Customizing ServiceDesk Operations
The Customizing the ServiceDesk application in the AgileApps Cloud (pdf) article shows you how to change the look of the ServiceDesk application, and how to set up optional Service Level Objectives. Here, you'll learn how to modify some of default behaviors that are pre-set when the application is installed.
Case-Related Customizations
Specify who gets New-Case Notifications
When a new case is created, you may want a message sent to your entire support team, to ensure that someone sees it and picks it up.
- Go to
> Account Management > Company Information - Click [Edit]
- Under ServiceDesk Case Settings, enter a comma-separated list of email addresses to which new-case notifications are sent. (By default, they are sent to the initial admin, as that is the only email address the system knows when it is created.)
Note: In this section you can also specify who gets an email when someone posts a new question to the Community--if that Service Portal feature is enabled.
Turn Off Automatic Case Assignments
By default, the first person to respond to a new Case becomes the owner of the case. To change that behavior:
- Go to > Account Management > Company Information
- Click [Edit]
- Under ServiceDesk Case Settings, turn off the option to Assign Ownership on First Response
- Click [Save]
Change Case-Inactivity Notifications
These Rules cause case-related notifications to be sent automatically after a certain amount of time has elapsed. You can turn them off or modify them quite easily:
- Go to > Case Automation > Business Rules > Timer Rules
- There, you find two rules:
- One sends a message 36 hours after a case is put into "Pending" status.
- The other sends a message 3 hours after a new case is created, if the status hasn't changed.
(By default, the status automatically changes to "Open" when someone sends a message from that case.)
- Click the On/Off button next to either rule to disable it.
- Or click the rule to edit it.
(For example, by default the notification is sent to the record owner. But you can edit the rule to send the message to someone else--for example, the person the record owner reports to--or to take additional actions.
Manage Satisfaction Surveys
By default, a satisfaction survey is sent to the originator of any Case that is marked as "Resolved".
You can manage that behavior by going to 
> Case Management > Customer Satisfaction
There, you can:
- Turn off the surveys
- Send them when a Case is marked "Closed", rather than "Resolved"
- Select a different template
- Change the ratings the recipient has to choose from
Task-Related Customizations
Control Task-Assignment Notifications
By default, an email notification is sent out to the owner when a new Task is created, or when you reassign an existing Task to someone other than yourself. That behavior is defined by Event Rules, which can be turned off or conditionalized, as desired.
To control the behavior of task-assignment notifications:
- Go to > Customization > Objects > Tasks > Business Rules
- In the Event Rules tab, select On Record Created.
- The task-notification rule that appears. Click the On/Off button to disable it, or click the rule to add conditions or other actions.
- While still in the Event Rules tab, select On Record Owner Changed.
- The task-notification rule for this situation appears. Disable it or click the rule to add conditions or other actions.
Automatic Operations that Cannot be Customized
These automatic operations cannot be modified, currently:
- ServiceDesk defines two additional status values: "Waiting for Customer Input" and "Customer Input Received". Those status values are automatically set when emails are sent and received, and cannot currently be changed.
- When creating a Case in ServiceDesk, a File added to the "Attachment" field appears in the Attachments list. (It does not appear when updating a Case, and no other File field operates that way.)
- An incoming email automatically re-opens a closed Case.
- When a case is marked "Closed", the Close Date is automatically set.