Imagine your organization just installed new issue tracking software. You boot up the program and begin to build your first issue submission form. However, you soon realize that you can only set the form up a certain way, and with limited types of fields that are pre-determined for you by the software. You can’t even rename the issues to “tickets” or “complaints” or “requests” (or another term your team may use for these end user submissions).
Customization is a crucial element of good issue tracking software! The more customizable your solution, the more snugly it will fit the unique needs of your team. While you may be able to “hack” a software solution that doesn’t align precisely with the demands of your industry, these imperfect solutions tend to result in more errors, less accurate data, and a lower ROI overall. Conversely, a software solution with the capacity for customization will work in concert with an organization, expediting processes and helping to gather more precise information from end users.
Issuetrak has two key features, Issue Templates (formerly known as Quick Picks) and User Defined Fields, that can be used as building blocks for extensive customization. These tools are part of what gives Issuetrak its versatility: from HR departments to customer support teams; from manufacturing companies to hospitals to banks, Issuetrak can be configured to fit the issue tracking needs of any organization. Let’s take a closer look at what these tools can do:
Issue Templates: Issuetrak’s Version of a Customizable Template
One way you can customize your Issuetrak system is through Issue Templates, which is essentially a customizable template that allows you to categorize, prioritize, and add a workflow to any issue. This feature allows you to pre-define information for particular issue types. Doing this ensures that you are gathering the right information by guiding submitters to input exactly what is needed to resolve a particular issue type or address a specific request.
Issuetrak allows users to choose from an Issue Template dropdown menu based on the templates you create and make available to them. That’s right -- you can even customize which templates certain users can choose. For example, if someone in an HR department chooses a “New Employee” Issue Template from a drop-down menu, the screen would populate a custom form that may have a pre-filled Description, Issue Type, Subtype, Assignee, and more. The user could then use the information provided to fill out the rest of the form and submit.
Issue Templates work to expedite the issue submission process and to standardize the information that users submit. A clear, customized template unique to the specific needs of a particular issue can reduce instances of incorrect labeling and incomplete information, saving agents precious time spent reorganizing incorrectly submitted issues and following up with end users who have provided inadequate information. Custom templates also make it easier for end users to determine what information is needed from them, especially when submitting an issue for the first time.
User Defined Fields
In Issuetrak, you can create an unlimited number of User Defined Fields (UDFs) for maximum customization of templates: from date fields for follow-ups or deadlines to dropdown fields indicating specific information like software version, model color, and more. These fields are essential for organizations that need to capture more information than the software’s standard fields allow. You can customize the fields on your templates in two primary ways:
1. Flexible Field Types: You can customize fields by choosing the field type that best fits the data you need to collect. There are seven total UDF types--Text, Large Text, List, Date, Decimal, Integer, and Yes/No--which offer maximum flexibility in the way you format fields.
2. Field Labels: You can label the display name of the fields using the terminology that makes sense to you and your users. For example, you might change the “Date” field label to “Due Date,” “Deadline,” or another, more precise title.
Software solutions that do not allow User Defined Fields severely limit the extent that an organization can accurately gather information from its end users. Having precise options in drop-down menus and situation-specific text fields is beneficial for everyone -- agents and end users alike. Attempting to gather information using inadequate tools can result in miscommunication, incomplete data, imprecise responses, and confusion overall.
Why rely on imprecise tools and canned forms when you can use a software solution that allows you to customize it as much as you need to? Issuetrak allows you to easily modify its interface to track and collect information unique to the needs of your industry, whatever it may be. If you’re interested in learning just how versatile our software solution is, we encourage you to schedule a free demo!
Topics from this blog: Software Solutions
Back