Support ticket categorization and classification

Support ticket categorization and classification

One of the challenges associated with logging a customer requests is a ticket classification; a ticket must be accurately classified in order to properly assess the priority. In most support ticketing systems, support ticket classification exists primarily to classify requests and tickets to provide initial support. Initial support means proper analysis, evaluation and assignment.

The issues behind the actual classification itself may experience problems in a help desk workflow. Typical classification schemes are often too complicated, or there are too many classifications that when you make your report, none of them are significant. Eventually, the number one categorization becomes “other,” and the classification actually drops.

When a ticket is initially recorded, the best that the analyst can typically do is to identify the service (for which the impact has been predefined) and the urgency of resolution. However, until the incident/request has been resolved, the analyst is not able to properly categorize the “root cause”.

Introducing a classification scheme that works

Help desk needs a scheme that works, and the first question that needs to be answered is: what are you really trying to accomplish with the classification and how do you plan to use this data?

Classification schemes and their strategies for establishing types and categories vary from organization to organization. However, they share some common goals, and for the minimum requirement they should:

  • always be agreed between the development group and the service desk
  • direct further analysis, evaluation and routing, not attempting to diagnose the root cause
  • be as simple and easy to use as possible
  • view things from a user perspective, not from an IT organization or technology viewpoint.

Many help desk organizations use a simple Category / Type classification. The problem here and in any other classification is that technical staff do not perform classification and initial support, but relatively non-technical service desk agents and contact persons. As previously noted, the initial classification does not need to establish a root case or predict technical resolutions, but rather to enable initial support.

Use the scheme for entire resolution flow

Support ticket classification and categorization necessarily becomes more refined as the ticket progresses and more is learned via the investigation or diagnosis activities. In further ticket processing, there should be an additional classification tag where the root cause can be documented and subsequently recorded and reported.

Using this approach, SympoQ has established a support ticket Tags feature, which allows record classification for initial support, as well as additional classification that determine the root cause. The ticket tags can be added to the ticket or updated in any ticket state, following changes in the ticket progress and resolution.

Afterward the tags are set up in the Settings section, support agent or queue manager can classify a ticket using the Tag action in one of the following predefined ticket actions:

  • Single ticket Tag:
support ticket tag
  • Bulk ticket Tag:
support ticket bulk categorization

They can also search for a specific tag in the Ticket list, e.g. “assistance”:

search ticket list

With ticket tags, you can set up the Tag style color and enable improved visual presentation of tags in the ticket list, as well in the reports.