Losing $360K Annually? Configure Odoo 18 Helpdesk Properly
By Braincuber Team
Published on December 20, 2025
Customer emails support. 23 hours pass. No response. They email again. Another 18 hours. Finally someone replies: "We're looking into it." Customer posts Twitter rant. You lose $12K annual contract because "Support is terrible."
Last month: 847 support tickets. Average response time: 14.2 hours (should be under 2 hours). SLA breaches: 127 tickets. No automatic assignment—tickets sit in queue while agents handle others. No priority system—urgent issues treated same as "how do I reset password." Result: Churn rate 18% higher than industry average.
Cost: Lost 23 customers last quarter citing "poor support" = $276K annual revenue. Support team burned out (turnover 47% annually) = $84K in rehiring costs. Plus the time: Manager manually assigns tickets for 2 hours daily = $14,560/year wasted.
Odoo 18 Helpdesk fixes this with proper configuration: Auto-assign tickets (no manual routing), SLA policies (response/resolution deadlines), priority levels (urgent first), email aliases (instant ticket creation). Configure once, system runs itself. Here's how to set it up so you stop losing $360K/year to support chaos.
You're Losing Money If:
Step 1: Create Helpdesk Team
Access Configuration
- Go to Helpdesk → Configuration → Helpdesk Teams
- Click Create
Basic Settings
Team Name:
Use descriptive names that reflect function:
- Technical Support
- Billing & Payments
- Customer Success
- Product Issues
Step 2: Configure Email Alias
Critical: Customers email → Auto-creates ticket. No manual forwarding.
- In team settings, find Email Alias field
- Enter alias:
support@yourcompany.com - Configure email domain (if not done):
- Settings → Technical → Email → Incoming Mail Servers
- Add your domain
- Verify MX records
- Test: Send email to alias, verify ticket created
Result: Customer emails support@yourcompany.com at 3 AM. Ticket created instantly. Agent sees it when they start work at 9 AM. No emails lost in personal inboxes.
Step 3: Set Visibility
Control who can see team and its tickets.
| Option | Who Can See | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Invited internal users (private) | Only team members | HR, Legal, sensitive issues |
| All internal users (company) | Everyone in company | General support, collaboration |
| Portal users + internal (public) | Customers + staff | Customer-facing support |
Recommended: Public for customer support teams. Private for internal IT/HR.
Step 4: Enable Automatic Assignment
Eliminates manual routing. New tickets auto-assigned to available agents.
- In team settings, find Assign Tickets To
- Select method:
- Manual: Agents pick from queue (slower)
- Automatic: System assigns based on rules
- If Automatic, configure rules:
- Round-robin (even distribution)
- Workload balancing (fewest open tickets)
- By category/tag
Example: Round-Robin
Team: 5 agents (Alice, Bob, Carol, Dan, Emma)
Ticket #1 → Alice
Ticket #2 → Bob
Ticket #3 → Carol
Ticket #4 → Dan
Ticket #5 → Emma
Ticket #6 → Alice (cycles back)
Step 5: Configure SLA Policies
Service Level Agreement: Response and resolution deadlines.
Enable SLA
- In team settings, enable Use SLA Policies
- Click SLA Policies link
Create SLA Policy
- Click Create
- Configure:
- Name: "Urgent Issues"
- Team: Select your team
- Priority: High
- Target: First Response
- Deadline: 2 hours
- Save
Recommended SLA Tiers
| Priority | First Response | Resolution | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urgent | 1 hour | 4 hours | System down |
| High | 2 hours | 8 hours | Major bug |
| Normal | 8 hours | 24 hours | Minor issue |
| Low | 24 hours | 48 hours | Feature request |
Step 6: Configure Ticket Stages
Track ticket lifecycle from creation to resolution.
- Go to Configuration → Stages
- Create stages for your workflow
Recommended Stages
1. New (just created, unread)
2. In Progress (agent working on it)
3. Waiting on Customer (need more info)
4. Waiting on Internal (need other department)
5. Solved (fixed, awaiting customer confirmation)
6. Closed (resolved, no further action)Step 7: Set Up Tags & Categories
Tags (Flexible Labels)
Create tags to categorize tickets quickly.
Example Tags:
- • Bug
- • Feature Request
- • Billing
- • Integration
- • Password Reset
- • Training Needed
Ticket Types
Broader categorization for reporting.
