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A ticket represents a conversation between you and your patrons—their question, your answer, and any other replies! Tickets can also contain internal notes—for example, a conversation between you and a colleague, or an internal note containing information that might be useful to others answering similar tickets. If a ticket should be answered by another user, you can also opt to transfer it directly to another user or another queue.

Create a reply

After claiming a (non-SMS) ticket, you can use the rich text editor and the additional fields/options under the Create a Reply tab to send a response to a patron.

1. Use the rich text editor to draft the text of the reply that will be sent out for the ticket.
   • See the Using the Rich Text Editor FAQ for more information.
2. Use the Apply a Macro to this Ticket field to quickly add any text/tags/settings that were included in a macro that has been created.
3. Use the Files uploader to attach files to the reply.
   • Grab the file from your desktop and drag it into the uploader. 
   • Or if you prefer, you can click on the uploader to choose a file from your desktop.
   • The maximum size is 20 MB per file, with a limit of 5 files per upload. If you need to attach more than 5 files, upload them in separate batches.
   • Uploaded files will be retained until the ticket is deleted.
4. Use the Add Links field to optionally include a list of links to the end of the reply.
5. CC Answer to: Add any additional email addresses, other than the email address of the ticket submitter, that should also receive the ticket reply. 
   • Any time the patron CC's an email address, either when sending a new ticket via email or in a reply, those email addresses will automatically be added to the ticket's CC Answer to list.
   • If you need to remove an email address, simply click on the Delete (x) icon next to it.
   • Note: To prevent email looping, CC's to another LibAnswers queue's email address or to the current owner of the ticket will not be sent.
6. Add to FAQ Group: If the text of the reply warrants inclusion in your site's FAQs, you can optionally choose to have a new FAQ created when the reply is submitted.
   • Once you submit your reply, the patron's initial question will be copied as the new FAQ's question, and your reply will be copied as its answer. You will then be given the option to edit the FAQ once the reply has been sent.
   • The new FAQ will not be published immediately, so you'll have the opportunity to edit the FAQ to remove any personal information from the question or answer text, or make any other needed changes.
7. Add to Analytics: If you use Ref. Analytics to track your tickets alongside your in-person reference transactions, you also have the option of adding the question to one of your datasets.
   • Once you submit your reply, a new transaction will be added to your Ref Analytics dataset. This will include the patron's question, along with the text of your reply. In addition to the responses, you selected for the metadata fields, Ref. Analytics will also record your name in the "Entered by" field.
8. Submit the reply and change the ticket's status:
   • Click on the Submit as Closed button to send it to the patron and anyone who was cc'd on the ticket. It's at this point that the ticket would be added as an FAQ or to your Ref Analytics dataset, if you selected these options.
   • This will also update the status of this ticket to Closed, which effectively means no further action is required for this ticket. However, if you click on the arrow portion of this button, you can select a different status. Here's a summary of each:
     • Closed: this indicates that no further interaction is expected for this ticket.
     • Open: this indicates that your follow-up may be required for this ticket. If a patron replies to you, the ticket will automatically be updated to this status.
     • Pending: this indicates that you are expecting a follow-up from the patron. Compared to the Closed status, this can help you keep an eye on the ticket, as it will be listed along with your other open tickets.
     • New: this indicates that the patron has submitted their question and is awaiting a reply. This is the status automatically assigned to incoming tickets.
   • Note: if you are replying to a ticket that you do not own, a notification email will be sent to the ticket's owner notifying them of your reply. (This notification email can be customized in the queue's email templates.)

Why did a patron's reply turn into a new ticket?

In order for a reply to be threaded, the email must contain certain information about the ticket in its header. Unfortunately, there are a few email clients that do not include that information. As a result, LibAnswers can't identify which ticket the reply belongs to, so it gets turned into a new ticket. Don't fret, though! You can always merge the ticket into the original.

Another reason that a reply to an existing ticket may come into your queue as a new ticket is if the patron replies to a ticket that was last updated more than the amount of time that has been set for the Break Replies into a new Ticket after X Months setting. For example, if this option has been set to 1 month, then any replies from a patron on a ticket that has not been updated in more than one month would come in as a new ticket -- with an internal note linking back to the original thread.

