Next Ticket for Halo – MSPbots.ai

The Next Ticket for Halo is an automated ticket dispatch system that helps technicians and dispatchers identify the ticket that will be worked on next based on a combination of a pre-defined scoring system and rules. The Next Ticket Manager Halo is specifically designed for HaloPSA users who want to achieve more efficient ticket prioritization and management. For more information on Next Ticket and how it works, read the article What is the Next Ticket app?

The Next Ticket for Halo app does not support Project Tickets. For more detailed information, see Next Ticket App not Support Project Tickets.

1.Why should I use the Next Ticket for Halo?

The Next Ticket for Halo has the following benefits for your MSP:

Automatic and unbiased ticket dispatching - Tickets are automatically dispatched based on a point system and priority rules. This ensures that dispatchers and technicians assign and work on tickets objectively, according to approved priority, importance, and time criticality.
Prioritization based on company requirements - The priority rules and point system that define Next Ticket prioritization are based on the priorities, importance, and criticality approved by the company. This improves the speed and accuracy of ticket assignment and prioritization remarkably. As a dispatcher, you save 80% of your time allotted for assigning tickets and see the highest ticket priority for each technician based on their skill set.
Quick identification of next tickets - As a technician, you can quickly identify the tickets you should work on next and monitor tickets scheduled for the day on the same page. You can also reject a ticket if you cannot work on it yet as long as you provide a valid reason for rejection.

2. How can I access Next Ticket for Halo?

To access the Next Ticket for Halo in MSPbots, follow these steps:

log in to the MSPbots app.
Click Apps in the left pane.
When the Apps tab opens, click Next Ticket for Halo.

3. Prerequisites

Ensure that you have the following before using the Next Ticket for Halo:

A successful Halo integration with MSPbots
Your technicians and dispatchers are in the company's active directory
Admin permissions for setting up the filters, points system, and priority rules
Priority Rules are set up.
Optional: Companies have been added to the Watch List.

4. FOR ADMINS: Setup Procedure

Only Admin users have permission to adjust the settings for Next Ticket.

4.1. Set the ticket filter

You can set filters to narrow down the tickets applicable to each technician.

To set the ticket filter, follow these steps:

setting NextTicket filters

On the Next Ticket for Halo screen, select the Tickets filter list, and click Add New Filter.
When the Filter Settings window opens, enter a name for your filter in the Filter Name box.
Next, add a condition for your filter by selecting the appropriate filter type from the Select Fields list.
To complete your condition, enter additional details in the two new fields or lists beside the Select Fields dropdown.
When you're done setting up the filter, click Save.

If you want to add more groups or conditions for the filter, click and then select either Add Group or Add Condition.

To see a preview of the new filter settings or conditions and check if these work as expected, click Preview before you save the changes.

You can also set a color filter by selecting Colour from the filter list.

For more information on Next Ticket filters, read the article How to Setup Filters for Next Ticket.

4.2. Delete filter conditions

Filter conditions are deleted in the Filter Settings window.

To delete filter conditions individually, click corresponding to the filter condition you want to delete.
To delete all filter conditions at once, click and click Clear All.

4.3. Accept or Reject the top-priority ticket

Selecting a ticket filter and a user on the Next Ticket for Halo screen automatically triggers the Request Next Ticket action and refreshes the user's top-priority ticket and its details. The Accept and Reject buttons on this screen allow you to accept the ticket, or reject it if you think it should not be assigned to the selected user, provided a reason for rejection is given.

Follow these steps to accept or reject a top-priority ticket:

On the Next Ticket for Halo screen, select the applicable filter from the Tickets filter list.
Select a user to see the assigned top-priority ticket.
Once the user's top-priority ticket details appear, review then click Accept or Reject.

Accepting the next ticket
Click the Accept button to start working on the next ticket.

Clicking the Accept button will:
- Assign the selected user or the user with the Halo User Mapping setting in User Management as the new Ticket Owner.
- Apply the In-Progress status configured in the Override In-Progress Status by Board section.
  
  The Accept button is available in the Next Ticket user interface and MS Teams when the Enable Accept Button option is activated (See Configure Accept ticket actions). Clicking this button will let the user take ownership of the provided top-priority ticket and send the corresponding NT bot messages to the user's MS Teams.
- If an error message appears, it means that the lock on the ticket requested has expired.
  
