How Automated Ticketing Systems Are the Driving Force of Help Desk Success
Help Desk Software / October 2024
Automated ticketing systems accelerate customer support turnaround times, resulting in more efficient customer service delivery and a business reputation for “service par excellence”.
The Basics of an Automated Ticketing System
An automated ticketing system is a component of an organisation’s larger help desk ticketing system, specifically managing customer requests, queries, and problems – i.e. support tickets. It includes other elements, like system administration tools, specialist knowledge bases, and online, self-service portals, too.
Help desk ticketing systems serve as a customer service traffic warden. They take customer support to a new level by fast-tracking issues to the correct resolution point. The objective is to reduce the cost per ticket (average $22 for manual handling) by reducing ticket handling time and increasing support agent utilisation.
Image by thinkhid: The correlation between cost per ticket and ticket handling time
While designed to improve customer service and reduce query volume, ticketing systems also:
- Identify gaps in the company’s information databases, updating knowledge bases with new information and new ways of resolving problems
- Reduce support staff workloads
- Record customer interactions and feedback
- Monitor system, business, and employee performance
- Automatically gathers user feedback for continuous improvement to service delivery
- Spots knowledge gaps where tickets are unresolved or take a long time to resolve
- Highlights common requests whose resolution can be automated
- Tracks key metrics such as first response times, average resolution times, ticket volumes, ticket resolution rates, and customer satisfaction
A newer technology deployed to assist ticketing support in its quest for reduced cost per ticket is artificial intelligence (AI). An AI-powered ticketing system works by employing semi-intelligent, virtual agents called chatbots.
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How Automated Ticketing Systems Work (9 Steps)
- A customer (internal or external) submits a support request via email, a web form, chat, social media, or by phone.
- A ticket is created and assigned a unique identifying number. The ticket is given a default status, e.g. New.
- The ticket is routed to an appropriate support queue (agent, team, or self-service instructions) based on factors like type of issue, specific product or service, or priority. In some cases, the system may resolve the issue immediately, e.g. by sending a user instructions on how to reset their password.
- The ticket is assigned a priority based on factors like issue urgency, predefined business rules and procedures, or the precepts of an SLA.
- An agent is assigned to work on the ticket.
- The assigned agent reviews the ticket and responds to the customer. The agent may escalate the ticket, assign it to someone else, request more information, or close it without resolving it for a specific reason, e.g. if it’s a duplicate ticket.
- Once the ticket is resolved, the ticket is closed. The customer may be contacted for feedback about how their issue was handled.
- The system may keep a detailed log of its actions for security and auditing purposes in the event a customer queries an outcome. If there’s a backlog of urgent tickets, the automatic ticketing system may reprioritise on the fly and keep customers updated about where their ticket is in the system.
- Reports are collated and distributed regularly.
Why Businesses Use Automated Ticketing Systems
Assigning extra employees to resolve support queries is not always a cost-effective or scalable option. For one thing, you can’t move people in and out of the system at a moment’s notice depending on ticket volumes.
An automated ticketing system does not only perform the three Rs – resolving tickets, routing enquiries, and reporting performance metrics – is also has the capabilities for:
- Fast and efficient AI-assisted issue resolution
- Ticket management, e.g. ticket prioritisation, process reporting, and record keeping
- Workflow management, e.g. assigning tickets
- Reduced support costs, e.g. by reducing the number of full-time employees performing tasks that could be automated
- Improved agent productivity and job satisfaction
- Enhanced customer experience, e.g. self-service options
- Increased transparency, e.g. real-time insights into ticket volumes, response times, and resolution rates, enabling businesses to identify areas for improvement
- Regulatory compliance and better auditing
- Scalability and flexibility
- Reduced human error
- 24/7 support
- Multilingual capability
- Automatic integration with other systems, e.g. CRMs, accounting applications, messaging platforms, etc.
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Basic vs Advanced Core Features of Automated Ticketing Systems
A basic automated ticketed system performs the three Rs:
- Resolving tickets automatically – Many common user problems may easily be solved automatically. For example, helping a user to recover a forgotten password.