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Preview and save a draft of a reply

Preview your reply

If you'd like to see how your reply will look to the patron, click on the Preview Email button. This will open a preview of the email that the patron will see, giving you a sense of how your text formatting, images, etc. will appear. It's also a helpful way to proofread your reply before sending it.

Save a draft of your reply

You can also choose to save a draft of your reply so you can send it at a later time. This is obviously helpful if you don't have time to finish it, or maybe need to do some additional research on the question. However, it's also helpful because drafts can be viewed by other users in your queue when they look at the ticket. This means you can ask your colleagues to proofread, edit, or add to your reply before sending it on to the patron.

1. To save your reply as a draft, click the Save Draft button.

2. The draft will appear in the ticket thread in a red box. To restore this draft, click on the reply's Action () button.
3. Then, select Restore Draft from the dropdown menu.

When you restore a draft, the text of the reply will appear in the rich text editor so you can pick up where you left off. Although attached files and links are also saved with your drafts, your Add to FAQ Group and Add to Analytics options are not. You will need to reselect those before sending your reply.

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Add an internal note

Internal notes allow you to leave private notes in your ticket thread. This can be helpful if you need to jot down any personal notes, such as reminders, a list of resources you've searched, a shortlist of possible answers you've found, etc. You can also send internal notes to other LibAnswers users, as well, which is a great way to collaborate on tickets. For example, maybe you'd like a second opinion about an anthropology question from your social sciences librarian.

When you add an internal note to a ticket, they are added to the end of your ticket thread—just like your replies. But unlike replies to patrons, these are completely private. Internal notes will not display in any of their notification emails. When reviewing your ticket's thread, internal notes will be contained inside gray boxes, making them easy to identify.

1. Open your ticket and click on the Post an Internal Note tab.
2. Use the Apply a Macro to this Ticket field to quickly add any text/tags/settings that were included in a macro that has been created for internal notes.
3. Use the rich text editor to create your note.
4. Optionally, upload up to 5 files you'd like to share or save with this note (each file's maximum size is 20 MB). Uploaded files will be retained until the ticket is deleted.
5. If you'd like to send this note to another user, select the recipient(s) from the Email Note to field. (The recipient must have either a LibAnswers user account or be included in the LibAnswers address book.)
6. Optionally, you can choose to add the ticket to a Ref Analytics dataset when you submit your internal note.
7. Click the Submit button to post your internal note.
   • The ticket's current status will be selected by default. To change the ticket's status when posting your note, expand the Submit button's dropdown and choose a new ticket status.
   • If you opted to send this note to another user, an email notification will be sent to them. Please note that this will include the entire ticket thread up to that point. 

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Assign / transfer a ticket

If a ticket you claimed is better suited to a particular user or queue, you can reassign and/or transfer it accordingly. This can be helpful if a circulation question was submitted to your reference queue, or if a particular research question would best be answered by a subject specialist. When a ticket is transferred, an internal note will automatically be added to the ticket's thread showing the details of the transfer. And additionally, you can filter your tickets and statistics based on whether or not they included a transfer.

1. Open the ticket and click on the Assign/Transfer tab.
2. If you'd like to use a macro, select it from the Apply a Macro to this Ticket dropdown and click the Apply button.
3. Select the type of transfer to make in the Transfer to dropdown.
   • To transfer to another user in the current queue, select "User".
   • To transfer this ticket to another queue, select "Queue".
4. If you are transferring the ticket to another queue, select which queue to transfer it to.
5. Select the user to whom you want to reassign the ticket.
   • If you want to transfer the ticket to another queue without assigning it to a user, select "Do not assign to a specific user".
6. If desired, use the rich text editor to leave an internal note in the ticket when you transfer it.
7. Use the Files uploader to attach files to the transfer.
   • Grab the file from your desktop and drag it into the uploader. 
   • Or if you prefer, you can click on the uploader to choose a file from your desktop.
   • The maximum size is 20 MB per file, but you can upload multiple files.
8. If you'd like to CC the internal note to another user, select them from the CC Note to dropdown.
   • Users must have either a LibAnswers user account or have been added to your LibAnswers address book.
9. To add this ticket to a Ref Analytics dataset, select the dataset from the Add to Analytics dropdown.
10. Click the Submit button.
    1. Click on the Submit button's dropdown to transfer the ticket with a different status.
       • By default, the ticket will be submitted at its current status.

