# Getting Started (Admin Setup)

This is the end-to-end checklist for a tenant admin standing up the Helpdesk for the first time. Work through it top to bottom — each step builds on the last, and the defaults are designed so a small team can be live quickly.

You'll need an admin role (or the `helpdesk:config:manage` permission) for the configuration steps.

## 1. Grant Access to Your Team

Helpdesk permissions live alongside the rest of your role permissions. In **Settings → Roles & Permissions**, grant the keys your staff need:

- **View / Create / Edit / Delete Tickets** — core ticket work for agents
- **View / Manage Knowledge Base** — for whoever writes help articles
- **View / Review AI Approvals** — for whoever supervises AI actions
- **Manage Helpdesk Settings** — admin-only; controls teams, SLA, portal, and AI policy

A typical **Support Agent** role gets View/Create/Edit Tickets and View Knowledge Base. A **Support Lead** additionally gets Review AI Approvals. Admins get everything. See **Roles & Permissions** for the full key list.

## 2. Create Your Support Teams

Teams are the routing unit for tickets. Open **Helpdesk → Teams** and create at least one:

1. Click **New team** and give it a name (e.g. "Front Line", "Billing").
2. Add **members** — the staff users who work its tickets.
3. Choose an **assignment strategy**:
   - **Manual** — new tickets wait in the queue for someone to pick up.
   - **Round-robin** — new tickets rotate across members automatically.
4. Optionally set it as the **default team** (the catch-all when no rule matches), or as the default for specific **channels** or **ticket types**.

If you skip this, tickets simply land in a shared, unassigned queue — which is fine to start.

## 3. Define an SLA Policy

SLA policies set response and resolution targets so nothing slips. Open **Helpdesk → SLA Policies**:

1. Click **New policy** and name it (e.g. "Standard").
2. Set **first response** and **resolution** targets per priority (in minutes). Start simple — e.g. Urgent 60/480, Normal 480/2880.
3. Optionally enable **business hours** (timezone, working days, holidays) so clocks only run when you're open.
4. Leave **Pause while waiting on the customer** on — it stops the clock when the ball is in their court.
5. Mark it the **tenant default**.

See **SLA Policies** for the full detail, including per-company (VIP) policies.

## 4. Configure Helpdesk Settings

Open **Helpdesk → Helpdesk Settings**. This is your control panel:

- **Customer portal** — turn it on, set the **portal name**, **subdomain label** (e.g. `acme` → `acme.<your portal domain>`), logo, and primary color. See **Customer Portal** for DNS.
- **Support email** — set the **local part** (the name before the `@`) for your inbound support address, so emails to it become tickets. See **Channels**.
- **Intake defaults** — the default ticket **visibility** and the default **SLA policy** / **team** for new tickets.
- **AI governance** — decide what AI agents may do on tickets: **Allowed**, **Needs approval**, or **Forbidden** per action, plus a confidence threshold and sensitive topics. Start conservative. See **AI & Governance**.
- **CSAT & auto-close** — whether to survey customers on resolution, and how many days after "solved" a ticket auto-closes.

Save. Every section can be revisited any time.

## 5. Seed the Knowledge Base

Even a handful of articles pays off twice — customers self-serve, and your AI agents cite them. Open **Helpdesk → Knowledge Base**:

1. Click **New article**, write it in Markdown, choose **Public** (customers + AI) or **Internal** (staff + AI) audience, and assign a category.
2. Click **Publish**. Publishing syncs the article into your AI knowledge store automatically.

See **Knowledge Base** for the full workflow.

## 6. Connect a Channel

Pick how tickets will come in first (you can add the rest later):

- **Email** — the fastest start. Point or forward your support address to the helpdesk inbound address (see **Channels**). Replies thread back onto the ticket automatically.
- **Portal** — once enabled and DNS is set, customers open tickets directly.
- **Chat / SMS / Voice agents** — give your existing agents the ticket tools so they can open tickets mid-conversation (see **Channels**).
- **Forms** — mark a form to open a ticket on each submission.

## 7. Go Live

1. Create a **test ticket** — send an email to your support address, or open one from **Helpdesk → Tickets → New**.
2. Confirm it lands, routes to the right team, and starts its SLA clock.
3. Reply to it, mark it **Solved**, and confirm the customer notification (and CSAT prompt) look right.
4. Check **Helpdesk → Reports** to see it counted.

You're live. From here, **Tickets** covers day-to-day operation for your staff.

## Setup Checklist

- [ ] Helpdesk permissions granted to staff roles
- [ ] At least one team created (and a default set)
- [ ] A default SLA policy defined
- [ ] Helpdesk Settings configured (portal, support email, defaults, AI policy, CSAT)
- [ ] A few knowledge-base articles published
- [ ] At least one channel connected
- [ ] A test ticket run end to end