Browse documentation
Categories and SLAs
↩ Helpdesk
Departments, categories, and SLA policies organise your tickets and set the targets you're held to. They're configured under Settings → Helpdesk.
Departments
Departments group tickets by the team that handles them (e.g. IT Support, Facilities). Each can have a default agent. Manage them under Settings → Helpdesk → Departments.
The category hierarchy
Categories can nest up to three levels — a main category, a sub-category, and a sub-sub-category (e.g. Hardware › Laptops › Screen). When choosing a category on a ticket, a cascading picker walks you down the levels.
- A sub-category inherits its department and SLA policy from the nearest ancestor that sets one, so you only configure them where they differ.
- Filtering by a category includes everything beneath it.
- A category can't be deleted while it has children.
Manage the tree under Settings → Helpdesk → Categories.
SLA policies
An SLA policy sets response and resolution targets. Under Settings → Helpdesk → SLA Policies, create a policy with, for each priority (Low / Medium / High / Critical):
- a first-response target (minutes), and
- a resolution target (minutes).
Turn on business hours only to count the clock only during working hours (configured in General — start/end times, active days, and timezone).
How a policy applies
When a ticket is created, JOATOS picks its policy from the ticket's category (walking up the hierarchy), falling back to the organisation's default SLA policy. It then sets first-response and resolution due times.
Watching the clock
Tickets show an SLA countdown — green with time to spare, amber as the deadline nears, red when it's close or overdue, and Breached once a target is missed. Posting the first public agent reply stops the first-response clock. Reopening a ticket restarts its resolution timer.
Notes & tips
- Set SLA and department on higher-level categories and let sub-categories inherit — less to maintain, fewer mistakes.
- Enable notify on SLA breach (General) so the assigned agent is emailed if a target is missed.