Set up your first channel

Every ticket in Ravenna belongs to a channel. A channel has its own ticket prefix, settings, integrations, and routing rules, and it is what you connect a Slack channel to. Time: about 10 minutes.

Before you start

Create a public Slack channel for requests if you do not have one. This example uses the IT Operations team’s request channel, the place employees go to ask for help.

Most organizations prefix request channels so their purpose is obvious: #ask-it, #support-it, #help-people.

Interactive walkthrough
Step-by-step

Set up your Slack channel

A public Slack channel named ask-it, ready for requests

Invite Ravenna to the Slack channel

Send /invite @Ravenna in the channel.

Connect it as a request channel

Ravenna replies with a message only you can see. Select the workspace you created in the previous step and click Save.

The Slack confirmation message prompting you to pick a Ravenna workspace

This links the Slack channel to your workspace as a Ravenna channel, and you get a confirmation in Slack.

Configure the channel settings

The new channel appears in Ravenna, named after your Slack channel. Open it and click Settings in the top right.

The channel settings panel with toggles for ticket creation and actions

For a typical IT Operations request channel, enable:

Auto-create tickets, so every new message becomes a ticket without anyone reacting to it
Public ticket actions, so responders can act on tickets from the Slack thread
Public emoji actions, so reactions like ✅ change ticket state
CSAT, so requesters get a satisfaction prompt when a ticket resolves
System emojis, so Ravenna signals status changes with reactions

Learn more about every channel setting

Test it in Slack

Send a message in the channel. Ravenna creates a ticket and threads a ticket mirror underneath it.

A Ravenna ticket mirror threaded under a Slack message

In Ravenna, the ticket stays in sync with the Slack thread.

The same ticket open in Ravenna, showing the synced Slack conversation

Try each of these to see the two-way sync:

Reply to the ticket in Ravenna and watch the reply land in Slack under your own profile
Reply in Slack and watch it appear on the ticket
Assign the ticket to yourself in Ravenna and watch Ravenna add a 👀 reaction in Slack
React with ✅ in Slack and watch the ticket move to resolved
Check your DMs for the CSAT prompt from the Ravenna bot

How many channels do you need?

Start with one. Channels are intake surfaces, not work streams. A team with one request channel and a handful of saved views is easier to run than a team with eight channels, because every extra channel is another place a ticket can go unnoticed.

Learn more about choosing between channels, views, and categories

Other ways requests can arrive

A channel is not limited to one Slack channel. The same Ravenna channel can also accept:

Email, using the channel’s unique inbound address. See email support.
Direct messages to the Ravenna bot, for requests people would rather not ask in public. See public vs private support.
The Portal, for employees and guests who do not live in Slack. See launch the Portal.
Microsoft Teams, for organizations on Teams instead of Slack.

Give your team one place to see and act on everything arriving in this channel.

Set up a triage channel

Mirror every new request into a private Slack channel your team can work from.

Start here

Playbooks

How to

Best practices

Resources

Before you start

How many channels do you need?

Other ways requests can arrive

Next

Set up a triage channel

​Before you start

​How many channels do you need?

​Other ways requests can arrive

​Next

Set up a triage channel

Before you start

How many channels do you need?

Other ways requests can arrive

Next