Welcome to your support portal
Everything you need to set up AI-powered customer support for your business — from connecting your first channel to handling tickets and reading your monthly report.
✅ Initial setup checklist
Portal overview
Understanding your dashboard and what each section does
Your portal is the control centre for your AI support automation. The dashboard shows you at a glance how many tickets came in today, how many the AI handled automatically, and whether anything needs your attention.
| Section | What it does | Available on |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Live stats, recent tickets, quick links | All plans |
| Tickets | View and reply to all support tickets | All plans |
| Knowledge Base | Articles and documents the AI uses to reply | All plans |
| Escalation Rules | Force certain tickets to always go to a human | All plans |
| Canned Responses | Saved replies your team can insert with a shortcut | All plans |
| SLA Policies | Set response time targets and get breach alerts | Starter+ |
| Channels | Connect email, live chat, WhatsApp | Starter+ |
| Live Chat | Real-time chat inbox and AI chat replies | Starter+ |
| CRM / Contacts | Customer records, history, tags | Growth+ |
| Analytics | Ticket trends, channel performance, AI stats | Growth+ |
| Team | Invite and manage team members | Starter+ |
Knowledge Base
The AI only knows what you put here — the more you add, the more it can handle
The Knowledge Base is the brain of your automation. Every time a customer submits a ticket, the AI searches your KB for relevant articles and uses them to write its reply. An empty KB means the AI can't answer anything.
Go to Knowledge Base in the sidebar
You'll see any existing articles listed by category. If you're starting fresh it will be empty.
Upload a document (quickest method)
Click Upload document and select a PDF, Word document or text file containing your FAQs or product information. The AI reads it and creates articles automatically.
Or add articles manually
Click Add article, choose a category (billing, technical, refund, etc.), write the question and a clear answer, and save.
Keep it up to date
When your pricing, policies or products change, update the relevant KB articles. The AI uses whatever is in the KB at the time a ticket comes in — outdated articles will produce outdated replies.
Escalation Rules
Tell the AI when to step aside and pass a ticket to a human
Escalation rules are guardrails. When a ticket matches a rule, the AI never attempts to reply — the ticket goes straight to your human review queue. This protects you from the AI attempting to handle refunds, legal threats, or complaints it shouldn't touch.
Go to Escalation Rules in the sidebar
You'll see any existing rules listed with their trigger type and value.
Click Add rule
Enter a rule name (e.g. "Legal threat"), choose the trigger type, and enter the trigger value.
Choose a trigger type
Keyword — escalates if the customer's message contains this word (e.g. solicitor, trading standards)
Amount — escalates refund requests over a certain value (e.g. 200)
Category — escalates all tickets the AI classifies as a certain type (e.g. complaint)
Canned Responses
Save common replies and insert them instantly with a shortcut
Canned responses are pre-written replies your team can insert into any ticket reply with a /shortcut. They save time when your agents are handling the same questions repeatedly.
Go to Canned Responses under Automation
Click Add response to create your first one.
Give it a shortcut
The shortcut is what your agent types to trigger it. For example: /refund, /delivery, /reset. Keep shortcuts short and memorable.
Using a canned response on a ticket
When replying to a ticket, type / in the reply box and a dropdown of matching shortcuts will appear. Click one to insert the full text. Edit before sending if needed.
SLA Policies
Set response time targets and get alerted when tickets are at risk of breaching
SLA (Service Level Agreement) policies let you define how quickly tickets should receive a first response and be resolved. When a ticket is heading towards a breach, the system alerts you by email so you can act before it's too late.
Go to SLA Policies under Automation
Create a policy for all tickets first. You can create additional policies for urgent or high-priority tickets later.
Set your targets
First response time — how long before the ticket must receive a reply (e.g. 2 hours)
Resolution time — how long before the ticket must be closed (e.g. 24 hours)
SLA compliance in your monthly report
Your monthly performance report includes your SLA compliance rate — the percentage of tickets that met their targets. Aim for above 90%.
