KACE Systems Management Appliance 13.0 Common Documents

Configure email templates

Configuring email triggers and email templates

You can set up triggers that automatically send email from the appliance and use templates to set the content of those email messages.

The Email on Events section determines which actions trigger an email to the various appliance users. Email templates determine the content of the messages.

Timing of email messages

The following email events trigger the appliance to send email immediately:

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Comment: The system sends email notifications for comments when users add comments and click Submit on the ticket form. When users add comments and click Save on the ticket form, however, only the Any Change notification is sent.

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Ticket Closed: If the Satisfaction Survey is enabled, an email that describes the Satisfaction Survey is sent immediately when tickets are closed.

The following email events trigger the appliance to send email every few minutes to prevent email overload:

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Configure email triggers

You can configure email triggers for a queue. If you have multiple queues, you can configure the email triggers for each queue separately.

Go to the Service Desk Queue Detail page:

Log in to the appliance Administrator Console, https://appliance_hostname/admin. Or, if the Show organization menu in admin header option is enabled in the appliance General Settings, select an organization in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page next to the login information.

On the left navigation bar, click Service Desk, then click Configuration.

On the Configuration panel, click Queues.

Display the Queue Detail page by doing one of the following:

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Click the name of a queue.

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Select Choose Action > New.

On the Queue Detail page, under Email Address, click Configure Queue Email Settings link to display the Service Desk Queue Email Settings page.

On the Service Desk Queue Email Settings page, in the Email on Events section, select the options for sending email when the specified events occur. Each column represents a type of Service Desk user (role) and each row represents a ticket event.

Service Desk user (role)	Description
Owner	The person who is expected to resolve the ticket.
Submitter	The person whose issue is being resolved.
Approver	The person who can approve or reject the ticket for processing.
Ticket CC	One or more email addresses that are stored in the CC field of the ticket.
Category CC	One or more email addresses that are stored in the CC List of the Category Value of the ticket. See Configure CC lists for ticket categories.
Queue Owners	One or more owners of the ticket queue, as specified by the Owner label. This only applies to the New Ticket Via Email and New Ticket via Portal events.

When a ticket event occurs, email is sent to the selected roles or users. For example, if you select the Any Change box in the Owner column, email is sent to the ticket owner whenever the ticket is changed. For the Comment and Ticket Closed triggers, email is sent immediately. For other ticket changes, however, email is sent every few minutes to prevent email overload.

NOTE: If users have the KACE GO mobile app installed on their smart phone or tablet, the system sends push notifications for the selected Service Desk ticket events.

Option	Description
Any Change	Any information on the ticket is changed.
Owner Change	The ticket's Owner field is changed.
Status Change	The ticket's Status field is changed.
Comment	Information, attachments, or screen shots are added to the ticket's Comments section. The system sends email notifications for comments when users add comments and click Submit on the ticket form. When users add comments and click Save on the ticket form, however, only the Any Change notification is sent.
Approval Change	The ticket's approval status has changed.
Resolution Change	The ticket's resolution has changed.
Escalation	The ticket has not been updated to a stalled or closed status within the escalation time defined by the ticket priority.
SLA Violation	The ticket has not been resolved by its due date.
Ticket Closed	The ticket's Status field is changed to Closed. This event is used to present a Satisfaction Survey to submitters. See Using the Satisfaction Survey.
New Ticket Via Email	A user sends an email message to the Service Desk and a ticket is created.
New Ticket Via Portal	A ticket is created through the User Console.

Click Save.

Configure email templates

You can configure the email templates that Service Desk uses to generate email messages for a queue. If you have multiple queues, you customize the email templates for each queue separately.

Go to the Service Desk Queue Detail page:

On the left navigation bar, click Service Desk, then click Configuration.

On the Configuration panel, click Queues.

Display the Queue Detail page by doing one of the following:

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Click the name of a queue.

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Select Choose Action > New.

On the Queue Detail page, under Email Address, click Configure Queue Email Settings link to display the Service Desk Queue Email Settings page.

On the Service Desk Queue Email Settings page, complete one of the following steps.

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To edit all email templates, click Customize All Emails.

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To edit a specific email template, in the Events area, in the row containing the email template you want to edit, in the Customize Email column, click

On the page that appears, change one or more of the selected email templates, as required.

NOTE: If the default text for any of the templates is changed, the email messages will not be translated into different languages.

The following email template are available:

Ticket-related template

Description

Default recipients

Ticket Escalated

Used to send periodic notifications according to the Escalation Time configured for the ticket priority in the queue. For example, if tickets with the priority of High have an Escalation Time of 30 minutes, this email is sent every 30 minutes for High priority tickets until the ticket priority changes or until the ticket is closed.

