Trouble ticketing software

In a perfect world, all of your customers would be able to use your product with zero problems. While many of them can, there will always be a portion of your customer base that will experience technical difficulties. And since your customers bought your product, and your customer service team consists of knowledgeable product experts, your business will be the first place they go in search of assistance.

As a customer-first organization seeking ways to manage customer service proactively, you may need a robust ticketing platform that allows agents to efficiently create and organize support requests, sometimes known as trouble tickets.

In this guide, we’ll cover some of the most commonly asked questions about trouble ticketing, shed light on the most important features for customer service and internal support teams, and give you a breakdown of the top-rated help desk ticketing system software on the market.

• What is a trouble ticketing system?
• At a glance: Trouble ticket systems
• 10 best trouble ticket software
• Features you should look for in a trouble ticket system
• Benefits of trouble ticket software
• Trouble ticketing best practices
• How to choose the best trouble ticket software in 5 simple steps
• Trouble ticket FAQ
• Try trouble ticket software for free

A trouble ticketing system is a software that records employee and customer complaints and helps agents track, manage, prioritize, and collaborate on tickets until they are able to resolve the user’s problem.

What does a trouble ticket system do?

Trouble ticketing software can create and organize support tickets, which are support requests that come with interaction history data.

When a customer needs tech support, they will typically submit a service request via email, live chat, a chatbot, or a form and describe the issue they’re experiencing. When this happens, the trouble ticketing system can:

• Route the customer or employee to an agent: Trouble ticketing systems can automatically route users to the most appropriate agent based on agent status, capacity, issue priority, and more.
  
• Provide contextual information: When an agent receives a ticket assignment, they can review details about the support request and the notes other agents left after past interactions.
  
• Send prewritten responses: In cases where no one has the correct skill set available, the system can also send a prewritten response to let the customer know that the support team received their request and that someone will reach out to them shortly.
  
• Triage incoming support requests: Modern trouble ticketing tools use AI to prioritize tickets based on customer sentiment, business rules, and intent detection.
  
• Collect customer or employee feedback: Once an issue gets resolved, the system can automatically send a survey to assess customer satisfaction.

Check out these top trouble ticketing software picks of 2023. We chose the featured vendors based on customer reviews and the quality of the features they provide.

Use this list to jump to the vendors you’re interested in to learn more about each company, the platform features, pricing, and free trials.

1. Zendesk

Zendesk impresses with a powerful ticketing system that enables customer and employee service teams to manage incoming support requests from the channels they prefer, such as email, social media, calls, chatbots, WordPress, and community forums. The platform also boasts a low total cost of ownership (TCO) and a high return on investment (ROI) that benefits companies and departments of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprise help desks.

With automated workflows and an AI-powered contextual panel, the software delivers the best agent experience in the market by making it easy for agents to access information about past purchases and interactions without switching between tabs.

Business admins can also configure the Zendesk ticketing software and install out-of-the-box applications to get the most out of the platform.

Features:

• Omnichannel support
• Ticket assignments
• Workflow automation
• Reporting and analytics
• Help center with knowledge base and self-service portal

Pricing:

• Support Team: $19/agent per month
• Support Professional: $55/agent per month
• Support Enterprise: $115/agent per month

• Suite Team: $55/agent per month
• Suite Growth: $89/agent per month
• Suite Professional: $115/agent per month
• Suite Enterprise: Contact sales
  *Plans are billed annually.

Explore Zendesk pricing plans to find the best support package for your company.

Free trial:

14 days

2. Jira Service Management

Jira Service Management—an ITSM (IT service management) tool by Atlassian—connects business and IT operations teams so they can support their customers efficiently.

The platform allows for interdepartmental connectivity and collaboration on a single platform that tracks incidents and ticket updates while monitoring risks to the company. Jira Service Management also has pre-configured workflows and the standard capabilities needed for trouble ticket management.

Features:

• Out-of-the-box ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) processes
• Service level agreement (SLA) management
• Knowledge base builder
• Workflow automation
• Service desk reports
• Application integrations
• Permissions management

Pricing:

• Free: $0 per month (always free for 3 agents)
• Standard: $21 per agent/month
• Premium: $47 per agent/month
• Enterprise: Contact sales

Free trial:

7 days

Learn more about JIRA for Zendesk.

3. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is a trouble ticketing solution for help desks and has capabilities like omnichannel support, self-service, service level agreements, and sentiment analysis.

Zoho Desk also has two mobile apps: the Zoho Desk app for agents and the Radar app for managers.

The Zoho Desk app lets agents monitor ticket updates, view customer information and priority tickets, and reply from anywhere. Radar allows managers to track agent performance and customer service metrics in real time and gather insights from the convenience of their mobile devices.

Features:

• Omnichannel ticketing
• Self-service
• Sentiment analysis
• SLA management
• Contextual support
• Advanced response editor

Pricing:

• Standard: $14 per user/month
• Professional: $23 per user/month
• Enterprise: $40 per user/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

15 days

Learn more about Zoho for Zendesk.

4. Freshdesk

The Freshdesk platform makes it possible for agents to manage various incidents ranging in complexity. The software also meets standard scalability expectations with customization capabilities and access to 1,200+ app integrations.

The omnichannel trouble ticketing tool provides access to essential features from Freshchat and Freshdesk Contact Center (formerly Freshcaller), so businesses can provide full-service support. Also, businesses anticipating an uptick in support requests due to seasonality, the release of a new product, or some other consideration can secure day passes for temporary employees.

Features:

• Ticket field suggester
• Intelligent ticket assignment
• Shared inbox
• Agent collision detection
• SLA management
• Prewritten responses
• Parent-child ticketing
• Self-service

Pricing:

• Free: $0 per month (up to 10 agents)
• Growth: $15 per agent/month
• Pro: $49 per agent/month
• Enterprise: $79 per agent/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

21 days

5. LiveAgent

LiveAgent help desk ticketing software automatically creates trouble tickets when a customer makes an IT request via email, chat, call, or some other platform. Then, using automated workflows and integrations, the platform quickly routes the ticket to an agent.

The IT ticketing software allows users to organize and filter ticket results, access the customer portal and configuration rules, and switch between multiple tabs to answer queries.

LiveAgent also increases team-wide visibility by allowing agents to document and share internal notes and set reminders for daily tasks.

Features:

• Team inbox
• Ticket tagging
• SLA management
• Agent ranking
• Automated ticket distribution
• Agent collision detection
• Omnichannel communication

Pricing:

• Small business: $9 per agent/month
• Medium business: $29 per agent/month
• Large business: $49 per agent/month
• Enterprise: $69 per agent/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

7 or 30 days

6. HappyFox Help Desk

HappyFox trouble ticketing software organizes IT support tickets and simplifies the resolution process for agents. The cloud-based help desk platform offers standard features such as omnichannel ticket management, agent analytics, and knowledge base management.

HappyFox’s help desk software is available for customer support, IT operations, HR, and marketing teams. Along with integrations for many popular business apps, the software enables different teams to refine their workspaces and streamline workflows.

Features:

• Omnichannel ticketing
• Ticket dashboard
• Bulk actions and prewritten responses
• SLA management
• Ticket cloning, merging, and forwarding
• Knowledge base management

Pricing:

• Mighty: $29 per agent/month
• Fantastic: $49 per agent/month
• Enterprise: $69 per agent/month
• Enterprise Plus: $89 per agent/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

Unavailable

Try HappyFox Workflows for Zendesk.

7. SolarWinds Web Help Desk

The SolarWinds Web Help Desk allows small businesses, enterprises, educational establishments, and public sector organizations to manage trouble tickets and increase successful outcomes. The platform manages high-volume communications and support requests with automated ticket generation, routing, and incident tracking.

Administrators and management teams can also view support requests, vendor details, and performance reports for a complete view of customer service operations. The software’s built-in knowledge base empowers customers to troubleshoot and resolve their own issues.

Features:

• Automated trouble ticket generations
• Performance monitoring and reports
• Ticket management
• Centralized knowledge base
• Workflow automation
• SLA management and reporting

Pricing:

• Perpetual: $821 (1 to 5 named users)
• Subscription: $410 per year (1 to 5 named users)

Free trial:

14 days

Learn more about SolarWinds for Zendesk.

8. Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk

Spiceworks IT ticket tracking software exists for startups and companies that are new to issue tracking. The platform is simple and comes with the baseline features businesses need for trouble ticketing. These features include ticket management tools, time-saving automations and workflows, and knowledge base customization.

One major caveat is that businesses sacrifice advanced features and greater flexibility at the lower price point, and some users report that the help desk is a bit underdeveloped. Users must also navigate through advertisements to use the platform because that is how the company keeps its services free.

Features:

• Automatic ticket assignment and routing
• Customizable web portal
• Help desk native mobile app
• Prewritten responses
• Custom knowledge base
• Advanced reports
• Active Directory integration

Pricing:

• Free

Free trial:

Unavailable

9. Jitbit Helpdesk

Jitbit provides an email-first help desk solution for IT support teams to provide customer service across several channels. The system supports standard incoming email protocols such as IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), Microsoft Exchange, POP3 (Post Office Protocol), and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).

Jitbit also comes with automations and integrations to improve productivity and communications. Agents can utilize the Jitbit Helpdesk mobile app to monitor ticket statuses and activity from anywhere.

The platform comes with standard trouble ticketing features like help desk workflow automation, team mailboxes, prewritten responses, and idea forums where users can contribute suggestions and feedback.

Features:

• Mobile help desk
• Help desk automation
• Team mailbox
• Prewritten responses
• Knowledge base

Pricing:

SaaS help desk

• Freelancer: $24.92 per month
• Startup: $58.25 per month
• Company: $108.25 per month
• Enterprise: $208.25 per month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Self-hosted help desk

• Small: $2,199 (one-time perpetual license)
• Company: $3,799 (one-time perpetual license)
• Enterprise: $6,499 (one-time perpetual license)
• Source codes: Contact sales

Free trial:

No expiration

10. ProProfs Help Desk

Businesses can access AI-powered trouble ticketing tools through ProProf's help desk platform. When a customer reports an issue, the platform opens a ticket with contextual information so an agent can follow up and communicate effectively.

ProProfs supports different types of trouble tickets, including requests, incidents, correlational, and alarms. The tool also comes with omnichannel capabilities, self-service, and a mobile app so customers can find answers to their problems in several different ways.

Features:

• Proactive alerts
• Correlational tickets
• Self-service knowledge base with FAQs
• Duplicate reply prevention
• Multichannel support
• Ticket tracking and prioritization
• Agent training modules

Pricing:

• ProProfs Help Desk: $20 per user/month
  *Plan is billed annually.

Free trial:

15 days

Try ProProfs for Zendesk.

As you’re shopping around for the right trouble ticketing system for your business, keep your eyes peeled for these key features to ensure you get the most out of your investment.

Omnichannel support

Your customers communicate over various channels, which means your help desk ticketing software should, too.

Omnichannel support helps support teams consolidate information from all customer interactions into a single channel, even if the original conversation took place over a different one. All the communication systems you use—including email management, live chat software, and social media customer service platforms—should work together seamlessly.

This prevents customers from repeating themselves and enables help desk agents to stay up-to-date on past interactions with representatives.

Ticket management

Ticket management is an essential feature for any trouble ticketing system because it includes common yet important tasks, such as ticket:

• Creation
• Tagging and categorization
• Prioritization
• Routing
• Escalation
• Tracking

Without strong omnichannel ticketing capabilities, it would be nearly impossible for agents to keep track of IT requests and stay current with service level agreements.

SLA management and monitoring

SLA management and monitoring are important for ensuring IT trouble tickets are handled according to the guidelines outlined in the service level agreement—a contract that lays out business expectations and tracked performance metrics.

SLAs commonly include rules such as reply and resolution time frames, instructions on when to escalate a ticket, and general service standards.

Trouble ticketing tools should support small and midsize business (SMB) growth, identify deviations, and send reminders to support agents and their managers when needed.

Knowledge bases

Knowledge bases make it easier for users to troubleshoot and find resolutions to IT problems.

Employees can use internal knowledge bases to obtain information about procedures, products, and solutions to customer issues. Customers can use external knowledge bases as a form of self-service, finding answers to their troubles without needing to speak with an agent.

Both types are a form of self-service. Using knowledge base resources provides convenience to everyone involved and allows agents to spend more time on complex matters.

