How it works

Serval meets employees wherever they already work. Requests can come in through Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, phone, your existing ticketing portal, or the Serval web app. Every submission flows into the same unified queue, so IT teams manage everything from one place, no matter how the request came in.

As a ticket progresses, the message in Slack or Teams updates in real time. Employees don't need to check a separate portal to see where their request stands.

Slack

Submitting a request

The most common way employees submit requests is by posting in a Serval-connected channel or DMing Serval directly.

In a configured help desk channel, employees post their request as a new message. No special syntax is required. Serval picks it up and opens a ticket automatically.

For private or sensitive requests, employees can DM Serval directly. The conversation is private: other employees won't see it, though Serval administrators can view the associated ticket.

Slash commands

To submit a request from anywhere in Slack without switching channels:

/serval help [your request]

Works in any channel or DM.

@Mentions in channels

In channels where Serval is present, mention @Serval to get help or trigger a workflow:

@Serval can you reset my Okta password?

@Serval please run the new user onboarding workflow for jane@company.com

Channel behavior depends on how the channel is configured:

Message actions

Turn any existing Slack message into a ticket without retyping:

1. Hover over the message

2. Click the three dots (...) menu

3. Select More message shortcuts

4. Choose Create a Ticket

Team Inbox channel

A dedicated private Slack channel for your IT team to triage tickets without switching to the web app. Every ticket appears as a thread with full history. Reply in the thread and the message syncs back to the employee automatically. Ticket assignment and routing are handled from the Serval web app.

Ticket status

As a ticket progresses, Serval updates the thread message in real time to reflect the current status. Employees see status changes directly in the conversation without needing to check a separate portal.

Microsoft Teams

Employees can message the Serval bot directly in Teams or interact in configured help channels. Requests route to the same unified ticketing queue as Slack.

Teams supports Help Desk, On demand, and Silent channel modes. Team Inbox and Team Only modes are currently Slack-only.

To set it up, connect the Microsoft Graph integration in your Serval team settings and configure your Teams channels as help desk channels.

Triggering workflows from chat

Employees trigger workflows by describing what they need. Serval matches the request to available workflows and runs the right one.

Examples:

• "I need access to the data engineering Salesforce sandbox"

• "Can you run the new hire onboarding flow for alex@company.com?"

• "I need to return my laptop"

No special syntax. Just describe the request.

Routing across teams

Serval is organized around teams, each with its own workflows, categories, knowledge, and integrations. When a request comes in, Serval routes it to the correct team based on content. Employees don't need to know which team owns their request.

Bi-directional sync

When an IT agent replies in the Serval inbox or web app, the message syncs back to the employee's thread in Teams or Slack. When the employee replies in the thread, that message syncs forward to the agent's view. Multiple agents can work the same ticket simultaneously. The employee's experience stays entirely inside their messaging platform.

Escalation to a human

If a request can't be resolved automatically, Serval escalates within the same thread. Employees stay in the conversation.

For requests that shouldn't involve the Help Desk Agent at all, the manual escalation button bypasses Serval AI entirely and routes the ticket directly to your team's triage queue.

Alert channels

A dedicated Teams or Slack channel can be configured to receive SLA breach alerts, new ticket notifications, or workflow completion summaries. Priority-based configuration lets teams receive alerts only for high or urgent tickets.

Quick reference