Jira ticketing system 101. How do you set it up to get the best results?

Slow issue resolution can lead to unhappy customers who take their business elsewhere.

That’s where the Jira ticketing system comes in. 

It lets your team effectively manage all issues, from internal technical tickets to customer requests. 

This guide will walk you through a step-by-step process to configure Jira as both: a help desk and an incident management tool. 

Get ready to take full control of your tickets! 

Jira ticket system can help you handle customer support and internal service requests. With the tool, teams can create, track, and resolve issues. Turning customer emails into tasks is easy with Jira. Moreover, you can assign them to the right person and follow the progress until everything’s fixed.

However, flexibility is what makes the Jira ticket system truly stand out. You can customize everything from the details tracked in tickets to the workflow for handling them. This ensures everyone has the necessary information to deal with issues and deliver fully satisfying customer service.

Jira comes in free and paid versions. The good news is the ticketing features are in both. The free plan offers basic ticketing, perfect for small teams or those new to ticketing systems.

Need more advanced features in IT service desk or customization options? Consider upgrading to a paid plan. These plans offer extras like:

And much more. Choosing free or paid depends on your team size, needs, and budget. But no matter which you pick, Jira gives you a strong base for managing customer support and support requests.

Jira aims to make project management and troubleshooting easy. Here’s how different teams can use Jira tickets to keep things running smoothly:

By using the Jira ticketing system, teams can work together efficiently, track progress, and find solutions faster. 

As you can see, Jira lets you set up ticketing systems for many different use cases. You can configure projects, issue types, and workflows. What’s more, with Jira Service Management, a dedicated Atlassian product for ticketing, you get a system that matches your exact needs. 

Here’s how to set up jira service management in the three most popular request scenarios:

The initial setup is quite simple and the process looks the same in each of the three cases. Just click the Create Project in the Projects section in your Jira. It will allow you to create a Jira Service Management project. Choose one from the list, according to what suits you best. 

Then, Jira Service Management will guide you through the next steps. For example, you will be able to choose the request types you will use in the project as incoming tickets: 

No worries if you’re not sure what to pick at this point. Just leave the default request types. You’ll be able to change it later. 

There are multiple ways of customizing Jira and Jira Service Management projects. Here are some tips on what to take care of first. 

Turn on e-mail alerts to be reminded about requests. This way, you’ll never miss anything! You must be a Jira admin to add a custom email account to your project. To do it: 

You can set up chat channels to create requests directly from Slack or Teams messages. It’s also possible to synchronize comments and transition issues. It only takes 2 steps: 

Now it’s time for the best part, which is adding people to your project: 

Congratulations! You and your team have everything you need to start. However, there are more things you can do to customize your Jira Service Management. Let’s move on to request view customization, queues, and SLAs. 

With Marketplace apps you can extend your Jira and Jira Service Management with even more useful features. Here’s a sneak peek of the popular plugins possibilities: 

Customer and IT service agents see requests in a list named queues. They’re available in native Jira Service Management. Thanks to queues they can check details like priority, urgency, and how long it should take to solve issues. 

With Queues for Jira&JSM app, you can manage queues from different projects in a single place. It makes agents’ work easier and more transparent. Here’s what it looks like: 

As demonstrated, with Queues, each team member can display only the requests relevant to them. It keeps things organized and efficient. Client information stays secure, as only authorized people can access it. Also, you decide who can create, edit, or delete requests, ensuring only the right people have control.

Service agreements (SLA) set clear expectations for how quickly agents handle issues. This means both your customers and your team know what to expect. It makes the SLA view especially useful when it comes to Help Desks for external customers. 

For instance, a client might expect an initial response within 2 business hours. But, according to company rules, critical problems should be fixed within 24 hours. With apps like Extension for Jira Service Management, you can display this information on the issue view.

Thanks to this you can be sure that everyone is on the same page. 

For internal incident management, you can use either Jira Software or Jira Service Management. Whatever tool you choose, the key is to prepare intuitive forms for customers and teams. As a result, they will be able to exchange specific information quickly.  

