Managing Service Requests
Track the requests you've submitted, and — if you manage a department — handle the requests coming in to your team. Everything happens in one place: statuses, assignment, approvals and comments.
If you haven't submitted a request yet, start with Creating Requests.
Where Requests Live
Go to Tasks → Requests. The tab has two views:
| View | What it shows | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| My Requests | The requests you submitted and the requests assigned to you | Everyone |
| Incoming | Requests sent to the department you manage. Admins and Executives see the incoming requests of every department | Admins and Executives, and anyone who manages at least one department |
Each view shows a count next to its name, so you can see at a glance how much is waiting for you.
Top right you'll find:
- New Request — available to everyone whose role allows creating requests, which is every Member, Executive and Admin by default
- Edit type… and New Type — for the people who manage request types; see Who can manage request types
Every row in the list shows the request title, its status badge, who asked for it, the request type, the priority and the date it was created. Select the row to open the request.
:::info Empty views If nothing is waiting, you'll see "No requests yet" under My Requests and "No incoming requests" under Incoming. :::
Request Statuses
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pending Approval | Waiting for a manager to approve it before work starts |
| Open | Accepted, work hasn't started |
| In Progress | Someone is working on it |
| Waiting on Requester | The department needs something from the person who asked |
| Resolved | The work is finished, waiting to be closed out |
| Closed | Finished and closed |
| Cancelled | Withdrawn or rejected |
How a request moves along
| From | Where it can go next |
|---|---|
| Pending Approval | Open (approved) or Cancelled (rejected) |
| Open | In Progress or Cancelled |
| In Progress | Waiting on Requester, Resolved or Cancelled |
| Waiting on Requester | back to In Progress or Cancelled |
| Resolved | Closed, or back to In Progress if it's reopened |
| Closed | Final — nothing follows |
| Cancelled | Final — nothing follows |
:::caution Closed and cancelled are final A request can only be reopened while it is Resolved. Once it's Closed or Cancelled, there is no button to bring it back — submit a new request instead. :::
Opening a Request
Select any request to open its detail. Use Back to Requests at the top to return to the list.
The detail shows:
| Section | What you see |
|---|---|
| Title and status | The request title with its current status badge |
| Description | What the requester wrote when submitting |
| Request details | By: who asked, Type: the request type, Priority: the priority, plus the date it was created |
| Submitted form | A read-only list of the answers the requester filled in — shown only when the request type has a form |
| Assignee: | Who is handling it. Managers get a dropdown here and can change it |
| Action buttons | The status actions available to you right now |
| Comments | The conversation on the request |
Comments
Every request has a Comments section under the details. Use it to ask for clarification, share progress or add context — no email needed.
- Type in the "Add a comment..." box and select Send. Pressing Enter sends it too.
- Each comment shows the author's name, the time it was posted and the text.
- If nothing has been said yet, you'll see "No comments yet".
Internal notes
If you are the request's manager (see Taking Action on a Request), you'll also see a checkbox: "Internal note (only visible to department staff)". Tick it before sending and the comment is marked with an Internal badge.
Internal notes are visible only to Admins, Executives and the manager of the department handling the request. The requester doesn't see them — and neither does an assignee who is not one of those people.
Use internal notes for triage chatter — vendor quotes, scheduling, who should pick it up — and normal comments for anything the requester or the assignee needs to know.
Taking Action on a Request
The buttons you see depend on the current status and on your relationship to the request. "Manager" below means an Admin, the manager of the department the request was sent to, or an Executive who belongs to that department.
| Current status | Button | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Pending Approval | Approve | The request's manager |
| Pending Approval | Reject | The request's manager |
| Open | Start Working | The manager or the assignee |
| Open | Cancel | The manager or the requester |
| In Progress | Resolve | The manager or the assignee |
| In Progress | Wait for Requester | The manager or the assignee |
| In Progress | Cancel | The manager or the requester |
| Waiting on Requester | Resume | Anyone viewing the request |
| Waiting on Requester | Cancel | The manager or the requester |
| Resolved | Close | The requester or the manager |
| Resolved | Reopen | The manager, the assignee or the requester |
Every change is confirmed with a short message such as "Status updated to In Progress". Buttons are disabled for a moment while the change is being saved.
Approving and rejecting
Request types can require approval before work starts. Those requests arrive as Pending Approval and wait for a decision.
- Approve moves the request to Open, ready to be worked on. The requester is notified.
- Reject opens a short Reject request window. Enter a reason in the "Reason for rejection (optional but recommended)" box, then choose Reject request to confirm, or Cancel to back out.
:::caution Rejecting cancels the request Rejecting sets the status to Cancelled, which is final. Because the requester can't act on a cancelled request, it's worth adding a comment before rejecting so they know what to do next — for example, resubmitting with more detail or using a different request type. :::
Assigning the work
While a request is Open, In Progress or Waiting on Requester, managers see an Assignee: dropdown in the detail view. It lists Unassigned plus your colleagues by name.
- Pick a person to hand the request over. You'll see an "Assignee updated" confirmation.
- Assigning a request that is still Open moves it straight to In Progress — no need to press Start Working as well.
- Choose Unassigned to clear the current assignee.
- The person you assign is notified so they know it's theirs.
Everyone else sees the assignee as read-only text, so the requester always knows who is handling their request.
If a request type has a default assignee, new requests of that type arrive already assigned — you only need to step in when you want someone else to take it.