Channels
Connect the ways customers reach you — email, live chat, and more
Channels are how tickets get into SupportDesk. Until you connect a channel, customers can only submit tickets via your customer portal. Connecting email means any message to your support address automatically becomes a ticket.
| Channel | How it works | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Customers email your support address. Each email becomes a ticket automatically. | Starter+ | |
| Webform | Embed a support form on your website. Submissions create tickets. | Starter+ |
| Live Chat | Chat widget on your site. Handled by AI first, then your team. | Growth+ |
| Customers message your WhatsApp Business number. | Scale |
To connect a channel, go to Channels in the sidebar and click Connect next to the channel you want. Your account manager will set it up within 24 hours.
Managing Tickets
How to handle tickets that need a human response
Most tickets will be handled automatically by the AI. Those that aren't — because they're too complex, match an escalation rule, or the AI isn't confident enough — will appear in your ticket inbox with a Human review status.
Filter by Human review
Go to Tickets and use the status filter to show only tickets that need your attention. These are the ones requiring a reply from you.
Open the ticket and read the thread
You'll see the customer's message, any AI reply attempt, and the full conversation history. The AI may have flagged why it escalated (e.g. low confidence, escalation rule matched).
Write your reply
Type your response in the reply box. Use / to insert a canned response if you have one for this situation. Click Send reply.
Mark as resolved when done
Once the customer's issue is sorted, click Mark as resolved. The customer will receive a CSAT survey asking if their issue was resolved — these ratings appear in your monthly report.
Pending — just received, AI is processing · AI replied — AI sent a response automatically · Human review — needs a reply from your team · Resolved — closed
Live Chat
Real-time chat on your website, handled by AI first
The Live Chat inbox shows all active and recent chat sessions from your website widget. The AI handles chats automatically using your KB. Chats the AI can't resolve appear here for your team to take over.
Get your chat widget code
Go to Live Chat in the sidebar. You'll find a JavaScript snippet to add to your website — paste it just before the closing </body> tag.
Monitor the inbox
The chat inbox shows all sessions with their status. Active sessions with a customer waiting are highlighted. Click any session to see the conversation and reply.
Resolve chats
When the conversation is complete, click Resolve. The chat session is archived and you can search it later.
CRM & Contacts
A record of every customer who has ever contacted you
Every time a ticket comes in from a new email address, a contact is created automatically. The Contacts section gives you a full history of every customer — how many tickets they've submitted, when they last got in touch, and any notes or tags you've added.
Search and filter contacts
Use the search bar to find a customer by name or email. Filter by status to see active, blocked, or unsubscribed contacts.
Add notes and tags
On a contact's page you can add internal notes (never seen by the customer) and tags like VIP, at-risk, or wholesale to segment your customers.
Block a contact
If a contact is abusive or submitting spam tickets, click Block contact on their profile. New tickets from their email will be suppressed.
Campaigns & Marketing
Email your contacts — templates, segments, and one-off campaigns
Beyond support, SupportDesk is a full email marketing tool. Build reusable Email Templates with the rich-text editor, group contacts into Segments (e.g. everyone tagged VIP, or customers who haven't been in touch for 90 days), and send Campaigns to a segment in one go. Opens and link clicks are tracked automatically and feed each contact's lead score.
Create a template
Go to Email Templates and design your email with headings, images, links and colours. Use placeholders like {name} and {company} — they're filled in per recipient automatically.
Build a segment
In Segments, save a filter such as "tag is newsletter". Segments are live — new contacts matching the filter join automatically.
Send a campaign
In Campaigns, pick your segment, load a template (or write from scratch), preview, and send. Every email includes an unsubscribe link automatically, and results appear on each contact's Email History tab.
Lead Capture Forms
Turn website visitors into contacts automatically
Lead Forms let you put a signup form on any website. When someone fills it in, they appear in your Contacts instantly — tagged, marked as a lead, and ready for a welcome workflow. No copy-pasting from your inbox.
Build the form
Go to Lead Forms, give it a heading and button text, choose which fields to collect (email is always included), pick tags for new signups, and match your brand colour.
Embed it on your site
Copy the embed code shown under your form and paste it into your website's HTML — it works on WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, or plain HTML sites.
Optional: double opt-in
Tick Double opt-in and new signups receive a confirmation email first — the gold standard for GDPR consent and list quality. Contacts can manage their subscription any time via the preference link in every email.
Workflows
Automated email sequences that run while you sleep
A workflow is a series of emails sent automatically over days or weeks — a welcome series for new leads, a nurture sequence for prospects, or a win-back series for lapsed customers. Contacts can be enrolled manually, by tag, or automatically when their lead score crosses a threshold.
