How to Answer a Ticket

What is a LibAnswers ticket?

  • A ticket is a question a patron submits from an email or SMS text. Chats can be made into tickets. Tickets show up on the home screen on LibAnswers. 
  • Tickets will not be answered immediately, it may take up to 48 hours for a ticket to be answered.

Review this training to learn how to answer tickets. You will first need to sign into your LibApps account. If you are having issues accessing your account, please let Katie know.

Each ticket on the LibAnswers homepage will tell you the QID (ID number), whether it is open (active) or closed, the queue it is in, the question, who claimed the question (or if it is unclaimed) and when it was last modified (submitted or someone answered it).

You will only answer questions in the IDEAS queue! 

You will always want to preview the question before you claim it. If you click on the text of the question, you will claim it. When you claim a ticket or a chat, it indicates to all other staff members that you will answer it. if you claim the ticket and don't answer it, it may go unanswered. To preview a ticket, click the eye icon to bottom right of the text.

If you are able to answer the ticket you can claim it, then you can click "Go to Ticket Page" on the pop up. Or click the blue words.

If you claim a ticket that means you can answer the question!

You should check tickets in the IDEAS queue at the beginning of your shift and periodically throughout. You can answer any questions that you would be able to answer if someone came to the desk and asked them! If something is out of your comfort zone, you can leave it for full-time staff to answer.

If you accidentally claim a ticket, you can click unclaim at the top right corner. Type your response to the patrons question in the text box.

After answering the question, you will need to send it to the patron. If you scroll down, there is a blue button that says "submit as closed". 

If you have answered the question and do not need any more information from the patron, then click "submit as closed".

If you need more information from the patron to answer their question, then click the arrow next to "submit as closed" and select "submit as pending". This means that you anticipate the patron getting back to you.

And that's how to answer a ticket!