Dynamic Forms for Jira app allows you to create custom forms by choosing the exact fields you wish to display on them. This can simplify the data collection process for your support agents and reduce the amount of time it takes to resolve tickets. 

The process of setting up is simple and based on one configuration page. Here are the steps: 

You can read more on the Dynamic Forms for Jira documentation page. 

When it comes to Jira Service Management, the Extension app gives you the same feature. With the plugin, you can display only essential fields on tickets based on previous choices.

Extension also allows you to group related information in bundles and display more details on your requests view.

Once again: don’t underestimate customization. Preparing everything at the beginning will save you lots of time later on. 

Jira can be a great tool for managing tickets but there are a few common mistakes that can slow you down. Here’s how to avoid them:

It’s tempting to create super complex workflows to handle every situation. But this can confuse your team and slow things down.

Keep it simple. Focus on the main steps and decisions needed to resolve tickets. Skip the fancy extras. Simple workflows mean everyone understands how to use them.

Find the balance. There’s a sweet spot between simple and thorough workflows. You need to cover all the important steps, but avoid getting bogged down in too much detail.

Map it out. Start by outlining the basic steps for resolving a typical ticket. Then, add any key decision points. Get your team involved to review and refine your workflows for the perfect balance.

Without clear rules on how to manage tickets, things can get messy fast.

Set expectations. Make clear, concise guidelines for ticket creation and management. This should cover things like:

Make it easy to find. Put these guidelines somewhere so that everyone can easily access them. This helps ensure everyone’s on the same page.

Keep it consistent. Creating guidelines is just the first step. Make sure your team understands and follows them! Train your team and use regular check-ins to discuss ticketing practices.

Jira is flexible, but using it without any customization is a missed opportunity. A generic system might not fit your team’s unique needs.

Get the perfect fit. Take time to explore Jira’s customization options and tailor it to your team. This could include:

Invest in customization. By customizing Jira, you create a system that feels built for your team, improving your work processes.

Find the right apps. Look for apps in the Atlassian Marketplace that address your team’s specific challenges. With the right plugins, you can optimize your Jira ticketing system for the best efficiency. 

The base of a functional Jira system lies in clear ticket categories and priorities. Additionally, use labels that are easy to understand and reflect the ticket’s nature. Avoid creating too many categories. Regularly review and update them to stay relevant. Define clear criteria for each priority level (High, Medium, Low).

You can use Jira’s automation features for optimization. They let you assign tickets based on rules and update statuses for specific conditions. You can also set up notifications to keep stakeholders informed. Moreover, it’s smart to use escalation automation for high-priority tickets. It will inform your agents if some important issues remain unresolved beyond a set timeframe.

Schedule regular check-ins with the team to discuss what you can improve in your Jira. Analyze key metrics like resolution time, customer satisfaction, and team progress. It will help you identify bottlenecks. Based on your findings, make changes to your ticketing system. For example, update categories, adjust priority levels, or refine automation rules for automating tasks in Jira.

Actively seek feedback and suggestions for improvement from your team. Supporting a collaborative, open work environment leads to valuable insights. Stay up-to-date with the latest Atlassian news and best practices. By staying in the loop, you’ll be able to spot any new optimization opportunities quickly.

Whenever you make changes to the ticketing system, talk about them with your team. Provide any necessary training to help everyone adapt to the updates. This ensures all team members are on the same page and can use the updated system.

To sum up, ticketing systems keep software teams organized. They track issues, bugs, and feature requests in one place. This makes it easy for everyone to see what needs to be done and who’s working on it. Teams can also talk about problems together and learn from past solutions.

Jira can do more than just software development. It helps teams manage customer service, internal requests, and technical problems. Along with Jira Service Management, they can make your support and IT agents’ work easier.

Truly use the features the tool can offer. Create custom workflows that fit your needs. Use clear categories to organize requests. Built-in collaboration features will keep everyone on the same page.

Also, create intuitive service projects for easy navigation. Let customers find answers themselves with self-service options. Offer a central knowledge base with helpful resources.

At last, organize and prioritize work with custom details. See everything clearly and have full control over your team’s ticketing.

What steps can you take right away?

Good luck!