Feature
The Naffes CRM help desk: tickets from every channel, with deadlines
The Naffes CRM help desk turns your support mailbox and your WhatsApp and SMS conversations into tickets with a priority and an SLA policy, routes each one to the least-busy agent, and sends the customer a rating link once it is solved. It is included in the Pro and Enterprise plans.
When a shared inbox stops being enough
A question like 'what does the annual plan cost?' is a conversation: one answer and it is done. 'Order 4471 arrived with parts missing' is a case. It needs an owner, a deadline and a record of what happened until it is fixed. An inbox alone cannot tell a support lead who is working on that case, when it is due, or whether the team is already late. A ticket can, because it carries a number, a priority, an assignee and a clock.
In Naffes the two live side by side. The conversation stays in the unified inbox, and one action turns it into a ticket. Two timing layers work together: inbox silence rules alert the assignee when a customer has waited two hours (the default), while SLA policies on tickets set first-response and resolution targets for each priority.
Where tickets come from, and how to set up the desk
- Support mailbox: an admin flags a connected mailbox as a support inbox. Every new email to it becomes a ticket, and replies that carry the ticket number in the subject thread back onto that ticket, with no duplicates on re-sync.
- Conversations: any WhatsApp or SMS thread can become a ticket, and so can Messenger and Instagram threads where your Meta connection is active. Later customer messages are added to the ticket, and the agent's public reply goes back on the same channel.
- Bot handoff: with this option switched on (it is off by default), every conversation the WhatsApp bot hands to a human, for example when the customer asks for an agent, opens a ticket with a response deadline.
- Public help center: the 'send us a request' form on your workspace's help center creates a ticket.
- Customer portal: a support request a customer opens from their project in the portal reaches your team as a ticket.
Open the Service settings
Go to Settings, then Records & Fields, then Modules, then Service (SLA & macros).
Create an SLA policy
On the SLA policies tab, set first-response and resolution targets in minutes for each priority (urgent, high, normal, low), and make one policy the default.
Write your macros
On the Macros tab, save canned replies. A macro can also set status, priority and tags, or go in as an internal note the customer never sees. Agents apply it from the reply area inside a ticket.
Decide what customers receive
On the Customer tab, choose whether customers get a 'we received your request' message with the ticket number and a solved notice with a rating link (both on by default), and whether bot handoffs open tickets.
Flag the support mailbox
In Settings, then Personal, then My connections, then Mail Accounts, click Set as support on your support address.
Example: a damaged-shipment complaint from WhatsApp to rating
An online store sets the policy below. The numbers are examples an admin chooses, not fixed values in the product:
| Priority | First response | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent | 30 | 240 |
| High | 60 | 480 |
| Normal | 240 | 1440 |
| Low | 480 | 2880 |
- A customer writes on WhatsApp that a delivery arrived damaged and asks the bot for a person. The store has switched on tickets for bot handoffs, so one opens automatically, and the 'we received your request' message gives the customer the ticket number in the same thread.
- Nobody owns the ticket yet, so it goes to the agent with the fewest open tickets, who is notified. The agent raises the priority to high, and the deadlines are recalculated on the high targets: 60 minutes to first response and 480 to resolution.
- The agent asks for a photo of the parcel and sets the ticket to wait on the customer. The SLA clock pauses, and it resumes when the reply arrives.
- Breaches are checked every 5 minutes. A missed response deadline alerts the assigned agent, and a ticket still open 4 hours past its resolution deadline is escalated to admins once.
- The agent fixes the issue and sets the ticket to solved, and the customer receives a 1 to 5 rating link. Seven days after it was solved, with no further activity, the ticket closes itself.
What agents and leads get
- Statuses and four priorities: urgent, high, normal and low, each tied to the targets in the chosen SLA policy.
- Internal notes kept apart: what the team writes to each other never mixes with the public replies the customer receives.
- Watchers: add a colleague to follow a ticket without handing over ownership.
- Least-loaded routing: unassigned tickets go to the agent with the fewest open tickets.
- Branded ticket email: ticket messages carry your brand's name, logo and colour.
- Knowledge base and help center: admins publish categorised articles, and the workspace gets a public help center at
/help/{workspace}with article search. The public pages stay up even if the plan lapses. - Tickets in the sales context: the deal page has a Tickets tab, so a rep sees open issues before calling about a renewal.
- Tracking: the home dashboard has a ticket SLA widget, the dashboard gallery includes a one-click Customer service board, and tickets export to CSV.
What the help desk does not do yet
- The help desk is on Pro and Enterprise only; the server blocks it for Free and Starter workspaces.
- SLA timers count continuous time, pausing only while a ticket waits on the customer. A Sunday to Thursday, 09:00 to 17:00 business-hours mode cannot be switched on from the settings screen, and there are no per-workspace schedules or holiday calendars.
- The CSAT survey goes out by email or on the ticket's chat thread, and the email route needs a support mailbox that can send. Results are not reported in the app or on the ticket; they appear only in the ticket CSV export.
- On WhatsApp the rating link is a free-form message, and Meta only allows pre-approved templates once 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message, so the link may not arrive if the fix took longer.
- Turning Messenger and Instagram threads into tickets depends on the permissions Meta grants the Naffes app, some of which are still in Meta's review.
- The ticket screen has no file attachments, the command palette does not search tickets, and the workspace data export leaves tickets out.
- There are no outgoing webhook events for tickets and no CES survey. NPS surveys by email are available separately.
Questions
Questions 4
Can we receive support tickets from WhatsApp?
Yes. A WhatsApp conversation becomes a ticket with one action, or automatically when the bot hands over to an agent if you switch that option on, and the agent's reply goes back on WhatsApp. WhatsApp runs through your company's own Twilio account.
Does the SLA clock stop outside working hours?
No. It pauses only while the ticket waits on the customer. Business-hours mode cannot be switched on from the interface today, so set targets that match the hours your team actually covers.
How do we measure customer satisfaction with support?
When a ticket is solved or closed, the customer receives a 1 to 5 rating link as long as that option is on, and the scores appear in the ticket CSV export. For overall loyalty there are separate 0 to 10 NPS surveys sent by email.
Which plan includes the help desk?
Pro and Enterprise. The 14-day trial unlocks every feature with no card, so your team can test tickets and SLAs before subscribing. See the pricing page.