<s>
Networked	B-General_Concept
Help	I-General_Concept
Desk	I-General_Concept
is	O
an	O
open	O
standard	O
initiative	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
common	O
API	B-Application
for	O
sharing	O
customer	O
support	O
tickets	B-Application
between	O
separate	O
instances	O
of	O
issue	B-Application
tracking	I-Application
,	O
bug	B-Application
tracking	I-Application
,	O
customer	O
relationship	O
management	O
(	O
CRM	O
)	O
and	O
project	B-Application
management	I-Application
systems	I-Application
to	O
improve	O
customer	O
service	O
and	O
reduce	O
vendor	O
lock-in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initiative	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Zendesk	O
in	O
June	O
2011	O
in	O
collaboration	O
with	O
eight	O
other	O
founding	O
member	O
organizations	O
including	O
Atlassian	O
,	O
New	B-Application
Relic	I-Application
,	O
OTRS	B-Language
,	O
Pivotal	O
Tracker	O
,	O
ServiceNow	B-General_Concept
and	O
SugarCRM	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
integration	O
,	O
between	O
Zendesk	O
and	O
Atlassian	O
's	O
issue	B-Application
tracking	I-Application
product	O
,	O
Jira	B-Protocol
,	O
was	O
announced	O
at	O
the	O
2011	O
Atlassian	O
Summit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
Zendesk	O
instances	O
this	O
feature	O
is	O
branded	O
as	O
ticket	B-Application
sharing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Support	O
tools	O
are	O
generally	O
built	O
around	O
a	O
common	O
paradigm	O
that	O
begins	O
with	O
a	O
customer	O
making	O
a	O
request	O
or	O
an	O
incident	O
report	O
,	O
these	O
create	O
a	O
ticket	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
ticket	B-Application
has	O
a	O
progress	O
status	O
and	O
is	O
updated	O
with	O
annotations	O
and	O
attachments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Customers	O
are	O
notified	O
of	O
progress	O
made	O
on	O
their	O
ticket	B-Application
until	O
it	O
is	O
complete	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
people	O
necessary	O
to	O
complete	O
a	O
ticket	B-Application
are	O
using	O
separate	O
support	O
tools	O
,	O
additional	O
overhead	O
is	O
introduced	O
in	O
maintaining	O
the	O
relevant	O
information	O
in	O
the	O
ticket	B-Application
in	O
each	O
tool	O
while	O
notifying	O
the	O
customer	O
of	O
progress	O
made	O
by	O
each	O
group	O
in	O
completing	O
their	O
ticket	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
information	O
is	O
not	O
transferred	O
correctly	O
,	O
a	O
customer	O
may	O
have	O
to	O
re-explain	O
their	O
problem	O
each	O
time	O
their	O
ticket	B-Application
is	O
transferred	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
systems	O
with	O
the	O
Networked	B-General_Concept
Help	I-General_Concept
Desk	I-General_Concept
API	B-Application
implemented	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
for	O
several	O
different	O
applications	O
related	O
to	O
a	O
customer	O
's	O
support	O
experience	O
to	O
synchronize	O
data	O
in	O
one	O
uniquely	O
identified	O
shared	O
ticket	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
many	O
applications	O
in	O
these	O
domains	O
have	O
implemented	O
APIs	B-Application
that	O
allow	O
data	O
to	O
be	O
imported	O
,	O
exported	O
and	O
modified	O
,	O
Network	O
Help	O
Desk	O
provides	O
a	O
common	O
standard	O
for	O
customer	O
support	O
information	O
to	O
automatically	O
synchronize	O
between	O
several	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
implemented	O
two	O
systems	O
can	O
quickly	O
share	O
tickets	B-Application
with	O
just	O
a	O
configuration	O
change	O
as	O
they	O
both	O
understand	O
the	O
same	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Communication	O
between	O
two	O
instances	O
on	O
a	O
specific	O
ticket	B-Application
occurs	O
in	O
three	O
steps	O
,	O
an	O
invitation	O
agreement	O
,	O
sharing	O
of	O
ticket	B-Application
data	O
and	O
continued	O
synchronization	O
of	O
tickets	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standard	O
allows	O
for	O
"	O
full	O
delegation	O
"	O
(	O
analysts	O
in	O
both	O
systems	O
each	O
make	O
public	O
and	O
private	O
comments	O
and	O
synchronize	O
status	O
)	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
"	O
partial	O
delegation	O
"	O
where	O
the	O
instance	O
receiving	O
the	O
ticket	B-Application
can	O
only	O
make	O
private	O
comments	O
and	O
status	O
changes	O
are	O
not	O
synchronized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tickets	B-Application
may	O
be	O
shared	O
with	O
multiple	O
instances	O
.	O
</s>
