Enhancing SharePoint for Email-Based Help Desk Ticket Notifications

Enhancing Help Desk Communications with SharePoint and Power Automate

Effective communication channels are essential for developing a strong IT help desk ticketing system, particularly in settings where problem monitoring and quick response are critical. Power Automate in conjunction with SharePoint Online provides a potential base for this kind of system. An essential part of this configuration is a "Tickets" list that acts as the main archive for all tickets submitted by users. The intention is to replace email communication with the integrated "Comments" feature of list items as the main means of communicating updates and information between users and the help desk personnel.

The issue stems from a constraint in SharePoint Online: there isn't a direct feature to inform the help desk team whenever a new comment is made on a ticket without mentioning anything. A recurring flow was created using Power Automate as a workaround to close this gap. Every fifteen minutes, this flow starts to search all tickets for any new comments. An email with all the required ticket details is sent to the IT help desk if a comment is discovered without any notice. Even while this solution works well, it generates an excessive amount of emails, which makes people look for a more efficient way to receive notifications.

Comprehending the Process and Creating Email Content Scripts

The first script mentioned above acts as a guide for configuring an automated procedure in Power Automate that is intended to overcome a notable shortcoming in the built-in capabilities of SharePoint Online. Unless otherwise noted, SharePoint does not by default allow sending notifications for comments made on list items. In use scenarios like an IT help desk ticketing system, where prompt responses to comments are essential for efficient issue resolution, this scenario becomes troublesome. The pseudocode script demonstrates a recurrent flow that iterates through each ticket in the "Tickets" list, looks for comments without mentions, and aggregates this data. It is designed to run every fifteen minutes. The goal is to gather the information required for each ticket that meets the requirements, such as the ticket ID, name, user data, and the most recent comment. By using this technique, all pertinent comments are recorded and prepared for the subsequent stage of the procedure, which entails assembling all of this data into a single, all-inclusive email.

The information gathered by the Power Automate script is formatted into an HTML structure appropriate for email content by the second script, which is written in JavaScript. This script is essential for converting unstructured, unreadable data into a readable format that offers succinct, understandable information regarding ticket modifications. Ticket ID and the most recent comment are automatically created in the email body by means of this script's dynamic generation of a list of comments from the supplied data array. This method enables a more efficient channel of communication: every fifteen minutes, IT help desk employees receive a single email that summarizes all recent, pertinent ticket comments. When opposed to sending a separate notification for every comment, this drastically lowers the amount of emails sent, improving the functionality of the ticketing system.

// Schedule: Every 15 minutes as the trigger
// Step: SharePoint - Obtain the items from "Tickets" list
EVERY ticket listed on TicketsList
    // Action: SharePoint - Get comments for current ticket item
    IF lastComment hasNoMention
        // Prepare data for aggregation
        COLLECT {TicketID, TicketName, UserName, UserEmail, LastComment, TicketLink}
END FOR
// Aggregate collected data into a single email content
// Action: Send an email with aggregated comments information

const ticketsData = [...] // Array of objects from the backend script
let emailContent = "<h1>Update on Ticket Comments</h1>";
emailContent += '<ul>';
ticketsData.forEach(ticket => {
    emailContent += '<li>' +
        'Ticket ID: ' + ticket.TicketID + ', ' +
        'Comment: ' + ticket.LastComment +
        '</li>';
});
emailContent += '</ul>';
// Send emailContent as the body of the email

Improving Interaction in Ticketing Systems using SharePoint

While Power Automate and SharePoint Online offer a strong basis for constructing IT help desk ticketing systems, they are not very good at informing users of new comments that are not mentioned. This gap requires a customized solution in order to guarantee that staff members at the help desk are notified whenever a comment is posted, allowing for quick responses and improving the support process as a whole. The key component of this kind of system is its capacity to automatically aggregate comments from the "Tickets" list and combine them into a single, all-inclusive email that is distributed on a regular basis. In addition to streamlining user-help desk correspondence, this method drastically lowers the amount of emails sent because it substitutes a recurring summary for individual notifications.

In order to put this idea into practice, a Power Automate recurring flow that checks for new comments every 15 minutes must be created. All tickets are retrieved, their comments are reviewed, and tickets without mentions are filtered out. The pertinent information from these comments is then combined into a single email and forwarded to the help desk. This approach takes care of the main problem of too many emails while making sure the help desk is kept up to date on user comments and questions. Moreover, the email's usage of dynamic adaptive cards enables a more structured and engaging information presentation, which facilitates help desk employees' ability to properly prioritize and handle tickets.