  You can click the Request Next Ticket button again to request the next highest priority ticket in your queue, as another technician may be reviewing the ticket.
  
  Users can only accept the next ticket provided to them as long as the lock has not expired. Others cannot click the Accept button for the tickets on another user's top-priority list.

Rejecting the next ticket
1. Click the Reject button.
2. In the Reject Reason window, select or type the reason for rejecting the ticket. Providing a valid reason helps improve the Next Ticket rules and generate more accurate calculations and insights from dashboards.
  You can configure the default dropdown list of rejection reasons in the Reject Ticket Actions settings.
3. Click Save. Next Ticket will skip the rejected ticket for the next 60 minutes and the next ticket with the highest priority will be provided.
  
  Rejected tickets are hidden from the rejecting technician for one (1) hour by default. To modify the hide rejected ticket setting, enter your desired interval to the Reject Time Action.

5. FOR ADMINS: Set up the point system for priority rules

You can define the point system for the Next Ticket for Halo priority rules to calibrate the prioritization of the tickets.

5.1. How to set up the point system

Click Settings on the NextTicket for Halo screen, and select Next Ticket For Halo Priority Rules.
Go to the Tickets filter and User fields and select the options that apply to your requirements.
Next, set up the priority rules.
1. Select a ticket priority type from the If ticket priority = field.
2. Select a ticket status from the and ticket status in field.
3. Then in the add points field, enter the number of points to be given to tickets that meet the condition selected in Steps 3a and 3b.
  
  To set advanced rules, see the section on How to add an advanced rule below.
  
  You can refer to the priority rules and functions section below to know which rules meet your requirements. The rows of priority rules are expanded by default. You can click the Priority Point rules switch to collapse all rows.
After setting up each priority rule, you can click do any of the following:
- Click in front of the rule to enable the rule.
- Click the Load Default button to load the default value for the rule.
- Click the Edit button to configure advanced rules. Only advanced rules can be edited.
- Click the Save & Test button to save the changes for the specific priority rule and to test the values of the rule.
- Click the Save button to save the changes for the specific priority rule.
- Click the Delete button to delete the rule.
After setting up all your preferred priority rules, do any of the following:
- Click Test All to test the calculation result for all the priority rules.
- Click Load Default All to load the default values for all the priority rules.
- Click Save and select Save All to save the changes for all the priority rules.
- Click Save and select Save Rule as Template to save the changes for all the priority rules as a template. In the Save Rule as Template window, set the Template Name and click Save.

5.2. Best Practices in setting the priority rules

Interview your dispatcher or technician to identify rules and conditions like this: If (given scenario), then it should be given more (or less) importance.
Review each of the point rules you have identified. Use the Save & Test function to test each rule.
Use the Test all function to balance the points between the rules and check if the prioritization brings up your expected result.
Ask your technicians to give the app a try and give you feedback.
Adjust the rules and points based on the dispatcher's or technicians' feedback.
Continue updating the rules and corresponding priority points for two weeks. The resulting prioritization should improve over time and you won't need to modify anymore.
Request and create new rules that are not similar or duplicates of existing ones.

5.3. What are the Next Ticket priority rules and functions?

Below are the priority rules and descriptions of how each rule functions. For information on how to activate, test, save, delete, and request priority rules, read the article Next Ticket Priority Rules.

Priority Rule	Function
Assigned And Status	Indicates the points to be added to a ticket based on its current status and the person to whom it is assigned.
Client in "Watch List"	Indicates the points to be added to a ticket if a client is on the watch list.
Priority And Status	Indicates the points to be added to a ticket based on a specific priority level.
Ticket Age	Indicates the points to be added to a ticket based on how long it has been open or unresolved.
Ticket Summary	Indicates the points to be added if the ticket summary contains the specified keywords. You can capture blockers that prevent your clients from continuing their operations easily or sort tickets based on specific topics that may be assigned to technicians with great expertise in those areas.
Time of Last Update	Indicates the points to be added to a ticket for every hour past the time it was last updated.

Go to Priority Rules by clicking the priority rules link on the Next Ticket for Halo screen.
Scroll down the list of priority rules and click the +Advanced Rule button to open the Advanced Rule pop-up window.
Fill in the following fields for adding an advanced rule：
- Rule Name - Enter a unique rule name.
- Rule Description - Enter a description for the rule. (Optional)
- Rule - Create conditions for the advanced rule. Add more groups or conditions if you need to.
Add positive points to increase prioritization, or give negative points to decrease the priority.
Click Save to keep the settings.

