Issue Tracking System 

Issue Tracking System – What is it? … What is it used for you ask? Basically, it is what it sounds like it is. It is a system that tracks your issues. Or more technically, it is a computerized software program that manages and maintains an organization’s data in regards to issues or cases. It is commonly referred to as ITS, trouble ticket system, support tickets, incident tracking, etc. They are generally used in customer support call centres or help desks to create, update and resolve reported customer issues or internal employee issues.

Issue tracking systems include some type of ticket element. Each support ticket should include all the vital information for the account involved, such as date, time, names, the issue encountered, resolution status and details. Each ticket will have its own unique reference number (also known as a case, issue or call log number) for easy reference and identification for tracking. The system should also include a resource bank, sometimes referred to as a knowledge base (information on customers, resolutions to common problems, and other relevant usual data to reference).

The reason these are called tickets is because when they first originated prior to computerization, they were actual small cards or tickets. They worked within a traditional physical wall-mounted work planning system. The operators or staff would receive a call or query from a user, and would fill out a card with all the pertinent details and a summary of the request, and place the card in one of the pending slots based on priority ranking for a technician to work on it. Systems now work on the same basis, but are highly automated and computerized.

As for the particular issues, they can have varying aspects to them or rankings. Each issue in the system may have an importance or urgency value assigned to it, and would be dealt with depending on the ranking assigned to it. For example, low urgency issues would be minor and should be resolved as time permits, and high urgency would go to the top, be flagged, and be dealt with immediately.

Other details of issues include the customer experiencing the issue, date of submission, detailed descriptions of the problem being experienced, attempted solutions or workarounds, prior history of issues, other relevant circumstances, etc.

The benefits of an issue tracking system are that is not only manages the tickets, but it provides a history, allowing for future statistical analysis of volumes, issue resolution, quality assurance, customer service, time management, customer feedback, etc.

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