Support tickets: a number, a status and a reply for the guest
Chat works well when an operator is there and the question takes a minute. But a complaint about an order, a return, a question about a booking or an appointment outlives a single conversation: the guest leaves the page, comes back two days later from another phone and wants to know what happened to their question. Tickets give the guest a number, a status and an email about the reply — and give you order: nothing gets lost in the chat feed.
What a ticket is and how it differs from chat#
A ticket is the same conversation with a guest, but with a number, a subject and a category. There is no separate "Tickets" section: tickets land in the same place as chat — Admin panel → Team chat → Guests. Replies, assignment, notes and templates are all shared.
| Chat | Ticket | |
|---|---|---|
| When it fits | a quick "here and now" question | a question that is not solved at once |
| What the guest gets | a reply in the chat window | a number, a status, emails about every step |
| Coming back from another device | not possible | possible — after a code from the email |
| Form | one field | category, description, category questions, files |
What you need to get started#
- Guest chat turned on. Tickets are a tab of the chat window; without the chat the tab has nowhere to appear. How to turn the chat on — see Guest chat.
- On your own website — also the chat widget from My Site. On a storefront we built for you nothing else needs to be installed.
- A role with access to guest chat (to reply) and to "My Site" (to turn tickets on).
- Plan — any: tickets are free, just like the chat.
- A data processing policy — better published: the guest ticks a consent box in the form, and a link to your document from Legal documents is shown under it.
Step 1. Turn tickets on#
Admin panel → My Site (admin.meni.ge/embed) → the "🎫 Support requests" card right after "Chat" → Turn on.
The Configure button opens a window with the essentials:
- a "what the guest sees now" line. If live chat is off, the window says plainly that the tab has nowhere to appear and offers "Set up chat". If the chat is not connected on your website — "Turn on on the website";
- categories at a glance — what the guest will be able to choose;
- "Guest email is required" — on by default: without an email, a guest who leaves the page never learns about your reply.
Changes are saved automatically. The link at the bottom of the window leads to the full settings section.
Step 2. Set up categories#
Team chat → Guests → Settings → "Tickets" (the "General" group).
On the first turn-on we add typical categories for your business type: a café gets "Dish quality", "Delivery", "Reservation", "Payment"; a shop — "Order not received", "Return or exchange", "Warranty", "Product quality"; a salon — "Booking", "Service quality", "Gift certificate"; a hotel — "Room", "Reservation", "Bill". Every set has "Other". From there the list is yours:
| What you set | Why |
|---|---|
| Name and icon | this is how the guest sees the category in the form |
| What the ticket is about | the form asks for an order, booking, appointment, hotel room or product |
| Extra questions (up to 10) | for example, the reason for a return — free text or a choice list |
| Assignee | who gets such tickets right away |
| Priority | a ticket of this category gets the right priority in the inbox at once |
The order in the list is the order of tiles in the guest form. Up to 20 categories. "Restore typical ones" replaces the list with the original set. If you delete a category, tickets already submitted with it are not lost — they show "Other" instead.
Step 3. Guest form, number and emails#
In the same section:
- Ticket number. A prefix (up to 6 characters: Latin letters, digits,
#and a hyphen) and the first number —#1001by default. Numbers run consecutively per location; numbers already issued never change. - Guest form. "Guest email is required", "Confirm the email before submitting" (less spam, but some guests will not get to the send button), "Offer Help articles first" — some questions get answered without a ticket, see Help center.
- Files. Photos and PDF: up to 5 files of 8 MB each by default, 10 files of 10 MB at most.
- After it is resolved. How many days the guest can reopen a resolved ticket (14 by default, from 0 to 90; 0 — not allowed) and whether the guest can close the ticket themselves.
- AI assistant on tickets. "Prepares a draft reply" by default: the assistant writes, a staff member sends. A reply to a ticket is the business's word, so auto-reply stays off until you choose "Same as in the chat" yourself.
- Emails to the guest. "Ticket received", "You have a reply", "We are waiting for your answer", "Ticket resolved" — each can be turned off.
Step 4. What the guest sees#
A "Requests" tab appears in the chat window next to "Chat" and "Help".
- New request. The guest picks a topic tile, writes a short subject and a description, answers the category questions, optionally points to an order, a booking or an appointment, attaches files, leaves a name and an email and agrees to data processing.
- Number. After sending — "Request #1042 received". The same number arrives by email.
- Status. "Received" → "In progress" → "Waiting for your reply" → "Resolved". Once the reopening window is over — "Closed".
- Reply. The guest reads your reply in the tab or via the link in the email — it opens the request page where they can reply, attach a file, close or reopen the request and rate the resolution.
- My requests. From the same browser the list is visible right away. To see all their requests from another device, the guest presses "Show all by email", receives a 6-digit code by email (valid for 15 minutes) and enters it. "Forget this device" ends that sign-in.
The guest form is translated into 44 languages.