Owners, the ticket CC list, and ticket Category CC list

Ticket Created from Email

Used to acknowledge that a ticket has been created through email.

Owners, Submitters

Ticket Created from Portal

Used to acknowledge that a ticket has been created through the User Portal.

Owners, submitters

Ticket Modified

Used to notify recipients when ticket information is changed or added.

Owners and the ticket CC list

Comment Submitted

Used to notify recipients that comments are added to tickets.

Owners, submitters, approvers, the ticket CC list, and the ticket Category CC list

Ticket Closed

Used to present a Satisfaction Survey to submitters when tickets are closed. See Using the Satisfaction Survey.

Submitters

Email Ticket Manually

Used to for messages that are forwarded using the Email Ticket action on Ticket Detail pages.

TIP: If you use HTML/Markdown, the $ticket_fields_visible token must be enclosed in the <pre> tag to prevent formatting, such as line breaks, from being discarded. For example:

<pre>$ticket_fields_visible</pre>

Manually entered by the sender

SLA Violated

Used to notify recipients that a ticket has remained open past the due date calculated using the SLA (Service Level Agreement) settings and the ticket priority.

None. Configurable on the Queue Detail page

Error-related template	Description	Recipients
Error Creating Ticket from Email	Used to notify senders that the ticket could not be created for reasons other than unknown email address.	Submitters
Unknown Email Address Response	Used to notify senders that the ticket could not be created because the submitter's email address is unknown.	Submitters

Table 6. Tokens used in all email templates
Token	Description
$helpdesk_email	The email address associated with the Service Desk queue. This address is configured on the Queue Detail page.
$helpdesk_name	The name of the Service Desk queue. This name is configured on the Queue Detail page.
$userui_url	A link to the User Console. Access to the User Console requires login credentials.

Table 7. Tokens used in ticket-related email templates

Token

Description

$change_desc

A formatted representation of the changes that were made the last time the ticket was saved, including both field changes and comments.

$last_attachment

The most recent attachment added to the ticket.

$last_comment

The most recent comment added to the ticket.

$mobile_ticket_url

A link to the ticket KACE GO mobile app. When displayed in an email on an Android or iOS mobile device, this links opens the associated ticket in the KACE GO mobile app.

$process_description

The process description. It can include important pre-requisites that the users need to complete before proceeding to create a ticket based on a process template.

$process_name

The name of the process template.

$process_status

The status of the process template such as Approval Required, Approval Timed Out, Approval Received, Approval Rejected, Process Cancelled, and Process Complete.

$process_type

The type of the process. In a default installation, only the Service Desk process type is included. You can create new process types, as required. For example, you can create a process type for accessing a specific application, or a group of applications. For more information, see Define process types.

$summary

The current summary of the ticket.

$ticket_approver_email

The email address of the ticket approver. Having this address is especially useful for Comments email notifications.

$ticket_approver_name

The name of the ticket approver.

NOTE: The approver name and contact information is derived from the USER record associated with the fields on the ticket.

$ticket_approver_phone_home

Contact information for the ticket approver.

$ticket_approver_phone_mobile

Contact information for the ticket approver.

$ticket_approver_phone_pager

Contact information for the ticket approver.

$ticket_approver_phone_work

Contact information for the ticket approver.

$ticket_custom_X_label

$ticket_custom_X_value

The label and value used for a custom field, where X represents the index number of the custom field.

For example, if a queue has a ticket field labeled, CUSTOM_5, and that field is configured with the label Location Name, the system replaces $ticket_custom_5_label with the text, Location Name. The token, $ticket_custom_5_value is replaced with the ticket value that was saved for the Location Name field, such as, Topeka or Albuquerque.

By default, all ticket queues are configured with 15 custom fields, but this number can be increased as needed.

NOTE: Each queue can have different custom fields and different email template configurations.

$ticket_due_date

The due date as saved on the ticket. Administrators can override automatic due dates with manual due dates if necessary.

$ticket_escalation_minutes

The time, in minutes, between periodic notifications. This time is determined by the Escalation Time configured for the ticket priority in the queue. For example, if tickets with the priority of High have an Escalation Time of 30 minutes, this email is sent every 30 minutes for High priority tickets until the ticket priority changes or until the ticket is closed. This token is typically used in the Ticket Escalated email template, to inform recipients of the frequency of email notifications.

$ticket_fields_visible

Include all the ticket fields that are visible for the user who is forwarding the ticket by email.