- Routing problems and enquiries – Custom bots may specialise in helping customers to narrow the nature of their query so that it can be routed to the correct agent or team or a self-service portal. For example, routing a customer to the URL for an old software version that is compatible with their operating system.
- Reporting on and analysing performance metrics – Automated ticketing systems provide, like humans do, reports on their and the help desk’s performance.
A more advanced automated ticketing system includes:
- Multi-lingual support
- Seamless integration with other customer service components
- Workflow integration tools
- Natural language processing (NLP) capabilities
- Humanised face to the help desk CX
- Advanced AI knowledge base(s)
- Copilot tools
Common Process Challenges When Switching From Manual to Automated Ticketing
Going from a predominantly manual process of receiving, categorising, and resolving customer support tickets to deploying an automated ticketing system can pose several challenges. Ideally, the proposed new system should be deployed in stages with each phase tested by a designated pilot group before the next phase is deployed.
The most common ticketing processes that will become an issue include:
- Analysing the existing ticket processing system, identifying flaws, and considering how best to leverage AI
- Identifying the most common support requests and which ones could be automated
- Defining objectives for the automated ticketing system, e.g. reducing ticket volumes versus reducing employees
- Developing and implementing new SLAs
- Developing new workflows that reduce human participation in processes that can be automated
- Transferring existing data from the manual to the proposed new system
- Migrating existing integrations with internal and external workflows and applications
- Encouraging buy-in to the new system and performing staff training
- Performing cost analyses (Some of the costs associated with an automated ticketing system include the cost of the new technology infrastructure, the preparation and acquisition of data necessary for the new system, the cost of AI development and employee training, and the cost of increased security and system maintenance.)
The Importance of Omnichannel Ticketing Support
47% of UK customers use five different forms of communication channels. This opens the door to providing support across multiple platforms, not just traditional channels like email and phone.
Omnichannel support is seamless for the customer, no matter what support channel they use.
For instance, say a customer contacts a support team via Facebook. This triggers an automated response, with a ticket number. But, say, for example, after communication with an agent, the customer gets disconnected. Now, they contact the support team via live chat. What the customer wants is to be able to pick up where they left off, without explaining their issue again and again (two-thirds of consumers say this is the most frustrating aspect of customer service).
A help desk ticketing system allows support teams to deliver a non-confrontational omnichannel experience. Agents can check the status of a ticket and find all the relevant information. Including initial requests, contact details, and actions. This initiative provides a positive experience for customers.
AI’s Role In Help Desk Ticketing Systems
The unique power of computers, and AI assistance, is speed. What can take a human hours to do, like cross-checking the progress of multiple tickets, takes a computer a fraction of a second. This speed and single-mindedness give the illusion of multitasking capabilities.
Many functions of a help desk ticketing system happen in the background. The visible components most users are familiar with are interactive messaging chatbots. Chatbots walk users through their queries to narrow problems and route users to the correct resolution point. In many cases, chatbots resolve queries themselves.
Unlike past instances (think Clippy), the modern chatbot is noninvasive, has at least a modicum of intelligence, can self-maintain its knowledge base(s), is customisable, and offers users options to find out more information about their queries.
AI-powered Chatbots have proven themselves useful virtual members of most business support teams with an exceptional collective track record:
- 62% of users prefer engaging with customer service digital assistants rather than waiting for human agents
- Bots can manage 30% of live chat communications and 80% of routine tasks
- 90% of businesses reported faster complaint resolution due to bots
But, are chatbots simply glorified search engines?
A recent article summarised the prime difference between Google Search and ChatGPT: “Google actively scours the entirety of the web, retrieving content through advanced algorithms that deliver exceptional search quality. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is meticulously engineered for conversational assistance, employing state-of-the-art AI and natural language processing to comprehend and answer queries posed in everyday language.”
Which makes a chatbot the ideal tool for AI-powered support and ticketing systems.