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Support teams often find themselves stuck in a repetitive loop, constantly reiterating the same information. It's a familiar frustration that can hinder efficiency and impact overall productivity.
The good news is that there's a solution – IT ticketing systems.
These systems can take over repetitive tasks, allowing support teams to streamline their work and consolidate requests in one accessible platform.
In this guide, we will delve into the world of IT ticketing systems, shedding light on their benefits and functionalities that can significantly simplify your company's IT support operations.
What is an internal IT ticketing system?
An internal IT ticketing system is a software solution that enables organizations to streamline their IT support operations. It acts as a centralized platform where employees can submit their IT requests, and IT teams can manage and resolve them effectively. This system replaces the chaotic and inefficient method of relying on emails or phone calls for IT support.
With an internal ticketing system, IT teams can track the status of each ticket, assign them to the appropriate team member, and provide regular updates to the employees
Top features of an internal IT ticketing system
The features you are looking for in an IT ticketing system may vary from business to business. However, some parts are essential irrespective of the size of your business or the industry of operation.
Here are some of the key features that you must look for when selecting an internal IT ticketing system:
1. Ticket management and tracking
The core feature of any internal IT ticketing system is ticket management and tracking. It allows IT teams to create tickets for each IT request, assign them to the appropriate team member, and track their progress from start to resolution. With ticket tracking, IT teams can easily prioritize support tickets based on urgency, set service level agreements (SLAs), and ensure timely resolutions.
2. Service portal and self-service options
A service portal is a user-friendly interface that employees can access to submit their IT requests. It provides a self-service option where employees can find answers to common IT issues through a knowledge base or FAQs. By empowering employees to resolve their IT problems, you can reduce the workload on IT teams and improve overall efficiency.
3. Ticket routing and assignment
Efficient ticket routing and assignment are crucial for ensuring that each IT request reaches the right team member. An internal IT ticketing system should have automated routing capabilities that assign tickets based on predefined rules or skill sets. This ensures that tickets are handled by the most qualified team member, leading to faster resolutions and increased employee satisfaction.
4. Communication channels and collaboration
A robust internal IT ticketing system should support various communication channels, such as email, chat, and even mobile apps. It enables seamless communication between IT teams and employees, allowing them to exchange information, clarify issues, and provide updates on ticket progress. Additionally, collaboration features like shared inboxes and internal notes facilitate teamwork and knowledge sharing among IT team members.
5. Reporting and analytics
The ability to generate reports and gather analytics is essential for monitoring and improving IT support operations. An internal IT ticketing system should provide insights into key performance metrics, such as ticket volume, response times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction. These reports help IT teams identify bottlenecks, measure their performance against SLAs, and make data-driven decisions to enhance their support capabilities.
Challenges of internal IT ticketing systems
While internal IT ticketing systems are a better option to provide IT support as compared to email or phone-based support, it is not free from flaws. The very first loophole is limitations in automation.
We started this article by stating that support teams are frustrated with repeating solutions to routine queries, and the truth is that ticketing systems are only partly successful in addressing this challenge.
IT helpdesk employees still need to be highly involved in creating, managing, and closing support tickets. As a result, employees are still not empowered to the extent they are expected to be.
Some common challenges of internal IT ticketing systems include:
- Resistance to change: Employees may be resistant to adopting a new system and prefer their existing methods of IT support. Proper training and communication are crucial to overcoming this challenge.
- Integration with existing systems: Integrating the internal IT ticketing system with existing IT infrastructure and systems can be complex. IT teams need to ensure seamless integration to avoid disruptions and data loss.
- Scalability: As organizations grow, their IT support needs also increase. Internal IT ticketing systems should scale with the organization's growth and handle a higher volume of tickets without compromising performance.
- Maintaining SLAs: Meeting service level agreements (SLAs) can be challenging, especially during peak periods or when IT teams are understaffed. Proper resource planning and workflow optimization are necessary to maintain SLAs consistently.
To avoid all these challenges and to empower employees and support teams with a simpler internal IT support system, we recommend conversational IT helpdesks. More on this in the next section.
Why do conversational internal IT helpdesks matter?
There’s hardly anyone who is not familiar with ChatGPT. But ever wondered why this tool rose to fame within such a short span?
“What is different about GPT is that it is generative, that it generates outputs in ways that normal human beings understand as opposed to [the technology] just kind of outputting code or data,” said Adam Conner, vice president for technology Policy at the Center for American Progress.
Since comprehensive knowledge bases and internal ticketing systems couldn’t really accomplish what they were supposed to achieve, it brings us to the conclusion that these support systems are useful but not sufficient to empower employees and increase the productivity levels of support teams.
With conversational ITSM solutions like Atomicwork, you can achieve both.
Here's why conversational internal IT helpdesks matter:
- Improved employee experience: Conversational helpdesks offer employees a more interactive and engaging support experience. Its ChatGPT-like interface is extremely easy to adapt and allows employees to receive immediate assistance for their IT issues, eliminating the need to wait for email responses or phone calls.
- Faster issue resolution: Conversational tools enable real-time, empathetic support for employees. Employees can receive instant and actionable responses to their IT queries, leading to faster issue resolution. This, in turn, increases the IT team’s productivity as the conversational platform routes only complex queries to the human agents.
- Data-driven insights: Conversational tools generate valuable data and insights about IT support operations. IT teams can analyze chat logs, customer feedback, and usage patterns to identify trends, improve workflows, and optimize their support processes.
Conclusion
Internal IT ticketing systems help enhance task visibility, reduce frustration, and increase productivity for support team members. However, while these systems are beneficial, they aren’t enough to automate routine tasks entirely, resulting in continued back-and-forth communication between support teams and employees.
To overcome these challenges and achieve more seamless IT service management, modern conversational IT help desks offer a more promising alternative solution.
If you're ready to explore the benefits of conversational ITSM and transform your organization’s IT support operations, take the next step and start your free trial with Atomicwork today.
