Help requests

Requests are Maliru's built-in help desk: someone needs something, it reaches the people who can action it, and the discussion happens in a private thread. Find them under Communications › Requests. On the phone they are the Requests segment of Chat.

Raising one

Choose Raise request (on the phone, the + button). Fill in:

• Category.
• What do you need?: the request's title.
• Detail (starts the discussion thread): the first message in the thread.
• Link to record (optional): a job, site, vehicle or asset, or No record.

Then Raise. Anyone can raise a request. Each one becomes a thread named "REQ-{number} · {title}", with you and the people who handle requests in it.

You can also raise one from a chat message with Promote to record → Raise as request ("Routed to the people who can action it.").

If there are no categories yet, managers see "Add a request category first (Categories)." Everyone else sees "No request categories exist yet — ask an admin to add one."

Categories and targets

People with Manage help desk use Categories to open Request categories. Each category has a name (New category) and two targets, entered before Add:

• First response (min): how quickly someone should take ownership.
• Resolution (hours): how quickly it should be resolved.

The targets set each request's due time and drive the overdue chase. Every category goes to the people with Manage help desk. Categories can't be renamed or removed from this dialog, so name them carefully.

The lifecycle

A request moves Open → In progress → Resolved → Confirmed:

• Take ownership: a handler claims it. It goes to In progress, the first-response clock stops, the raiser is told "Your request is being handled", and the owner joins the thread if they weren't already in it.
• Resolve: the handler adds a Resolution note. The raiser is told it is resolved.
• Confirm resolution: only the person who raised it can confirm it's sorted.
• Reopen: only the raiser, while it is resolved. They say "What still needs attention?", and it goes back to In progress with a fresh resolution deadline. The owner is told.
• Delete: help desk managers only. "The request and its thread are removed. This cannot be undone."

Open thread on any request opens its conversation. If you manage the help desk but aren't in a thread yet, take ownership to join it.

Raising an issue from a request

When a request is really a problem with something (a smashed van mirror, a welfare unit with no water), people with Manage help desk choose Raise issue on its card. The issue report opens with the request's title and the record it links to. Any of it can be changed: General, a site, a job, a vehicle or a piece of equipment, with photos, video and the team involved. A vehicle asks whether it is safe to use, and an unsafe answer holds it for a fleet review, as any vehicle report does. Leave Description empty and the issue takes what the raiser wrote.

The issue's Origin tab names the request ("REQ-{number} · {title}"), with Open request for the help desk and the person who raised it. The request lists each issue raised from it (Issue #{number}), and its thread says "Raised as issue #{number}", so the raiser knows. The request stays open: resolve it as usual once its question is answered.

Staying on top

Each request shows Due {date} or Overdue · {date}. The counts at the top track Open, Overdue, Avg first response and Avg resolution.

The chase runs by itself. When a request misses its first-response target, or its resolution target, Maliru sends "Overdue request: {title}" with "This request has not received a first response." or "This request is past its resolution target." A request nobody has taken yet goes to everyone with Manage help desk. One somebody owns goes to its owner and the person they report to. Whoever raised it isn't told. Each target is chased once, and a request that has missed both gets one notice: "This request has had no first response and is past its resolution target." A resolved request that the raiser doesn't confirm is confirmed automatically after 5 days.

Who sees what

People with Manage help desk see every request. Everyone else sees only the requests they raised.

Tip: set realistic targets per category. They turn "we'll get to it" into a measurable response and resolution time, and they are what starts the chase when something slips.