What approvals are and how they work

Plan requirement

Subscription Suite Growth or higher, Support Professional or higher
Access Agent

An approval request asks a named person to say yes or no inside a ticket, and records the answer where anyone can find it.

What it replaces

Before approvals existed, sign-off happened in email or in a chat message, and the ticket carried a note saying "manager agreed". Six weeks later nobody could show who agreed, when, or to what.

An approval is a structured request attached to the ticket: who was asked, what they were asked, what they answered and when.

How it works

  1. An agent creates an approval request on a ticket and names the approver.
  2. The approver is notified.
  3. They approve or reject, with a comment.
  4. The outcome is recorded on the ticket.

Business rules can act on the outcome, which is what makes it a workflow rather than a form. A trigger can move the ticket on when it is approved, and back to the agent when it is not.

Where it earns its place

  • Refunds and credits above a threshold.
  • Access requests in an internal IT desk, where a manager has to agree.
  • Anything with a cost that a support agent cannot authorise alone.
  • Changes with a risk attached, where somebody senior should look first.

Where it is too heavy

Approvals add a step and a waiting period. Applied to routine work they turn a five-minute answer into a two-day one, and people start working around them. Use them where the sign-off genuinely matters and someone would ask for evidence later.

See also

Was this article helpful?

0

Still stuck?

Our support team will take a look with you.

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.