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Tickets explained
Tickets explained
Go beyond simple live chat – handle complex customer requests asynchronously.
Beth-Ann Sher avatar
Written by Beth-Ann Sher
Updated yesterday

As you scale, so does your conversation volume and not every customer request can be handled in a live chat. That’s where tickets come in. Tier 1 support reps stay focused on getting to simple queries quickly, while Tier 2+ teams can be responsible for carrying out escalations or operational tasks for customers in the background using tickets, all within Intercom.

This results in streamlined workflows, reduced lag time, better visibility into progress for all teammates and customers, and improved reporting on volume, efficiency, and productivity.

Tickets open up a completely new way to use Intercom

Use the Inbox to create tasks for internal teams on behalf of customers, without the need for a message to be sent from or to the customer.

Create a completely async communication channel in the Messenger and remove the customer perception that the Messenger is for live chat only.

Create tickets on behalf of customers when the request was not made via an Intercom conversation

Your support reps can create tickets to capture requests on behalf of customers and seamlessly pass these on to the right team.

For example:

  • An account manager had a meeting with a customer who requested a change to their subscription plan.

  • The account manager creates a standalone ticket in the Inbox on behalf of the customer.

  • An automation rule assigns it to the operations team.

  • The operations team works through their backlog using an Inbox view with a table layout optimized for subscription plan change requests.

  • The ops teammate can discuss the request with the account manager using internal notes.

  • This ticket is added to the tickets report so the volume of different types of requests and how efficiently they are handled can be monitored over time.

Share responsibility for tickets between a support rep and a back office team

Delegate tasks that must be completed by back office teams before the support rep can close the conversation with the customer.

For example:

  • A banking customer has experienced fraudulent activity on their account.

  • They open a conversation with customer support via the app.

  • A back office team with specialist training and system access needs to reimburse the customer's account.

  • The support rep creates a fund transfer linked ticket for the back office team to execute.

  • The support rep is responsible for managing the conversation from beginning to end and remains the point of contact for the customer.

  • When the customer follows up to check the status of their case the support rep can see the status of the linked ticket and any notes left by the back office team.

  • The support rep automatically receives status updates from the back office team and updates the customer proactively.

  • This ticket is added to the tickets report so the volume of different types of requests and how efficiently they are handled can be monitored over time.

Let customers submit tickets directly from your website or app for async resolution

Configure tickets in bots to identify common customer requests and capture key details directly from your customers without involving a support rep.

For example:

  • A customer of an online travel agent wants to make an amendment to their flight.

  • They open the Messenger, and interact with a Custom Bot that prompts them to fill in a form and submit their request instead of opening a live chat with a support rep.

  • They receive confirmation in the Messenger and via email that their request has been assigned to the appropriate team to action, and they can track progress and follow up via email or asynchronous messaging.

  • A teammate works on the ticket and replies are sent to the customer’s email.

Escalate a live chat to another support team to continue over email

Make it quick and easy for your support reps to handover customers with complex queries and requests without leaving the customer waiting for a chat response, or duplicating conversations by moving from the Messenger to email.

For example

  • A live chat ends up being too complex to resolve in real-time.

  • The support rep hands it over to another support team by creating a linked ticket.

  • The customer receives a ticket confirmation in the Messenger and via email making it clear that the conversation will continue asynchronously with a different team and not over live chat.

Send tickets in the Messenger and Bots via mobile SDKs

Using the latest mobile SDKs, customers can receive ticket cards in a conversation, submit ticket forms, and keep track of progress directly in the Messenger, without leaving your app.

Note: Upgrade mobile SDKs to iOS 14.0.0, Android 14.0.0, Cordova 13.0.0, React Native 4.0.0 to give customers the best experience submitting tickets in your mobile app.


Tickets are fully integrated into the Intercom support solution

  • Tickets work in Inbox automation rules to route to the right team, update ticket states, and more.

  • Inbox views can be set up for any team to monitor and manage their tickets.

  • The Tickets report can be used to monitor volume and efficiency of tickets, or you can create your own Custom Reports.

  • Tickets can be used in Custom Bot flows for customers to complete and submit (Resolution Bot coming soon).

  • All tickets have the same internal notes functionality as conversations so teammates can discuss and resolve the customer request internally.


Get started

To start using tickets in Intercom, create your custom ticket types.


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