Step 5. Working with tickets in the inbox#
Team chat → Guests → Inbox → the "Tickets" view — all tickets in any status, with their own counter.
- In the list row — a "#1042 · subject" chip with the category icon; its colour shows the status.
- Search finds a ticket by number (
#1042or just1042) and by subject. "Filters" have the category. - Above the conversation — the ticket block: what the guest sees right now, until what date they can reopen, a link to the order, appointment or booking. The category changes in one click; the pencil opens editing of the subject and fields.
- The guest's status changes from ordinary actions: you replied or assigned someone — "In progress"; you set "waiting for the guest" — "Waiting for your reply"; you finished the conversation — "Resolved".
- Create a ticket for a guest. The guest called or came in person — the "＋" button above the list: name, email or phone, what happened, category. The "guest agrees to receive emails" mark is needed for notifications to reach them.
- Turn a conversation into a ticket. A chat grew into an investigation — "Turn into a ticket" in the conversation menu: the messages stay, a number appears.
Extra entry points for the guest#
- In the "Help" tab under the articles — a "Didn't find an answer? Contact support" line.
- A link or a button on your website: a page address ending in
#cenaly=supportopens the window right on requests, and#cenaly=support:<category>opens the form of that category. Ready-made links and QR codes are in the "Links and QR codes for actions" block of "My Site". - Multibutton — the "Contact support" channel.
If tickets are off, the link and the multibutton channel open the regular chat, and the line in "Help" is not shown.
Limitations#
- No "requests only" mode yet — a window without live chat. Tickets work as a tab next to the chat.
- A category's own response time does not apply yet. The "First response" and "Resolution" fields of a category are saved, but the general time from the "SLA" section of chat settings is what is tracked.
- Replying to the email is not possible. The guest replies in the "Requests" tab or on the page opened from the email link.
- The link to an order is not verified. The guest picks an order from their history on this site or types a number — check it against Orders.
- Emails are sent only with an email address and consent. A request without an email lives only in the guest's browser.
- One "You have a reply" email per 10 minutes. A burst of short replies does not turn into a burst of emails. AI replies and internal notes never trigger an email.
- Panel settings are available in English, Russian, Georgian and Turkish; in other languages this section is shown in English.
- Anti-spam limits: 5 requests a day from one browser, 20 per email address; a confirmation code — no more than once in 30 seconds and 3 emails a day.
Troubleshooting#
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| The guest has no "Requests" tab | whether "Accept tickets" is on and guest chat is on; on your own site — whether the chat widget is installed (My Site) |
| No "Support requests" card in "My Site" | the section is rolling out in stages — it will appear with the next panel update |
| The guest did not get an email | whether they left an email and ticked consent; whether that email is enabled under "Emails to the guest"; whether the guest closed the request themselves (then no "resolved" email is sent) |
| The guest cannot see their old requests | from another device a code sign-in is needed: "Show all by email". Requests submitted with that email are shown |
| The code does not arrive | the spam folder; it can be re-sent after 30 seconds, no more than 3 emails a day per address |
| "This request is closed. Please create a new one" | the reopening window is over (14 days by default) — change it under "After it is resolved" |
| A file did not attach | photos (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF) and PDF up to the set size are accepted |
| After "Create ticket" the number did not show up at once | the number is issued within a few seconds — the ticket appears in the list by itself; do not send again, there will be no duplicate |
| The ticket's category shows "Other" | the category was deleted from settings after the ticket was submitted |
General symptom guide — Troubleshooting; if nothing helped — how to get help.
Frequently asked questions#
How much does it cost?#
Nothing: tickets are part of guest chat and need no separate extension.
Can I run tickets without live chat?#
Not yet: the tab lives in the chat window. A "requests only" mode is in the works.
A guest wrote in chat, but the question turned out to be complex. What do I do?#
Choose "Turn into a ticket" in the conversation menu. The messages stay in place, and the guest gets a number and emails about further steps — if the conversation has their email and consent.
Will the guest see internal notes?#
No. Staff notes, AI drafts and service lines about assignment are not shown to the guest — they only see replies and status changes.
What happens to numbers if I change the prefix?#
New tickets get the new prefix, old ones stay as they were. Search finds a ticket by bare digits too.
Where are the guest's contacts stored?#
The guest's email and phone are stored separately from the conversation and are visible only to staff with access to guest chat. More — Data and security.
Does it work on cenaly.ru?#
Yes, the same way: submitting, statuses, emails, the confirmation code and attachments.
Related sections#
- Guest chat — the chat window that hosts the "Requests" tab, and inbox settings
- Team chat and guests — where staff see conversations and tickets
- My Site: widgets — the "Support requests" card, the chat widget on your own site, links and QR
- Help center — articles the guest sees before the request form
- Multibutton — the "Contact support" channel
- Leads — sales requests: forms, pop-ups, callbacks
- Legal documents — the policy the guest agrees to
- Data and security — who sees guests' contacts