In the age of information technology, the issue tracking software has become one of the best tools in improving a lot of organizations. A lot of companies from the customer service, technical support, request management and IT industry utilize this software to help them provide better service to their clients and customers.
What Is Issue Tracking Software?
As what the name implies, issue tracking software is a computer application that manages and maintains a list of issues as required by the company. This usually includes a database of the clients and customer names, their contact information, all the products or services the company provides, and resolutions to common issues. This is normally being used by the people in the customer service or technical support department of a company. Also, there are software developers that are using this alongside a bug tracking software to help them in tracking bugs on the software they have developed.
What Are the Benefits and Features of Issue Tracking Software?
There are several benefits of using the best issue tracking software. Below are some of them.
- The centralized location of customer concerns. Through the help of an issue tracking software, all your customers’ queries, issues, and concerns can all be logged in one place. It will be easier for anyone in the company who has access to the software to track and review the issues. Unlike when issues are just logged and saved via email, an issue tracking software will be able to easily let you retrieve the concern. Most issue tracking software log the customer’s concern in a form of tickets where it will be assigned to a case number.
- Customer information database. Aside from the issues logged, the software also acts as a storage of customer information. Details like the customers’ company information, email address, and phone number are stored and can easily be linked to the issues reported by the client.
- Easier issue retrieval. Since the issues are logged with a particular ticket, it would be easier to pull up the record of the customers’ concerns. Thus, your customers will be able to get information about the concerns raised easily whenever they follow up. They could just provide their reference number when they call your support line.
- Ticket ownership. The majority of issue tracking software nowadays have a way to assign tickets to particular people who will be handling the raised issue. Thus, it will be easier to know who is in charge of a particular problem to get further updates.
- Knowledge base creation. The best issue tracking software usually creates a knowledge base of the common resolutions for the reported issues. This helps to get the customers’ issues easily resolved since past solutions that have worked are already stored and can be easily searched and retrieved.
- Improved communication. Everyone who has permission and access to the software will be able to see the updates on issues instantaneously. Whatever update entered by the person handling the ticket can be viewed by the other members as well. For most issue tracking software, the customer who reported the issue can also be directly emailed through the application.
- Automatic notifications. Some notifications can also be set to send emails to specific people. For example, automatic replies to the customer as soon as the ticket is logged can be set. Automatic email to the person the ticket will be assigned to can also be customized. Notifications to supervisors can be sent if the ticket is still open after a set number of days.
- Productivity tracking. The issue tracking software also has the capability to track the time spent on every ticket. It can show how long it took for a technician to resolve an issue.
- The issue tracking software can also provide reports and figures of a different aspect of the support or business. For example, it can show you how many customers are experiencing a particular known issue. Or how many tickets a support staff was able to resolve in a week.
- Some of the best issue tracking systems are web-based so they are accessible anywhere as long as there’s internet connection. Because of this, work can be done anytime and anywhere.
These features will surely improve the quality of service your company provides. More detailed information about issue tracking software can be found on their official websites and also from review sites like CrowdReviews.com. Compare issue tracking software around and see which one has most of the best features.
How Does Issue Tracking Software Work?
Take a look at the workflow on how the typical issue tracking software would work. Wikipedia lists the following scenario to demonstrate the usual flow.
- When the customers encounter a problem, the customer service will be made aware through phone calls and emails. A messaging system and an automatic error reporting are designed in some applications.
- They will be briefed about the concern, ensuring that they have all the needed information for troubleshooting. The technician will assure that the problem is actually happening in order for them to accurately address the issue.
- After the customer has provided the necessary details, the technician will key in all the data.
- The system will then be updated with a new data. Every change and update made will be recorded in the issue system including the ticket status.
- The concern will appear as settled once the concern has been totally cleared up.
If the problem reoccurs, the ticket can be reopened and further investigation can be done. It can either be re-assigned or escalated to another person or another department.
Choosing the issue tracking software for your business
In choosing the issue tracking software for your business, it will be helpful to do some research first before buying a software or a solution package. You can check and compare issue tracking software in the market today. There are blogs online from software users and programmers alike which you can read to get ideas on how to choose the right software. There are several online review sites where you could see comparisons of the different issue tracking software. These review websites can show both the good and the bad on every software since some of the reviews are coming from the actual users who have already experienced using the application.
Reviews of issue tracking software can also be found on YouTube. Aside from these reviews, there are also tutorials that could give you a better idea of the features the software has and how to use them.
You can also compare issue tracking software by checking their official websites. The software websites usually boast the benefits and features of their software. There are also some that offer free trials. Take advantage of these free trials. It will be beneficial in the selection process. This will give you the chance to actually use their software and experience its features. During the trial period, you might discover some concerns or bugs of the software.
Once you already have narrowed down your choices, you can also request a demo from the software developers. Most software development companies have sales departments which usually handles the selling of their product. They can provide you a demo on how their software works and its features. If you were able to try their software initially and have noticed some bugs, this is a good venue to raise them so you could get an immediate response from the makers of the software.
Another thing to consider in helping you decide on which issue tracking software to use is if the software company provides a customer server or technical support for their customers. It will always be helpful if there’s a helpline to assist you with any concerns or queries about the software you are using.
Using the issue tracking software is a powerful tool to improve your company’s customer service which will then boost customer satisfaction. Happy customers can lead to more sales. Thus, it will make your company more profitable. Compare issue tracking software now and pick the best one for your business. If you’re already a big business, it is advisable to hire a business analyst to help you analyze and assess the needs of your company.
What Is the Top Issue Tracking Software?
In no particular order, below are some of the best issue tracking software in the market today according to online reviews:
- Kayako
- ServiceNow
- Zoho Support
- Jira
- Freshdesk
- Accelo
Are you looking for issue tracking software? Visit CrowdReviews.com to check and compare issue tracking software in the market.
Trevor Price
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