Customer users in OTRS are the real people who work at or are related to Customers. A fresh OTRS installation contains no customer users by default.
Create Customer User
Customer users can be added by using the links in the main menu and in the action menu, as well as by using the Add Customer User action in a customer detail view.
To add a customer user:
-
Choose a data source.
-
Fill in the required fields.
-
Click on the Create button.
The following settings are available when adding a customer user. The fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory.
- Data Source *
-
In this section, the data source for storing customer users can be selected. Multiple data sources are supported, including external data sources like LDAP.
Note
External data sources can be read-only.
- Personal Information
-
In this section, personal information about the customer user can be added.
- Title or salutation
-
Some name prefixes can be added here like Mr., Dr., Jr., etc.
- Firstname *
-
The first name of the customer user.
- Lastname *
-
The last name of the customer user.
- Email *
-
The email address of the customer user.
- CustomerID *
-
The customer ID of the customer’s company, also known as the customer to which the customer user belongs.
- Phone
-
The phone number of the customer user.
- Fax
-
The fax number of the customer user.
- Mobile
-
The cellphone number of the customer user.
- Address
-
In this section, address information about the customer user can be added.
- Street
-
The street name of the customer user.
- Zip
-
The zip code of the customer user.
- City
-
The city of the customer user.
- Country
-
The country of the customer user.
- Login Credentials
-
In this section, login credentials for the customer user can be added.
- Username *
-
The username of the customer user.
- Password
-
The password of the customer user. The password can be restricted by the admin-configured password policy.
- Valid *
-
Set the validity of this customer user. Customer users can only be used in OTRS if this field is set to valid. Setting this field to invalid or invalid-temporarily will disable the use of the customer user.
- Security
-
In this section, security restrictions for the customer user can be changed.
- Login Forbidden
-
The login is forbidden if the customer user has reached the maximum number of failed logins. In this case, the ability for the customer user to login can be re-enabled here.
- Miscellaneous
-
In this section, additional information about the customer user can be added.
- Comment
-
Add additional information to this customer user. It is recommended that you always fill this field with full sentences for better clarity.
Customer User List
Use this screen to browse through the valid customer users. The customer user list is available from the organizer sidebar.
The customer user list has no bulk actions. If the customer user is online, an icon is active in the Chat column. Using this icon, the agent can start a chat with the customer user. A special column in this list is the column Create. Clicking on the icon in this column opens the create ticket screen. Clicking on the pencil icon in the column Edit opens the edit customer user action.
It is possible to preview a customer user’s business card by hovering the mouse over the username or the name of a customer user. Clicking on a customer user in the list opens the customer user detail view.
Customer User Detail View
Use this screen to see the details of a customer user. The customer user detail view is available when you select a customer user from a customer user list or from a widget where customer users are displayed.
Customer User Detail View Widgets
Like other business object detail views, the customer user detail view is also highly customizable. Some of the following widgets are displayed with the default installation, but others have to be added in the screen configuration.
- Customer Information Widget
-
This widget shows information about the customer user and about its customer.
The cards show the number of open and closed tickets. If the customer user is online, the icon is active in the Chat section. Using this icon, the agent can start a chat with the customer user. Clicking on the icons in the Create section opens the create ticket screen. From the Action section, it is possible to edit the customer user or the customer. The Map section contains a link to view the customer’s address on a configured map. The URL in the Web section points to the customer’s website. The Social section contains links to some social media pages or search engines that are related to the customer user or the customer.
- Escalations Widget
-
This widget lists the escalated tickets that are related to this customer user. Escalated tickets are tickets that remain open after the time that was set by the customer user’s service level agreement; therefore the ticket needs to be worked on immediately.
Clicking on a ticket opens the ticket detail view.
- Reminders Widget
-
This widget lists pending tickets related to the customer user. Pending tickets are set for work at a later time by the agent, and the reminder time is going to expire soon.
Clicking on a ticket opens the ticket detail view.
- Open Tickets Widget
-
This widget lists the open tickets related to the customer user. Open tickets represent the current work to be done by the agent.
Clicking on a ticket opens the ticket detail view.
- Ticket List Widget
-
This widget lists all of the tickets related to the customer user.
Clicking on a ticket opens the ticket detail view.
Customer User Detail View Actions
The following actions are available in the customer user detail view.
- Communication
-
This column groups the following actions together:
- Create Phone Ticket
-
This action opens the New Phone Ticket screen in which the customer user will be pre-selected.
- Create Email Ticket
-
This action opens the New Email Ticket screen in which the customer user will be pre-selected.
- Create SMS Ticket
-
This action opens the New SMS Ticket screen in which the customer user will be pre-selected.
Note
Additional contract is needed to use this action.
- Start Chat
-
This action allows the agent to start a chat with the customer user. This action is visible only if the customer user is online.
- Organization
-
This column groups the following actions together:
- Edit Customer User
-
This action allows the agent to edit the customer user.
- Views
-
This column groups the following actions together:
- Login as Customer User
-
This action opens the external interface and logs in as the selected customer user.
Note
The login as customer user feature is not enabled by default. It needs to first be activated by an administrator in order to use it.
