Hybrid work models are in use in more than 60% of high-growth companies. Remote and hybrid work models can benefit your business in many ways. They also bring challenges.
One challenge is IT service management (ITSM). In a Microsoft Teams environment, employees message your IT agents for support. Organizing this work in Teams out-of-the-box can be complicated.
With a Microsoft Teams ticketing solution, you can manage your IT ticketing more easily while building on your existing Microsoft 365 (M365) investment.
Take a Systematic Approach
To find the right IT ticketing system, you need to first identify what you’re looking for. Defining your objectives prior to implementing an IT service desk will help you avoid paying for features you don’t need. It will also help you avoid the unpleasant discovery in the future that the product is missing functionality you expected.
Set Your Objectives
First, define the problems you want your service desk to solve. Then you can identify which features are the most critical. A list of requirements might include:
- Better ticket management.
- Streamlined workflows.
- Workflow automation.
- Reduced resolution times.
- Improved communication.
- Reporting capabilities.
- Integration with your existing business software.
- Omni-channel functionality.
Establishing your requirements ahead of time will help you get the most benefit from product demos and free trials. You’ll have a better idea of how well an IT ticketing solution will fit your business.
Calculate the ROI
A ticketing solution that doesn’t fit your budget doesn’t fit your organization. When considering cost, be sure to examine the value it adds to the organization. You may find further ROI than you expected as the result of a more advanced system to justify certain price points.
For example, you may see savings in resources needed thanks to streamlined processes. Additionally, by improving workflows and automating basic request responses with ticket deflection, you can maximize the value of your agents’ time and reduce unnecessary waste through more efficient processes.
Better service quality can result in higher output. Improved productivity can reduce your overall costs. Looking at the ROI and total cost of ownership can help you find the best value.
Consider Building on Your Existing Technology Investments
With so many technologies being invested in for your business, why wouldn’t you consider technology you already invest in for your service desk needs as opposed to a new system? Nearly all organizations operating in a business function utilize Microsoft technology on a daily business for their daily operations. Microsoft Teams is a leader in communication and collaboration across organizations with a reported 270 million users in 2022.
With employees already centralizing their communication, asset management and overall collaboration in today’s hybrid environment, it makes sense to consider Teams as the host for your IT solution. With traditional service desk solutions, employees are forced to disrupt their flow of work to leave a collaboration program, such as Teams, to open an external system predefined for IT support. Generic tickets are submitted and sent off to await triage before resolution even begins. Often, after the end user has already relayed all relevant information to an agent via chat. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to repeat this effort and disrupt the flow of work?
Features to Look for in a Microsoft Ticketing System
A top-tier Microsoft ticketing system will offer a variety of features. Look for an ITSM solution that meets the requirements you specified when beginning your research. You want the system that will help you best manage your ticket inflow.
Omni-Channel Support Structure
Your end users want an easy process for creating and submitting a service request. They should be able to report issues through multiple channels, like email, live chat, or a dedicated portal. Ideally, users don’t need to navigate away from their work to submit a request so they should have a solution that works where they work.
While your end users want the ability to submit requests from wherever they work, your agents want the same flexibility. Look for a solution that:
- Allows tickets to be triaged and updated in a collaboration platform such as Teams.
- Has its own web application for advanced functionality and admin activities.
- Integrates seamlessly with email to avoid support disruptions.
In general, regardless of where individuals choose to work, your solution should enable them to do so without disruption. For example, an end user should be able to submit a request via email, the agent can view and update the ticket in a web app and the end user can get their updates back via email or check status easily with a simple request in Teams.
Workflow Automation
A robust ticketing system will let you define triggers and rules to automate parts of the ticketing workflow. With automations, you can update information such as:
- Status.
- Priority.
- Category.
You may want to categorize requests based on priority, department, or the type of issue. The solution should let you categorize and prioritize instantly, while simultaneously assigning tickets to the right triage channels based on your predefined rules.
