Merge Requests

You can merge two or more requests when a requester raises two similar requests for the same incident.

Consider a scenario where a requester sends an e-mail to the help desk for his desktop problem. He then calls the help desk to reconfirm his incidents registry but, in turn, the help desk creates another request for the same issue. The request, thus, is duplicated with the same requester and same incident. 

In such cases, the requests can be merged and the requests/conversations would continue as a conversation thread under one request i.e., the parent request.

NOTE:

1. Please note that the purpose of merging requests is to avoid duplicate entries of an incident created by a requester.

2. Do not merge incident requests if multiple requesters have reported the same issue. Such incidents are usually analyzed and moved to Problem Management.

3. The merge operation requires special permission that can be enabled under Admin tab -> Roles.

In ServiceDesk Plus, you can merge requests from the Request List view or from the Request Details page.

Merge Requests from the List View

While merging requests from the list view, the oldest request is the parent request and the other requests are attached as conversation thread under the parent request.

To merge two or more requests from the list view,

1. Click Requests tab in the header pane.

2. In the Request List View, select the check box beside the requests to merge.

3. Click Actions drop-down menu and select Merge link.

In the above image, on merging, the oldest request (Request ID: 82) becomes the parent request. While the other request (Request ID: 83) is attached as a conversation thread in the parent request.

NOTE:

1. If two different technicians or groups are assigned to the requests before the merging process, then the technician or group handling the oldest request is the owner of the parent request.

2. Similarly, the parent request inherits the due date and the request fields of the oldest request.

3. The conversation threads of the child request are continued as conversations in the parent request.

4. The Notes and Work Logs of the child request will be moved to the parent request.

Merge Requests from the Details page

To merge two or more requests from the Request Details page,

1. Click Requests tab in the header pane.

2. Click the subject link of the request to merge.

3. In the Request Details page, click Actions drop-down menu and select Merge Request link. The Merge this Request window pops up.
   
   

4. You can search for specific request by providing a search string in Search for Request field. Or, you can also select request based on filters from the Show drop-down menu.

5. To confirm if the request to be merged is the correct one, you can view the request details by clicking the subject link of the request. Click <<Back link to go back to Merge this Request page.

6. Click Merge Request icon beside the request to merge. A dialog box confirming the merge operation appears.

7. Click OK to proceed. The selected request is merged and becomes the parent request.

For example: Say, you are in the request details page of Request ID: 82. You choose Merge Request option from Actions drop down menu to merge this request with Request ID 65. On merging, Request ID 65 becomes the parent request while Request ID 82 is attached as conversation thread to the parent request.

When the requests are merged (either from the List View or from the Details page), the details about the merged request, the technician who merged the requests and the date and time of the merge can be viewed in the History tab of the parent request.

NOTE: You can split a conversation thread of a request into a new request. Refer the topic Request Conversations - Split as new Request to know how to split a conversation into a new request.