Canned responses (templates) are saved replies you can drop into any ticket. Good ones turn a five-minute reply into thirty seconds without sounding robotic, because placeholders fill in the customer's name, the ticket number and more.
Creating a template
Go to Settings → Canned Responses and fill in New canned response:
- Title: what you'll search for in the reply box.
- Who can use it: Whole team, or Only me for a personal template nobody else sees.
- Shortcut (optional): a word starting with
/, like/refund. Shortcuts are unique in your workspace; if you typerefundit's saved as/refund. - Available on: All desks, or one desk only (a "Refund" reply can mean different things on Billing and Deliveries).
- Body: the reply, with formatting (bold, lists, links).
- Actions (optional): see below.
Generate with AI can draft one template from a description, or a starter pack of 8 to 10 for your desks.
Placeholders
Placeholders are filled in when you insert the template. Click one under the body to copy it, then paste it in:
| Placeholder | Becomes |
|---|---|
{{contact_first_name}} |
The customer's first name |
{{contact_name}} |
The customer's full name |
{{company_name}} |
Their company |
{{ticket_id}} |
The ticket number, e.g. HD-1182 |
{{subject}} |
The ticket's subject |
{{desk_name}} |
The desk |
{{agent_first_name}} |
Your first name |
{{agent_name}} |
Your full name |
A placeholder with nothing to fill it (a customer with no company, say) is left empty, so read the reply before you send it. A misspelt placeholder is left as typed so you can spot it.
You don't need a greeting. The reply box already starts with "Hi ,". If a template does open with a greeting, it's left out when the reply already has one, so customers never get "Hi Peter, Hi Peter,".
Using a template
In the reply box:
- Click Templates, search by title, text or shortcut, and pick one. It goes in after the greeting, above your signature. Your personal templates are marked Only you.
- Or type the shortcut and press Space (or Tab):
/refundbecomes the template, right where you typed it.
You can insert several templates into one reply and edit everything before sending. Only templates for the ticket's desk (and all-desk ones) are offered.
Macros: actions that run when you send
A template with actions works as a macro: as well as inserting text, it does things when you send the reply:
- Set status (for example close the ticket)
- Set priority
- Set type
- Assign to a teammate
- Add a tag
Actions run when the reply is sent, not when you insert the template. After inserting, a strip next to Send shows what will happen ("When sent: close · tag "Resolved""). Click × on it to send the reply without the actions. If you use Send & close, the ticket closes whatever the template says about status.
A "Resolved: closing" template might hold a short closing message plus two actions, close and tag "Resolved": one shortcut replies, closes and tags.
Team and personal templates
- Team templates can be used by everyone. You can edit or delete the ones you created; a manager can edit or delete any.
- Personal templates (Only me) are visible only to you: in the reply box, in Settings, and in the AI's suggestions, which only ever suggest team templates to others. Only you can edit or delete them.
Only a template's creator can switch it between team and personal. Deleting asks you to click twice.
Keeping them useful
A template that hasn't been touched in months is often wrong:
- Stale facts: prices, cut-off times or policies change and the template doesn't. When something changes, search the templates for it.
- Wrong tone: templates written for one moment (an outage apology, a launch) outstay their welcome. Delete them when the moment passes.
Review your templates every quarter. A few correct ones beat many half-right ones.