Below you’ll find answers to the most common questions about submitting, managing, and automating support tickets in Atera.
Email and forwarding
Questions about forwarding email into Atera, ticket creation from email, and the addresses your replies are sent from.
Why aren’t tickets being created from emails?
A: Set up a forwarding rule from your support mailbox to Atera’s auto-generated support address, in Admin > Support & Ticketing > Email Settings. For instructions, see Set up email forwarding in Atera. Then check the following:
- “Auto-create new contact on incoming email” is enabled. If it is off, tickets are not created for senders who are not already contacts.
- The forwarding address is correct.
- The email, including any attachments, is under 20 MB.
- The rule forwards directly to Atera’s auto-generated address in a single step. Do not forward through a second address, as Atera does not support double forwarding.
- Mail flow, anti-spam and forwarding limits in your email provider’s admin center.
What is double forwarding, and how do I fix it?
A: Double forwarding happens when an email is forwarded through more than one step (such as multiple aliases, distribution groups, or automatic rules) before being delivered to your Atera support address. Atera does not support double forwarding, which prevents tickets from being created or causes missed emails, as the system cannot track the original sender or thread properly.
Always set a direct forwarding rule from the main support address or distribution list directly to your Atera auto-generated support address. Avoid using aliases or multiple chained forwarding rules; each support-receiving address must be listed as a “Primary” or “Additional” Customer Support Address in Atera and should forward directly to Atera’s system. If you use Microsoft 365, leverage mailbox forwarding or redirect rules, and ensure external/automatic forwarding is enabled as described in Atera’s setup guide.
Why can’t some contacts create tickets by email?
A: The most common cause is that the sender’s email address is not registered as a contact under the relevant customer profile, or the “Auto-create new contact on incoming email” option is turned off, which prevents ticket creation for new email addresses.
If you see the error “No contacts in customer” when a ticket should have been created from an email or an alert, this is the same cause: the system could not find a matching contact in the customer profile, sometimes because of a mismatch in email domains. Add the sender’s email as a contact under the relevant customer, or enable “Auto-create contacts from incoming email”.
Another setting that blocks ticket creation is “Ignore emails from contact/user”. Search for the contact, open their settings, and check whether the option is enabled. Disable it if needed.
Are there email limits?
A: Trial accounts are limited to 50 emails/day and can be blacklisted if this is exceeded—paid subscriptions increase this to 50 per minute. Rapid creation or reply cycles may temporarily pause email sending for up to 10 minutes.
Why do my emails appear as noreply@atera.com?
A: You need to configure DKIM or SMTP settings; this way, your emails will be sent from your desired email address.
How do I make sure customer replies go to the right ticket instead of creating a new one?
A: Always configure your email templates so the subject line contains the ticket number (e.g. [#{[Ticket Number]}] Subject text). This links responses to the right ticket thread in Atera.
Why aren’t end users getting closure or update notifications?
A: Notifications are sent by ticket automation rules, not automatically. Set one up in Admin > Support & Ticketing > Ticket Automation Rules > New Rule, with the trigger “Ticket Closed/Resolved” and the action “Send email to contact”, then select a template. If no email action is set, the user receives nothing.
You can do the same for other triggers, such as ticket creation and updates, using customized templates from Admin > Support & Ticketing > Email Templates.
Does updating MX records affect normal email flow or ticketing?
A: Adding Atera-related MX records for forwarding tickets should not interfere with your regular email flow if done per best practices.
Can I CC other users or technicians by email?
A: Yes, use the CC field in the ticket reply window to include additional end users or technicians; they’ll receive updates for that ticket and can reply to participate in the conversation.
Submitting and tracking tickets
How tickets get into Atera and how to find them afterwards.
Q: How do end-users submit a ticket?
A: You can submit support tickets via email (forwarded to your support address), through the customer portal, using a Helpdesk Agent on Windows devices, alerts, or by integrated forms/API.
Q: How do I track the status of my tickets?
A: Check the ticketing dashboard to view open, pending, resolved, and closed tickets, and filter by status, priority, technician, or customer for detailed tracking.
Q: How do I view attached files on a ticket?
A: Once you send a reply containing an attachment that has been saved, open the ticket, locate the reply with the attachment, and you’ll see an option to view or download the file.
Q: Why are some tickets not appearing in the dashboard after creation?
A: This can happen if the ticket is created with a status or priority that filters it out of the default view. Check your dashboard filters to ensure all relevant statuses and priorities are included, and verify the ticket was created under the correct customer or site.
Automating tickets and notifications
Questions about ticket automation rules, email templates and automated replies.
Q: How do I automate ticket responses and workflow?
A: Set up ticket automation rules within Admin > Support and Ticketing to automate replies, notifications, and technician assignments.
Q: Can ticketing be integrated with platforms like Slack or Teams?
A: Yes, integration is possible via API or webhooks, allowing you to automate ticket creation, send notifications, or update ticket statuses directly from platforms like Slack or Teams.
Q: How do I customize ticket fields, templates, and workflows?
A: Ticket forms, statuses, and reply templates can be fully customized via Admin > Support and Ticketing, adapting your workflow to different ticket sources or customer needs.
Q: Resolved tickets get accidentally reopened due to thank-you messages.
A: Use automation or ticketing system rules that detect “thank you” or similar phrases and prevent such tickets from reopening or triggering workflow changes.
Q: How can I automate ticket follow-ups when customers don’t respond?
A: Use time-based automation rules to trigger reminder emails after specific intervals (e.g., 24, 48, 72 hours), and set a rule to automatically close the ticket if there’s still no response. Customize reminder and closure templates for clarity and automate the process fully in Admin > Support and ticketing > Ticket automation rules.
