Leverage Automation, Gain Focus (Ticketing 102)
Table of Contents
This guide explains how to streamline helpdesk operations using ticket view metrics, default team views, inbound email ticket creation, custom ticket types, automated real-time ticket actions, and recurring tickets for routine maintenance.
Step 1: Use Ticket View Metrics
In Ticketing 101 you learned how to create a Ticket View. Let's take that a step further to see how else Ticket Views can help you and your Technicians focus on the most important next tasks so you keep your clients happy and meet your SLAs.
When you select a Ticket View, you'll notice a Ticket Views Health Metrics mini-dashboard at the top. This gives you and your Techs a summary of what's happening with all of the tickets currently included in the view.
Click into any one of the boxes to filter the table by those tickets:
Additionally, you can click the gear (
) icon to Edit the Ticket View or set the Thresholds for it:
Any metric exceeding the threshold appears in red.
Edit the thresholds for the Ticket View you created in Step 7 of Ticketing 101. (Bonus: Learn more about Use Ticket View Metrics.)
Step 2: Set Default & Team Ticket Views
You can set a Default Ticket View, and if you're on the Team Plan, you also have the ability to select views for your Technicians.
There's even a pre-configured “My Queue” view that allows each Technician to see assigned, unassigned, and subscribed tickets in one place, eliminating the need for them to check multiple Ticket Views. This simplifies onboarding and improves collaboration, efficiency, and organization, benefiting teams of all sizes.
Select a default Ticket View for yourself, and if you have the ability to do so, for each of the other Syncro Users on your team.
Tip: If the "My Queue" view is close, you can reference its configuration to create a new custom Ticket View that you can then edit to be exactly what you want.
Step 3: Ticket Views Health Metrics
Here's one last thing about Ticket Views and metrics: you can use the Ticket Views Health Metrics dashboard/report to see what's happening across multiple Ticket Views.
Tip: You can also get to the Ticket Views Health Metrics page from Reports > Tickets - Ticket View Metrics.
View the Ticket Views Health Metrics dashboard/report, and customize it to include the views you care about most.
Step 4: Ways to Automatically Create Tickets
Let's switch gears now. In Ticketing 101 you learned how to manually create tickets.
There are several ways you can configure Syncro to automatically create tickets.
From Inbound Emails
Syncro can automatically create Tickets from inbound emails, whenever the sender's email address matches an existing Organization (or an End User). This method requires that you have set up a Mailbox in a specific way and have enabled a Ticket Setting.
Watch this short video to learn more:
Tip: If you haven't set up your Mailbox yet or would like to revisit that now, you can use the Mailboxes & Email Training Guide.
From the System Tray
Syncro can automatically create Tickets from an End User's submission of an Agent Contact Form, directly from the System Tray. This method uses a Policy.
Watch this short video to learn more:
Either set your Syncro account so that it automatically creates Tickets from Inbound Emails or creates Tickets From the System Tray. (Bonus: Familiarize yourself with other ways Tickets Can Be Created in Syncro.)
Step 5: Create Custom Ticket Types & Fields
Custom Fields are fields you create and manage to capture any additional information you want in Syncro. While you can also create Custom Fields for Organizations & End Users, Assets and Tickets are a little different. Assets and Tickets also have containers for Custom Fields called Custom Types.
Custom Ticket Types and their associated fields help you capture, store, and use any information about your tickets that might be important to you. Once created, you can use them in all sorts of interesting ways like in Ticket Automations (which we'll do shortly).
Watch this short video to see an example of how to use Custom Ticket Types and Fields to create a new hire request form. (Note that this is also another way to automatically create a Ticket!)
Use the step-by-step instructions in Custom Fields for Assets & Tickets to create a Custom Ticket Type and a few Custom Ticket Fields now.
Step 6: Create a Ticket Automation
Snippet: Ticket Automation
Use Ticket Automations in Syncro to create robust helpdesk automations that automatically evaluate meaningful state changes to Tickets, then apply updates in real-time over that Ticket's lifetime.
In ticket automations, Actions you specify are performed when certain Conditions are met. You can add as many Conditions and Actions as you need to ensure the automation behaves the way you want. IMPORTANT: Ticket automations will not run on tickets with a “Resolved” status.
Examples of Ticket Automations include:
- If a ticket hasn’t been updated in four hours, send an alert via Slack.
- If a ticket's Status is “Waiting on the Customer” and you haven’t heard from them in 48 hours, send a reminder email and reset the clock to give them another 48 hours to respond.
- If Syncro classifies a ticket as “Printer_Scanner: Software Issues,” assign it to a specific Tech, creating a “pseudo dispatcher.”
- When a Tech unassigns themselves from a ticket because they’re blocked or will be out of office for an extended period, evaluate the priority and any Ticket Tags to automatically re-assign it to another Tech who can pick it up.
Watch this short video to learn more:
Use the step-by-step instructions in Work with Ticket Automations and create one now. (You can use one of the examples above, or get creative.) You should also check out About Ticket Automation Types & When They Run.
Step 7: Automate Maintenance with Recurring Tickets
Snippet: Automate Maintenance w Recurring Tickets
Recurring Tickets allow you to automatically generate Tickets on a schedule you specify, such as the first Friday of each month. This ticket creation feature is useful for repetitive, maintenance-type tasks such as backup verification, manual patch approvals, and licensing audits.
Note: Recurring tickets run at 5 a.m. PST each day, or 6 a.m. PDT during daylight savings.
Watch this short video to learn more:
You can use Recurring Tickets together with Recurring Invoices to automate the billing for these routine tasks.
Use the step-by-step instructions in Work with Recurring Tickets and create one now.