What are the best practices for categorizing tickets by type, source, and status?

1 Understand your ticket types

Ticket types are the broad categories that describe the nature of the issue or request. They can be based on the service, product, function, or process involved. For example, you might have ticket types such as hardware, software, network, security, or account. Ticket types help you group tickets by their impact, urgency, and resolution methods. They also help you measure and report on the performance and quality of your service desk.

2 Use a standard source taxonomy

Source is the channel or method through which the ticket is created or received. It can be email, phone, chat, web, self-service, or other. Source helps you track how your customers prefer to contact you and how well you respond to each channel. It also helps you identify and address any issues or gaps in your communication and accessibility. To use source effectively, you need to have a standard taxonomy that defines each source clearly and consistently. You also need to ensure that your ticketing system can capture and record the source accurately and automatically.

4 Follow the rules and guidelines

Categorizing tickets by type, source, and status is not a one-time or arbitrary task. It requires consistency, accuracy, and compliance. You need to follow the rules and guidelines that your organization or team has established for ticket categorization. These rules and guidelines should be based on best practices, industry standards, and customer feedback. They should also be documented, communicated, and updated regularly. You need to review and apply them to every ticket you handle and check for any errors or discrepancies.

6 Seek feedback and improvement

Categorizing tickets by type, source, and status is not a static or fixed process. It is a dynamic and evolving one that needs to adapt to the changing needs and expectations of your customers and your business. You need to seek feedback and improvement on how you categorize tickets and how it affects your service delivery and customer satisfaction. You can use surveys, ratings, comments, or reviews to collect feedback from your customers and stakeholders. You can also use metrics, benchmarks, or audits to measure and improve your ticket categorization performance and quality.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?