For example, you can send tickets related to new employee onboarding to the agents tasked with handling computer assignments and software licensing.
Self-Service Chatbot and Knowledge Base
Self-service options let end users troubleshoot problems and find answers independently, without the delay of human intervention. As a result, your agents have fewer low-priority and often repetitive tickets to handle. You can use a knowledge base (KB) to publish information such as:
- FAQs.
- Service updates.
- Troubleshooting guides.
To take your comprehensive KB to the next level, the use of a chatbot to automatically serve up your KB articles using AI-powered ticket deflection and natural language processing (NLP). For example, if an end user is experiencing issues with emails not sending, they may reach out stating a problem with Outlook. You could have a deflection in place to serve up an article about ensuring Outlook is in online mode which is likely to resolve their issue. If it does not, allow them to proceed with opening the ticket if the offered KB article does not resolve their issue.
Additionally, you can build custom forms for common tickets to expedite the collection of relevant information prior to an agent’s involvement. For example, if you need a new laptop a form can be used to collect all relevant information
If further help is necessary, the IT ticketing application will automatically create and send a ticket.
Reporting, Analysis and Insights
You may want your ticketing system to go beyond incident management. Almost all ticket management solutions will help you identify, log and diagnose an incident. Your agents can then resolve it as quickly as possible, pending resources available.
If you want to take action to prevent future incidents, you need more from your ticketing solution. Reporting and analysis can help you understand the cause of certain incidents. You can:
- Identify trends.
- Detect recurring issues.
- Identify future risks related to current issues.
These insights can help you design strategies to avoid issues in the future.
Reporting features can also help you see how your team is performing. Top IT ticketing solutions let you access real-time data. Metrics may include the number of tickets closed and the average time to resolve issues but can extend to any relevant metric your organization is concerned with.
You can see which team members might need more training. You can improve end user satisfaction by reducing the time to resolve issues. This also boosts the overall productivity of your organization.
Benefits of a Microsoft Ticketing System Like Tikit
Tikit is a Microsoft 365 Service Desk that matures with your Microsoft 365 adoption, removing barriers between users and data, so you can remove friction between IT and employees. Designed for Microsoft Teams, Tikit removes barriers between users and data, allowing employees to work wherever they want. This is accomplished through seamless and secure integration, using your existing Microsoft 365 configuration. Open and work tickets in Teams, access device data from Intune, kickoff automations with Power Automate and build dashboards in Power BI. The more Microsoft cloud technology you use, the more powerful Tikit becomes.
Choose Your Tikit Plan
Tikit offers you two convenient plans to meet the needs of your business: Microsoft Teams Ticketing and Microsoft 365 Service Desk.
Microsoft Teams Ticketing
Microsoft Teams Ticketing is a true ticketing solution. You can easily convert chats and emails into tickets in Teams, utilize AI-powered ticket deflection, work with templates and reporting with basic out-of-the-box reports. You benefit from an onboarding specialist as well as chat and email support from our U.S.-based team.
Microsoft 365 Service Desk
Microsoft 365 Service Desk is a comprehensive service desk that supports mature processes with advanced integrations and capabilities. It includes everything in Teams Ticketing plus features such as:
- Full API access.
- Connectors for Intune, Power Automate and Power BI.
- SLAs.
- Multiple Departments.
With Tikit’s M365 Service Desk, you can add Tikit to unlimited teams. You’ll work with a dedicated customer success manager to ensure you’re getting the most from your ITSM solution.
See the Benefits of Tikit for Your Business
Microsoft Teams Ticketing from Tikit is a complete IT ticketing solution. You’ll benefit from better ticket management, workflow automation and reporting insights. Tikit integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft 365 environment. Installation and configuration take 60 minutes or less.
Try it for yourself, with a free 14-day trial. We are so confident in Tikit’s capabilities, we’ll set it up for free to ensure you are getting the most out of your free trial. Schedule your complimentary setup call today!