TIP: If you use HTML/Markdown, the $ticket_fields_visible token must be enclosed in the <pre> tag to prevent formatting, such as line breaks, from being discarded. For example:

<pre>$ticket_fields_visible</pre>

$ticket_history

The complete history of the ticket.

NOTE: For some tickets, the history information can become very detailed and too large to send through email. If the complete history is not needed, use $ticket_history_X to limit the number of records to include.

$ticket_history_X

A specified number of records in the ticket history. X indicates the number of records to include, beginning with the most recent.

$ticket_id

A unique identifier assigned to the ticket, also called the ticket number. Using this identifier is the primary method for users to identify tickets.

$ticket_number

A formatted version of the ticket ID. This version begins with TICK followed by a minimum of five digits. For example, a ticket with ID 4321 is displayed as TICK:04321. This format is especially useful in email Subject lines to make sure that email replies link to the correct tickets.

$ticket_owner_email

The email address of the Service Desk administrator assigned to the ticket.

$ticket_owner_name

The name of the Service Desk administrator assigned to the ticket.

NOTE: The owner name and contact information is derived from the USER record associated with the fields on the ticket.

$ticket_owner_phone_home

Contact information for the Service Desk administrator assigned to the ticket.

$ticket_owner_phone_mobile

Contact information for the Service Desk administrator assigned to the ticket.

$ticket_owner_phone_pager

Contact information for the Service Desk administrator assigned to the ticket.

$ticket_owner_phone_work

Contact information for the Service Desk administrator assigned to the ticket.

$ticket_priority

The priority assigned to the ticket. Default values include High, Medium, and Low.

$ticket_resolution

Information about what was done to resolve the ticket as described in the ticket’s Resolution field.

$ticket_status

The status of the ticket. Defaults include New, Opened, Closed, Need More Info, Reopened, Waiting Overdue, Waiting on Customer, and Waiting on Third Party.

$ticket_submitter_email

The email address of the submitter.

$ticket_submitter_name

The name of the submitter.

NOTE: The submitter name and contact information is derived from the USER record associated with the fields on the ticket.

$ticket_submitter_phone_home

Contact information for the submitter.

$ticket_submitter_phone_mobile

Contact information for the submitter.

$ticket_submitter_phone_pager

Contact information for the submitter.

$ticket_submitter_phone_work

Contact information for the submitter.

$ticket_title

The title of the ticket as it appears on the Ticket Detail page.

$ticket_url

A link to the ticket in the User Console. Access to the User Console requires login credentials.

$ticket_http_url

A link to the ticket in the User Console. This format is used for backward compatibility on older systems. Access to the User Console requires login credentials.

$ticket_https_url

A secure link to the ticket in the User Console. Use this token if SSL is enabled on your appliance. This ensures that links sent through email work correctly.

$userui_url

A link to the home page of the User Console. Access to the User Console requires login credentials.

Table 8. Tokens used in merged ticket email templates
Token	Description
$ticket_merged_number	The number of the merged ticket.
$ticket_merged_title	The title of the merged ticket as it appears on the Ticket Detail page.
$ticket_merged_changer_name	The name of the user who merged the tickets.
$ticket_merged_url	A link to the merged ticket in the User Console. Access to the User Console requires login credentials.

Table 9. Tokens used in error-related email templates

Token

Description

$error_text

Used to identify a problem processing the submitted tokens. This error appears when:

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The system does not recognize a variable

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A variable is recognized, but the user does not have permission to change the field

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The variable attempts to change the approval status of the ticket but the user is not the approver

$quoted_mail

The content of the original email message.

$subject

The subject of the original email message.

NOTE: Tokens that are invalid are ignored and they are not replaced in email messages. For example, if you add an unknown token such as $today, it is ignored, and it appears in the email message as $today.

Optional: For each email template, create HTML-based content instead of using plain text.

Select Send as HTML to use a HTML-based email instead of plain text.

An HTML editor appears, with a full range of text editing options for formatting your content, such as buttons for bold text, hyperlinks, lists, or text color.

Use the controls in the editor to format the template content. For example:

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To apply bold text to a text string, select it in the editor, and click

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To add images, click

, and provide the URL to the image file, a local file path, or simply drop the image into the indicated area.

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You can also copy and paste screen shots directly into the text field.

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Any images you include this way are added as file attachments to the ticket. They are also included in email communication, as applicable.

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Deleting an image from the text field does not remove the associated file attachment. You can manage file attachments in the Attachments section of the ticket page. For more information, see Add or delete screen shots and attachments from Service Desk tickets.

