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A Guide to Incident Management Ticketing Systems

Introduction

This post will help to answer the following questions:

What Is an Incident Ticketing System?
What Is An Incident Ticket?
What components are in an IT ticketing system?
What are common ticketing system examples and uses?
What are the benefits of using an incident management system?
What is the difference between ITSM vs. ticketing systems?

Incident management is a core function of any IT department, covering internal and external support ticket resolution. As such, it’s not surprising that many companies building out their IT department will likely implement an incident management ticketing system.

Support tickets, or incidents, represent an individual user issue with a business’s product or IT network. By handling incidents promptly companies can achieve higher customer satisfaction and reduce internal staff downtime. Incident management ticketing systems simplify the process by automatically routing tickets to the proper agent and making it easier for staff to address support tickets.

“Incident management is one of the more interesting topics to discuss in modern software. For one, it’s driven dramatic and positive culture changes throughout the industry. Avoiding burnout, prioritizing psychological safety and promoting a more blameless culture have all contributed to happier cultures and more resilient companies.”

– Shahar Fogel, Forbes Councils Member, Forbes Technology Council

What Is an Incident Management Ticketing System?

An incident management ticketing system refers to software enabling customers and staff to submit support tickets through a self-service portal. The software automatically routes support tickets to the proper agent for handling. High-quality ticketing systems also help support staff track tickets, label their status, and store helpful analytics allowing leadership to track IT department success.

Incident management ticketing systems bring significant benefits to small and mid-size businesses—and as employees and customers increase, software support becomes essential. In addition to streamlining support services, these tools can save businesses money over time by reducing staffing costs and turnover.

Benefits of an Incident Management Ticketing System

By adopting a ticketing system, businesses can overcome common pain points. The table below outlines routine pain points in the IT department and describes how a ticketing system can address them.

Pain Point	Ticketing System Solution
Long Ticket Response Times	Automated ticket routing and a convenient tagging system get tickets handled quickly
Lost Tickets	Ticket organization, tagging, and alert tools make it clear when a ticket hasn’t been responded to.
Lack of Data	In-depth analytics allows managers to review average ticket resolution times, time to first response, etc.

While this functionality provides several benefits, it can be further optimized when companies adopt a complete ITSM software platform.

ITSM Software Platforms vs. Ticketing Systems

Basic ticketing systems may work for smaller businesses, but mid-size businesses require the vital functions that a comprehensive ITSM platforms provides. The table below shows just a few significant value-adds companies can gain by implementing a more complete software solution.

	Ticketing System	ITSM Platform
Automatic Ticket Routing	✅	✅
Ticket Tagging and Organization	✅	✅
White-Label Self-Service Portals	Sometimes	✅
In-Depth Customer Profiles		✅
Customizable Workflows		✅
Full Suite of ITSM Functionality		✅

The earlier a company invests in a higher-level software tool, the more prepared they are for growth. Additionally, many software providers offering ITSM platforms also offer basic options that can grow with a company’s needs. This allows clients to work with the same interface as they grow, without the need to constantly change solutions each time a business surge occurs.

Adopt a Ticketing System or ITSM Platform With Vivantio

While each of the benefits listed in this article can help businesses enhance customer support, they won’t work if managers choose a platform that doesn’t provide the necessary features. Vivantio offers a cutting-edge customer service software platform that encompasses everything we’ve discussed and more, including:

White-label service portals so businesses can maintain a cohesive brand throughout the service process
Comprehensive analytics with customizable dashboards
Automatic ticket routing to ensure every ticket reaches the proper agent
Workflow designer tool that allows managers to customize the framework of their CS operations without requiring technical knowledge
A comprehensive view of each client to ensure all essential information is accessible

Reference Link:

Forbes: Code Observability Is A Necessity For Modern Incident Management

various window views of the Vivantio platform UI

For businesses that are ready to level up their customer experience, Vivantio’s highly configurable solutions deliver.

For more than two decades, Vivantio has been helping clients optimize their service organizations by utilizing service level agreements for customer service. To find out how Vivantio can help you improve ticket lifecycle management, contact our team today or register for a free demo.