Microsoft Teams Integration with ServiceDesk Plus
Thank you for downloading ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus. In this video, we are going to learn how to integrate ServiceDesk Plus with Microsoft Teams. Using this integration, users can leverage the collaboration app from Microsoft Teams as an additional channel for IT and Enterprise Support. Microsoft Teams integration with ServiceDesk Plus was introduced in version 11120. So, please ensure you stay updated with all our releases.
Now, before we proceed with the integration, let's take a look at the pre-requisites required for the integration. Make sure a ServiceDesk Plus is hosted on a domain with a valid certificate, with HTTPS protocol, and is accessible publicly. You can also use the Application Proxy feature in Azure to host your ServiceDesk Plus publicly. What are the roles that's required? To set up Microsoft Teams Integration, you will be working on the integration setup of ServiceDesk Plus, Microsoft Teams desktop or web app, and your Azure Portal. Make sure you have access to all the following areas in the following roles: ServiceDesk Plus SDAdmin console, Azure Global administrator or Teams administrator, and Azure Applications Administrator. Now, that we have understood the prerequisites and the rule sets required, let's log into ServiceDesk Plus and perform the integration. Log into ServiceDesk Plus Admin console. And under Integrations, you will have Microsoft Teams. The Team's Integration and ServiceDesk Plus requires only three piece of information. And right below is the Help card where we are gonna have detailed information on where we could get the three-piece of information and how it could be configured. So, click on the Integrations Documentation that we have. And here is the documentation. The documentation has the prerequisites, the role sets required, and the steps that needs to be performed. So, log into teams.microsoft.com. Once you've logged into teams.microsoft.com, head on to App and look for App Studio. Click on App Studio, click on Open.
Now, if this is the first time you're clicking on App Studio, you'll get an option to add. If it is already added, just click on Open. Head to Manifest editor, and click on Import an existing app. Now, where do we get this app from? Head to the documentation, and right underneath where we add the app, here we have a mock-up ServiceDesk Plus zip file. Click on it to download the file. Once the file is downloaded, head back to Microsoft Teams, click on Import an existing app. So, here is the app file that I've just downloaded. Click on it, open it. Now, as we've just imported the file, the file has been imported.
In this file, we have packaged information such as the application name, description, version, developer information, icons, and other basic information to ease the configuration process. Now that we have imported this app, the next step we have to configure is the bots. So, right under this particular app, as we could see the icon, the name is already pre-populated, I'm just gonna access Bots. And I'm gonna click on Set up. Under this particular console, I'm gonna name the bot as ServiceDesk Plus, I'm gonna enable the option My bot supports uploading and downloading files. And the Scope is personal. And I click on Create a bot. Here, when I click on create the bot, this is where we are registering the app with Microsoft and the configurations are further continued in Azure. So, once I've imported the bot, I get the App ID for the bot and this App ID, I have to use it right into my team's Integration ServiceDesk Plus, but I would also require the Tenant ID and the Application Password. So, what I'm gonna do right now is I'm gonna head to Microsoft Teams. And over here, I'm gonna click on Generate new password. I'm gonna copy this password, and paste the same password into ServiceDesk Plus. Now, I've copied the password that is generated from my bot, and I've updated the same into ServiceDesk Plus. I add on back to Microsoft Teams, I click on OK. Now, what's next?
Let's head on to Azure to access the Application ID and the Tenant ID. So, right in the documentation, we have the link to access the Azure Portal, click on the link and you'll have access to Azure Portal. So, once I access Azure through the link from the documentation, it takes me right into the bot that I've just created. Click on the particular service, and over here you get access to the Application ID and the Tenant ID. Copy the Application ID from Azure, update the same right into ServiceDesk Plus. Likewise, copy the Tenant ID, and update the same Tenant ID into ServiceDesk Plus, click on Save. Once we click on Save, we get a couple of other information that is required. We have the Redirect URL and the Bot Endpoint. Now, we need to transfer this Redirect URL into Microsoft Azure. So, click on Copy in ServiceDesk Plus, under Azure, you have Redirect URLs. Click on Add Redirect URL, click on Add a platform, Web, and paste the Redirect URL over here. And make sure you enable ID tokens after pasting the Redirect URL.
The Redirect URL is required for authentication between the Teams app and the Bot. So, once you have provided all this information, click on Configure. Now, once the Redirect URL is added, we need to configure the permissions for the bot. How do we do that? So, right into Azure, I have access to API permissions. I click on that. And I'm gonna click on Add permission. Once I've done that, I click on Microsoft Graph. I click on Delegate permission. And over here, I'm just gonna click on Open ID. This step is to allow ServiceDesk Plus to access Microsoft's Identity Platform API so that we fetch basic information about the users and to update the Microsoft users information into ServiceDesk database. So, after enabling this particular option, I click on Add permissions.
Now that we have configured the API permissions in Azure, we have to copy the Endpoint URL from ServiceDesk Plus and update the same into Microsoft Teams. So, I copy the Bot Endpoint, and I'm going to access Microsoft Teams. So, all the configuration that we are performing in Teams is right underneath the ServiceDesk Plus Bot, all right? So, all you have to do is just paste the Bot Endpoint that you have configured from ServiceDesk Plus. Now, the Bot Endpoint is being updated. Now that we have integrated ServiceDesk Plus with Teams and have registered the Bot with Microsoft, we are now going to configure the Request Tab view in Microsoft Teams. Let's take a look at what is required to configure the same. We have not navigated to any other segment. So, all you have to do is click on Tabs right underneath the Capabilities. And under add a personal tab, click on Add tab.
