FAQ

About OTRS

What is OTRS?

OTRS is a service management solution. It structures the communication processes for companies and optimizes service management tasks. OTRS is industry-independent and can be quickly custom-fit for your organization.

What are the benefits of OTRS for companies?

Work more efficiently and in a more structured way: OTRS ensures increased service management quality. Efficient communication and clear structures as well as optimized processes and procedures minimize error rates. Plus, tasks are completed more quickly.

Manage more successfully: Detailed reporting about your customer service quality enables the right optimization measures. Processes can be quickly and easily mapped and adapted to changing needs.

Integrate without a problem: OTRS can be easily integrated into your existing applications and individually configured to your existing interfaces.

For which companies is OTRS suitable?

OTRS can be used in all companies, regardless of size or industry.

How can I reach the OTRS team directly?

If you are not yet a customer, we are happy to answer your questions about OTRS. Please use the contact form to reach us.
Already a customer? Feel free to contact your sales representative directly.
If you have problems with an already-installed OTRS system, please contact our support desk via our customer portal.

Can I run OTRS in my own data center?

Yes. Contact us for details.

How do managed OTRS Services differ from pure hosting services?

With pure hosting, the service provider only manages the server space, and the customer must install and administer an application on that server.

OTRS is a completely managed solution. We take care of both hardware and platform management, with appropriate monitoring, updates and upgrades for your operating system and database(s). Our complete application management service includes the application, administration and implementation of required patches and upgrades. We also take care of critical security updates.

Can I get OTRS without consulting services?

If you already have a lot of experience with OTRS, you can purchase a software service contract only. Consulting services are optional.

However, we recommend new customers take advantage of our consultants’ expertise, so you get the maximum benefit from OTRS and avoid unnecessary support time and costs down the road.

Is there an open source version of OTRS?

OTRS is different from ((OTRS)) Community Edition.

((OTRS)) Community Edition is an open source software, whereas OTRS is a professional service management solution.

Read more about the differences here.

What is a concurrent agent?

Concurrent agents are agents who are logged in to an instance at the same time. For instance, if your team has 20 people and 10 people are logged in at one time, you have 10 concurrent agents.

While there can be many reasons why only a portion of your agents are logged in at once, it is quite common in environments where agents work in shifts. For instance, you may have 10 people logging in for a morning shift. Then, these people log off at the end of their workday, and another 10 people login for the afternoon shift. At any one time, you would only have 10 people online – and thus, only 10 concurrent agents.

What is happening with mail fetching from Microsoft 365?

Effective October 1, 2022, Microsoft discontinued support for mail fetching using password-based authentication in Exchange Online. This affects the POP as well as IMAP protocols, among others.

From October 1 on, mail retrieval is only possible using OAuth 2.0 based authentication.

OTRS Group has completed an update that will allow you to retrieve emails from Exchange Online via POP and IMAP also in the future.

Please note the following information:

  • OTRS Group generally recommends not fetching mail via POP and IMAP and using the much more efficient “email forwarding via SMTP” instead. Please check if email forwarding is possible in your case and consider switching to this mechanism. As an OTRS Group SaaS customer, this option is already available to you without restriction.
  • Support for mail fetching via POP and IMAP from Exchange Online using OAuth 2.0 is available for OTRS, OTRS 8 and OTRS 7. The sub folder mail fetching from Exchange Online using OAuth 2.0 is only available in OTRS and OTRS 8. In older OTRS versions, mail retrieval from Exchange Online is no longer possible.

For more information, please refer to the official Microsoft announcement: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/clients-and-mobile-in-exchange-online/deprecation-of-basic-authentication-exchange-online

For questions and support, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

 

 

In what languages is OTRS available?

OTRS is available in over 40 languages. The complete list is:

  • English
  • Arabic (Saudi Arabia)
  • Bulgarian
  • Catalan
  • Chinese (Simplified)
  • Chinese (Traditional)
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English (Canada)
  • English (United Kingdom)
  • Estonian
  • Finnish
  • French
  • French (Canada)
  • Galician
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hebrew
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Latvian
  • Lithuanian
  • Macedonian
  • Malay
  • Norwegian Bokmål
  • Persian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Slovak
  • Slovenian
  • Spanish
  • Spanish (Colombia)
  • Spanish (Mexico)
  • Swahili
  • Swedish
  • Thai
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Vietnamese

Security & Data Protection

How safe is OTRS?

OTRS is high-quality secure software. Through our proven vulnerability process, we ensure that discovered vulnerabilities are quickly resolved. Users and security researchers can also help by reporting identified vulnerabilities directly to security@otrs.org. We also carry out regular audits to identify and close security gaps.

Complete documentation is published in our Security Advisories.

How does OTRS protect my data from unauthorized access?

Our managed system uses a multi-level authorization concept. Only certain team members can access the application: The selection of employees is subject to strict criteria. Since passwords are updated regularly, the danger of “man-in-the-middle” attacks is reduced to an absolute minimum. Data in OTRS is encrypted. Our data centers are protected by people separators, security gates and ID checks. Starting with the GOLD service package, systems run in a private cloud (SaaS). Production and test systems are strictly separated at OTRS. When a system is accessed, this is logged and evaluated. We also have a proven monitoring system with automatic alerts in place.

 

For details read also our flyer “Your Data, Our Responsibility.”

Where are the servers of OTRS located? Which law applies?

We operate OTRS for our customers in data centers in Germany, the USA and Canada, all of which have ISO/IEC 27001 certification. If required, additional locations can be offered as long as these data centers are also ISO/IEC 27001 certified.

The law of the country in which the server/data center is located applies.

Can I secure my OTRS account with two-factor authentication?

Yes, you can secure your OTRS Account with two-factor authentication.

How can I check and find out what data is stored about me?

In accordance with GDPR, it is our duty to provide you with your personal information and fully disclose what information is being captured. You can request information about the data stored by the OTRS Group at any time.

Please contact us at datasecurity@otrs.com to request information.

What should I do if I have forgotten my login information? How can I reset my password?

If you have forgotten your access data, please contact support.

With which browsers can OTRS be used?

OTRS can be used with all common browsers. We recommend using the latest version to ensure safe and optimal use.

What authentication mechanisms does OTRS offer?

We support LDAP and LDAPS (requires password authentication), Active Directory, Azure (LDAP only), SAML and Kerberos for SSO authentication. We support a combination of up to 10 backends. Important – across all backends users can be identified with a UID, such as login name or email.

How does the synchronization of data into OTRS work? (related to authentication methods)

We support synchronizing the first name, last name and email address. Additionally, roles can be assigned based on backend conditions if LDAP is used for authentication.

Trainings

What training does OTRS offer?

You can find an overview and schedule of all offered trainings at the following link: https://academy.otrs.com/

What prerequisites must be met in order to participate in a training course?

The exact requirements can be found in the description of each training course. In order for a training course to be successful, we kindly ask you to take a close look at its description before registering. If you have any questions, please contact academy@otrs.com.

OTRS Services by Release

Overview of OTRS services that are available for each release.

Consulting
Releases
OTRS
OTRS 8
OTRS 7
Older OTRS Releases
Concepting
Set Up & Configuration
Training
Review & Optimization
Migration*
*The migration will always be to the latest OTRS version.

Product and Service Life Cycle
Development
Releases
OTRS
OTRS 8
OTRS 7
Older OTRS Releases
Customization
Bug Fixes
Critical Security Fixes
Porting Individualized Features
Developing Individualized Features
Professional Support
Releases
OTRS
OTRS 8
OTRS 7
Older OTRS Releases
Available for

We are also pleased to provide support for older versions.