| Table of contents |
|---|
Welcome to Kayako
Firstly, welcome to Kayako and congratulations. You are well on your way to joining the league of Kayako customers who deliver unrivaled customer support!
Although many of our customers find they can login to the helpdesk and hit the ground running, we have put together this quick-start guide for those who like to peruse a manual to acquaint themselves with the suite before jumping in. From installation, everything is working and configured with default settings.
About the Kayako Wiki (wiki.kayako.com)
All of the documentation and guides are stored here, on the Kayako Wiki. The wiki is divided into 'spaces' (sections). You are currently in the Kayako Fusion, Resolve and Engage space.
Installation
 | Kayako On Demand customers can skip this section The section is intended for Kayako Download customers, who have opted to download and install Kayako software on their own web server environment. |
If you are an advanced user and have done this kind of thing before, you may prefer to use to Quick installation guide for advanced users. Otherwise, follow the steps below.
- Ensure than your web server meets the server requirements: Server requirements.
- Install a PHP decoder (if you have not already): PHP decoders
- Download the Kayako product files (which corresponds to the decoder you have chosen above): Get the software
- Follow the new installation guide: New installation
- If you are upgrading from Kayako 3.x, you may wish to import your old data into Kayako 4, follow the import guide: Importing your data from Kayako 3 to Kayako 4
- If you are upgrading to Kayako from another helpdesk system, follow the import guide: Importing data from other helpdesks
The full installation guide is available here: Installation and upgrade guide
A few key concepts
Types of user
| Type | Description | Where to manage them |
|---|---|---|
| (End) user | Your customers. | Staff control panel |
| Staff user | Your organization's team, the people who deliver the customer support. |
Administrator control panel |
| Administrator | Also regular staff users, these staff users have been granted access to the administrator control panel (so in that context, we can refer to them as helpdesk administrators). |
Administrator control panel |
Areas of the helpdesk
| Area | Description | Where is it |
|---|---|---|
| Support center | The public-facing part of your helpdesk, the customer support home for your users. |
http://yourname.kayako.com or the root URL to your installation |
| Staff control panel | Where the magic happens. Your staff use the staff control panel to manage things like tickets, users, reports, knowledgebase articles, etc. It is where the work is done. |
http://yourname.kayako.com/staff/ or the /staff/ directory in the root URL to your installation |
| Administrator control panel | Where the configuration happens. Your helpdesk administrators use this control panel to change settings and configure elements such as staff users, permissions, departments, mail parser rules, etc. |
http://yourname.kayako.com/admin/ or the /staff/ directory in the root URL to your installation |
| Kayako Desktop | An installable desktop application that connects to your helpdesk. Your staff users use Kayako Desktop to monitor website visitors, answer live chats and handle real-time support. |
Tickets
| Name | Description | What it looks like | Where it can be managed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ticket | The definition of a ticket depends on how you use your helpdesk. For most, a ticket is a conversation - a thread of replies, entered via the helpdesk or by email. |  |
Tickets are managed in the staff control panel. |
| Ticket departments and statuses | A ticket department (such as Sales, Support, Billing) is much like a folder in your email program, or an email queue in some other helpdesk systems. A ticket belongs to one department. Every ticket has a status, such as Open, Closed or On Hold. A ticket can only have one state, represented by the status |
 |
Custom departments can be defined in the administrator control panel. Custom statuses can be defined (and tied to specific departments) in the administrator control panel. |
| Ticket priority | Every ticket also has a priority, such as High, Medium and Low. A ticket can only have one priority. |  |
Custom priorities can be defined (and tied to specific departments) in the administrator control panel. |
| Ticket owner | A ticket can only have one (or no) owner. A ticket can be assigned to a specific staff user, who then becomes the owner of that ticket. |  |
Tickets and their properties are managed in the staff control panel. |
| Ticket tags | Tickets can be tagged when managing tickets in the staff control panel. |
 |
Tickets and their properties are managed in the staff control panel. |
Getting started in 10 minutes video
Support center
On Demand customers will find the support center (helpdesk home) at: http://yourname.kayako.com/.
Download customers will find the support center (helpdesk home) by accessing the root helpdesk URL (if you installed your helpdesk to http://www.acme.com/support/, then that is the URL to your helpdesk.
Staff control panel
On Demand customers will find the staff control panel at: http://yourname.kayako.com/staff/.
Download customers will find the staff control panel in the /staff/ path, following their root helpdesk URL.
The full staff user's guide is available here: Staff user's guide
Administrator control panel
On Demand customers will find the administrator control panel at: http://yourname.kayako.com/admin/.
Download customers will find the administrator control panel in the /admin/ path, following their root helpdesk URL.
The full helpdesk administrator's guide is available here: Administrator's guide
Kayako Desktop
| Kayako Resolve users can skip this step. |
Kayako Desktop is your staff user's all-in-one tool for real-time support. It is an installable desktop application that connects to your helpdesk over the Internet. Your staff users log into Kayako Desktop to monitor website visitors, answer live chats and use the VoIP phone to interact with customers.
Kayako Desktop can be used with the two Kayako solutions that include live chat and real-time support: Kayako Fusion and Kayako Engage.
The full Kayako Desktop guide is available here: Kayako Desktop
Where to get Kayako Desktop
Log into https://my.kayako.com
and you'll find the Kayako Desktop installation file there. You are free to distribute this among your staff.
Where to get support
Official Kayako support
| If you are a trial user, you have access to full Kayako support. Cool, huh? |
Our support offices are open all day during weekdays. You can get in touch with our agents and engineers by live chat or email and the helpdesk. Normal support is closed during the weekdays, but agents are on hand to look after our On Demand helpdesks.
Community support
 | You are not guaranteed responses from Kayako staff on the community forums. To get in touch directly with us, use the helpdesk. |
If you prefer a more social support experience, drop into the Kayako community forums and ask your question. Kayako customers are helpful and you'll be able to talk to many experienced hands and third-party developers.
Because Kayako's official support doesn't extend to customizing and extending the desk, developers will find the community forums an invaluable resources.