"Contacts is a directory of persons that HelpDesk is aware of. There are three predefined contact roles:
Agent
SharePoint user that processes tickets.
Member
SharePoint user that creates tickets.
End-User
User without SharePoint account who creates tickets by email."
I've always been an Agent in our HelpDesk site. Now, from the Contacts page, I've changed my role to "Member".
I still have complete control on tickets; I'd expect from now on I could only create tickets. Why do I still have all permissions?
Managing permissions on a HelpDesk site should be performed with the default SharePoint means:
The description you quoted is about distinguishing roles of contacts, not about managing their permissions. The action Send email in triggers has a token All agents which allows avoiding of listing each agent separately when you need to notify all of them. So this is how an agent differs from a member for HelpDesk. Also, all subscription plans (except Ocean Liner) restrict the number of allowed agents.
So the ticket can be created, updated or even deleted by a member if his SharePoint user has such permissions on the site. The contacts list is only for distinguishing roles for mailing purposes.
Ok thanks!
So the number of contacts I mark as "Agent" from the Contacts List is the one that matters for the subscription plan?
That is, I can convert out Agents to Members as I've done to my account, and only the email notifications will be affected?