Switch to an automated ticketing system and say goodbye to manual processes

In today's digital age, customers demand prompt and efficient assistance from the businesses they interact with. In fact, 83% of support teams have reported an increase in customer expectations, according to our report “Customer Service Trends 2023.”

While our data shows that 40% of support teams are confident they can meet those wishes, fulfilling these demands can be a hurdle, particularly with the rising influx of queries.

It's no wonder that customer care leaders are prioritizing self-service tools to manage high contact center volumes. Out of the companies surveyed by McKinsey, 77% claim they've established digital platforms, yet merely 10% assert that these platforms have been widely embraced by their customers. 

The obstacle in the way of larger-scale adoption by customers? The first potential stumbling block is that the channels aren't integrated properly to the existing tech stack. The second is that customers often struggle to solve problems on their own without assistance from a human representative.

To bridge the gap between customer expectations and support teams' capacities, companies could invest in automated ticket resolution.

In this article, we'll delve into the concept of an automated ticketing system and its benefits for customer support. We'll show you the key attributes this type of tool can offer your business and explain why you should absolutely consider adding it to your arsenal.

We'll also give you some examples of AI-powered ticketing features and analyze the top five platforms  of 2023. Finally, you'll see a step-by-step guide to implementing an automated ticketing system. 

What is a support ticket?

A support ticket serves as a record of customer interactions with support representatives. In simple terms, when a customer submits a query or request for resolution, a ticket is generated, accessible to both the customer and the support reps.

At Intercom, however, we have a more specific interpretation of this concept. For us, a support ticket is employed for managing customer requests, as opposed to mere queries.

A query typically involves a customer seeking information from a brand and can be addressed promptly using tools like a messenger, chatbot, or automated flows. A request, on the other hand, usually demands more time to be fully resolved, as customer support teams often need to collaborate with specialists from other departments to address it.

What is an automated ticketing system?

An automated ticketing system is a software designed to handle incoming support requests from customers without burdening representatives with repetitive tasks and processes. Its goal is to make the demand easier to track and resolve—both for the business and the customer.

One of the key roles of an automated ticketing system is to collect customer information upfront, thereby reducing the need for back-and-forth communication.

Another important aspect of an automated ticketing system is real-time updates. Businesses can use the system to automatically keep their customers informed via email or messaging platforms like Messenger.

Finally, workflows can also benefit from automation efforts. With a visual and no-code builder system, like the one we have at Intercom, businesses can assign ticket types to specific teams, escalate critical issues to higher management, and perform other tasks based on predefined rules.

What are the benefits of an automated ticket resolution?

1. It maximizes team productivity

Implementing an automated ticketing system is a wise move for teams looking to improve productivity. To give you an idea of how enthusiastic customer service departments are about the potential of this technology, our 2023 report “The State of AI in Customer Service” showed that 66% of support leaders are excited about leveraging AI and automation to increase team efficiency.

By automating the creation, assignment, and tracking of tickets, this type of tool offers a streamlined approach that saves time and minimizes errors. This, in turn, frees up team members to focus on more critical or challenging tasks.

2. It facilitates ticket prioritization

An automated ticketing system facilitates ticket prioritization by assigning levels of urgency to each request based on user attributes, message content, company data and more.

The ticket automation platform can also prioritize requests according to the customer's service level agreement (SLA), which specifies the time frame within which the support team needs to resolve the issue. This helps the team to focus on the most important requests first, ensuring that the most pressing ones are resolved quickly and efficiently.

3. It helps personalize support at scale

According to Klaus’s 2023 Customer Service Quality Benchmark Report, 72% of mid-size companies are investing in automation this year. One of the pain points motivating this investment could be companies’ desire to scale their teams while maintaining quality support for their customers.

The good news is that an automated ticket resolution tool can help you personalize support at scale by capturing and storing customer information and previous interactions in a centralized platform. It can also integrate with your existing tech stack (e.g.: your chosen CRM) to provide in-depth knowledge about your audience, like the volume of orders.

This allows the support team to access the customer's history and preferences quickly, enabling them to personalize each interaction.

