User Guide

Operate your Business Central helpdesk with HelpZone 365.

HelpZone 365 gives support teams a structured ticket process inside Dynamics 365 Business Central, combining manual ticket entry, inbound email capture, SLA-based prioritization, group assignment, templates, subtickets, and business context from customers, vendors, projects, and sales documents.

Good to know

HelpZone 365 is designed as a native Business Central extension. It uses standard platform resources such as number series, document attachments, email accounts, notifications, job queue processing, and standard master data links where possible.

Getting started

Installation

Install the extension directly from Microsoft AppSource within Dynamics 365 Business Central.

1
Open Dynamics 365 Business Central search.
Use Alt+Q to open Tell Me and search for Extension Marketplace.
2
Find HelpZone 365.
Search for the app, open the marketplace entry and choose Get it now.
3
Complete installation.
Follow the standard Dynamics 365 Business Central prompts.

Important: Allow HttpClient Requests

Because this app requires internet access to communicate with external web services, you must allow it to make HTTP requests. Depending on your version of Business Central, you may be able to check the box for Allow HttpClient Requests directly during the installation dialog. Otherwise, you must manually enable it afterwards by going to the Extension Management page, selecting HelpZone 365, and choosing Configure.

First steps

Getting started

After installation, open the setup page, initialize the default master data, and review the ticket process settings before your team starts working with live requests.

Open the setup page

Press Alt+Q in Business Central and search for HelpZone Setup. This card page contains the global configuration for numbering, defaults, email intake, and SLA monitoring.

Ticket Nos. defines the number series used for ticket creation.
Default Priority, Default Status Code, and Default Origin Code define the initial behavior for new tickets.
Email Origin Code marks tickets created from inbound email.
Require Resolution on Close can enforce a documented solution before a ticket is closed.

Initialize default data

Use the Create default statuses action on the setup page to populate the basic ticket model delivered with the extension.

Delivered data	Purpose
Statuses	Creates a default sequence such as new, assigned, in progress, solution proposal, and closed.
Origins	Creates standard origin values including email, phone, manual, and portal.
Number series	Creates the default HZ-TICKET series with values like HZ-00001.

Daily work

Create, assign, and process tickets

HelpZone 365 uses a classic ticket workflow with structured header data and a chronological entry history.

1
Create a ticket.
Open HelpZone Ticket Card or use the New Ticket action from the HelpZone role center. Enter the subject, priority, category, origin, and optional customer, vendor, or project links.
2
Assign responsibility.
Set a responsible user, assign a group, or use the ticket queue for unassigned work. Team members can also take over or watch tickets.
3
Add ticket entries.
Document the request, internal notes, responses, and inbound email messages in the ticket entry subpage so the full conversation remains traceable.
4
Resolve or split the work.
Create subtickets for complex issues, escalate where needed, and optionally create a sales quote from the ticket if the issue turns into a billable proposal.

Key ticket fields

Subject and Short Description define the issue clearly.
Priority, Status Code, and Status Meaning drive handling and filtering.
Category Code and Origin Code classify the source and type of request.
Responsible User ID, Assigned Group Code, and ticket-user assignments structure ownership.
Customer No., Vendor No., and Project No. add direct business context.

Role center and lists

The delivered HelpZone RoleCenter provides a service-specific entry point with cues and links to the most important pages.

All Tickets shows the complete ticket list.
Ticket Queue focuses on unassigned work.
HelpZone Setup, User Groups, SLA Policies, and Response Templates are available directly from the same role center.

Automation

Configure email intake with Microsoft Graph

HelpZone 365 can poll configured mailboxes and translate inbound mail into new or existing ticket activity.

Required setup fields

Open HelpZone Setup and maintain the Graph-related fields before testing the connection:

Graph API Client ID
Graph API Client Secret
Graph API Tenant ID
Graph API Mailbox
Email Polling Interval (Min.)
Ticket No. Pattern for recognizing subject references such as [HZ-00001]

Use Test connection from the setup page to validate the Graph credentials.

Email routing behavior

The HelpZone Email Routing List defines which mailbox, group, category, and default priority should be applied to incoming messages.

Behavior	What HelpZone 365 does
Existing ticket detected	If the subject contains a recognized ticket number, the email is appended as an inbound ticket entry.
No ticket number found	The app can try to match an open ticket by sender email address.
No match available	A new ticket is created with sender details, routing defaults, and the email body as the initial description.
Processed message	The email is marked as read in Microsoft Graph after successful handling.

Important prerequisite

Email polling depends on outbound HTTP access from Business Central and valid Microsoft Graph permissions for the target mailbox. Without both prerequisites, automated ticket intake will not run.

Service quality

Set up SLA monitoring and escalation

HelpZone 365 can track first-response and resolution commitments and react before or when deadlines are missed.

SLA configuration

Maintain rules in HelpZone SLA Policy List per priority and optionally per category.
Use SLA Warning Threshold (%) to define when warning notifications should start.
Enable Auto-Escalate on SLA Breach if the system should escalate automatically.
Enable Escalation Priority Increase if breached tickets should move up in urgency.

What the monitor checks

Check	Behavior
Response SLA	Until a first response exists, the system compares the current time with the response deadline and can issue warnings or breaches.
Resolution SLA	The system tracks the overall resolution deadline independently of the first response.
Escalation	On breach, the app can reassign the ticket to an escalation group or user defined in the SLA policy.
Notifications	Warnings, breaches, status changes, assignments, and new entries can notify assigned users based on their preferences.

Extension points

Use templates, attachments, and API access

Beyond ticket handling, HelpZone 365 provides supporting features for communication, documentation, and external integration.

Response templates and notifications

HelpZone Response Templates store reusable communication blocks that can be applied through the template engine. Ticket-status records can reference email templates, and notification logic determines recipients based on responsibility, assignment, and SLA events.

Attachments and ticket history

Ticket entries support standard Business Central Document Attachment integration, so users can add relevant files directly to the conversation trail without maintaining a separate document repository.

API availability

The extension delivers API pages for tickets and ticket entries. This allows external tools or integration layers to read and create ticket data through the Business Central API framework using stable entities such as tickets.

Support & Feedback

We are here to help

Whether you have technical questions, need guidance during your rollout, or want to share feature requests — our dedicated Dynamics 365 Business Central team is ready to assist you. Drop us a message, and we'll ensure you get the absolute most out of our apps.

bc-support@giant-software.de Back to product overview