Trackers: one problem, many customers

Where you find trackers

While tickets are switched on, the inbox panel has a Trackers folder below Tickets and Created by me, with its count next to it. A tracker's row shows a link icon, its title and, below the title, Tracker # with its number. As long as the folder holds no tracker at all, it shows a start page, One problem, many customers, with the 3 steps and a small example of one update reaching 3 customers.

Every member sees every tracker, whoever holds it. The only exception is a custom role set to Only assigned to them, which sees only what is assigned to it and gets no ticket folders. The command bar finds trackers as well, resolved ones too: type a few letters of the title or the number, and they show under Tickets.

Create a tracker

You need the role permission Manage conversations (assign, resolve, reopen). There are 4 ways to start:

• In the Trackers folder, click + (New tracker) above the list, or Create tracker on the start page.
• In the command bar (Cmd+K or Ctrl+K), pick New tracker.
• In the New ticket dialog, click No customer? Create a tracker instead.
• Tick chats and tickets in the list, pick Link to tracker and then New tracker. Your selection comes along as the affected chats and tickets.

The New tracker dialog asks for:

1. Title (required, up to 200 characters), for example "Login fails for some customers".
2. Summary: what is wrong and what you know so far. It becomes the tracker's first internal note, which only your team sees.
3. Category, Priority, Team and Assigned to. The priority starts at your workspace's default for new tickets. When your workspace requires a category on every ticket, a tracker needs one too.
4. Affected chats and tickets: search the open and pending chats and tickets by name, message or #number and tick the affected ones. This is optional, and you can link more later.

Click Create tracker. Deskwoot confirms with "Tracker #12 created" and opens the new tracker. If you gave it to a teammate or a team, they are notified as they are for a new ticket.

Link the affected chats and tickets

Linking says: this customer has this problem. The customer of every linked chat or ticket then gets the tracker's updates. Linking itself sends nothing to the customer. It only adds an internal line on both sides, for example "Anna linked #12, #15 to this tracker" on the tracker and "Anna linked this to tracker #3" in the chat.

• From a chat or ticket: open it, go to Details and find the Trackers section. Click Link to tracker, search the open trackers by title or number and click Link.
• Several at once from the list: tick the chats and tickets, open More actions (the three dots in the bar above the list) and pick Link to tracker. Trackers in your selection are left out, because a tracker is never linked to another tracker.
• From the tracker: click Link customers in Affected customers, tick the chats and tickets of the customers who have the problem and click the button with the number, for example Link 3. Items that are linked already say Linked.

The tracker picker lists the open trackers, which means open, pending or snoozed ones. Chats in spam, deleted chats and trackers cannot be linked, and Deskwoot tells you how many it left out. One chat or ticket can be linked to several trackers.

Affected customers

At the top of the tracker, where a ticket shows the chat it came from, Affected customers lists everything that is linked, newest link first, with the count next to the heading. Each row shows the chat or ticket number, the customer, their organization, the channel, the status, who has it and Last update: what the tracker's latest update did there, for example Delivered, or Not delivered with the channel's reason. Updates are explained in Update every affected customer at once.

The menu at the end of a row has Open, Reply to customer and Unlink. Reply to customer shows on a ticket whose chat still exists and opens that ticket ready to reply. A chat has no Reply to customer here, because you reply in the chat itself after Open. Rows you may not open are not listed. The panel counts them instead (Linked items you cannot open), and their customers still get the tracker's updates.

Unlink a chat or ticket

To take a customer off the tracker, pick Unlink in the row's menu, or click the X next to the tracker in the chat's Details > Trackers. After you confirm, the tracker's updates no longer go out for that chat or ticket. Both sides get an internal line about it. Unlinking needs the permission to manage conversations.

Work on the tracker

A tracker works like a ticket. It has a status, a priority, a team and an assignee, and its composer writes an Internal comment, where you type @ to mention a teammate. Transfer in the header opens Transfer tracker to hand it to a teammate or a team.

A tracker has no customer of its own, so it has no Reply to customer. Once something is linked, the composer offers Update linked customers instead, and the arrow next to Resolve offers Resolve with all linked. Both are explained in Update every affected customer at once. A plain Resolve resolves only the tracker. Deskwoot then goes back to the list and shows "Tracker #12 resolved" with Reopen.

Plans and permissions

• Trackers need tickets. Tickets come with Enterprise; an admin can switch them off under Settings > Tickets. See Ticket settings and categories.
• Creating, linking and unlinking need the role permission Manage conversations (assign, resolve, reopen), which agents have by default.
• If your workspace leaves Enterprise, its trackers stay. You can still open, comment on, update, unlink and resolve them, but you cannot create new trackers or link more chats.

Satisfaction surveys of linked chats

If the inbox sends CSAT surveys, a chat that was linked to an open tracker since it was last resolved does not send its survey when you resolve it. The survey waits until the tracker is resolved, deleted or merged, or until you unlink the chat. See CSAT surveys and results.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a ticket and a tracker?

A ticket belongs to one customer's chat and holds the work behind it. A tracker has no customer. It gathers the chats and tickets of many customers who have the same problem, so you can update and resolve them together. See Tickets: hand the work behind a chat to your team.

Does the customer notice that I linked their chat?

No. Linking only writes internal lines that your team sees. The customer hears from the tracker only when you send an update, or a last message with Resolve with all linked.

Who can see a tracker?

Every member, except roles set to Only assigned to them, which see only what is assigned to them. In Affected customers each member sees the chats and tickets they may open, and the rest are counted.

Why can't I find a chat in Link customers?

The picker lists open and pending chats and tickets only. To link a resolved chat, open it and use Link to tracker in its Details. Chats in spam cannot be linked at all.

Can I link a tracker to another tracker?

No. Trackers are left out of every link. The same chat can be linked to several trackers, though.

Why don't I see the Trackers folder?

Trackers come with tickets. Tickets come with Enterprise, and an admin can switch them off under Settings > Tickets. Your role must also not be limited to Only assigned to them.

Can I create or link trackers in the iPhone and Android app?

No. The app lists your trackers under Trackers and shows their affected customers for reading. You create trackers, link chats and send updates on the web. See Tickets in the iPhone and Android app.

What happens to our trackers if we leave Enterprise?

They stay, and you can keep working on them: comment, update the linked customers, unlink and resolve. Creating new trackers and linking more chats stops.