Technician skills, saved replies and tags
Record which technician has which skill and at what level, so tickets can go to someone who can do the job. Answer common questions with saved replies typed in two keystrokes, and sort tickets with coloured tags that can also set response times.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- An AC fault goes to the only free technician, who is an electrician, and the job needs a second visit.
- Agents type the same answer about resetting a router twenty times a day, each a little different.
- VIP customers, warranty jobs and site audits look the same in the list, so nobody can pick them out.
How it works
- Under Helpdesk > Configuration > Work and Skills > Skills, keep the list of skills. Six come ready: Electrician, HVAC / AC Technician, Network Engineer, Plumber, Carpenter and IT Support.
- Under Technician Skills, give each technician their skills with a level: Basic, Skilled or Expert.
- On each kind of issue, choose the Skills Needed, and set the team's Assign Method to By Skill, then Least Open.
- Under Canned Replies, add a shortcut and its text. In a ticket's message box, type :: and the shortcut to put the text in.
- Under Tags, add labels with a colour and put them on tickets. A response-time policy can apply only to tickets with certain tags.
Everything it does
Skills
- A skill name is unique
- Each technician has a skill once, at Basic, Skilled (the default) or Expert
- With By Skill, then Least Open, a ticket goes to a member with every skill its kind needs. Among them, the one with the fewest open tickets gets it
- If no member has every skill, the ticket goes to the member with the fewest open tickets
- The level is recorded for your reference; assignment does not use it
- A sub-type uses its own Skills Needed; fill them in on each sub-type that needs them
Saved replies
- Called Canned Replies in the product: a shortcut and the text it puts in
- Typed with :: and the shortcut in the message box of a ticket in the web back office
- Work in Send message (to the customer) and Log note (internal)
Tags
- A tag has a name (unique) and a colour
- Shown as coloured labels on the ticket and on the board
- Response-time policies can be limited to tickets with some tags; changing the tags works out the targets again
- Unlimited tags
Who uses it
Helpdesk AdministratorKeeps the skills, the technicians' skills, the saved replies and the tags.
Team LeadUses tags to sort the team's work and checks that skill assignment sends jobs to the right people.
Technician / AgentInserts saved replies with :: and adds tags to tickets.
Where you use it
- Web: Helpdesk > Configuration > Work and Skills > Skills, Technician Skills, Canned Replies and Tags
- Not in the phone app: saved replies are typed in the web back office
What you control
Settings
- Skill level: Skilled to start with
- Assign Method on the team: Manual to start with; choose By Skill, then Least Open to use skills
Questions
Does an Expert get the hard jobs before a Basic technician?
No. Assignment by skill checks only that the technician has every skill the kind of issue needs, then picks the one with the fewest open tickets. The level is there for your records.What happens when nobody on the team has the skill?
The ticket goes to the team member with the fewest open tickets. A lead can reassign it.Can customers see our tags?
No. Tags are for your team. Customers see the ticket's plain status.Can a saved reply be used in the app?
Not yet. Saved replies are typed with :: in the message box of the web back office.Related features
WORKING A TICKETRouting and assignment by turn, load or skillRouting rules send each new ticket to the right team by issue type, customer and site. The team then gives it to a technician: by hand, in turn, to the least loaded member, or by skill.SET-UPKinds of issue with their own raise formKinds of issue form a tree, such as AC > Not cooling. Each kind decides its team, skills, priority and who may raise it. It also sets the questions on the raise form and whether a photo, site or unit is required.RESPONSE TIMESResponse and resolution targets in working hoursResponse-time policies set how fast your team must reply and solve, per priority, for chosen teams, kinds of issue, customers and tags. Targets count in working hours and holidays or round the clock, pause while a ticket waits, and are never typed by hand.WORKING A TICKETPublic replies and internal notesEach ticket has one conversation with the customer and, beside it, internal notes only your team sees. When the customer answers a ticket that waits on them, it goes back to work by itself.SET-UPTeams, working hours and stagesEach service team has its members, a lead, its own working hours and holidays, and its own email address. Tickets move through stages you name, and a waiting stage stops the response-time clock while you wait on the customer, parts or a quote.
See one of your own jobs run through it.
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