Last Updated on January 5, 2024
Do you plan on creating a ticketing system in SharePoint?
Fortunately for you, there are a lot of ways you can do this. In fact, it may get a little confusing down the road unless you have the details.
In this article, I want to let you know the options for creating a ticketing system and how you can do it yourself.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents:
A ticketing system is a great way to handle service requests and help in solving problems. It can also help in providing a more efficient process.
But who really needs the ticketing system?
Well, here are some examples of how different departments can make use of a ticketing system:
- Customer service for product or service problems
- IT for staff and customer support related to network and tech problems
- Security for audit requests and security procedures
- Office admin for supplies, printing, and delivery service
- Legal for document approval and certification requests
- Accounting for invoices and payment tracking
- Human resources for sick leaves, vacations, and training
Of course, there are more ways for departments to use in a ticketing system. Suffice to say that putting up a system can benefit the whole organization.
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If you’re already using SharePoint in your organization, there is no need to look far. The software has pretty much all the features you need.
In terms of advantages:
- If your organization already works within Microsoft’s ecosystem, then your users are more or less already familiar with using SharePoint.
- SharePoint has built-in integration and customization features that you can use in a ticketing system.
- Microsoft made sure that SharePoint has great security — with features like user permission levels, data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and many more.
- The search feature in SharePoint is powerful — in fact, you can even refine your search queries using Keyword Query Language.
- SharePoint makes reporting easy by connecting your data to Power BI in a few clicks for powerful reporting and analytics.
- The single sign-on feature also boosts user experience by eliminating the need for users to sign in every time they open a site.
- Smoother collaboration and a more efficient work process are possible with the help of automated workflows.
- SharePoint sites are available 24/7 and can even be accessed on all devices without damaging the user experience.
- If you’re looking for a low-cost platform, then SharePoint has a budget plan available that only costs $5 per user per month.
On the other hand, I want to be fair with the limitations too:
- SharePoint Online has rather basic out-of-the-box options and features for ticketing (though not at all inferior).
- For more sophisticated features, you need further customization, which means hiring a SharePoint developer.
- I mentioned this earlier — but SharePoint Online has no built-in analytical tool, which means you need to rely on integration.
- If you want multilingual options in your system, you have to rely on third-party tools like the Bing translation interface.
- Since SharePoint is an intranet tool, it doesn’t have proper automated ticket generation from social media like Facebook and Twitter.
There are three ways you can build a ticketing system in SharePoint Online. In the last one, I’ll show you how to do it yourself.
Ready-made ticketing system solutions
I want to start giving you the easiest options there are since they are great if you don’t have the time and you have the budget to spare.
Here are some of the ready-made ticketing system solutions you can use:
1. SteadyPoint Help Desk
SteadyPoint Help Desk is powerful enough that you can use it as a single platform to automate ticketing services for different departments.
Its features include:
- Manage communication, permissions, and collaborations in the “workplace”
- Configure the different types of service requests
- Customizable workflows for collecting information from different people and program routing to request action
- Set up “triggers” for automatic reaction in response to conditions or events
- Report with graphically presented information regarding the tickets
- Full integration with Microsoft Teams
- Manual and automatic escalation system for moving requests to another user or group
- Creating tickets from email directly
- Set tasks, reminders, and approvals
- Find solutions in a vast knowledge base
- Create new actions with Power Automate depending on what you need
Product details:
- Pricing starts at $632.40 per year
- Offers a 30-day free trial period
- 24/7 support through Microsoft Teams and email
- Some features available only on higher plans
2. Help Desk Plus (Ivero)
Its creators describe Help Desk Plus as a simpe, customizable, SharePoint hosted help desk software that comes with a custom forms designer.
Its features include:
- Unlimited number of different request templates
- Customizable request form fields
- Integration with various systems through Power Automate
- Management access
- Technicians can perform admin functions on selected requests
- Logs every action completed within the request history
- Multiple attachments and comments to requests
- Tech support satisfaction survey
- Reporting functionality with export to CSV/Excel
Product details:
- Costs $499 paid only once
- No limit for users, technicians, or tickets
- Integration with Office 365
- Data stored securely on the customer’s SharePoint
- Free updates and support with maintenance fees
3. HelpDesk Plus (HR 365)
HelpDesk Plus works right within your Office 365 subscription. It doesn’t require any additional cloud or services to work.
