Support  ·  First steps

Your first week

A short checklist for setting up a new helpdesk and rolling it out, with an announcement you can copy.

You don’t have to do this all at once, and you don’t have to do all of it. Here’s the order that saves the most backtracking. A helpdesk with one team and a couple of forms is a fine place to start.

Get in and stay in

• Set up the Emergency account first. It’s your way back in if sign-in ever breaks.
• Let your people sign in with what they already have: Microsoft 365, Google, Okta, or AD FS, or Active Directory.
• Decide on email. See Which email setup to pick.

Set up the work

• Look over the setup your helpdesk starts with, then fix your departments and teams. Start with the ones you have today.
• Tick Tech for the people who work tickets, under People.
• Build forms for what people ask for most. Three or four is plenty for the first week. Add an approval board if something needs an OK.
• Bringing tickets from another helpdesk? See Switching from another helpdesk.

Try it

• Open a test ticket, and get a coworker to try it too.
• Have your techs turn on phone alerts, under Alerts and preferences.
• Write a few help articles for what people ask about most. If you have public articles on, Start a “Can’t sign in?” article gives you a draft to start from.
• Turn on When people leave, so people turned off in your directory are turned off here too.
• Clear out your test tickets with Reset this helpdesk.

Tell people

Pick a start date and send an announcement a few days ahead. Here’s one to start from:

Subject: A new way to ask for help

Hi everyone,

Starting [date], we're using a new helpdesk for [IT, facilities, and other] requests.

To ask for help, go to https://yourname.requestcrew.com and sign in with your work account. Pick the form that fits, and it'll go straight to the right people. You can also email helpdesk@yourorganization.org.

You'll get an email when someone answers, and you can reply right from that email.

If you can't sign in, let us know at [phone or address].

Thanks,
[your name]

After you start

Give it a week, then look at the reports, ask your techs what’s getting in the way, and change the forms people stumble on. Most helpdesks change their forms a few times early on, and old tickets keep their answers when you do.

The address in these steps is a made-up one. The copy of this guide inside your helpdesk fills in your real one.