6 reasons your business needs service ticket software

Imagine going to a doctor’s surgery with no triage. Instead, everyone just takes a number from the front desk and waits in line until it’s their turn to receive medical support. You’d have a person with a burst appendix waiting while the doctor straps up a broken finger. Or an elderly diabetic behind someone getting a flu shot. The system would pose a real threat to health.

The stakes may not be as high in customer service environments. But like healthcare settings, they thrive on addressing individual needs and assigning support on a case-by-case basis. That’s where service ticket software comes into play, which we’ll explore in detail in this guide. We also introduce six examples of ticketing system software for the best service management, including monday service.

What is ticketing system software?

Ticketing system software manages and tracks service requests from customers or your internal teams. Each ticket represents a specific need, like fixing a broken laptop, addressing a software bug, or helping a new hire set up their payroll information.

Both the user who raised the issue and the service teams handling it can view and update the ticket with relevant information. This streamlines the resolution process, using a centralized data repository to provide 24/7 accessibility for all parties.

How does a ticketing system work?

Ticketing software typically involves the following steps:

Step 1: The service ticket is created

Two types of tickets exist—automated and user-generated tickets. Automated tickets may be generated in response to a certain trigger, like if the WiFi goes down. Meanwhile, users can also create their own manual tickets in a variety of ways, such as:

• Using a self-service portal to log the service request
• Calling a customer service phone number to speak to live agents who will create the ticket on the user’s behalf
• Walking up to an organization’s customer support operations and asking the agent to log your issue
• Interacting with an AI chatbot, which acts as a virtual agent to create the ticket

Each ticket will be tagged with a case ID number making it easy to track. It contains essential information the service team needs to know about the issue; for example, the name of the person reporting the problem, when it occurred, whether it’s happened before, how it’s impacting the user, and more. Each person working on the ticket can add their own private notes to provide additional context as the case progresses.

Step 2: The service ticket is routed

The software will route incoming tickets and assign them to appropriate agents. Prioritization is based on factors like:

• The urgency of the issue and the impact on the user and business
• The user’s status (for example, customers with a specific service level agreement may be prioritized)
• Which service agents are available to handle the request

Step 3: The software tracks and manages the service ticket

The ticketing software will send notifications to service team members and users, providing relevant, timely updates as the ticket progresses. The software also provides a centralized dashboard where agents can view all incoming requests, their current status, and any necessary follow-up actions.

Step 4: The software closes the ticket

Once the issue has been resolved, your service team member will tag the ticket as “closed,” which will update all relevant parties. The completed ticket will be stored in the software’s database, providing valuable data for future reference and analysis.

Example: A senior manager can’t access a shared drive they need to prep for a presentation the following day. They submit an urgent ticket through the self-service portal, triggering an automated response that their request has been received. The software routes the ticket to a higher priority queue due to the senior manager’s role in the organization and the urgency of the deadline. A service agent picks up the ticket and begins troubleshooting, communicating updates to the senior manager through the software. The issue is resolved within 30 minutes.

Why you need service ticket software

Help desk software is an investment that delivers the following benefits for your organization:

1. Service ticket software centralizes communication

Keeping all communication in one spot improves collaboration. There’s no guesswork among team members or arguments over who’s handling what. Knowledge management improves, as all the information your service team members need is there in black and white. And if an issue spans several shifts or needs to be referred to different specialists, it’s easy to review the internal notes and understand the case history up until this point.

2. Service ticket software provides visibility for users

Ticketing software with self-service options allows users to check in periodically and understand how their problem is progressing without waiting in a phone queue to obtain their update. This visibility dramatically enhances customer satisfaction—they can see the latest notes, who is working on a specific problem, and when to expect a resolution.

3. Service ticket software enhances efficiency

Efficiency is one of the main selling points of ticketing software. Workflow automations handle repetitive tasks like providing email notifications to users or checking which service agents are available to work on an issue. Once you remove these manual tasks from your service team, they can achieve resolutions faster.

Resource allocation is also improved, as the software will automatically assign cases to the next agent, making use of people with the right skills and availability to ensure excellent customer service.

