Run a Help Desk Using Highrise

If you're using Gmail/G Suite or Office, Highrise is fully functional inbox, and can handle multiple people working on the same stream of emails at once.

Using a help desk currently? Think of Highrise as your help desk and CRM combined.

Note: at this time, the current workflow can only be used if you are using Gmail, G Suite, or Office 365 to power your email.

Step 1: Create a form on your website

Set up a form on your website to capture information, and have that form send an email to the address you have set up for support, for example, support@yourcompany.com .

Here's a few different apps you could use to create a form for your website:

Step 2: Set up a "support" group in Highrise

Create a group in your Highrise account, and include anyone in that group that needs to have access to your support emails. This gives you an easy way to filter your inbox down to a space everyone can work from.

Step 3: Connect a shared Gmail or Office 365 account to Highrise

The Account Owner can connect a shared Gmail, G Suite, or Office 365 account, such as support@yourcompany.com , which will give all users the ability to send email from that address within Highrise.

The Account Owner will have a menu option for Shared Email Connections , and can follow these instructions to connect that Gmail account.

Step 4: Autoforward in emails

Find your group dropbox address and add the +fw rule to it.

The dropbox address rule will look like the following:

dropbox+fw+group+640285@yourdropboxaddress.highrisehq.com

Copy this group address.

Next, add your group dropbox address with the +fw rule as a forwarding address in Gmail or Office 365. This process is covered in more detail here.

Once autoforwarding is enabled, you will find any new messages under Good Morning, your group inbox. Any user in your Highrise account can have access to your inbox, and can answer emails out of that inbox.

When using the inbox with your team, you will see a presence alert if someone else is responding to the email.

Other tips

Email templates are a great way to store responses you find yourself using over and over again.
Know you've seen a particular issue in the past? Search notes to find previous responses.
Cases can help you keep track of things like feature requests and other recurring issues.
Comments on emails allow you to collaborate with teammates. Unsure of the answer to a question? Leave a comment for another person on your team.
If you need to follow up with someone at a later date, set a task directly from the email, which will automatically remove it from Good Morning.