Set up your first channel

Create your first Ravenna channel and connect it to a Slack request channel to start receiving and managing tickets where your team already works.

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

1. Set up your Slack channel

   
2. Invite Ravenna to the Slack channel

   Send /invite @Ravenna in the channel.

3. 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.

   

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

4. Configure the channel settings

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

   

   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
5. Test it in Slack

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

   

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

   

   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.

Next

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.