Kapitel 1. Introduction

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Trouble-Ticket-Systeme - die Grundlagen
Was ist ein Trouble-Ticket-System, und warum benötigen Sie eins?
Was ist ein Trouble-Ticket?
OTRS-Helpdesk
Grundlagen
Features
Hardware und Software-Anforderungen
Community
Professional Services for OTRS

Trouble-Ticket-Systeme - die Grundlagen

This chapter offers a brief introduction to trouble ticket systems, along with an explanation of the core concept of a trouble ticket. A quick example illustrates the advantages of using such a system.

Was ist ein Trouble-Ticket-System, und warum benötigen Sie eins?

Das folgende Beispiel soll verdeutlichen, was ein Trouble Ticket System ist und wie Sie damit in Ihrem Unternehmen Zeit und Geld eingesparen können.

Let's imagine that Max is a manufacturer of video recorders. Max receives many messages from customers needing help with the devices. Some days, he is unable to respond promptly or even acknowledge the messages. Some customers get impatient and write a second message with the same question. All messages containing support requests are stored in a single inbox folder. The requests are not sorted, and Max responds to the messages using a regular email program.

Since Max cannot reply fast enough to all the messages, he is assisted by the developers Joe and John in this. Joe and John use the same mail system, accessing the same inbox. They don't realize that Max often gets two identical requests from one frustrated customer. Sometimes they both end up responding separately to the same request, with the customer receiving two different answers. Furthermore, Max is unaware of the details of their responses. He is also unaware of the details of the customer problems and their resolutions, such as which problems occur with high frequency, or how much time and money he has to spend on customer support.

At a meeting, a colleague tells Max about trouble ticket systems and how they can solve Max's problems with customer support. After looking for information on the Internet, Max decides to install OTRS on a computer that is accessible from the web by both his customers and his employees. Now, the customer requests are no longer sent to Max's private inbox but to the mail account that is used for OTRS. The ticket system is connected to this mailbox and saves all requests in its database. For every new request, the system automatically generates an answer and sends it to the customer so that the customer knows that his request has arrived and will be answered soon. OTRS generates an explicit reference, the ticket number, for every single request. Customers are now happy because their requests are acknowledged and it is not necessary to send a second message with the same question. Max, John, and Joe can now log into OTRS with a simple web browser and answer the requests. Since the system locks a ticket that is answered, no message is edited twice.

Stellen wir uns vor, dass Herr Schmidt eine Anfrage ans System gestellt hat und Herr Meier diese kurz und knapp beantwortet. Herrn Schmidt reicht diese Antwort jedoch nicht aus und so antwortet er auf die Lösungsmail am folgenden Tag. Herr Meier ist jedoch gerade mit anderen Dingen beschäftigt, so dass sich Herr Mustermann der Sache annimmt. Über die History-Funktion von OTRS kann er jetzt auf alle vergangenen E-Mails von Herrn Schmidt und Herrn Meier zugreifen, deren Inhalt abfragen und eine ausführlichere Antwort versenden. Herr Schmidt erhält nun die Lösung für sein Problem, weiß aber nicht, dass diese von unterschiedlichen Personen stammt.

Of course, this is only a short preview of the possibilities and features of trouble ticket systems. But if your company has to attend to a high volume of customer requests through emails and phone calls, and if different service representatives need to respond at different times, a ticket system can be of great assistance. It can help streamline work flow processes, add efficiencies, and improve your overall productivity. A ticket system helps you to flexibly structure your Support or Help Desk environment. Communications between customers and service staff become more transparent. The net result is an increase in service effectiveness. And no doubt, satisfied customers will translate into better financial results for your company.

Was ist ein Trouble-Ticket?

Ein Trouble-Ticket lässt sich im Wesentlichen mit einem Krankenblatt eines Krankenhauspatienten vergleichen. Bei der erstmaligen Einlieferung in das Krankenhaus wird das Krankenblatt im Zuge der Anamnese neu angelegt. Jeder Arzt trägt nun seine Diagnose sowie die verordnete Therapie und Medikation ein und dokumentiert deren Erfolg. Das Krankenblatt gibt nun einen schnellen Überblick, gewährleistet eine schnelle Einarbeitung und verhindert eineMehrfachdosierung von Medikamenten. Ist die Krankheit besiegt und der Patient entlassen, wird das Krankenblatt archiviert.

Trouble ticket systems such as OTRS handle trouble tickets like normal email. The messages are saved in the system. When a customer sends a request, a new ticket is generated by the system which is comparable to a new medical report being created. The response to this new ticket is comparable to a doctor's entry in the medical report. A ticket is closed if an answer is sent back to the customer, or if the ticket is separately closed by the system. If a customer responds again on an already closed ticket, the ticket is reopened with the new information added. Every ticket is stored and archived with complete information. Since tickets are handled like normal emails, attachments and contextual annotations will also be stored with each email. In addition, information on relevant dates, employees involved, working time needed for ticket resolution, etc. are also saved. At any later stage, tickets can be sorted, and it is possible to search through and analyze all information using different filtering mechanisms.