Working, pausing and finishing
- Start Working — you've picked the request up; it becomes In Progress.
- Wait for Requester — you need something back from the person who asked. The request becomes Waiting on Requester.
- Resume — the information arrived; the request goes back to In Progress.
- Resolve — the work is done. The requester is notified that it's resolved.
- Close — confirms the request is finished and closes it out.
- Reopen — the fix didn't hold. Only available while a request is Resolved; it returns to In Progress.
- Cancel — withdraws the request. This is final.
Staying Informed
You don't need to keep refreshing the list. Arketic notifies you when something changes:
- As a requester, you're notified when your request is approved and when it's resolved.
- When a request is assigned to you, you're notified that it's yours to handle.
- As a department manager, you're notified when a new request comes in to your department.
- As an Admin, you're also notified about new requests of the types that are resolved by the requester's own department.
See Notifications for where these appear and how to manage them.
For Managers — Defining Request Types
Request types are the menu your colleagues choose from. Each one decides who resolves the request, who is allowed to open it, how urgent it is by default, who picks it up and what details are collected up front.
Who can manage request types
New Type and the Edit type… list sit in the top-right of the Requests tab. By default they are shown to Admins, Executives and anyone who manages a department. Your organization can also give them to other people through a custom role — see Roles & Permissions.
- Admins and Executives can create and edit any request type.
- A department manager can create and edit only the types that are resolved by the department they manage. Types resolved by The requester's own department are for Admins and Executives.
Creating a request type
Select New Type. The New Request Type window opens, with the note "Add fields below to collect structured details when someone opens this request (optional)."
| Field | Required | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Resolved by | Yes | A specific department — every request of this type goes to the department you pick. The requester's own department — each request goes to the department of the person who opens it |
| Name | Yes | What people see in the request type list — for example IT Equipment. Two types of the same department can't share a name |
| Resolver department | Yes, when shown | The department that will handle these requests. Shown only when Resolved by is A specific department |
| Default priority | No | Low, Medium, High or Critical. Medium is used if you don't change it |
| Description | No | A short note about what the request is for |
| Default assignee | No | Choose No default — route to department to let the manager triage, or pick a member of the resolver department to auto-assign every new request. Shown only when Resolved by is A specific department, and available once you have picked the department |
| Who can open this type | No | Starts on All departments — everyone can open this request type. Use Add a department… to limit it to chosen departments; remove a department with the × on its chip. Admins and Executives can always open every type |
| Requires manager approval before work starts | No | When ticked, new requests of this type arrive as Pending Approval and wait for an Approve or Reject decision |
| Request form fields (optional) | No | Build a short form the requester fills in when submitting. Their answers appear in the Submitted form section of the request |
Choose Create Type to save, or Cancel (or press Esc) to close without saving. Create Type stays disabled until the type has a name and — for A specific department — a resolver department. You'll see a "Request type created" confirmation, and the type becomes available in the New Request panel straight away.
:::info How a request is routed
- With A specific department, the requester sees "Routed to {department} — a manager will assign it." — or "Will be handled by: {name}" when the type has a default assignee.
- With The requester's own department, the requester sees "Routed to your own department — a manager will assign it.", and the type is listed without a department next to its name. :::
Editing a request type
- Open the Edit type… list next to New Type and choose the type. Inactive types are in the list too, marked (Inactive).
- The Edit Request Type window opens with the same fields, filled in.
- Change what you need, then choose Save Changes. You'll see "Request type updated".
Changes apply to requests opened from now on. Requests that already exist keep the department, assignee and priority they were created with.
The Submitted form section of a request is drawn from the type's current form. If you remove a field from the form, the answers already given to that field are no longer shown on existing requests.
Deactivating a request type
A request type can't be deleted from this screen, but you can retire it:
- Open the type from Edit type….
- Untick Active — the checkbox appears only in the edit window, next to Requires manager approval before work starts.
- Choose Save Changes.
An inactive type is no longer offered in the New Request panel. Requests that were already opened with it are not affected. To bring the type back, open it from Edit type… again — it is listed as {name} (Inactive) — and tick Active.
Building the request form
The form builder lets you add these field types:
Text, Textarea, Number, Date, Dropdown, Multi-Checkbox, Radio, Heading, Info Text and Divider.
Use Heading, Info Text and Divider to group questions and explain what you need; the rest collect the actual answers.
:::caution No file or image fields Request forms are for structured details only — they can't collect file or image uploads. If you need a document, ask for it in a comment on the request. :::
:::info Departments come first If you haven't set up departments yet, the Resolver department field will tell you: "No departments available. Create departments in Settings first." See Departments. :::
Tips
- Write clear descriptions. The more specific the request, the faster it moves.
- Use comments instead of email. Everything stays with the request, so nothing gets lost between inboxes.
- Assign early. Handing a request to a named person makes it clear who is on it — and starts the work automatically.
- Close what you resolve. Resolved requests wait for a Close; closing keeps your list honest.
- Managers: put a form on your busiest types. Asking the right questions up front saves a round of back-and-forth.
- Managers: set a default assignee for types that always go to the same person, so nothing sits in triage.
- Managers: retire, don't rename. When a type is no longer needed, untick Active rather than reusing it for something else.
Related Pages
- Creating Requests — how to submit a request
- Departments — set up the departments requests are routed to
- Notifications — where request updates show up
- Roles & Permissions — who can create requests and manage request types