4. It improves resolution time

Another great benefit of automated ticketing systems is their ability to improve resolution times by streamlining routine tasks and allowing team members to focus on more complex issues.

For example, support reps can spend more time troubleshooting and resolving problems that require more in-depth investigation, such as billing discrepancies or product bugs.

5. It enhances deflection rate

Deflection rate measures the percentage of customer inquiries that are resolved without requiring assistance from a support representative. In other words, it's the rate at which customers are "deflected" away from contacting support and towards self-service options such as FAQs, knowledge bases, or chatbots.

A high deflection rate indicates that customers are finding the answers they need autonomously, which can help to reduce support costs and free up agents to handle more complex issues.

An automated ticketing system can handle simple questions and suggest knowledge base articles based on the terms used by your customers or employees.

Key features an automated ticketing system should offer

1. Automated ticket routing

Automated ticket routing guarantees that each customer request is assigned to the right team or representative based on predefined criteria, such as expertise or availability. With this feature, companies can save time and provide prompt and accurate responses to their  customers.

2. Workflow automation

Workflow automation is a must-have feature, as it eliminates the need for manual intervention in most customer support processes.

Workflow automation allows organizations to easily identify repetitive tasks (such as assigning tickets to the right agent, escalating high-priority issues, and sending notifications to customers) and automate them, which can lead to faster resolution times and improved customer satisfaction.

3. Omnichannel support

Another important feature is omnichannel support. This refers to the seamless integration between multiple communication channels, including email, phone, chat, and social media.

Omnichannel support enables customers to reach out to businesses through their preferred channels without having to send the same query in multiple forms.

It also has great benefits for support reps, who have the ability to manage conversations coming from several different channels from a centralized inbox. Additionally, in this inbox, they have the option of turning a conversation into a ticket with just one click, which helps them to keep track of the issue.

4. Advanced team collaboration

The system should allow agents to collaborate seamlessly, share information, and work together to resolve customer problems. Advanced team collaboration features such as internal notes, mentions, and ticket assignments help agents work together more efficiently.

5. Real-time reporting

Real-time reporting provides managers with instant insights into the performance of their support team. With this feature, leaders can monitor key metrics such as ticket volume, response time, resolution time, and customer satisfaction, among others.

6. System integrations

An automated ticketing system should integrate with other tools that a business uses to provide a more comprehensive view of customer interactions.

Top-rated help desk software with ticket collaboration capabilities

Now that we have presented the benefits and main features that an automated ticketing system should offer, it's time to consider the available solutions.

There are several ticket management tools in the market, each with their unique set of features and capabilities. Some popular options include Intercom, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Zoho Desk, and Hubspot Service.

These tools offer comprehensive automation features such as ticket prioritization, routing, and escalation, which can help streamline support operations and enhance customer satisfaction.

Let’s take a closer look at them.

1. Intercom

Intercom is a comprehensive AI-powered customer service solution that offers AI chatbot, help desk, and proactive support solutions all in one system.

With Intercom, you can keep support reps happy and customers satisfied. It also maximizes productivity with a central workspace that seamlessly connects with your existing tech stack.

Main features

• AI-enhanced team inbox, which allows users to summarize conversations, expand replies, rephrase answers, or change tone with AI assistance.

• Conversations via email, WhatsApp, live chat, phone, and social all route directly to your team inbox.

• Team workload automation with assignment rules, SLAs, time-saving bots, and more.

• Allows customers to track, and take action on all their team’s tickets through a company portal.

• Self-service resources (help center and bots).

Pricing

• Free trial: 14 days

• Starter: $74/month (Includes 2 seats, $19 per additional seat)

• Pro: $395/month (Includes 5 seats, $79 per additional seat)

• Premium: customized price

Find out how we calculate price here.

2. Zendesk

Zendesk offers an omnichannel customer service solution focused on scaling companies' assistance offering and remaining flexible to changes in the market. Although it has interesting automation features, it is not setting the pace when it comes to applying artificial intelligence.

