This video shows you how to bring external customers into the Leadtime ticket system to build structured, professional customer communication – without email chaos.
Getting started is simple: you enable guest access for a contact person in an organization. One click on "Allow login", select the "Guest" role – done. The customer automatically receives an invitation email with a magic link, no password needed. Guest access is completely free, regardless of how many customers you invite.
As a guest user, the customer only sees projects belonging to their own organization. Everything else – internal projects, other customers, time entries, invoices – stays invisible. The customer can view tickets, create new ones, write comments, and track progress. This creates maximum transparency with maximum data security.
The video demonstrates the complete workflow: a customer creates a server crash ticket with all structured information (SLA level, affected systems). Internally, the ticket is assigned, annotated with protected internal comments, and processed. Internal communication – technical details, assumptions, coordination – remains invisible to the customer. External communication happens professionally through public comments.
The core principle: internally you can communicate completely openly, externally you present yourself professionally. Everything happens in a single ticket, cleanly separated by the Public/Internal toggle. No two communication channels, no copy-paste errors between chat and email. On top of that, you get clear responsibilities, traceable history, and automatic notifications on status changes.
Tickets aren't just for internal work. They're also the perfect channel for structured customer communication.
No email chaos, no lost requests, everything traceable in one place. In this video I'll show you how to bring external customers into your ticket system, and why this takes customer collaboration to a whole new level.
First, your customer needs access to the system. We covered this in an earlier video, so here's just a quick refresher.
I open Organizations and select our example organization GlobalTech Solutions. Then I switch to the Members tab.
Here I see the contact persons for this organization. I click on Sandra Winkler. She's Head of Sales at GlobalTech and should get access.
In her details I scroll to the section "Access to Leadtime". I enable "Allow login" and select the role "Guest".
That's it. As soon as I save, Sandra automatically receives an invitation email with a magic link. No password needed. She clicks the link and she's in.
Important: Guest access is free. You don't pay any additional license fees, no matter how many customers you invite.
Before we dive into the workflow, let's quickly clarify what Sandra actually sees as a guest user.
She only sees projects that belong to her organization. All internal projects, all other customers: invisible. She can't see time entries from your team, no invoices, no internal notes.
What she can do: View tickets, create new tickets, write comments, track progress.
That's the balance. Maximum transparency for the customer, maximum data security for you.
Now let's get practical. I'll show you the complete workflow from customer request to resolution.
Let's switch perspectives. I'm now Sandra Winkler from GlobalTech. I've logged in via the magic link and I see my dashboard.
Here's the project "GlobalTech Support". That's the only project I have access to. I open it and see the tickets.
Now I have a problem. Our server crashed and I need help. I click "New Task" and select the type "Server Crash", which we created in the last video.
I fill out the ticket: Title "Production server unreachable since 2 PM". In the description I use the template the system provides. SLA Level is Gold because we have a premium contract. Affected systems: Main database and API gateway.
I save. The ticket is created. From my perspective as a customer, this was easy. Clear structure, I knew exactly what information was needed.
Now I switch back to the internal view.
I'm an internal team member again. Sandra's ticket is immediately visible in our project. I open it.
Here I see everything: The description, the SLA Level Gold, which means this is urgent. The status is "New".
I look at this and realize: This is a database problem. My colleague Max is the expert for that. I assign the ticket to Max.
But I want to give him context. I write a comment: "Hey Max, this looks like a database problem. The customer has SLA Gold, so please prioritize. I suspect it's related to yesterday's update."
And now the important part: I set this comment to "Internal". Sandra shouldn't see this. This is our internal coordination.
I click "Update". The ticket is now with Max, including my internal note.
Perspective switch to Max. I'm now Max, the database expert. I see the ticket in my task list. I open it and read the internal comment from my colleague.
I change the status to "Root Cause Analysis" and get to work.
After an hour I've found and fixed the problem. It was indeed yesterday's update. A faulty configuration.
I write another internal comment: "Problem identified. Rolled back the DB config from yesterday. Running again. Should we do a post-mortem?"
Then I change the status to "Resolved".
Now Sandra needs to know. I write a new comment, this time "Public": "The problem has been resolved. The cause was a configuration change that we've reverted. All systems are running normally again. Please let us know if anything else isn't working."
I click "Update and close".
Now comes the crucial point. Let's see what Sandra sees.
I switch back to the customer view. Sandra opens the ticket.
She sees: Her original request. The status change to "Resolved". And the public comment explaining that the problem is fixed.
What she doesn't see: The internal comment about the database problem. The assignment to Max with the note about SLA Gold. The internal discussion about a post-mortem.
This is the core of the system. You can communicate completely openly internally. Technical details, assumptions, questions to colleagues. And externally you present yourself professionally and to the point.
No two communication channels. No copy-paste errors between internal chat and customer email. Everything in one ticket, cleanly separated.
Let me quickly summarize why this workflow is so valuable.
First: Everything in one place. The customer request, the internal processing, the solution. One ticket, one story. Nothing gets lost, nothing gets overlooked.
Second: Clear responsibilities. The ticket is assigned to one person. It's always clear who's currently handling it. No "I thought you were doing that".
Third: Traceable history. In three months you can look back: What was the problem? How was it solved? Who was involved? Everything documented.
Fourth: The customer can check for themselves. Sandra doesn't have to call and ask "What's the status?". She opens the ticket and sees it.
Fifth: Automatic notifications. When the status changes, when a comment arrives, Sandra gets a notification. Without anyone having to manually write an email.
This is structured customer collaboration. Professional, transparent, efficient.
You've now seen the complete workflow.
Set up guest access with one click, for free. The customer creates a ticket. Your team processes it internally, with protected comments for honest discussion. Externally you communicate professionally via public comments.
The result: Satisfied customers who always know what's happening. And a team that can work efficiently without putting on an act.
In the next video I'll show you how to set up a helpdesk, so customers can also create tickets via email.
