Email chaos in co-managed IT support

Email works as a ticketing interface when you're operating in isolation. But the moment you integrate two IT support platforms, email becomes a problem rather than a solution.

The issue is straightforward: when tickets sync between systems, both platforms want to send notifications. The result? Your end users receive duplicate emails for every update, comment, and status change. What should be a streamlined support experience becomes a flood of redundant communications.

For MSPs managing IT alongside client internal teams, this creates confusion and erodes the professional experience you're trying to deliver.

The challenge with bi-directional ticket sync

When you integrate ticketing platforms, you're typically syncing the same contact or affected user across both systems. That person exists in your PSA and in your client's service desk. Every ticket update now has two potential sources of notification.

The complexity multiplies when you consider:

• Status changes triggering notifications in both systems
• Public comments could become visible to end users
• Internal notes that should remain private
• Noisy assignment changes and priority updates

Without clear ownership of communications, you end up with notification chaos. Users receive the same information twice, worded the same, within seconds of each other.

Our blueprint for email notifications

Our approach is built on a simple principle: there's always a source system.

Even in bi-directional integrations, tickets originate somewhere. They're created in one system first. That system should own all end-user communications for the lifecycle of that ticket.

Here's how this works in practice:

1. Identify the customer or source system. This is the platform where requests most commonly originate. For many MSP-client relationships, this is the client's internal service desk. Their staff and users are already familiar with it, and it's where they naturally go to log issues.

2. The customer system owns notifications. All end-user emails about ticket updates, status changes, and resolutions come from this system. It's the single source of truth for communication.

3. Supporting systems stay silent. Your PSA or other integrated platform receives all the ticket data, updates flow bi-directionally, but it doesn't send notifications to end users. Your technicians see everything they need, but users only hear from one system.

4. Respect public and private comments. The integration should distinguish between public comments (visible to end users) and private notes (internal only). Public comments sync and trigger notifications from the customer system. Private notes sync for technician visibility but remain internal in both platforms.

Why this approach works

This blueprint solves the duplication problem without sacrificing functionality. Your technicians have full visibility across both systems. Updates flow in real-time. The integration remains bi-directional where needed.

But from the end user's perspective, everything comes from one familiar system. There's no confusion about which email to respond to, no duplicate alerts clogging their inbox, and no questions about why they're receiving communications from unfamiliar platforms.

For MSPs, this means you can integrate deeply with client systems without creating notification noise that damages the support experience.

Implementing notification ownership

The technical implementation varies by platform, but the principle remains consistent: identify the source system, let it communicate, and ensure supporting systems sync data without duplicating notifications.

If you're managing IT support across multiple ticketing platforms and battling email duplication, this blueprint provides a clear path forward. One system communicates, all systems stay informed, and your end users get a clean, professional support experience.

Ready to fix your notification chaos?

Co-managed IT environments don't have to mean communication chaos. If you're dealing with duplicate notifications and confused end users, we can help you implement this blueprint across your specific platform combination.

Get in touch to discuss how notification ownership can work in your integrated environment.