- Go to Configuration → Ticket Types
- Create types: Technical, Billing, General
Step 8: Enable Customer Ratings
- In team settings, enable Customer Rating
- When ticket marked "Solved," customer receives email
- Email contains: 😊 Satisfied | 😐 Okay | 😞 Dissatisfied
- Customer clicks rating
- Feedback tracked, visible in reports
Step 9: Enable Timesheet Tracking
Track time spent on each ticket for productivity analysis.
- In team settings, enable Timesheet
- Agents can log time against tickets
- Report on: Hours per ticket type, agent productivity, billable hours
Real-World Use Cases
Use Case 1: SaaS Company Support
Setup:
- Team: "Technical Support"
- Email: support@company.com
- Auto-assignment: Round-robin across 8 agents
- SLA: 2-hour response for High priority, 24-hour resolution
- Stages: New → In Progress → Solved → Closed
- Customer ratings: Enabled
Result:
Response time: 47 minutes avg (was 14.2 hours). SLA compliance: 94% (was 71%). Customer satisfaction: 4.2/5 stars.
Use Case 2: Multi-Department Support
Setup:
- Team 1: "Technical" (tech@company.com)
- Team 2: "Billing" (billing@company.com)
- Team 3: "Sales" (sales@company.com)
- Each has own SLA, stages, assignments
- Tickets can be transferred between teams
Result:
No more misdirected tickets. Billing issues go directly to billing team. 32% faster resolution.
Common Mistakes
1. No SLA Policies
Tickets handled whenever agents get to them. No urgency. Critical issues treated same as minor requests.
Fix: Create SLA policies for at least 3 priority levels (Urgent, High, Normal). Set realistic deadlines.
2. Manual Assignment Only
Manager spends 2 hours daily routing tickets. New tickets sit unassigned for hours.
Fix: Enable automatic assignment. Round-robin or workload balancing. Saves 2 hours daily.
3. No Email Alias
Customers send emails to personal inboxes. Agents forward to Odoo manually. Emails lost, delayed.
Fix: Set up support@ alias. Emails auto-create tickets instantly.
4. Too Many Stages
Created 15 stages: "New," "Acknowledged," "Researching," "Testing," etc. Too complex, agents confused.
Fix: Start with 4-6 stages. Add more only if workflow requires.
Real-World Impact Example
Scenario: SaaS Company (8-Person Support Team, 850 tickets/month)
Before Proper Helpdesk Configuration:
- No email alias (customers emailed personal addresses)
- Manual assignment: Manager spends 2 hours daily routing tickets
- No SLA: Response time 14.2 hours, 127 SLA breaches monthly
- No priority system: Urgent issues buried in queue
- Churn: Lost 23 customers citing poor support = $276K annual revenue
- Staff turnover: 47% annually = $84K rehiring costs
- Total cost: $360K annually (lost revenue + rehiring)
After Configuring Helpdesk:
- Email alias: support@company.com → instant ticket creation
- Auto-assignment: Round-robin, no manual routing
- SLA policies: 2-hour response (High), 24-hour resolution
- Priority levels: Urgent tickets flagged, agents tackle first
- Response time: 47 minutes avg (was 14.2 hours)
- SLA compliance: 94% (was 71%)
- Customer satisfaction: 4.2/5 stars (tracked via ratings)
- Churn: Lost 8 customers (was 23) = $96K lost (saved $180K)
- Staff turnover: 18% (was 47%) = $31K rehiring cost (saved $53K)
- Total saved: $233K annually
Impact: $233K saved annually + happier customers + less burned-out team
Quick Implementation Checklist
- Create helpdesk team with descriptive name
- Set up email alias (support@yourcompany.com)
- Configure visibility (Public for customer-facing teams)
- Enable automatic assignment (round-robin or workload balancing)
- Create 3-4 SLA policies (Urgent, High, Normal with deadlines)
- Define 4-6 ticket stages (New → In Progress → Solved → Closed)
- Create tags for quick categorization (Bug, Billing, Feature Request)
- Enable customer ratings to track satisfaction
- Enable timesheet if billing or tracking productivity
- Test workflow: Send test email, verify ticket created and assigned
- Train team on stages, priorities, SLA expectations
- Monitor metrics weekly: Response time, SLA compliance, customer ratings
Pro Tip: Start simple. 1 team, 1 email alias, auto-assignment, 3 SLA tiers, 5 stages. Get that working. Add complexity (multiple teams, complex routing) only when needed.
Losing $360K Annually to Support Chaos?
We configure Odoo Helpdesk with proper email routing, automatic assignment, SLA policies, stage workflows. Stop bleeding customers to slow support response times.