right now all assets are being displayed here. we want to have sub-category wherein we can group assets like computer, network devices, mobile devices, consumables/peripherals. 



To achieve subcategory classifications in the service catalog category list page in the new portal, please add the following code in the head layout of the portal customization.

 

Steps to create sub-category on the admin side:

  1. Go to Service Catalog from the Admin Home
  2. For categories with subcategories, use a splitter. For eg, to achieve, "Hardware" as parent category and "Laptops", "Desktops", "Printers" as subcategories, you need to have the category names configured like
    1. Hardware : Laptops
    2. Hardware : Desktops
    3. Hardware : Printers
  3. The separator (:) can be configured as any special characters in the code. You can also have them as "Hardware | Laptops" or "Hardware > Laptops"

Advantages:

  • You can create any number of nested subcategories like "Hardware : Laptops : Dell", "Hardware : Laptops : Microsoft", "Hardware : Laptops : Dell : Inspiron". But please advised not to create more than two subcategories for better UI
  • Admin or agents can rename, add, delete any categories or subcategories at any time without making any code changes in the customization.

 

Examples:

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.32.21%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955035515&api=v2

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.32.32%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955036550&api=v2

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.33.20%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955036859&api=v2

 

Admin Page:

Screenshot%202020-10-29%20at%2012.35.25%20PM.png?version=1&modificationDate=1603955158453&api=v2

I’ve attached a detailed PDF for your reference and please reach out to us at support@freshservice.com if you need any help during this process. 

1 Attachment
Cheers, Vish | Delight Made Easy
rashmi.nag
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

That was an informative exchange of questions, answers, tips and tricks! Thank you @Jadespire45 @BrynCYDEF @pporcari @Tryan @brad.dunn @oudehinkel.andy @jwiese @raymondcanilao @jlox @Bewitchingmaker1 @pderencius for your questions and conversations! :grinning:

Thank you @Glavin Crasta and @raymondcanilao for your inputs in helping your peers! :raised_hands_tone3:

Last but not the least, thank you Vish @viswanatha.mehta for spending time with our members, answering their questions and for sharing your expertise on making the best use of Freshservice. :pray_tone2::heart_eyes:

This thread will remain open for any further questions/ answers/ suggestions. So feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments section below.

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Refresh Community
viswanatha.mehta
Rank
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Hi @viswanatha.mehta - thanks for the chance to ask a question!

In Fresh Service, I’d really like to be able to build a Dashboard with widgets to share with client users when they log in to the service portal.  No reason you couldn’t use basically the exact same technology that works for Agents - just extend it to Contacts that have been selected by the Admin.

I find the analytics reports have a ton of weaknesses but the really big issue for me is due to the PDF format (only way to email a report to a client user) the list tables are restricted to the single page (no pagination) so the lists are always truncated.

Thanks for considering!

Bryn at CYDEF.ca

cybersecurity specialists


Hi @BrynCYDEF 
How are you today?

The current iteration of the Dashboard module was designed primarily with Agent productivity in mind vis-à-vis it being limited to only the Admin portal. 

This is great feedback and if you could reach out to us at support@freshservice.com, we will process this feature request and once it is picked up for development, we will reach out you. 

Please also subscribe to our newsletter here if to stay updated with our monthly releases. 

A possible workaround the truncated PDFs would be to schedule each Widget in the Analytic Module individually instead of the entire Report. This way you can export all the data as a CSV; Catch here being that the output is not formatted as a Table, but as a CSV. 

Cheers, Vish | Delight Made Easy
brad.dunn
Rank

Hi, a couple of questions on the Workflow automator:

  1. How can we use variables?
  2. If we split a workflow, how can we merge it again to complete the workflow?

 

viswanatha.mehta
Rank
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

I need to create a workflow that incorporates an attached word doc.  The word doc needs to be sent to a non agent ti fill out and then reattached to the ticket.  How can this be done?

@pporcari you could also try this. Store the word doc in public cloud and create a service catalog. In the service catalog you can have a URL field that stores the link of the document. You can add instructions in catalog itself to use link, download document, fill the details and upload as an attachment to the same request and submit. To incorporate this in workflow you could add the link to the service request via an email trigger.

 

or what you can do is, just create a service request and add all the needed fields based from your  the doc file.  I suggest to have it directly in the freshservice so you have one repository and better tracking of the request. 



Another advantage of keeping it all within Freshservice is that you can use our Analytics Platform to report and dissect the data!

Cheers, Vish | Delight Made Easy
jlox
Rank
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

I need to create a workflow that incorporates an attached word doc.  The word doc needs to be sent to a non agent ti fill out and then reattached to the ticket.  How can this be done?

This is a good idea! 

jlox
Rank
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

I want to utilize the password reset via Orchestration but we cant just open the password reset Service Request to Public without having security questions to confirm that its the real owner that is requesting the password reset.

Bewitchingmaker1
Rank
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

What are the best practice methods to store and send documents as part of workflows.? We are getting rid of Box long term so we will want to use SharePoint or OneDrive. Is it is easier to connect to use one vs. the other? Is there a difference is behavior?

 

Use case- After onboarding, a new manager needs access to a set of documents stored in a shared location. The documents are specific to the location, and we have several locations so the correct document (or link) needs to be sent to the new person along with attached documents to sign indicating they have been given access to the docs. They can reply with the signed doc (or esign) and we want to store it in the same location.

oudehinkel.andy
Rank

We use the “Asset Label Designer” and create for each Asset an label. We print an QR Code which only shows the asset unique number. I think the much better option where to open an online ticketform after scanning the qr code with an smartphone. The online ticket form already knows which hardware and maybe user wanted to create an ticket. So every user could create very easy and fast an ticket for his / her Hardware.

raymondcanilao
Rank
Userlevel 4
Badge +8

Hi Vish, just to ask regarding assets inventory, I'm having difficulty arranging our product hierarchy since i cannot delete certain asset type, here’s what I want to fix.

for hardware> computer> i just want to have desktop or laptop. i don’t see the need to have another cpu category under desktop.

 

however, when i tried to delete the ‘cpu’ category, im having this kind of alert;

 

I also checked our inventory list, there’s no more asset tag under CPU. im wondering why i cannot delete this. 

 

 

Thank you in advance! :)

P
Rank

We struggle with the visibility and functionality of Tasks in their current state in Freshservice.  For example:

 

1.) We can’t search for a Task and easily be able to pull up the Task or Ticket it’s associated with.  This leads us to have to backtrack and get the INC/SR number to be able to navigate to the Task, which is cumbersome.  It would be awesome to just be able to type in TSK-xxxx in the search bar and have it open that Task/Ticket.

 

2.) We can’t put a Group Task view in a Widget on a Dashboard and have everyone be able to look at Group Tasks in a consistent fashion.

 

3.) We can’t put a Group Task view in a Widget on a Dashboard that shows all unassigned Tasks.

 

4.) While we can create a Widget for Tasks in Analytics, again we can’t publish that information that’s someplace right in front of an Agents face (e.g. a Dashboard).

 

5.) The Widget in Analytics isn’t real time and can take up to 30 minutes sometimes to include new information.

 

Are there any plans to enhance Tasks?

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