Sunday, September 8, 2013

My requirements list for a solid IT help desk

After looking for a while at many help desk systems available, I have been refining a requirements list for a new system for our IT department.  This list is not complete, but I have the feeling that if an affordable help desk system can meet these requirements, we will be very likely to take a serious look at the system and give it a thorough test drive.
  1. System should offer robust API access, ODBC access to data, OR direct access to SQL tables.
  2. System should offer possibility to manage IT equipment orders with associated tickets needed for setup, installation, etc.
  3. System should have Active Directory integration to handle user data and authentication.
  4. System should be browser based and works in all modern browsers.
  5. It should also should work on mobile phones, tablets, etc.
  6. System should allow option to utilize SSL security.
  7. System interface must be simple and intuitive.
  8. System should feature a Quick ticket for phone support - ie one screen problem and resolution recording for phone support.
  9. System should feature end user ticket creation through web, email.
  10. Help desk staff should be able to update tickets through email.
  11. System should feature automated email notification of user on tickets creation, updates, and closure.
  12. System should intermediate all email between help desk agents and end users - and keep all communication fenced within the ticketing system.
  13. System should offer comprehensive/customizable customer satisfaction survey at the closure of every ticket.
    1. Satisfaction data should be exposed through the API.
  14. System should feature a method for recording of how the ticket was created (web, email, phone).
  15. System should allow creation of FAQs/Knowledgebase - this should be categorized and searchable
    1. Should allow tickets to be converted to FAQs.
  16. System must allow for unlimited end user web access (no licensing or limits for end users.)
  17. System must allow for concurrent agent licensing - OR preferably unlimited  agents.
  18. System should allow linking of individual help desk tickets to global issue, allowing resolution of global issue to update/close all linked tickets and send corresponding email notification(s).
  19. System should feature a Global Notification Banner or method to inform users of issues or outages.
  20. System should have ticket categories.
  21. System should have configurable, rule based SLAs.
    1. They Should be able to be tied to ticket categories.
    2. SLAs should adhere to business hours, holidays.
    3. SLAs should allow to for certain statuses to not affect SLA(ie awaiting parts.)
    4. Should readily show technician which ticket(s) are in danger of not meeting the SLA.
  22. System should support custom work-flows based on categories and for approvals as needed.
  23. System should allow for multiple service/help desk projects to provide functionally separate service/help desks – i.e. one for Human Resources and another for Technology Support.  These should have separate queues, but allow for tickets to be reassigned across queues.
  24. System must offer robust customizable reporting capabilities in both text and graphical formats to track trends, call volumes, technician totals, category totals, average service times by category, average service times by technician, SLAs met, etc.  
    1. Reporting data should be exposed to the API.
  25. System should support automatic rule based escalation - this may be tied to SLA rules.
  26. System should have configurable tickets statuses.
    1. Statuses should allow for creation of statuses that do not count against tickets resolution time.  
  27. System should allow for file attachment to ticket by users and/or agent.
  28. Add multiple users to a ticket.
    1. Any ticket email notifications should go to all users on ticket, once added.
  29. System should allow for two way email communications within the system - no end user ticket replies should ever be sent to the agent's personal email - they should go directly into the system.
  30. When looking up users with identical names, we should be able to see distinguishing data from Active Directory (title, location, etc.)
  31. System should support configurable locations that can be part of a ticket.
    1. Reporting should report on location.
  32. System should have ticket agent collision detection.
  33. Allow tickets to be emailed by agent.
  34. System should track a parts inventory with pricing information.
    1. Parts should be able to be added to tickets and provide a cost on the ticket.
  35. System should allow for ticket escalation based on time.

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