# Discourse for helpdesk use cases?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-for-helpdesk-use-cases/40711
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [3월 8, 2016, 12:59오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-for-helpdesk-use-cases/40711 "2016-03-08T00:59:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@terraboss](https://meta.discourse.org/u/terraboss)
#### Post date: [3월 8, 2016, 12:59오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-for-helpdesk-use-cases/40711/1 "2016-03-08T00:59:44Z")
Today, I was looking for new way to manage help desk inquires.
Most of todays solutions are available as SaaS plans. Other open source projects (osTicket) feeling pretty lame… 1990-2000 like …
It would be much better to get something that feels responsive as Discourse does. But the integration between Discourse and the help desk has to be much better.
That’s why, I came to the point, [http://helpy.io](http://helpy.io) could possiply fit to our workflow.
Some questions to other community admins:
1. Are you using some kind of standalone self-hosted help desk?
- Did you find some way to connect Discourse with it? (users, faqs,…)
For Discourse core team and other contributers:
1. Which help desk approach could you reccomand me in combination with Discourse?
- What about some additional attributes like pending status, internal notes, text templates, etc. … for a new help desk plugin?
Best
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### Author:  [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)
#### Post date: [3월 8, 2016, 2:59오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-for-helpdesk-use-cases/40711/2 "2016-03-08T02:59:52Z")
> [@terraboss](#):
>
> Some questions to other community admins:
>
> 1. Are you using some kind of standalone self-hosted help desk?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: I am a moderator for the [Stonehearth Discourse](http://discourse.stonehearth.net). The forum is the primary community site for a game in active development. The Discourse serves a number of roles, including suggestions, gameplay discussion, announcements, etc., but is also the primary support site for the game. Most support requests are bug reports, but we do get a number of non-bug related requests, including crash reports, purchase issues, and a few other topics. 95% of the reports are handled in a public thread, many times with help from the community. In rare cases, usually billing related but sometimes in other cases, the discussion may be taken “offline”, as we refer to it, and discussed via PM.
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### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [3월 8, 2016, 3:35오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-for-helpdesk-use-cases/40711/3 "2016-03-08T03:35:21Z")
> [@terraboss](#):
>
> What about some additional attributes like
> pending status
> [@Discourse Solved](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-solved-accepted-answer-plugin/30155):
>
> discourse2Summary Discourse Solved allows users to accept solutions on topics in designated categories.open_bookInstall Guide This plugin is bundled with Discourse core. There is no need to install the plugin separately. Enabling Solved The Solved plugin can be enabled from its settings, accessed from your admin/plugins page: After enabling the plugin, to switch on Solved for all categories use the allow solved on all topics site setting. Alternati…
> internal notes
> [@Ways to post confidential info for moderator eyes only?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ways-to-post-confidential-info-for-moderator-eyes-only/32482/19):
>
> Sorry, let me be a bit more explicit about what we plan. (going to call this whisper) New Site Settings Allow staff to create whisper posts globally Allow users to create whisper posts globally New per category Allow staff to create whisper posts Allow users to create whisper posts If whisper is enabled show in composer [] Post is Hidden Hidden posts are visible by the Author of the post and Staff This allows for 2 use cases quite flexibly. Allow end users to share information with s…
> text templates
[https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-way-to-create-an-interface-for-templates/38016?u=falco](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-way-to-create-an-interface-for-templates/38016)
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### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [3월 8, 2016, 11:50오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-for-helpdesk-use-cases/40711/4 "2016-03-08T11:50:33Z")
The most important numbers are:
1. Your support traffic: How many new mails a day?
2. Your support staff: How many people are answering mails?
Slight digression here, since you’re asking about Discourse co-existing with other helpdesk solutions, but: If you’re looking at ~10 mails (new exchanges, not replies) a day and 2-3 people checking in part-time, you’d be perfectly well off with [Discourse’s inbuilt support features](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-as-a-private-email-support-portal/34444). I’ve managed a couple different helpdesks, and at moderate traffic volumes they’re all completely interchangeable; it’s just a shared inbox.
Getting back on the main topic, @jesselperry set up an example of a simple [integration between Discourse and Intercom](https://meta.discourse.org/t/intercom-io-weirdness-on-mobile-safari/38389).
We also touched a bit on this in my [Coinbase interview](http://blog.discourse.org/2016/01/how-coinbase-uses-discourse-to-educate-customers-and-improve-seo/) with @john_mardlin.
p.s. Did you check out [getbrimir.com](https://getbrimir.com/)? I haven’t tested it myself, but it’s another very promising open source helpdesk.