---
title: "Route support requests by priority"
description: "Use a Zapier Path to read the priority on each support submission, raise an escalated ticket for the urgent ones and a standard ticket for the rest."
url: "https://www.formformform.com/automations/zapier-split-urgent-support-requests"
type: static
generatedAt: "2026-08-23T18:56:58.727Z"
---
![Zapier logo](/logos/integrations/zapier.svg)

# Split urgent support requests into their own queue

A Path reads the priority answer and raises an escalated help desk ticket for urgent submissions, a standard one for everything else.

When this happens

New Submission on your Contact support form

Do this

Use a Zapier Path to create an urgent ticket in your help desk if priority is high, or log a standard ticket otherwise

One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.

Every support queue has the same argument in it. Somebody marks their request urgent, it lands in the same list as everything else, and the person who genuinely cannot work waits behind a password reset. A priority question on the form only helps if something reads it.

A Zapier Path does that reading. High-priority submissions create an escalated ticket and post to the on-call channel; the rest join the normal queue quietly. Support leads use this when one form feeds a queue that two people share.

## Setting it up

1.  1
    
    Publish the help desk form with Priority as a fixed choice list. Paths match on exact answer text, so a typed-in priority gives them nothing to compare.
    
2.  2
    
    In Zapier, start a Zap with formformform's New Submission trigger, select the support form, and pull a test submission that has Priority filled in.
    
3.  3
    
    Add a Paths step directly after the trigger rather than an action. The branch has to come before any ticket is created.
    
4.  4
    
    On Path A, set the rule to Priority exactly matches your top option, copied out of the form word for word.
    
5.  5
    
    Give Path A the escalated action: create the ticket in your help desk at high urgency, then post to the on-call channel.
    
6.  6
    
    Leave Path B without a rule so it catches everything else, and give it the same ticket action at normal urgency and no channel post.
    
7.  7
    
    Map Ticket Subject and Issue Description identically on both paths, so the two queues hold the same shape of ticket and reporting still adds up.
    
8.  8
    
    Submit two tests, one at each priority, and confirm in the Zap history that they took different paths before turning it on.
    

## What maps where

Using the [IT Help Desk Ticket](https://www.formformform.com/templates/it-help-desk-form) as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.

Form field

Zapier

Priority

The Path rule that decides the escalated or standard branch

Ticket Subject

Subject line of the help desk ticket on both paths

Issue Description

Body of the ticket, and the text of the on-call post on the urgent path

Work Email

Requester on the ticket, so replies reach the person who filed it

Department

Team field used to assign the ticket to the right queue

Affected Device or System

Custom field on the ticket, and the first line the on-call engineer reads

## Variations worth knowing

Add a third path for outages

Paths can test a different field entirely. Give a new first path the rule Issue Type equals your outage option, whatever the priority says, and send it to the incident channel. One laptop failing and a whole system failing rarely deserve the same queue.

Keep a running log of escalations

Add a spreadsheet step at the end of the urgent path that appends the ticket subject, the department and the submission time. Over a quarter that shows which teams escalate most, which is a harder question to answer from inside the help desk.

## If something isn't arriving

Everything goes down the standard path

The rule text does not match the answer. Copy the option label out of the Priority question and paste it into the Path rule, including any bracketed wording, and check for a trailing space. Path rules compare exact text.

Two tickets are created for one submission

Both paths matched. Path B has no rule, so it catches urgent requests as well. Give it the opposite condition, Priority does not exactly match your top option, or use Zapier's fallback path setting instead of a second open branch.

## Frequently asked questions

Can I branch on something other than priority?

Yes. Any answer on the form can be the Path rule, so Issue Type, Department or a keyword in the description all work. The rest of the Zap stays as it is; only the condition at the top of each path changes.

Does the ticket number come back to the person who submitted?

Not through the form. Nothing is written back into formformform from Zapier. Add an email step after the ticket action and map the ticket ID into it, so the requester gets the number from your help desk instead.

What if people mark everything urgent?

The Path will believe them. Word the top option so it costs something to pick, describing blocked work rather than just saying high, and read through the escalated queue once a month to check the wording is still holding.

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-   [All Zapier integration details →](https://www.formformform.com/integrations/zapier)
-   [Start from the IT Help Desk Ticket →](https://www.formformform.com/templates/it-help-desk-form)
-   [Browse every automation →](https://www.formformform.com/automations)

## Build the form first

The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.

[Start free](https://app.formformform.com/register?utm_source=landing&utm_medium=bottom&utm_campaign=automations&utm_content=zapier-split-urgent-support-requests)