Support desk
The support desk is for client requests. A ticket is a task — assignees, comments, time, and statuses all work the same way. It is not a separate product.
Open Tickets in the left rail. Narrow the list by client, priority, or assignee. Unassigned shows tickets with nobody on them; together with a person it keeps either. A long queue loads a page at a time — Load more brings the next tickets, and those filters stay as you set them.
Two numbers
Section titled “Two numbers”| Number | Scope | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
#N on the ticket | The hive | Tickets list |
| Task number | The project | Board, drawer |
Do not conflate them when a client says “ticket 14.”
Create a ticket
Section titled “Create a ticket”- By hand — pick the client the ticket bills to. Write the description with the same format strip as a task (bold, lists, links). Paste, drop, or attach images the same way as a comment. It lands on the hive’s support project (managers set this in Organization settings). No project or requester.
- By email — pick how clients write to you in Organization settings. The live method is listed first (InHive address, Google mailbox, forwarded mailbox, or subdomain), then where mail arrives and where replies leave. Switch method opens the other options; it does not change the live method until you finish that setup or disconnect Google. On an address you already have, first pick Google, Microsoft, or Other. Google then shows the remaining steps: sign that mailbox in so InHive reads new mail and sends replies from it, then turn off any old forwarding rule so mail is not delivered twice. Other is prove-and-forward for any mailbox, then sending records so replies show that address. Until those records verify, hive replies still go out from an InHive address so Gmail does not drop them. Microsoft is listed for later. Or choose a support.youragency.com subdomain. Studio does not get tickets. Team and Enterprise do, including the trial.
Where mail shows up. Organization settings only connects the address. Gmail or Microsoft confirmation codes stay on that page — they are not tickets. Client mail, and any test you send to the address from another mailbox, becomes a ticket. Open Tickets in the left rail (headset icon). The support project is storage. Show in Projects (on by default) lists it with the other projects; its card shows a headset instead of a description. Turn that off and Cards, List, Timeline, the dashboard, and client files leave it out. Opening it from a list goes to Tickets when Redirect to Tickets is on (the default); otherwise it opens the board. That redirect switch is hidden while the project is not listed.
The Send a test button on settings only checks that forwarding works. It does not create a ticket.
Unknown senders become contacts. The ticket lands on the hive’s support project. When Show in Projects is on, opening that project from Projects (or a project name on My Work, Schedule, a client file, or the dashboard) takes you to Tickets when Redirect to Tickets is on in Organization settings. Turn the redirect off and that click opens the project board. Turn Show in Projects off and those project lists leave it out. Work the queue in Tickets either way.
Automatic replies, bounces, and newsletters are dropped before they become tickets. The hive still records that the mail arrived so a retry does not open one later. Urgency and frustration chips appear on inbound tickets when the desk could classify them. If a sender asked for passwords or login details, an internal note is added — that note is never emailed.
Email tickets have a requester (contact). On create and later in the drawer you can pick the client the ticket bills to — including tickets that landed on the hive’s support project. You do not have to link a requester to a company first.
Hours follow that client when it is set, then the requester’s company, then the project’s client.
Conversation
Section titled “Conversation”Comments can be internal (hive only) or public. Public replies on an email ticket can go back out to the requester. Tickets created by hand stay in the hive — there is no email reply. Internal notes never should. Before a public email reply is sent, the desk may ask you to confirm if the draft reads like an internal note, mentions rates, or names another client. You can still send it. Hover a comment to react (one icon, then a short emoji row). Hover a reaction to see who used it. A new ticket or comment that lands while the list or drawer is open flashes honey and fades.
Statuses follow the project’s task catalog. A completed status resolves the ticket (first-response and resolved timestamps are kept for SLA-ish reading).
Retainers
Section titled “Retainers”Managers attach a support agreement to a client: included hours, interval, period start, overage rate (and optional work type), optional retainer fee.
Billable time on tickets counts against that retainer for the billed company — including tickets that landed on the hive’s support project from inbound email. Set the ticket’s client (or link the contact to the client) if hours are missing from the retainer or an invoice.
Overage uses the same rate card as ordinary time. Managers get an alert at 80% and 100% of included hours.
On a ticket with a billed client that has a retainer, the drawer shows hours left this period as a color bar (green while there is room, honey from 80% used, red when the allowance is gone) plus the remaining and included hours. It updates as soon as you log, edit, or delete time — no refresh. Use it to judge whether more time on this ticket would go over. Overage is still allowed — it just bills later.
To send the client a period summary, open Clients → Time report. Pick the client first (skipped if you open it from that client’s file). The period defaults to their retainer cycle when they have one — or a month, quarter, or custom range. They get used-versus-over hours (each retainer cycle on its own, so a quiet August does not hide a July overage) and the ticket names, not a minute-by-minute dump unless you export the detailed CSV.
Archived projects
Section titled “Archived projects”is_support on a task is the residual-work flag on an archived project. That is unrelated to type: ticket.
You can still take a support task after the engagement closed. You cannot reopen ordinary delivery work without un-archiving the project.