Q: Can I customize ticket email notifications for technicians?
A: Yes, create a custom technician email template and attach it to your automation rule.
Q: How do I send updates to technician groups, not just individuals?
A: You can notify entire technician groups by setting up automation rules and referencing groups as recipients in the rule definition; create targeted email templates as needed and use dynamic fields to insert relevant ticket data.
Assigning tickets to technicians
How tickets reach the right technician or group.
Q: Technicians are not receiving the right assignments or notifications.
A: Use ticket automation rules to assign tickets based on groups or technicians, and ensure notifications are correctly set up for both individual and group assignments. Use the option Set Field Value > Technician or Group. Assign tickets to groups or technicians based on the conditions setup in your ticket automation rules.
Q: What’s the best way to assign tickets to the right technician?
A: Use automation rules to assign tickets based on source, customer, group, or auto-tags, and consider round-robin settings for workload balance.
Ticket statuses and time tracking
What each ticket status means and how time is recorded against a ticket.
Q: What do the different ticket statuses mean?
A: Typical statuses are Open (being worked on), Pending (awaiting customer input, SLA paused), Resolved (awaiting confirmation), and Closed (confirmed resolved and archived); you can add custom statuses for additional workflow needs.
Q: How do I track time and calculate billable hours on tickets?
A: Technicians can start, pause, or edit time entries directly from the Ticket page; manual edits and time entry reviews are also available for precise billing. Use the Timesheet report to get an overview of time spent on tickets.
Spam tickets
Marking and filtering spam in your ticket queue.
Q: Is there a way to mark or filter spam tickets automatically?
A: Yes, use the spam management system (Admin > My account > Account Settings > Tickets tab) to automatically or manually mark tickets as spam. Automation rules can also apply custom statuses or assign tickets for review if marked as spam.
Tickets created from alerts
Questions about tickets that Atera creates automatically from device alerts.
Q: Can I manually create or assign a ticket from an alert?
A: Yes, from the Alerts, Site, or Customer pages, select the alert and click “Create Ticket” (for a new ticket) or “Assign existing ticket”. The selected ticket will then be linked to the alert for tracking.
Q: What should I do if tickets are not being created from alerts or the settings aren’t behaving as expected?
A: Double-check that a threshold profile is assigned, “Automated ticket creation” is on for the correct customer/site/severity, and no conflicting automation rules exist. If issues persist, contact support for help.
Q: How do I review and track tickets that came from alerts?
A: Use the ticketing dashboard or filter tickets by source “Alerts” to see which were generated from alert events. Analytical and preset reports also show alert-sourced ticket data.
Q: How can I stop tickets from being created for every alert?
A: Disable “Automated ticket creation” in Admin > Monitoring and Automation > Alert settings or limit it to only critical/warning alerts, and ensure that your “Alerts email” is not the same as your ticketing email to prevent duplicate ticket creation from alert emails.
Q: Can tickets from alerts be assigned to specific technicians or groups automatically?
A: Yes, you can use ticket automation rules to assign alert-generated tickets based on source, severity, device, or group, ensuring the right technician or team receives the issue.
Customer portal
How end users submit and follow their own tickets.
Q: How do customers submit and track tickets via the Customer Portal?
A: Customers log in to the portal with their credentials and can create new tickets using the “+ New Ticket” button, filling in required fields like title and category. They also see all their current tickets, filter them, and track status and technician updates for each ticket right from the portal interface.
Q: Can customers update, reply, or close tickets in the Customer Portal?
A: Customers can open any ticket, add comments or replies, and upload supporting files. They can request closure by commenting, but actual closure is usually performed by a technician after resolution is confirmed.
Q: How do customers know when a technician has responded?
A: The portal provides real-time status updates, and customers receive email notifications for every technician reply, status change, or ticket resolution, keeping them fully informed without needing to log in each time, as long as you have set up ticket automation rules for this purpose.
Q: Are there restrictions on what can be viewed or edited in the portal?
A: Field visibility and editability are controlled by the administrator; customers may only see or edit certain fields (e.g., priority, impact) as configured under Admin > Data management > Custom fields. Some features, like changing ticket assignment or priority, are restricted to technicians.
Managing, deleting and exporting tickets
Merging, deleting, duplicating and getting ticket data out of Atera.
Q: How do I merge duplicate tickets?
A: Go to the Ticket view, select the duplicate, use the Merge function, and pick the primary ticket; this combines all details and avoids clutter or confusion.
Q: Can I delete or edit an internal note?
A: No, internal notes cannot be deleted or modified.
Q: How do I delete tickets?
A: You can delete tickets either one by one or in bulk. This article provides information on how to delete both individual and bulk tickets.
Q: Can I duplicate tickets?
A: No, Atera does not have a direct feature to duplicate or copy existing tickets; you must manually create a new ticket and copy the notes if needed, or use the Schedule a ticket feature for repeating similar tickets as a workaround.
Q: How do I change the customer on an existing ticket?
A: Tickets are linked to customers through the assigned contact. To change the customer, edit the contact from the Contact info section on the right side of the ticket by clicking the pencil icon and selecting a contact under the desired customer.
Q: Can I export or back up full ticket comments and email history from Atera?
A: Atera does not currently provide a built-in export or direct database copy of full ticket comments and email history. Reports within Atera may provide high-level ticket information, but they do not include complete comment chains or email conversations.
To retrieve full ticket communication history, you must use the Atera API. The API allows access to ticket data, including comments and email history; however, this process requires separate calls per ticket and must operate within the existing API rate limits.
Q: Can audio files on tickets be transcribed?
A: No, Atera does not currently offer a feature to transcribe audio files attached to tickets.
