Creating ticket templates used for chat topics

When users click the chat button on the Self Service Center home page, they are presented with a list of available chat topics, and they can select a topic for a chat. As an administrator, you populate this list by creating ticket templates that are used only for chat topics.

Perform these steps to create a ticket template to be used as a chat topic:

1. Go to the Ticket Template application (Service Desk > Ticket Templates), and click the new record button to create a new ticket template.
2. Use these guidelines for the new ticket template:
   • You might want to use a particular order for the chat topics that are presented to the user. For example, you might want to present the most popular topics first. Chat topic ticket templates are sorted alphabetically by ID when used to populate the list of chat topics. Therefore, to order the topics, edit the ID of each ticket template you create to ensure that it is displayed where you want it in the chat topic list. For example, to present topics by popularity, you might name the ticket template associated with the most popular topic something like this: AAA_chattopic.
   • Supply a description in the Description field that is descriptive of the chat topic. This description will be displayed in the list of available topics that are displayed when the user clicks the chat button to request a chat.
   • Specify SR in the Class field.
   • Click the Chat Topic Only radio button in the This Template Will Be Used In field.

     The This Template Will Be Used In field, with its three radio buttons, is displayed only if SR is the specified class. The radio buttons are cleared if the class changes, and the template is not used as a chat topic. If the SR class is specified again, previous values persist.

   • Specify an owner group in the Owner Group field, which is required after you click Chat Topic Only. Select an owner group that is defined as a currently available chat queue. Ensure that the owner group has expertise that matches the chat topic.

     Error messages are displayed if you have not specified an owner group, or if you try to clear the owner group value. In addition, if the owner group is not an available chat queue, a warning is generated, but the template can be saved.

   • Select the Change Status action, and specify an ACTIVE status for the template.
3. Save the new ticket template. The text you entered in the Description field will be displayed in the list of available chat topics when a user clicks the chat button in the Self Service Center.