Its features include:
- Configure the different types of service requests
- Configure ticket status as you need
- Set up a custom ticket sequence as you need
- Customizable ticket fields
- Workable with mobile devices
- Multirole features (like admin, supervisor, agent, and users)
- Smart notification on almost all the triggers with enable/disable the feature
- Self-service web forms for users who want to submit a ticket themselves
- Canned responses and custom signatures form saving time
- Custom satisfaction surveys
- No duplicate response by detecting agent collision
- Ticket splitting to another department in need arises
- Ticket merging for similar tickets
- Customizable with Power Automate
Product details:
- Starts at $49 per month (billed yearly)
- Offers fully featured 30 days trial
- Some features available only on higher plans
- More customized features for additional costs
4. Plumsail HelpDesk
Plumsail HelpDesk is suitable for companies of all sizes. They also have an enterprise plan that comes with unlimited agents and comments.
Its features include:
- Robust ticket management features
- Create new triggers as needed
- Comes with its own widget for allowing users to review their tickets
- Good looking reports based on all tickets, requesters, and agents
- Allow customers to provide feedback through a customer service survey
- Set up a service level agreement for a more predictable and clear service
- Customizable ticket and contact forms
- Detect agent collision to prevent agents from making updates to the same ticket
Product details:
- Pricing starts at $33 per month
- Some features available only on higher plans
- Offers a trial version
Customized ticketing system
Your other option is to hire a developer or a designer to create a customized ticketing system for you (which may be better than a ready-made system).
This is typical for those in security, law, and finances, where notifications and reports play an important role in the success of the operation.
At the very least, make sure the following features are present:
- The ability to automatically create notifications for new tickets, answers from customers, deadlines, and more triggers. It also helps if users can directly answer the notification and have it reflect on the ticket.
- The system must also have the ability to create tickets straight from emails. This is useful especially when your organization uses email-based ticketing.
- Robustness of the ticketing system also helps, which includes the ability to upload images to request forms, and duplicate tickets.
- Don’t forget about the integration of the system with other tools, especially with CRM and ERP systems.
Some comments when you go this route:
- After your system is established, you need to keep the developer around or at least have a way to contact him or her in case there’s a problem.
- The cost may sometimes be higher than simply using a ready-made ticketing solution and may take a little time to develop.
- On the bright side, since you’re having the system customized, you can make sure it fits your business needs better.
Built-in ticketing system features
But what if all you need is a simple ticketing system?
Fortunately, it’s now easier than ever to create your own ticketing system in SharePoint. In fact, it may not even take you too long to do that.
If this is what you want to do, simply follow these steps:
- Click the “New” button in a SharePoint site where you want to house the ticketing system
- Click the “List” option from the settings
A window will open up with various buttons that will allow you to create a list.
Then:
- From the list of templates, select “Issue tracker” from the list
- On the preview page, click the “Use template” button
Though it may seem a little anticlimactic, once you’re done with the steps above, you already have a functioning ticketing system.
Naturally, it’s not that robust, so you may add some features to it as well. Here are some guides that you may want to check out:
- SharePoint Workflow Options: Business and Project Management
- How to Set Up Sharepoint Email Notification Alerts
- Power Apps in SharePoint Online: Get Started
Here are some comments if you want to go this route:
- Since you’re simply using the built-in features, the result may be basic. It’s workable but doesn’t have robust features.
- If you’re tight on budget and you need a ticket system asap, this is the best way to move forward.
- You can always hire a developer in the future to further upgrade your ticketing system and install some new features.
Do you have any questions on how to create a SharePoint ticketing system? If so, kindly post your question below.
For inquiries and other concerns, please use the site’s contact form to reach out and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Incredible amalgation of the different ways of creating a ticketing system. Great work Ryan.