How to make a helpdesk shortcut channel in Slack

A helpdesk channel in Slack is a great way to handle internal IT requests, collect feedback, or triage requests. It provides a central place for people to submit requests and for the helpdesk team to manage them.

Here's how to setup a Slack helpdesk channel

  1. Create a new Slack channel
  2. Change Slack channel posting permissions

Create a new Slack channel

First, you'll need to create a new Slack channel.

  1. Click the plus icon next to "Channels" in the left sidebar

    Click the small plus arrow
    Click the small plus arrow
  2. Enter a name like "it-requests" and add a description

  3. Click "Create" to create the channel

    Set a name and description
    Set a name and description

Change Slack channel posting permissions

Next, you'll need to change the posting permissions for the channel.

Slack channels can be configured to only allow certain users to post messages. This is useful for helpdesk channels where you want to limit who can post messages to keep things organized.

Note: Changing channel permissions is only available if your have the Business+ plan or greater in Slack

Requires Business+ Plan or greater
Requires Business+ Plan or greater

Here's how to change the posting permissions:

  1. Open the settings by clicking the down arrow next to it's name.
    Open Slack channel settings
    Open Slack channel settings
  2. Navigate to the settings tab and select edit on the posting permissions section.
    Choose the edit button
    Choose the edit button
  3. Select admins only
    Changing posting permissions to Admins only
    Changing posting permissions to Admins only

Once you've limited the posting permissions, the chat box will be disabled for other non admin users. However, they'll still be able to start threads on messages.

A non admin view of the chat box in a restricted channel
A non admin view of the chat box in a restricted channel

In the next section, we'll go throw what needs to be done to get the Slack shortcut (lightning bolt) setup.

Add a helpdesk shortcut workflow

  1. Open the workflow builder in Slack

    It's located in the tools submenu from the top left hand workspace dropdown (see screenshot).

    Open workflow builder
    Open workflow builder
  2. Choose templates from the top navbar

    Slack workflow templates
    Slack workflow templates
  3. Choose the #it-requests channel you created above and hit "Next"

    Slack helpdesk shortcut workflow setup
    Slack helpdesk shortcut workflow setup
  4. Slack will open up the workflow steps for your helpdesk shortcut.

    Slack helpdesk shortcut workflow step
    Slack helpdesk shortcut workflow step
  5. After making adjustments, make sure you hit publish.

    Publishing a Slack workflow
    Publishing a Slack workflow

Using the shortcut from Slack channel

  1. Open the shortcut menu

    Slack helpdesk shortcut menu
    Slack helpdesk shortcut menu
  2. Click the helpdesk shortcut

    Using the helpdesk shortcut
    Using the helpdesk shortcut
  3. Slack will open a form for you to fill out.

    Slack helpdesk shortcut form
    Slack helpdesk shortcut form

Creating a helpdesk rotation

Install Tellspin

  1. Click "Add to Slack" on Tellspin's home page

    Slack will prompt you to approve some permissions. Tellspin follows the "least privileged" principle, only requesting permission it absolutely needs to function.

  2. Tellspin will send a welcome message

  3. Click "Create a schedule" button

    Onboarding message in Tellspin
    Onboarding message in Tellspin

    You can also make a new schedule from Tellspin's Home screen.

  4. Insert the @mention in your helpdesk message workflow step.

When the message is posted in Slack, Tellspin will contact the person on rotation via Slack's built-in contact methods.

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Dan Willoughby

Written by Dan Willoughby

Hey I'm Dan. I'm the solo-founder behind Tellspin which helps dev teams respond to support through Slack. Tellspin takes the guesswork out of who should pay attention to which messages making it easier to focus. You should try out Tellspin and follow me on Twitter