Slack Ticketing System for Internal Support Helpdesk (Guide)

What Exactly is the Slack Ticketing System?

Slack ticketing is an internal helpdesk system that allows your employees to submit and manage requests within a Slack workspace. The system utilizes conversation threads for tracking and documenting different issues and tasks without having to leave Slack.

With Slack ticketing, employees can describe an issue they’re facing in a Slack message which then gets converted into a request (this is known as conversational ticketing). That request can then be picked up by somebody in your organization, such as an IT department or finance team.

How Does Slack Ticketing Work?

An employee or a team member reports an issue or submits a request by sending a message within the dedicated internal ticketing channel. In that message, they should give all the essential details about the problem, just like how you'd describe an issue when using a regular ticketing system.

The message is then automatically converted into a support ticket and assigned to an appropriate team member who takes ownership of the ticket. To show that they're taking charge, the team member responds to the message with an emoji that indicates their intention to solve the problem.

The thread (between the employee and the designated person to resolve the issue) serves as the ticket’s history. This means that team members can provide updates, ask for more information, or collaborate on fixing the issue.

Benefits of Slack Ticketing System for Internal Helpdesk

In the past, if your hardware broke or your software decided to take a nap, you'd fire off an email to the IT department, pleading for their rescue. And if you needed to get reimbursed for work expenses, you'd just shoot an email over to the finance folks, hoping they'd sort you out.

That said, as the use of Slack has become more prevalent in workplaces, employees have found it to be a convenient and speedy way to report their issues. In fact, Slack has now become widely accepted as the new standard for communication in many organizations.

With the benefits it offers, it's worth exploring why you should consider using the Slack ticketing system for your internal support requests.

Happy Employees Make Happy Customers

Your customers love Slack. Facts. But your employees love it, too. Thus, providing your employees with efficient solutions (such as Slack for internal support) to their workplace issues and addressing their concerns means they are better equipped to interact with your customers.

Your employees are the face of your business and play a significant role in shaping the overall customer experience and your bottom line. With Slack internal ticketing, you can prevent downtime and delays in work, ensuring your employees are fully supported to do their best jobs.

Productivity Gains

Utilizing conversation threads, Slack enables real-time tracking of tickets, leading to swift issue resolution for team members. This, coupled with automated workflows and integration with other services, provides a streamlined process.

According to HubSpot, 86% of companies report that implementing a helpdesk solution enhances their productivity, with the speed and efficiency of managing requests being a key advantage.

Source of Information

Another benefit of having the Slack ticketing system for internal support requests is that it can be a great source of information about the overall employee experience. Furthermore, it can help you identify bottlenecks in your processes, capture employee feedback, and monitor team performance.

Cost Management

Finally, it’s crucial to consider the cost implications. The more different support solutions you have, the more expensive it gets. However, by utilizing Slack, you can effectively cater to the needs of both your internal teams and customers within a single, streamlined platform.

Use Cases of Internal Slack Ticketing

Expanding beyond IT issue reporting, the internal Slack ticketing system offers benefits for various team processes. Use Slack ticketing for:

• HR: hiring, onboarding, vacation requests, and employee recognition;
• Finance and Procurement: vendor approval and expense management;
• Sales and Lead Management: lead acceptance and contract approvals;
• Event Planning: venue booking and guest invitations;
• Legal and Compliance Requests: legal advice, contract reviews, and compliance-related queries;
• Marketing: content approvals, content editing, and campaign reviews;
• Customer Success: billing inquiries, invoice discrepancies, and refunds approvals.

Of course, these are just a couple of examples highlighting how Slack ticketing can come in handy. The great thing about Slack ticketing is that it's adaptable to any business process you can think of—let your creativity flow!

How to Set Up an Internal Helpdesk Inside Slack

You have two options for converting your Slack workspace into an internal helpdesk.

The easiest way is to set up channels within Slack for different types of support. For example, you can create #IT_helpdesk or #HR_helpdesk channels and invite people in these departments to manage incoming requests. This may work in small organizations; however, the channels can quickly get messy if you have large teams.

A better solution would be using a Slack plugin such as Thena. Thena securely connects with Slack for seamless and straightforward internal ticketing for your teams. Employees’ messages within internal threads get detected as requests and assigned to a designated first responder (agent).

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The agent can then respond with either 👀 or ✅ emoji to look into or close the request, with the requester immediately receiving a status update. This way, the employee who submitted the request can always stay in the know.

Finally, the best part is that all of this functionality is available within Slack, both on desktop and mobile devices. So, you don’t need any additional software, making it a cost-effective solution for your internal support.

‍Read our step-by-step instructions on how to set up Slack’s internal helpdesk with Thena.

Best Practices for Using Slack Ticketing System

To make the most of Slack ticketing, it’s important to establish some best practices to ensure smooth operations and communications.

Here are a few tips for you:

• Clear Ticket Submission Guidelines: Define clear guidelines on submitting support requests as messages in the designated channels.‍
• Data Security and Privacy: Pay careful attention to data security and privacy concerns when using Slack for internal support requests. Ensure that sensitive information is shared only with authorized personnel and that conversations adhere to your organization's data protection policies. For example, if an employee reports an HR issue, you should avoid using a shared support channel. This helps keep private information safe and secure.‍
• Set Up Agents within the Support Channels: These agents will be responsible for triaging incoming employee requests.‍
• Feedback Loop and Continuous Improvement: Create a mechanism for collecting feedback from users who have submitted support requests. This feedback can highlight pain points, identify areas of improvement, and guide the refinement of your support processes.

Remember that the key to a successful Slack-based ticketing system is customization to fit your organization's specific needs. Regularly assess and adjust your processes based on user feedback and evolving requirements to ensure the system remains effective and efficient.

Conclusion

Historically, helpdesk applications have fallen short when it comes to user experience. Requesting assistance often felt like a hassle, while waiting for a response was too time-consuming.

However, by incorporating a helpdesk directly into Slack, you can offer a game-changing solution for your employees. Since your users are already comfortable with the platform, they'll feel right at home and have a seamless experience.

Build your own internal Slack ticketing system with Thena.