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Email notification templates

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Introduction

Service Desk includes templates that can be used to notify assignees and/or requesters of an event on corresponding incidents and/or changes. Administrators can use the out-of-the box templates or customize to meet your organization's needs.

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Email templates

Service Desk includes a number of templates that can be used to notify assignees and/or requesters of an event on corresponding incidents and/or changes. Administrators can use the out-of-the box templates or customize to meet your organization's needs. For a list of out-of-the-box email notification templates, see Email notification templates.

Email notification templates allow for seamless alerts of ongoing workflow processes. In addition, you can quickly customize your own email template and include any of the variables provided on the right of your screen.

Behavior of the Assignee template vs the Requester template

It is important to select the correct template based on who you want to receive a notification. For example:

  • If you want to Include users who triggered the notification, use the Assignee template.

  • If you want to include the requester who triggered the notification, use the Requester template.

Be aware that notification behavior differs in the following situations:

  • The submitter is acting on behalf of someone else. In this situation, other members of the assigned group still receive the notification, but the submitter does not receive the assignee notification if the Include users that triggered the notification option is disabled in the Assignee template.

  • The submitter is also the requester and belongs to the assigned group. In this situation, duplicate notifications can be sent because the same user qualifies for both the Requester notification and the Assignee notification.

  • The submitter belongs to the assigned group. In this situation, whether the submitter receives the assignee notification depends on whether the option to Include users that triggered the notification is enabled in the Assignee template.

You can modify notification behavior by following these instructions for the Assignee and Requester templates.

  1. Navigate to Setup > Service Desk > Notifications.

  2. Open template for Incident changed for Assignee.

  3. Directly under the first paragraph, select or deselect the options to Include users that triggered the notification.

  4. Do the same in the Incident Changed for Requester template.

  5. Save & retest.

Out-of-the-box email templates

Before deciding which template to use, read Email notification templates.

The table below provides a list of the out-of-the-box templates.

Name Send to Scope Event
Incident Created for Requester Requester, CC Incident Incident received
Incident Created for Assignee Assignee Incident Incident received
Incident Changed for Requester (off by default) Incident Updated
Incident Changed for Assignee Assignee Incident Updated
Incident Commented for Requester Requester, CC Incident Incident new Incident index
Incident Commented for Assignee Assignee Incident Incident new Incident index
Approval Task Created All Task  
Customer Satisfaction Survey All Incident Incident resolved
SLA Violation All Incident  
Incident Resolved for Requester Requester, CC Incident Incident resolved
Incident Resolved for Assignee Assignee Incident Incident resolved
Task Created via Incident (off by default) Task New task
Task Created via Workflow (off by default) Task New task
Task Reassigned All Task  
Incident Mention All Incident  
SLA Rule - No state change All Incident  
Incident Resolved via System All Incident  
Change Mention All Change Management Updated
Change Updated for Assignee Assignee Change Management Updated
Change Commented for Requester Requester, CC Change Management Change new Incident index
Change Commented for Assignee Assignee Change Management Change new Incident index
Solution Mention All Solution  
Task Completed Assignee Task Task completed
Integration Error (off by default) Integration Integration error

Create a new custom email template

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) service providers can create their own service-provider specific email templates.

  1. From the Notifications index page, click Add in the upper right.

  2. Note the Email Variables list that displays on the right. You can use email variables in sections of the email notification. See Email variables for more information.

  3. In the New Custom Email Template, select an existing template as the foundation for your new template, or select General Email template to start from scratch.

  4. Use the tabs in the Email Layout field to select an area for customizing your new email template.
    • Main Layout defines the main layout of the email. You can add, move, edit, and delete sections by using email section variables (details below). It is also possible to add custom text and use regular variables in the email sections.
    • Email Body is the main content of the email. It includes the email title, email body, and the text on the call-to-action button. It is represented by the {{main}} variable in the email structure. You can choose to use {{main_wo_action}} if you would prefer to exclude the call to action button.
    • Header is added to the top part of the email when it is sent. It is represented by the {{header}} variable in the main layout. This header is fully customizable. Some customers like to add their service desk logo to the header.
    • Signature is fully customizable. The corporate signature, represented by the {{signature}} variable in the main layout, is added to the email by default.
    • Footer is fully customizable. The corporate footer, represented by the {{footer}} variable in the main layout, is added to the email by default.
    Directly below the Email Layout field, you can click Guide to email section variables for an explanation of each of the email sections.
  5. Click Save.

Add a notification when a mention is made in a Incident index

The out-of-the-box Incident Mention template sends a notification if a mention is made in a ticket. You can modify the template to include a notification when a mention is made in a Incident index. Just add the {{main_event}} email variable to the email body text section.

For additional information on template use, see Email templates.

Email variables

System variables can be used in any email. When you select a tab a list of the system variables displays on the right. From there you can copy any variable by hovering over the variable name and then clicking Copy to the right of the variable.

System email variables can be used in email notification templates. They cannot be modified.

The following system variables are available:

  • {{assignee_full_name}}
  • {{attachments}}
  • {{change_number}}
  • {{change_title}}
  • {{change_type}}
  • {{department}}
  • {{event_initiator}}
  • {{event_initiator_email}}
  • {{event_initiator_phone_number}}
  • {{event_initiator_title}}
  • {{hardware_asset_status}}
  • {{hardware_category}}
  • {{hardware_name}}
  • {{hardware_owner}}
  • {{hardware_tag}}
  • {{hardware_technical_contact}}
  • {{hardware_warranty_status}}
  • {{incident_category}}
  • {{incident_description}}
  • {{incident_number}}
  • {{incident_number_link_to_incident}}
  • {{incident_origin}}
  • {{incident_priority}}
  • {{incident_title}}
  • {{integration_info}} *
  • {{last_updated}}
  • {{main}}
  • {{main_event}}
  • {{main_wo_action}}
  • {{process_integration_validation_error}}
  • {{received_at}}
  • {{requester_email}}
  • {{requester_full_name}}
  • {{requester_last_name}}
  • {{requester_phonenumber}}
  • {{samanage_link}}
  • {{service_desk_logo}}
  • {{servicedesk_name}}
  • {{site}}
  • {{solution_number}}
  • {{solution_title}}
  • {{state}}

* The integration_info system variable includes:

  • The integration URL
  • The HTTP return code
  • The sequential number of the automated workflow step from which the integration was called
  • The integration complete response (up to 32K), typically the JSON response

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