# IT Help Desk in Slack: Answers Without a Ticket Source: https://maito.app/workflows/answer-it-questions-in-the-help-channel Maito answers everyday IT questions in your help channel from your own guides, with the exact steps and the pitfalls, so fewer problems become tickets. People get answers to everyday IT questions without a ticket. [IT and admin](https://maito.app/workflows/team/it-and-admin) · When you ask · Updated October 19, 2026 Works with - Slack - Email ## How do you run an IT help desk in Slack? To run an IT help desk in Slack, share your IT guides with Maito and let people mention it in the help channel. It answers from your documentation with the exact steps, warns about known pitfalls like retired settings, and says so when it doesn't know instead of guessing. ## How it's done today IT answers "how do I connect to the VPN" every day. ## What Maito does 1. Read the question 2. Answer from IT guides 3. Open a ticket when a person is needed ## Example **Priya** (9:20 AM): how do I set up the VPN on my new laptop? **Maito** (9:21 AM): From the IT guide "VPN on a new laptop" (updated Sep 8): • Open Self Service and install Northstar VPN. It takes about 2 minutes. • Open it and choose the profile **Northstar-Main**. • Sign in with your Northstar email and approve the prompt on your phone. • Server is vpn.northstar.example. Connected shows a green dot. **Catch:** don't pick Northstar-Legacy. It was retired Sep 30 and fails with error 691, which is the most common mistake on new laptops. Reply here if it fails and I'll ask Ben to take a look. **Priya** (9:36 AM): still failing. Error 812, on a MacBook Pro. **Maito** (9:37 AM): 812 isn't in the guide, so it needs a person. I've flagged Ben in this thread with your error, your laptop and the steps you tried. ## How to set it up When you ask Answer IT questions in the help channel Set up Nothing to set up. Ask in Slack or by email whenever you need it. ## What it won't do It's only as current as your guides, and it can't fix a device or change settings. Issues outside your documentation go to your IT team. ## Questions ### Where do the answers come from? From your own IT guides and what the team has told it. It cites the guide it used so you can check it. ### What if it doesn't know? It says so and asks IT by Slack or email, then continues in the thread once they reply. ### Does it answer every message in the channel? No. It replies only after someone mentions it, then keeps working in that thread. ## More it and admin workflows - [Handle access requests Access requests get collected, approved by the right person and logged. IT and admin · When you ask Works with Jira Service Management, ServiceNow.](https://maito.app/workflows/handle-access-requests) - [Review who has access Every quarter, check who has access to key tools and flag what looks wrong. IT and admin · On a schedule Works with Slack, Email.](https://maito.app/workflows/review-who-has-access) - [Guide people through buying something Purchases follow the process without people learning it first. IT and admin · When you ask Works with Slack, Email.](https://maito.app/workflows/guide-people-through-buying-something) - [Check a new vendor's security Get a first pass on a vendor's security docs before you sign. IT and admin · When you ask Works with Box.](https://maito.app/workflows/check-a-new-vendors-security) - [Track laptops and equipment Know who has which device and when warranties end. IT and admin · On a schedule Works with Airtable, Microsoft 365.](https://maito.app/workflows/track-laptops-and-equipment) - [Write IT how-to guides Turn solved IT tickets into short guides. IT and admin · When you ask Works with Jira Service Management, ServiceNow, Notion, Confluence.](https://maito.app/workflows/write-it-how-to-guides) [See all workflows](https://maito.app/workflows) ## Put your AI teammate to work. Set it up in minutes. Start with this one, and let it earn the next one. [Put Maito to work](https://maito.app/login?returnTo=%2Fworkflows%2Fanswer-it-questions-in-the-help-channel)[Book a demo](mailto:support@maito.app?subject=Maito%20demo)