4. Service ticket software sets expectations

From a user perspective, one of the worst parts of handing over an issue to a service team is the loss of control. The customer or internal employee doesn’t know if they’ll be waiting a few minutes or a few weeks for a resolution. Automated ticket notifications can set expectations by stating when the user can expect a follow-up. You might use a canned response such as “We will respond within 8 business hours,” or offer more personalized information, like “Your ticket is fifth in the queue—we expect your average wait time to be 1 hour.”

5. Service ticket software shapes customer service improvements

Analyzing how long it takes to resolve different types of issues can help you set service level expectations. You may find that certain types of customer tickets take longer than they should, highlighting areas in which your service team needs additional training or resources. Or, if a specific product consistently triggers numerous support requests, perhaps it’s time for an update or redesign.

6. Service ticket software provides real-time data

Besides reflecting on your processes, ticketing software provides data enabling you to improve your workflows in real time to deliver exceptional service. Dashboards with built-in reporting features can highlight any bottlenecks, or if a large number of tickets are related to the same issue, you can take immediate action.

5 types of services covered by ticketing system software

Ticketing system software is all about arming people with the details they need to offer effective support. It relies on automated workflows and notifications to keep queries moving along the conveyor belt, so they change from “logged” to “resolved” as quickly as possible. Ticketing software uses this framework to cover multiple different services, including:

IT help desk system

An IT support ticketing system enables you to handle technical service requests for both hardware and software. For example, users can log requests for new equipment or report issues with their existing devices.

Customer service ticket system

From shipping inquiries to product complaints, customer service ticketing systems equip your support team to manage all customer queries swiftly and efficiently through one unified platform.

HR ticketing system

Human resources departments can leverage help desk software to streamline employee inquiries and concerns. This may include requests for time off, benefits information, or general questions about company policies.

Issue tracking system

An issue tracking system, or ITS, is a type of ticketing system that specifically focuses on identifying, documenting, and resolving technical issues. ITS systems are commonly used in software development to track and manage bugs or glitches.

Security incident management system

There’s no time to lose when security incidents hit your business. Events like data breaches or network intrusions trigger automatic ticket routing, ensuring your experts can immediately jump on the complex tasks required to firefight in these emergency situations.

6 examples of customer service ticket software

Each ticketing software has its own spin on how to best support service teams and their user bases. Here are six options you might consider to shape all your customer interactions:

1. monday service

Best for: Teams seeking a highly customizable, all-in-one service platform with advanced automations and a user-friendly interface.

monday service is a dedicated, single platform that connects directly with every moving part of your organization so your service operations can move from a place of reactivity to proactivity. Built on top of the monday.com Work OS, our advanced ticketing platform offers unparalleled ease-of-use, no-code customizability, and powerful AI automations-

Key features

monday service offers advanced features, including:

• Ticketing boards with an intuitive user interface
• Out-of-the-box solutions for a variety of service use cases, such as ticket management, SLA configurations, multi-channel support, customer portals, and more
• Smart ticket automation using AI for automatic ticket classification
• Self-service customer experiences
• Knowledge base assistance

Pricing

monday service allows you to take a free 14-day trial of our premium plans before you commit, with no credit card required. The packages below require a three-seat minimum. Check out our pricing page for more details.

• Standard: From $26 seat/mo for unlimited tickets
• Pro: From $38 seat/mo
• Enterprise: Custom pricing is tailored to your needs.

2. Zendesk

Best for: Scalable customer support solutions

Zendesk is a customer service software with built-in intelligent routing, meaning tickets are automatically sent to a suitable agent for the job. The platform includes workforce engagement management functionality, enabling you to optimize staffing resources and view your data in one place.

Key features

• Messaging and voice chat capabilities
• AI and automation
• Help center

Pricing

Zendesk offers a free trial before upgrading to one of these premium plans.

• Zendesk Suite Team: From $55
• Zendesk Suite Growth: From $89
• Zendesk Suite Professional: From $115
• Zendesk Suite Enterprise: Custom quotes are available.