Create the sequence
In Workflows, add steps: each step is an email plus a delay (e.g. "Day 0: welcome", "Day 3: case study", "Day 7: offer").
Choose a trigger
Manual — you enrol contacts yourself. Tag — anyone who gains a tag (say, from a Lead Form) joins automatically. Lead score — contacts join when they become "hot".
Let it run
Emails go out on schedule (checked every 15 minutes). Unsubscribed or blocked contacts are skipped automatically, and each contact's progress is visible on the workflow page.
AI Writing Assistant
One-click improvements to any email you write
Wherever you see the email editor — composing to a contact, building a template, writing a campaign — you'll find an ✨ AI row of buttons underneath:
Improve, Shorten, or change tone
Improve fixes grammar and sharpens the writing. Shorten halves the length. Professional and Friendly rewrite the tone. Your draft is replaced in place — click Undo to get the original back.
Translate instantly
→ FR and → ES translate your email into French or Spanish, keeping placeholders like {name} intact.
Products & Purchases
Track what you sell and what each customer has bought
Define your Products & Services once — with prices, categories and tax settings — then record purchases against any contact from their Purchases tab. Each contact shows a running total spend, so your best customers are obvious at a glance. Currency and tax rate (VAT by default) are set under Settings → Currency & Tax.
Tasks
Your team's to-do list, linked to contacts
Create tasks with a priority, due date and assignee — optionally linked to a contact ("Call John about renewal"). Overdue tasks are flagged on your dashboard, and assignees get a reminder email on weekday mornings. Advance a task's status straight from the dashboard with one click.
Team members
Invite colleagues to help manage tickets
You can invite team members to your portal so they can help handle tickets that need a human response. Each member gets their own login and can be given one of three roles.
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Admin | Full access — can manage KB, settings, team, billing, everything |
| Agent | Can view and reply to tickets, view KB and contacts |
| Viewer | Read-only access — can see tickets and reports but cannot reply or make changes |
Go to Team under Account
Click Add team member and enter their name, email and a temporary password.
Share their login details
Send them the portal URL and their temporary password. They can change it under Settings once they log in.
Analytics
Understand how your support automation is performing
The Analytics section shows you ticket volumes, AI resolution rates, SLA compliance, and channel performance over time. Use it to spot patterns — for example, if a particular category of ticket has a low AI resolution rate, it usually means your KB needs more articles on that topic.
| Metric | What it means | Good target |
|---|---|---|
| AI resolution rate | % of tickets the AI resolved without a human | Above 60% |
| Avg first response | Average time from ticket submitted to first reply | Under 2 hours |
| SLA compliance | % of tickets that met their response time target | Above 90% |
| Resolution rate | % of tickets that were resolved (not still open) | Above 95% |
| CSAT score | % of customers who rated their experience positively | Above 80% |
Billing & plans
Understanding your plan limits and how to upgrade
| Plan | Ticket limit | KB articles | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Startup — £79/mo | 100/month | Up to 10 | Portal only |
| Starter — £149/mo | 500/month | Unlimited | Email + webform |
| Growth — £299/mo | 2,000/month | Unlimited | + Live chat |
| Scale — £599/mo | Unlimited | Unlimited |
To upgrade your plan, go to Billing in the sidebar and click Upgrade, or reply to any email from us and we'll sort it manually. Annual billing is available with no setup fee.
Upgrades & Add-ons
Grow your plan as you grow — no phone call needed
Under Plan & Add-ons you can upgrade your plan or bolt on extras (like an AI Boost) yourself:
Upgrading your plan
Pick the new plan and you'll see the exact pro-rata charge — you only pay the difference for the days left in the current month. The full new price starts next month.
Ordering add-ons
Each add-on shows its monthly price. Order with one click — it stacks on top of your plan.
Paying
Card — you're taken to a secure Stripe payment page and your purchase activates the moment payment completes. Bank transfer — an invoice is raised; use the invoice number as your payment reference and the order activates once we confirm receipt.
Language settings
Use the portal in English, French or Spanish
Go to Settings → Language and choose English, Français or Español. The change applies immediately and is remembered every time you sign in. Translation is being rolled out progressively — anything not yet translated appears in English.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from new clients