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To add external links, click

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To embed externally hosted videos, click

To quickly add a token, click

, and from the list that appears, select the applicable token.

See step 4 for more information about each token.

For each template, indicate how you want to handle email file attachments.

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To allow Service Desk to send file attachments, select Include attachments. Then, indicate which attachments you want to send:

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Most recent change (if applicable): Include only the file attachments that are added with the most recent ticket update.

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Last uploaded: Include the last uploaded file attachments.

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All: Include all file attachments.

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To prevent Service Desk from sending file attachments with ticket-related email, clear the Include attachments check box.

Click Save.

For instructions on how to configure the appliance to use SMTP email, see Configuring SMTP email servers.

Configure CC lists for ticket categories

You can automatically notify users, or groups of users, when tickets are filed in specified categories, such as hardware, software, or networking. To do this, add email addresses to the CC List value of each ticket category.

Configuring the CC List values of ticket categories is useful if you want to notify users, or groups of users, when tickets are filed in categories that interest them. For example, you could add all of your system administrators to the CC List of the Network category to ensure that they are notified of networking issues as they arise.

If you have multiple queues, you configure the ticket category CC List values for each queue separately.

Go to the Service Desk Queue Detail page:

On the left navigation bar, click Service Desk, then click Configuration.

On the Configuration panel, click Queues.

Display the Queue Detail page by doing one of the following:

▪

Click the name of a queue.

▪

Select Choose Action > New.

In the Email on Events section, select all of the check boxes under the Category CC column. See Configure email triggers.

Click Save.

In the Ticket Defaults section, click Customize These Values.

In the Category Values section, add email addresses to the CC List entries:

Click the Edit button in a category row:

In the CC List field, enter a default email address for the category. Use commas to separate email addresses. To enter multiple email addresses, consider using a distribution list.

Click Save at the end of the row.

Repeat this process to add CC List entries for other categories.

Click Save at the bottom of the page.

Create a default email address for ticket owners. See Create the DefaultTicketOwners account.

Automatically add email addresses to ticket CC List fields

You can enable Service Desk to automatically add email addresses to the CC List field of tickets whenever those addresses appear in the To and Cc fields of tickets submitted or updated through email.

When this setting is enabled, any email addresses in the To and Cc fields are automatically added to ticket CC List fields unless those addresses are specified in the System Email Exclusion List. See Exclude addresses from ticket CC List fields.

NOTE: If your Service Desk was created on an appliance running version 6.3 or earlier, this setting is disabled by default. If the Organization component is enabled on your system, and you create a new organization, however, the setting is enabled by default. The setting is also enabled on new KACE SMAs running version 6.4 or later.

Go to the Service Desk Settings page:

On the left navigation bar, click Service Desk, then click Configuration.

On the Configuration panel, click Settings.

In the Inbound Email section, select the check box next to Add email addresses from the CC List to ticket.

Click Save.

Configure the email exclusion list to prevent Service Desk from automatically adding unwanted email addresses to ticket CC List fields. See Exclude addresses from ticket CC List fields.

Exclude addresses from ticket CC List fields

Service Desk can automatically add email addresses to ticket CC List fields when tickets are submitted or updated through email. However, some addresses, such as distribution lists and general company email addresses, should not be added automatically because they increase unnecessary email traffic. To prevent Service Desk from adding unwanted email addresses, you can specify the email addresses you want to exclude.

The email exclusion list is an appliance-level setting. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, the email exclusion list is applied to all organizations and Service Desk queues.

NOTE: The email addresses associated with Service Desk queues are never automatically added to ticket CC List fields, because sending messages to these addresses could result in new tickets being opened inadvertently. You do not need to add these addresses to the exclusion list.

Go to the Service Desk Settings page:

On the left navigation bar, click Service Desk, then click Configuration.

On the Configuration panel, click Settings.

In the Inbound Email section, click Define System Email Exclusion List to display the Define System Email Exclusion List page.

To add an email address to the list, click add:

In the Add Email dialog, type an email address, then click Save.

The email address is added to the exclusion list.

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KACE Systems Management Appliance 13.0 Common Documents - Administrator Guide

Configure email templates

Configuring email triggers and email templates

Timing of email messages

Configure email triggers

Configure email templates

Configure CC lists for ticket categories

Configure CC lists for ticket categories

Automatically add email addresses to ticket CC List fields

Automatically add email addresses to ticket CC List fields

Exclude addresses from ticket CC List fields

Exclude addresses from ticket CC List fields