11. After submitting the transfer, an internal note will be added to the ticket with the details of the transfer.

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Reply actions

For each reply in a ticket thread—patron replies, staff user replies, and internal notes—you will have access to a number of actions related to that individual reply. These actions can be found by clicking the Reply actions () icon for the reply/note.

Patron reply actions

• Original email: LibAnswers scans incoming email replies to see where the new message begins and ends in order to only add the new reply to the ticket page (vs. posting the whole thread over and over on the same page). This works beautifully most of the time but sometimes there's a character or tag or something included in the email that can confuse it and cause it to cut off the visible portion of the new reply a bit early. You can use this action to check the original email for the full reply if it seems like something is missing.
• Edit reply: If you need to make any changes to the display of the patron's reply (perhaps part of the message was cut off in the thread and you got the rest of it when viewing the original email), you can use this action to make any changes to the reply.
• Link to message: Get a link to jump to a specific patron reply within a ticket. This is useful for directing your colleagues to a specific reply within a long ticket thread. You can click the option from the menu and then copy the link from the URL bar in your browser, or activate the context menu for the Link to Message option (right-click in Windows, Control-click on Macs) and choose Copy Link.
• Make reply a new ticket: If a patron replies to an old ticket with an entirely different question (or an ongoing ticket with a totally separate set of questions), rather than continuing the thread of the old question, it's often best to turn that reply into a new ticket all it's own. Not only will this start a brand new thread for the question, but it will also help to ensure the ticket statistics are more accurate.
• Delete: If the reply is irrelevant or not needed in the thread, you can delete it.

Staff user reply actions

• Link to message: Get a link to jump to a specific staff reply within a ticket. This is useful for directing your colleagues to a specific reply within a long ticket thread. You can click the option from the menu and then copy the link from the URL bar in your browser, or activate the context menu for the Link to Message option (right-click in Windows, Control-click on Macs) and choose Copy Link.
• Create FAQ entry: If the text of the reply warrants inclusion in your site's FAQs, you can choose to have a new FAQ created from it.
• Resend: If you need to send the reply again (e.g. after fixing a typo in the recipient's email address), or you want to send it to a different email address.
• Delete: If the reply is irrelevant or not needed in the thread, you can delete it.

Internal note actions

• Link to message: Get a link to jump to a specific internal note within a ticket. This is useful for directing your colleagues to a specific reply within a long ticket thread. You can click the option from the menu and then copy the link from the URL bar in your browser, or activate the context menu for the Link to Message option (right-click in Windows, Control-click on Macs) and choose Copy Link.
• Resend: If you need to send the note again, or you want to send it to a different email address. 
• Delete: If the note is irrelevant or not needed in the thread, you can delete it.

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Reply or add internal notes to a ticket via email

When a LibAnswers user receives an email notification for a new reply from a patron, instead of logging into LibAnswers to send a reply, a new reply can be sent to the patron directly from the reply notification email. 

To reply to the ticket from the email, use the reply option for the email like any other email—making sure that the text of the reply is added above the --# Please type your reply above this line, it will be sent as a response to the patron #-- line in the email. Keeping the reply text above this line is essential for ensuring that the message is threaded and sent properly for the ticket.

What happens if I reply to a LibAnswers ticket notification?

In LibAnswers, notification emails will be sent when replying to tickets, leaving internal notes, or reassigning tickets to other users. You can also choose to notify certain users when new tickets are received, as well. When replying to one of these email notifications, a different action will occur on the ticket. Below is a summary of what happens when replying to a specific type of notification.

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