You can also do the following actions in this section:
- Test the advanced rule - After saving the rule, click theicon to save the priority rule and test the values of the rule. Below is an example of the Test Result window.
- Delete the rule - Click the icon to delete the rule.
- Use the Colour filter when creating an advanced rule
  You can also create an advanced rule that applies the Colour filter. For example, if companies are grouped according to color, you can add an advanced rule that will add (or deduct) priority points to companies assigned with the specified color. To do this, select Customer > Colour > IN and select the appropriate color.

6. FOR ADMINS: Add companies to the watch list

By adding companies to your watch list, you can give additional points to the tickets from specific companies to increase priority.

To add companies to the watch list, follow these steps:

Go to the Next Ticket for Halo screen, click Settings> Watch List.
When the Watch List tab opens, click Add Company.
In the Add Company window, select the check box for the companies you want to add.
If you want to show and select only companies with an agreement, select the checkbox for Only show companies have an agreement. Type the reason for adding the selected companies in the Why add to the watch list? field.
Click Save when done adding.

For more information on using the Watch List, read the article How to use the Watch List in Next Ticket Manager.

7. FOR ADMINS: Configure Accept Ticket Actions

Go to the Next Ticket for Halo app.
Click Settings > Options.
When the Options window appears, click Accept Ticket Actions.
- Enable Accept Button - Turning this switch ON will activate the Accept button and allow the user to accept Halo tickets in the Next Ticket for Halo app. This switch is closed by default.
- In-Progress Status - Fill in the following fields to set the ticket statuses that will be displayed as "In Progress" on the personal card of the Attendance Manager.
  
  The Accept Ticket Actions feature will only work properly if the In-Progress Status section is configured.
  1. Default In-Progress Status Name - The selected option in this field is the status displayed for Halo tickets in the In Progress status on the user's attendance card in the Attendance Manager app. The default status name is "In-Progress".
  2. Override In-Progress Status by Board - The selected options in this field are the ticket statuses that will be considered "In-Progress" when clicking Accept for each board.
    For example, setting the ticket status under the Accounting board as Completed will change the status of those tickets to Completed when the Accept button is clicked. The ticket with the Completed status will be displayed on the Ticket Owner's card in the Attendance Manager app as the default In-Progress status name.
Click Save to keep your settings.

8. FOR ADMINS: Creating a custom list of reasons for ticket rejection

A custom list of reasons for ticket rejection helps streamline the ticket rejection process and create dashboards with better insights and actionable data.

To create a custom dropdown list of ticket rejection reasons:

Go to the Next Ticket for Halo app.
Click Settings > Options.
In the Options window, go to the Reject Ticket Actions tab.
Go to the Reject Reason section and click the +Add link.
Enter a reason for rejection and click Save.
Click the +Add link and add more reasons until you complete the options in the dropdown list.
Click Save.

To delete a reason from the dropdown list, click the delete icon corresponding to the reason for deletion.

Only admins can see and modify the reject reason switches and the dropdown list for ticket rejection. Admins can also reject tickets without providing a rejection reason.

9. FOR ADMINS: Enabling reject reasons settings

To allow technicians to select from the reject reasons dropdown list, click the Enable Standardized Reject Reasons switch and turn it ON.

To make the Reject Reason a required field, turn the Enable Reject Reason Requirement switch ON.

10. FOR TECHNICIANS: How to use the Next Ticket for Halo

10.1. Viewing your top-priority ticket

As a technician, your next top-priority ticket is shown on the Next Ticket for Halo screen where you can also request or reject the next ticket assigned to you.

To view your top-priority ticket:

Go to the Next Ticket for Halo screen and select a filter from the Tickets filter list. The screen automatically refreshes and shows the details of your next top-priority ticket.
Select either Dashboard View or List View to view the ticket details according to your preference.

10.2. Rejecting your top-priority ticket

You can reject your next top-priority ticket if you think it should not be your next ticket. It is also necessary to type why you can't work on the ticket.

To reject your top-priority ticket:

Go to the Next Ticket for Halo screen and select the applicable filter from the Tickets filter list.
Once the top-priority ticket details appear on the screen, click Reject Next Ticket.
When the Reject Reason window opens, select or type why you want to reject the ticket, and click Save.