--- title: "AI help desk your own AI agent works" url: https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-help-desk description: "Support tickets from email, answered by your AI agent in the same thread, with SLAs, queues, canned replies and ratings. $0.05 a reply." updated: 2026-10-27 --- # AI help desk Every email to your support address opens a ticket. Your own AI agent answers it in the same thread. Give this to your agent: `Set up Conecto from https://conecto.chat/SKILL.md, then answer our support email as tickets.` ## Example: `ticket_reply` Request: "Tell Paul we'll touch up the top tube next week, send him the photo of the paint match, and set the ticket to waiting on him." The documented reply of `ticket_reply` ($0.05), for Halverson Cycle & Repair, a bike shop with a repair workshop in Portland, Oregon (https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_reply.md): ```json { "ticket": { "number": 87, "subject": "Scratch on the Tabor's top tube", "status": "pending", "priority": "high", "category": "Damaged delivery", "tags": [ "damage" ], "requester_email": "paul.hoffmann@example.com", "requester_name": "Paul Hoffmann", "contact_id": null, "company_id": null, "source": "api", "channel": "api", "assigned_to": null, "waiting_on": "customer", "sla": null, "merged_into": null, "created_at": "2026-10-14T08:00:00+00:00", "last_activity_at": "2026-10-14T08:00:00+00:00", "first_reply_at": "2026-10-14T08:00:00+00:00", "resolved_at": null, "body": "Called on Wednesday: the Tabor gravel bike delivered on Monday has a 3 cm scratch on the top tube. He would like it touched up or the frame swapped.", "fields": { "order_id": "2231" }, "inbox": "support@halverson-cycle-repair.useconecto.com", "email_message_id": null, "rating": null, "rating_requested_at": null, "comments": [ { "kind": "agent_reply", "body": "Hello Paul,\n\nwe are sorry about the scratch. We can pick the bike up on Tuesday, touch up the top tube in our workshop and bring it back on Thursday. A photo of the paint match is attached. Does that work for you?\n\nHalverson Support\n\nThis message was written by Halverson Cycle & Repair's AI assis...", "email_status": "sent", "at": "2026-10-14T08:00:00+00:00", "email_message_id": "1ae0972e-f03c-422a-a90f-253ebacb7a21" } ] } } ``` ## How it works 1. **Connect the inbox** (`ticket_connect_inbox`, $0.001): Every new email to it opens a ticket. For example: "Make every email to hello@ a support ticket too." 2. **Work the queue** (`ticket_list`, free): Waiting on us, overdue or at risk, longest wait first. For example: "Which support tickets are still waiting on us? Longest wait first." 3. **Answer in the thread** (`ticket_reply`, $0.05): With files, a new status or a private note. For example: "Tell Paul we'll touch up the top tube next week, send him the photo of the paint match, and set the ticket to waiting on him." ## What it costs Your agent pays per call from one prepaid balance, with no plan or seat fee. | What | Price | | --- | --- | | A reply | $0.05 | | Opening or changing a ticket | $0.01 | | An inbox for support email | $1.00 a month | | Making it a support inbox | $0.001 | | Reading tickets and the reports | Free | Reading is free up to 1,000,000 reads a month for the whole account, then $0.50 per 10,000. Your agent starts with $1.00 of credit. Top-ups start at $5.00, plus a 7% + $0.35 fee, and the first one is doubled, up to $20.00 extra. ## Tools - [`ticket_connect_inbox`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_connect_inbox.md) ($0.001): Makes an inbox a support inbox: every new email to it opens a ticket, and replies stay in its thread. - [`ticket_list`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_list.md) (free): Tickets, newest activity first, filtered by status, priority, requester, tag, field or contact, or as a work queue. - [`ticket_get`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_get.md) (free): One ticket with its request, every reply, customer message and note, its fields, SLA state and rating. - [`ticket_reply`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_reply.md) ($0.05): Emails the requester a reply in the ticket's thread, with files if needed, or adds a private note, and can set the status. - [`ticket_update`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_update.md) ($0.01): Changes a ticket's status, priority, category, subject, tags, fields, assignee, or the CRM records it is about. - [`ticket_merge`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_merge.md) ($0.01): Merges a duplicate ticket into another: its messages, notes, email threads, tags and fields move over. - [`ticket_save_template`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_save_template.md) ($0.001): Saves a canned reply under a name, with the status and tags it applies whenever it is sent. - [`ticket_report`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_report.md) (free): How support went over the last days: volumes, backlog, response and resolution times, SLA results, ratings, and tickets by channel, priority and tag. All 581 tools: https://conecto.chat/tools.md ## Good to know - Website chats that need follow-up become tickets with the chat attached. - SLA targets are set per priority, and the queues show what is at risk. - A satisfaction survey goes out on close when you switch it on. - Records from Zendesk come along through the import tools. ## Questions ### How does an AI help desk work? Customer emails arrive as tickets. Your agent reads the queue, answers in the customer's thread, sets the status and asks a person when it needs to. Conecto keeps the threads, the SLAs and the reports. ### Can my agent answer support emails? Yes. Connect a support inbox, and every new email opens a ticket your agent answers in the same thread. Each reply costs $0.05. ### Can a person take over a ticket? Yes. Your agent can leave a private note, assign the ticket, or hold an action for a person's approval. ### Who hosts it? Conecto hosts the servers, the database, the phone lines, the mail, the file store and the MCP servers. Your agent only needs the address. ## Read next - [Can ChatGPT and Claude send emails?](https://conecto.chat/guides/can-chatgpt-and-claude-send-emails.md) ## For agents - Start here: https://conecto.chat/SKILL.md - This page in Markdown: https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-help-desk.md - Sign up: POST https://api.conecto.chat/v1/signup - Skills index: https://conecto.chat/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json - MCP (Help desk): https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/helpdesk - Connector for ChatGPT, Claude or Grok, one for every area: https://api.conecto.chat/v1/mcp - Tools (Help desk): https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk.md - Every reply carries `cost_usd` and `balance_usd`. A `ticket_reply` call: ```bash curl -X POST https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/ticket_reply \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONECTO_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"number":87,"status":"pending","body":"Hello Paul,\n\nwe are sorry about the scratch. We can pick the bike up on Tuesday, touch up the top tube in our workshop and bring it back on Thursday. A photo of the paint match is attached. Does that work for you?\n\nHalverson Support","attachments":["6e8a0c2e-4b6d-4f8a-8d2f-7c9e1a3b5d7f"]}' ``` ## Related - [AI answering service](https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-answering-service.md): Your business number answers when nobody can. Your agent sees every call, answered or missed, and follows up by email. - [AI CRM](https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-crm.md): Contacts, companies and deals your own AI agent keeps current. One free call shows everything open with a customer. - [Claude for small business](https://conecto.chat/solutions/claude-for-small-business.md): Claude can already write and plan for your business. Conecto gives it your inbox, phone line, invoices and books to act on.