3. Zoho Desk

Best for: Budget-friendly ticketing with automation features

Zoho Desk is an online service platform designed to support the customer experience. Along with other Zoho products, Desk includes Zia, the built-in AI assistant that automates and streamlines service activities.

Key features

• Omnichannel ticketing system
• Guided conversations to support the self-service experience
• Contextual support to help customer service agents

Pricing

Zoho Desk offers a 15-day free trial before the following paid plans:

• Standard: From $14 per user
• Professional: From $23 per user
• Enterprise: From $40 per user

4. HubSpot Service

Best for: Small companies requiring a free ticketing tool

HubSpot Service is a ticketing and help desk solution that connects to your CRM database to deliver personalized, AI-powered support to customers.

Key features

• 24/7 availability via the Breeze agent
• Insights to improve customer loyalty
• SLA management

Pricing

HubSpot Service offers a free forever plan for small businesses. The price quickly ramps up as you add more seats.

• Service Hub Free: For up to 2 users
• Service Hub Starter: $20 per core seat/mo
• Service Hub Professional: $100 per service seat/mo
• Service Hub Enterprise: Accurate pricing is available on request.

5. Jira Service Management

Best for: IT and DevOps teams seeking an advanced tool to manage technical requests, incidents, and operational workflows.

Atlassian’s Jira Service Management is an AI-powered IT service management (ITSM) tool. It’s a popular choice for IT professionals seeking to manage requests, incidents, and problems using automation.

Key features

• AI-powered service management workflows
• Custom integrations with the rest of the Atlassian tech stack, connecting Dev and IT Ops processes
• Problem management functionality grouping similar incidents

Pricing

Jira Service Management has a generous free plan, followed by three premium tiers.

• Free: For up to 10 users
• Standard: From $7.53 per user/mo
• Premium: $13.53 per user/mo
• Enterprise: Custom pricing is available on request.

6. Freshdesk

Best for: Customer support teams aiming to reduce ticket volumes through AI-driven responses.

Freshdesk supports customer service operations by reducing the volume of tickets they receive. Users can use the knowledge base to self-manage their queries or send in emails that are answered by AI bots.

Key features

• Freddy AI for personalized support
• Integration capabilities with a wide range of essential tools
• Multilingual conversations

Pricing

Freshdesk offers fixed pricing, even at enterprise level.

• Free: For up to 2 agents
• Growth: $15 per month
• Pro: $49 per month
• Enterprise: $79 per month

Provide exceptional ticketing support with monday service

Managing service requests is an easy experience if you’re using the right software. While plenty of options are available, monday service stands out as a robust ticketing platform with an intuitive interface. It enables you to lean on technology to put the human touch back into your service operations. Here’s what monday service promises:

• Faster resolution times: With seamless cross-collaboration support, it’s easy to escalate tickets to your second line of support or route them to specialists. Add unlimited approvers and collaborators to your customizable workflows to deliver speedy response times for your user base.

• Full context into tickets: monday service integrates with a range of tech and collaboration tools so you can easily pull conversations, asset management details, org charts, and CRM data into your ticketing software. You’ll have a 360-degree view of all open (or resolved) issues, with each touch point visible from a central workspace.

• Service operation excellence: As the customer requests roll in, you’ll have a clear picture of all the moving parts required to satisfy their needs. With multi-channel support, and dashboards providing at-a-glance visibility into your service operations, you have everything you need to ensure excellence.

• AI-powered service experiences: Smart automation and artificial intelligence handle high ticket volumes with ease. Automatic ticket routing and classification means your human agents spend less time on logistics and more time providing a personalized service.

• Increased agent productivity: Self-service portals remove the need for some customer support tickets entirely, reducing the burden on service agents and providing users with quick answers to their frequently asked questions.

Exceptional service depends on using the right tools to manage requests efficiently, prioritize cases effectively, and keep users informed. monday service is an intuitive and customizable platform that will elevate your service delivery. Take a free trial today.

The content in this article is provided for informational purposes only and, to the best of monday.com’s knowledge, the information provided in this article is accurate and up-to-date at the time of publication. That said, monday.com encourages readers to verify all information directly.