Inside a GLPI ticket there's an important distinction: follow-up versus private note. They look similar, sit right next to each other in the same UI, but one is visible to the requester and one isn't. Mixing them up is the difference between "technically correct resolution" and "PR crisis" — when an internal comment "This client never gives up, same thing again" accidentally lands in the customer's inbox.
Follow-up: public communication with the requester
A follow-up is the official reply on the ticket. The requester sees it on the portal and receives an email containing the text. On the ticket detail page, you add it via the Followups → Add tab:
- Visible — defaults to yes, if the ticket is accessible to the user.
- Email notification — the requester receives an email with the follow-up text.
- History — stays in the ticket for audit.
Use a follow-up when:
- Pushing the resolution toward the requester: "We've fixed it, please verify it works.".
- Asking for additional information: "What's the exact error message? Which version?".
- Reporting progress: "Working on it, ETA 2 hours.".
Private note: team-only
A private note is added the same way via Followups → Add, but with the Visible checkbox unticked. Only the technician and other helpdesk team members with access to the ticket can see it. The requester never sees it — neither in the UI nor by email.
Use a private note when:
- Commenting for a colleague: "L1 tried, no luck. Escalating to L2.".
- Recording a technical step: "Tried restarting the service — no effect. Look at logs from 14:23.".
- Discussing the resolution: "Third similar case. Opening a Problem.".
Email reply: how a requester's response is captured
When the requester replies to a GLPI notification email (e.g. via Reply in Outlook), GLPI automatically appends it as a follow-up on the ticket — keeping the full email thread history in the body. That lets the user communicate by email (which they always prefer) while the technician sees everything in the GLPI UI.
Configuration under Setup → Receivers sets up an IMAP/POP3 mailbox that GLPI polls regularly (cron every 5 min) for new messages. Setup → Notifications → Notifications templates have to include a header with the ticket # that GLPI parses to match the reply to the right ticket.
Best practices for technician communication
- Default mode = follow-up — when training new technicians, Visible is ticked by default. Active thinking: "this is a private note" must be conscious so an accidental publication never happens.
- No emotion in public follow-ups — "This has happened three times now, why don't you describe it properly" is a private note, not public. In public you write facts and instructions.
- Concise, clear public follow-ups — the requester wants to know status and what to do. Not every technical detail.
- Detailed private notes — when escalating to L2 or handing over to a change, document everything: what was tried, what didn't help, which logs were checked. Without that, L2 starts from zero.
- "Who saw what" audit — during a customer dispute, GLPI's history makes it easy to verify exactly what the requester was told and when. That's often the deciding evidence.
Solution vs. follow-up
When closing a ticket, the technician chooses whether to record the resolution as a Solution or as another follow-up. They are two distinct objects:
- Solution — the official closure of the ticket. It's visible to the requester, fires a "Your ticket has been resolved" notification, and opens the CSAT (user satisfaction) rating. The solution should be a concise description of exactly what was fixed.
- Follow-up — just another public message before the solution. The requester can't close the ticket from it.
When closing, fill in Solution type (Workaround, Permanent fix, KB-driven), which later supports reporting on how many incidents resolve permanently vs. temporarily.
Time tracking via follow-up
Bonus feature: when adding a follow-up the technician sees a Realtime time field — for recording how long they spent on this action. It aggregates at the ticket level (total resolution time) and is reportable. For billing or internal time tracking it's one of the easiest ways to capture actually-spent time, instead of separate manual timesheets.
Follow-ups and private notes are the heart of team communication in GLPI. Used correctly, they distinguish a professionally-run helpdesk from a chaotic email exchange — and they reassure the auditor who sees how much detail is preserved.