Main features

• Unified agent workspace

• Self-service resources (community forum, help center and bots)

• Intelligent ticket routing

• Reporting and analytics

Pricing:

• Free trial: 14 days

• Support Team: $19 per agent/month

• Support Professional: $55 per agent/month

Support Enterprise: $115 per agent/month

3. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support software that enables companies to provide multi-channel assistance. Like other platforms in the market, it’s equipped with ticketing management, automation and collaboration features.

Main Features

• Integrated ticketing across email and social

• SLA management & business hours

• Ticket Dispatch 

• Knowledge Base 

• 24x7 email support

Pricing:

• Free trial: 21 days

• Growth: $18 per agent/month

• Pro: $59 per agent/month

• Enterprise: $95 per agent/month

4. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is a platform designed to help businesses manage customer support activities.

Main features:

• Omnichannel ticketing

• Response editor

• Sentiment analysis

• Smart ticket routing

• Knowledge management

Pricing:

• Free trial: 15 days

• Standard: $20 per user/month

• Professional: $35 per user/month

• Enterprise: $50 per user/month

5. Hubspot Service Hub

Hubspot Service Hub is a ticketing system with features like email automation and feedback surveys at its core. However, the tool becomes more expensive as companies need more advanced or personalized features.

Main features:

• Ticketing management (prioritization, assignment, and escalation)

• Embedded dashboards to identify service trends

Pricing:

• Free trial: Not available (it offers a basic free plan)

• Starter Service Hub: $20/month

• Professional Service Hub: $500/month

• Enterprise Service Hub: $1,200/month

To make your choice even easier, we created a user satisfaction score table (based on G2 User Satisfaction Ratings) for some of the main benefits that a help desk software with ticket collaboration capabilities should offer:

Steps to implement an automated ticketing system

If you're looking to simplify your support processes and enhance customer satisfaction, an automated ticketing system can be the way to go. Here's a useful guide to help you get started:

1. Determine your support team's requirements

In order to better understand your team's workload and optimize their performance, it's important to conduct an assessment of the types of tickets they receive, the frequency at which they come in, and the amount of time it takes to respond to each individual query. 

This information can provide valuable insights into how to improve response times and prioritize tasks through an automated ticketing system for maximum efficiency.

2. Understand customer expectations

To provide optimal support, it's important to know what your customers expect. Take into account feedback, common complaints, and frequently asked questions.

3. Select the appropriate tool

With various ticketing systems available, it's crucial to choose one that matches your team's needs and can be integrated with your current tools. Here are some tips:

• Consider the system's functionalities, such as automation, reporting, and customization options.

• Check for ease of setup and user-friendliness to ensure seamless adoption by your team.

• Look for a system with good customer support and training resources to assist with implementation and ongoing usage.

• Ponder the cost and scalability of the system to guarantee that it meets your current and future needs.

• Read reviews and feedback from other users to gain insight into the system's effectiveness and suitability for your team.

4. Map tasks that can be automated

One way to map out tasks suitable for automation is to identify those that are performed regularly and have a defined set of steps, such as ticket routing, ticket assignment, and follow-ups.

Then, you can assess the feasibility of automating each task based on the complexity, frequency, and value it adds to your business – that is, find out which will have the greatest impact on productivity and efficiency when automated.

5. Monitor and optimize

Once the ticket automation tool is in place, you need to create detailed documentation outlining the steps involved in the process. This documentation should include screenshots, step-by-step instructions, and any other relevant information that will help your automation efforts be consistent and accurate. With this information, you can test and refine the automation process over time.

Automate repetitive tasks at scale with Intercom

As this article has hopefully demonstrated, an automated ticketing system is no longer merely an optional tool in your company’s arsenal – at least not if you want to exceed customer expectations, ease the burden on your support representatives, and remain competitive in the market.

But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. With our AI-powered automation solution, customers are able to get answers to their queries, any time of day. That way you can resolve issues instantly, increase team efficiency, and make customers happier with cutting-edge features that simplify and streamline their interactions with your company. 

Ready to leverage the power of the Intercom platform? Start your free trial today and automate processes across channels, borders, and apps.