Help desk guides
These guides explain how to run an IT help desk or an MSP service desk: setting SLAs, moving off a shared inbox, setting up client portals and using AI safely. Each one is written to be useful with any tool, with a note where ActiveQ does it in a specific way.
Guides
- IT SLA guide: response versus resolution time, sample targets by priority, when to pause the clock and how business hours change the math.
- Shared inbox to ticketing: the signs a shared inbox is no longer enough, the steps to move over and how email forwarding into ActiveQ works.
- Set up a client portal for an MSP client: the organization, its people, sign-in rules, branding, forms, email and SLA, step by step.
- ITSM lite: how to run incident, request, problem and change management without a CMDB, and when you need full ITSM instead.
- Is AI safe in a helpdesk? The risks, what human in the loop means, redaction limits, prompt injection and a checklist.
- Ticket triage: a two-minute routine for sorting new requests by type, priority and owner, with common mistakes.
- Ticket priority matrix: setting priority from impact and urgency, with an example matrix and rules for exceptions.
- How to write a first-response SLA: what counts as a response, how to pick targets, when the clock runs and a template.
- Help desk metrics without a reporting suite: five numbers a small team can track from a queue view and a spreadsheet.
- Choosing a ticketing system: a checklist for a small IT team, and what to skip.
- MSP ticketing software checklist: per-client portals, SLAs, wording, access, email and the PSA boundary.
- Helpdesk ticketing vs PSA: what a desk does, what a PSA adds, who needs which and how the two fit together.
- Email-to-ticket: how it works, what to get right and how to forward a support address into ActiveQ.
- Verify ActiveQ webhook signatures: the HMAC-SHA256 scheme with Node and Python samples, replay protection and deduplication.
- Business-hours SLA math: how due times are computed, with worked examples for after-hours requests, weekends and holidays.
- Ticket lifecycle and statuses: the stages of a ticket, what each status means and which should pause the clock.
- Help desk metrics defined: FRT, MTTR, backlog age, reopen rate and the choices that change each number.
- Connect ActiveQ to Zapier, Make and n8n: the Zapier app you add with an invite link, approving the connection, roles, limits, fixes, and Make and n8n through signed webhooks and the API.
- What is a webhook signature? A plain explanation, with a link to the ActiveQ verification guide.
Reference
- Service desk glossary: plain definitions of first response time, resolution time, SLA, incident versus service request, escalation and more.
- Free tools: an SLA due-time calculator and a help desk cost calculator that run in your browser.
Comparisons
- Compare ActiveQ with other help desks: dated, sourced comparisons with Freshdesk, Jira Service Management, HaloPSA, Freshservice, Zoho Desk and Help Scout.
To see how these ideas work in the product, read about SLA management and client portals, or see pricing.
A note on advice
These guides are general advice, not legal, contractual or compliance advice, and an SLA you publish is still an agreement you write yourself.