Reporting and analytics

Managers should always know exactly how their service reps and software are performing.

To do that, they can schedule regular reports to be delivered right to their inbox, view agent performance and customer service metrics, and get an idea of their team’s strengths and weaknesses. With accurate reporting, managers can ensure their team successfully upholds their service level agreement.

The use of trouble ticketing software results in several benefits related to issue management and operational efficiency. A few of the top benefits include:

• 24/7 self-service: Deliver support at all hours with intelligent bots, automation, and self-service. Businesses should create help centers so customers and employees can easily find answers to their questions without seeking additional help.
  
• Cross-functional collaboration: Good trouble ticketing software makes it easy for different departments to collaborate and achieve shared goals. It should allow teams to share customer data and internal notes.
  
• Data-driven insights for more proactive support: Proactively identify cross-sell opportunities and resolutions by monitoring recurring issues, agent performance metrics, and customer satisfaction.
  
• Personalization at every touchpoint: Trouble ticketing software collects key data that provides agents with contextual information and allows them to personalize communications and offerings.
  
• Organized support requests: Ticket tagging and organization are important because they ensure IT tickets are handled efficiently and routed to the most appropriate agent. They also prevent agents from doubling up on a single ticket.

Follow these best practices to get the most out of your trouble ticketing software:

• Use macros to speed up repetitive replies: Support teams should create macros—also called prewritten responses—to send quick replies to customers with straightforward issues.
  
• Customize forms to gather necessary context: Eliminate the need for back and forth between agents and customers by customizing forms. When done properly, this ensures agents come equipped with all the information they need to help the customer quickly.
  
• Route customers to qualified, available agents: Intelligent routing directs customers to an agent with the knowledge and qualifications to answer their questions. This makes it possible to resolve issues faster and provides a better experience for agents and customers alike.
  
• Use triggers to automate tasks: Triggers set a task into action when business rules are met to save agents time on menial duties, such as ticket tagging and prioritization.

Choosing a trouble ticketing platform that sets help desk agents up for success requires planning and research. Here are five actions to take during the decision-making process.

1. Determine your use case

Decide how you will use the new trouble ticketing tool. As we discussed earlier, these platforms have two primary use cases: managing customer or employee requests.

Before you begin your search, use data to assess your needs and determine if you need a tool for a single use case or both.

2. Consider the total cost of ownership and time to value

Total cost of ownership (TCO) refers to the total amount a business will pay to acquire and maintain a tool until they no longer need it. Time to value (TTV) measures the time it takes for a business to begin benefiting from using the tool.

Remember that some tools come with onboarding fees and overhead expenses, others require higher monthly subscription fees, and some ticketing software is completely free.

Ultimately, a business will need to decide if it’s okay with the available features to TCO and TTV ratio.

3. Determine ease of use and maintenance

To ensure you see a return on your trouble ticketing software investment, verify that the platform is easy to use and low maintenance before signing a contract.

If agents struggle to use the tools and the platform requires a lot of equipment or ongoing maintenance, it can substantially slow down operations and result in lost revenue.

4. Evaluate security

Security needs will vary based on industry and are especially important in fields such as government and healthcare. Strong security can also protect your organization from attacks. Some top security considerations are:

• Malware protection: Prevent malicious bots from infecting your trouble ticketing system and stealing private data.
  
• HIPAA compliance: Verify that the platform and complementary app your team utilizes meets the patient privacy and security standards required by HIPAA.
  
• GDPR compliance: If you conduct business with customers in the EU, be sure the trouble ticketing software you use complies with GDPR privacy regulations.
  
• Data backup: If the system crashes or is exposed to other vulnerabilities, verify that you regularly back up the stored data.
  
• Limit access: When handling sensitive data, set access controls and role-based permissions to ensure only authorized personnel can access it.

5. Sign up for a free trial

Finally, the best way to confirm that a trouble ticketing tool is a good fit for your business is to sign up for a free trial.

Throughout the process, document your questions and concerns. If you have minor hesitations, discuss them with a sales representative to see if they can accommodate your needs.

If it’s not the right fit, start a free trial for a different vendor. Complete as many as you need to before committing to a single, paid solution.

Explore the nuances of common trouble ticketing system tips, types, and features.