Developing a Ticket Management System with Google Sheets and Forms

Step 1: Create the Ticket Submission Form Using Google Forms

1.1. Set up the form

1. Go to Google Forms and create a new form by clicking on the blank form option.
2. Title your form (e.g., "Customer Support Ticket Submission").
3. Add a description if needed (e.g., "Please fill out the form below to submit your support request").

1.2. Add the required fields You can customize the fields based on the information you want to capture. Here's a sample list of fields:

• Name (Short answer) – To capture the customer’s name.
• Email Address (Short answer) – For follow-up communication.
• Issue Type (Multiple choice or dropdown) – Common issue categories, e.g., "Technical Support", "Billing", "General Inquiry", etc.
• Description of Issue (Paragraph) – A detailed description of the issue or request.
• Priority Level (Multiple choice) – Options like "Low", "Medium", "High".
• Attachment (File upload) – Allow customers to upload files (e.g., screenshots, logs) to help explain the issue.
• Preferred Contact Method (Multiple choice) – Options like "Email", "Phone".

1.3. Make fields mandatory

• Mark the essential fields (like Name, Email, and Description of Issue) as required, so customers cannot submit incomplete tickets.

1.4. Customize form settings

• Click on the Settings gear icon at the top-right of the form to configure responses.
• Enable email notifications to get alerted when a new ticket is submitted.

Step 2: Connect Google Form Responses to Google Sheets

Once your form is ready, you can link it to a Google Sheets document to track and manage all ticket submissions.

2.1. Link Google Form to Google Sheets

1. After finishing the form, click the Responses tab in Google Forms.
2. Click on the Google Sheets icon (a green spreadsheet icon) at the top of the responses tab.
3. This will automatically create a new Google Sheet that will store all the submitted form responses. Each new response will populate the Sheet in real-time.

2.2. Customize the Sheets

• In the Google Sheets document, you’ll see a new row for each new ticket submission with all the responses organized into columns.

Step 3: Create a Ticket Tracker in Google Sheets

3.1. Organize Columns for the Ticket Tracker

• The Google Sheets connected to the form will automatically create columns based on the form fields. However, you can add more columns to help you manage the tickets.

Here’s an example of how to organize your columns:

1. Ticket ID – Auto-generate a unique ticket ID (this will help you track each ticket). You can use the formula =ROW() to generate a unique number in each row.
2. Customer Name – From the "Name" field in the form.
3. Email Address – From the "Email Address" field.
4. Issue Type – From the "Issue Type" field.
5. Description of Issue – From the "Description" field.
6. Priority Level – From the "Priority Level" field.
7. Attachment – Link to any attachments submitted with the form.
8. Preferred Contact Method – From the "Preferred Contact Method" field.
9. Date Submitted – This will be automatically included as a timestamp of when the form was filled out.
10. Assigned To – Leave this empty for now, but you can assign tickets to team members.
11. Status – Create a drop-down menu with options like "Open", "In Progress", "Resolved", "Closed".
12. Resolution Notes – For support agents to add notes after resolving the ticket.
13. Date Resolved – When the ticket is closed, enter the resolution date.

3.2. Add Drop-Down Menus for Easy Status Management To manage the ticket status more effectively:

1. Highlight the Status column (or wherever you want to track ticket status).
2. Click Data → Data validation.
3. Choose List of items and enter the status options (e.g., "Open, In Progress, Resolved, Closed").
4. Click Save. Now, you can easily update the ticket status.

Step 4: Automate Ticket Notifications and Updates

4.1. Set up email notifications for new tickets To ensure that the support team gets notified when a new ticket is submitted, follow these steps:

1. In Google Forms, go to Settings > Responses.
2. Enable "Get email notifications for new responses".

4.2. Set up email updates when ticket status changes You can use Google Sheets scripts (Google Apps Script) to automatically notify customers and team members when a ticket's status changes.

Here’s a simple script to send an email when a ticket is marked as "Resolved":

1. Open the Google Sheets linked to the form.
2. Go to Extensions > Apps Script.
3. In the script editor, paste the following code:

javascript

Copy code

function sendResolutionEmail(e) {

??var sheet = e.source.getSheetByName("Form Responses 1");

??var row = e.range.getRow();

??var status = sheet.getRange(row, 12).getValue(); // Assuming the 'Status' column is the 12th column.

??var email = sheet.getRange(row, 3).getValue(); // Assuming 'Email Address' is the 3rd column.

??

??if (status === "Resolved") {

????var subject = "Your Support Ticket has been Resolved";

????var message = "Hello,\n\nYour support ticket has been successfully resolved. Thank you for your patience.\n\nBest regards,\nSupport Team";

????

????MailApp.sendEmail(email, subject, message);

??}

}

1. Set a trigger for this function:

Now, whenever the status of a ticket is marked as "Resolved", an automatic email will be sent to the customer.

Step 5: Set Up Dashboards and Insights

5.1. Use Pivot Tables for Insights You can create pivot tables in Google Sheets to analyze ticket data, like tracking ticket volume, response times, issue types, and resolution times.

To create a pivot table:

1. Select the data range (including headers) in your Google Sheets.
2. Click on Data → Pivot table.
3. Configure your pivot table to:

5.2. Create Charts for Visual Representation

1. Select the data or pivot table you want to visualize.
2. Click on Insert → Chart.
3. Customize the chart type (e.g., bar chart, line chart, pie chart) to represent ticket trends, issue types, or support team performance.

Step 6: Share the Google Sheets Tracker with Your Team

To collaborate with your team:

1. Click Share at the top-right of the Google Sheets document.
2. Enter the email addresses of your support team members and adjust the permission settings (e.g., Viewer, Editor).
3. Share the Google Form link with customers, or embed it on your website.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you’ve created a fully functional ticket submission form and tracker using Google Forms and Google Sheets. This setup will allow you to:

• Collect and manage support tickets.
• Assign, track, and resolve tickets.
• Automate notifications and follow-ups.
• Generate insights with pivot tables and charts for continuous improvement.