Get help (for requesters)

Enterprise feature (1.19.0, helpdesk). See the Helpdesk overview.

Get help is where everyone in the workspace asks for something: a new laptop, access to a space, a broken desk, a question for HR. It lives inside CompassDocs, as Get help in the sidebar (after Handbooks) and in the command palette, for everyone who holds the Get help permission, which every built-in role does.

The badge on Get help counts the requests waiting on you and the approvals waiting for your decision.

Get help is for people in your workspace. People outside your organisation can ask through the customer portal instead, when your workspace offers one.

Major incident banners

From 1.19.2, when something is broken for many people (the VPN, email, the phone system), the helpdesk can show a banner at the top of Get help: what’s wrong, the latest update, when it was last updated and how many people are affected.

If it affects you too, press Me too instead of raising a request. You’re counted as affected and hear each update by email and in the bell. Press it again to take it back. See Major incidents.

Asking for something

/help opens with a search box and the request types you may use, as cards, with Popular requests first.

1. Search first. Type what you need. These might solve it lists guides from your own CompassDocs documents, only from spaces you can read, and never a handbook-only policy. If one answers it, you are done.
2. Pick a request type. Each card says what it is for. A type can be open to everyone or only to chosen groups, so you see only the ones you may use.
3. Fill in the form. Forms ask only what the team needs. Some answers are filled in from your directory entry (marked From your directory entry), and the form says what happens next: who approves it (named from the directory, such as your manager), which teams take part, and roughly how long it takes.
4. Pick your device (optional, 1.19.3). When your helpdesk uses Snipe-IT (or, from 1.19.4, Microsoft Intune) and has devices on record for you, Device lists them: choose the one with the problem, so the helpdesk can see its history, or leave it at Not about one of my devices. You only ever see your own. See Assets.
5. Add people (optional). Copy colleagues who should see the replies, such as your manager. See CCs and followers.
6. Send. “Request sent. We’ll keep you posted.” You get an email confirming it, and it is in My requests.

Still stuck? Send a request under the suggestions opens a plain request when no card fits: say in a few words what you need.

If the team that will answer is outside its office hours (or on a holiday), the form and the request say so, and when it opens again. Your request is still received.

Asking from where you are

Four places in CompassDocs open a request with the details already filled in:

Where	Button	What the request carries
A document	Report a problem with this page	The document and its space
A policy in a handbook	Ask about this policy	The policy and the handbook
A quick link	This link is broken	The link
A private space you can’t open	Request access	The space

An admin chooses which request type each of these opens, or hides one, in Desk settings → Shortcuts (see Shortcuts).

Request access starts a workflow: the space’s owner (or, when it has none, whoever manages space access) approves or declines. While you wait, the request says “the people who look after the space”, never who they are. If they approve, you are given read access to that space, and nothing more. The grant is recorded in the audit log.

My requests

/help/requests lists your requests, open first, and the requests you are copied on. Each row shows its number (such as #1047), its subject, its status and the latest step: “Matthew replied 2m ago”, “Waiting on you”.

A request opens on its own page, /help/requests/{number}, with:

• The conversation: every public reply from the desk and from you, with attached files. Internal notes and internal fields are never shown.
• The progress tracker for a request with a workflow: each step (approval, the teams’ tasks, waits) with who did it and when, and what is next.
• A reply box. Replying to a request that is Waiting on you moves it back to the team. Replying to a solved request reopens it (“Not sorted after all? Reply to reopen it”). A closed request can’t be reopened: “This request is closed. Something else? Send a new request.”
• People on this request: the requester and anyone copied on it. Add people, remove them, or, when you were copied, Leave.
• The agent’s card, when someone is working on it: their name, photo, title, team and availability, and how to reach them by email or chat. Phone numbers are off unless your workspace shows them. See Contact cards.

You can also reply to any helpdesk email: your reply lands on the request.

If the desk merges your request with another one about the same thing, it says “Your request has been joined with #1049 so one person can help with both”, with a link. See Merging tickets.

Approvals

When a request needs your decision (you are the requester’s manager, a space’s owner, or in the approving team), you get an email and a bell notice, and two places list it:

• Approvals in Get help (/help/approvals).
• Needs your attention on the dashboard: “N requests need your approval”. The row beside it, “N of your requests are waiting on you”, takes you to My requests.

Each approval shows the request’s answers (that is what you approve) and three actions:

• Approve. The workflow moves on.
• Decline. A note is required, and the requester sees it.
• Ask a question. Your question is posted to the request for the requester to answer; the approval stays waiting.

If you do nothing, one reminder is sent. See Approvals for how approvers are chosen.

Satisfaction

When a request is solved, the solved email asks one question: how did we do, from 1 to 5. Click a rating, sign in if asked, and add a comment if you like. Each request can be rated once.

Asking from Teams or Slack

From 1.19.4, if your helpdesk has connected Microsoft Teams or Slack, you can message the CompassDocs app there to raise a request, or use Get help on any message. The desk’s replies arrive in the same chat, and you can answer there. Approvers can decide from a card in the chat. See Chat apps.

Asking through Claude

With the Claude connector, you can ask Claude to find a guide, raise a request, check on your requests, reply on one, or list the approvals waiting for you. Claude acts as you, with your access. It never approves or declines for you: it gives you the link to decide in Get help.

Your notifications

Choose which helpdesk emails you get under Account → Notifications, in the Helpdesk requests and Approvals sections: request received, replies from the desk, waiting on you, solved, workflow messages, copied on a request, requests joined, major incident updates (1.19.2), approvals needed and decided. See Your own notifications.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
No Get help in the sidebar	The workspace has no helpdesk license, or your role lacks Get help (a custom role may).
A request type is missing	It is limited to groups you are not in, or it is switched off.
“This request isn’t open to you”	The number belongs to someone else’s request. Your own are all in My requests.
No email about my request	Check Account → Notifications, and whether your workspace locked that email off.
No Device field	Your helpdesk doesn’t use Snipe-IT or Intune, nothing is checked out to your email address there, or your address is marked Unconfirmed (ask an admin to confirm it). See Assets.