Now, what are the information that is required? And where would I get the complete details? So, I access the documentation, and right into the documentation is where I have all the details on how to add the Request tab. Now, the important information is that while adding I need to provide the Name, the Entity ID as how it is displayed. So, let's go ahead and add the same into Microsoft Teams. I provide the Name, I provide the Entity ID. Now, we need to copy and update the Content URL and the Website URL, which is nothing but your ServiceDesk Plus URL where it is hosted. Now, I'm gonna update my ServiceDesk Plus URL on both these segments. And once after I've done that, there are a couple of other content that I need to append into this particular URL. So, right into the documentation, I have the URL that I need to update. So, for the Content URL, I'm just gonna copy this highlighted segment, paste the same right into my Content URL. Likewise, for Website URL, I'm copying the content that is required. And the content I just copied from the documentation, I'm updating it into Microsoft Teams. I click on Save. So, with this, we have not configured the Request Tab for Microsoft Teams. Once the Request Tab is configured, I'm gonna perform Optional Configuration. This is to prevent the users from typing the whole command, you can use this Optional Configuration to do this. So, right under Capabilities, I access Bots in Microsoft Teams. And over here I have Commands. I click on Add, and I'm gonna execute the Command. To know what needs to be executed over there, the information is again provided in your Admin Guide.
So, here is how you add New command. So, referring the steps, I'm just gonna provide the details over here, the Help text information, and I click choose the Scope as Personal. And I click on Save. Now, once after I've added the commands, the other important information that I need to configure is that I need to update this particular App ID that was generated the moment we created this bot into the App details. So, I'm just gonna copy this, and right under App details, I'm just going to paste that information over here. Why do we do this? This is basically to ensure that this particular configuration is for the specific instance of ServiceDesk Plus. Now, if I'm gonna have more than one instance of ServiceDesk Plus, to verify which is the corresponding instance, we need to provide the App ID over here. So, by default, we have a prefixed App ID, but it is suggested to append the App ID with what we have received when we have created the bot. Now that these types have configured, let's move on to the next configuration. Now that we have appended the App ID, we are now gonna set up the ServiceDesk Plus App for the entire organization. So, let's see how we do that, and what is required to do this thing.
Head on to the Teams App, and we're still under the ServiceDesk Plus App. So, at the very bottom, we have this option that's called Test and distribute. Click on Test and distribute and click on Download. So, this has now downloaded ServiceDesk Plus zip file, navigate to the Apps segment on the left-hand side panel on Microsoft Teams, scroll to the bottom, click on Upload a custom app. Choose Upload for sdpbot and choose the corresponding app that we have just downloaded.
Once you have uploaded the app, the app is now been updated right into Microsoft Teams. So, once after I've uploaded the app, I get an option to Sign in to Microsoft Account. Once I click on it, I just have to Consent, and I click on Accept. Once after I've accepted it, the authorization is completed successfully and I can perform all my operations that as required from my Microsoft Teams.
Now, I can execute commands just to see what are all the supported operations that I could perform. Also, to know what are all the Supported Bot Commands, access the help documentation, and you get all the information in one place. I can perform commands like view all requests, I get to see all my tickets. So, right from my Teams app, I can view all the tickets. Also, if I have more than one instance of ServiceDesk Plus, I can just use the command/select instance, and I get access to that instance. So, apart from these Supported Bot Commands, the end-users can also initiate a chat with the technician and can end the chat.
We're now gonna take a quick look at how the chat works between Microsoft Teams and ServiceDesk Plus. In Microsoft Teams, I execute the command/chat. And this command has now communicated to ServiceDesk Plus and has got me a response. Now, I head to ServiceDesk Plus and the technician can see the chat from Linda, they can pick up the chat and establish communication with the user.
Now that in Microsoft Teams, the users can view the chat communication from ServiceDesk Plus right from within Microsoft Teams, the end user can further communicate with the technician by saying "I need a new software." And this communication happens for a while and the technician can say, "I will initiate a service request." So, once done, back at Teams, the user can say, "Thank you." And use the /command to end chat. This way the end user can initiate a chat with a technician using Microsoft Teams and end the chat. Back in ServiceDesk Plus, the technician can create a new ticket, and as said, the technician can create a service ticket, choose the template, and perform the request creation process.
Now, we have seen how the chat feature within Microsoft Teams serve as a collaborative platform to communicate with users. Now, right from within Microsoft Teams, we're going to access the Request view. Using this Request view, we can bring in all the request-based operations from ServiceDesk Plus into one console within the teams. Now, I have a couple of my open requests being listed over here. And I can go ahead and perform operations, such as adding notes or closing a ticket. And all these changes will immediately reflect into my ServiceDesk Plus application. So, over here, let me refresh this particular request. And as you can see, the status of this request, which I have updated in Teams is now reflected into ServiceDesk Plus. Likewise, not just request status changes or request-based operations, any conversations, adding of notes will also be reflected right into my Teams App. So, I've added a note on ServiceDesk Plus, and if I look into the Teams App, I will have the notes reflected right underneath my ticket. We have now understood how ServiceDesk Plus integrates with Microsoft Teams, and how it performs a platform for collaboration, as well as a single console where users can chat, and also use the Request view.
