What is Issue-Tracker?

What is an Issue-tracking system?

An Issue tracking/Bug tracking/Support desk is a software companies use to monitor problems that users face with their product or software.

Whenever your customer buys a product or service, they may have some issues, complaints, queries, or suggestions for improvement regarding the products. How do you handle these things? Do you have any proper system to manage customer queries or suggestions?

The issue tracker can be one of the solutions where customers can create a ticket or issue in the system mentioning the details about their issue. Once the issue is recorded in the system, the company’s team members can quickly track, monitor, and resolve these issues.

An Issue tracker is a system where companies can see all the issues entered into the system by their customers. Once the issues are entered into the system, they are:

1. Prioritized as per their impact
2. Routed or assigned to concerned developers
3. A status is added whether the issue is opened, resolved, reopened, or closed
4. Notes are added, if required
5. The developers then analyze the issue and decide further course of action
6. They make necessary changes to the code and drive to a speedy resolution
7. The customers can track the issue and its progress until resolution through the issue tracker system

Issue tracker software creates a workflow where the teams monitor the entire issue lifecycle. As a result, this system will provide a better service to get positive feedback and increase customer satisfaction and retention.

Can the software be used internally within the company?

An issue tracker system is not only used by customers to add complaints, but companies also use them while developing new products or applications.

While testing the complete lifecycle of a software or application, the tester may find multiple issues in the working of the software. They may also have new suggestions or enhancements for the smooth running of the product.

The testers can record these suggestions or issues in the issue tracker. The developers can then monitor and resolve those.

How does an issue-tracker work?

Suppose a user is trying to export a file from the system, or if they are trying to share a file but cannot complete the task, they can email the problem to the company or chat with the support team.

But one of the ways is they can create in issue tracker. To do this:

1. The user needs to fill up the issue form via a web link or use the customer portal to report the issue.
2. After submitting the form the ticket is recorded in the system.
3. Once the ticket is raised in the system, the manager/developers are automatically notified via email.
4. The manager adds priority, criticality, and notes to the issue.
5. After discussion with the development team, the issue is assigned to the team members with appropriate skills.
6. The developers replicate the issue and fix it.
7. Once the issue is resolved, the developer updates the status of issue to closed and informs the user about the status.

If the developer has faced a similar issue previously, they can help the customer with the solution or refer them to a knowledge base article.

If the issue is complicated, the developers can create a workflow with different tasks for team members and find a solution to fix the problem.

What are the various ways to capture issues or raise a ticket?

What is the purpose of an issue-tracker?

Many customers want solutions to their problems quickly. Likewise, they expect a quick response from developers. So, an issue tracker helps to:

Record Issues:

To solve customer issues, developers need to know the details of each issue, the steps to replicate the issue, or in what scenario the system is not working.

Therefore, the system helps record the details of issues so that developers can comprehend where the problem is and how to solve it.

Issue Management:

Once the issues are recorded in the system, quick action by managers is required so that necessary steps are initiated to send the issue for a quick resolution.

Creates a Workflow:

A centralized system is a must to keep the team members in a loop with every update on the issue. These updates inform the teams of the task they must do in every upcoming step, streamlining the workflow.

Creates Transparency:

Every time the issue is updated in the system, the customer gets a notification about the issue status creating transparency.

What are the benefits of using an issue-tracker?

Clear visibility of issue lifecycle:

The system shows the entire lifecycle of an issue right from the initial stage of entering the system to resolution. With the centralized database, all the team members get clear visibility of the issue stages, and each can take corrective action at the required stages.

Detection of issues at an early stage:

With proper testing at the initial stages of product development, the tester can detect issues at an early stage. Reporting issues in the early stages reduces the issue’s complexity and reduces resolution time drastically. This saves time and energy, and the product is released in a better working condition.

Establish a clear course of action for issues:

Once testers or users enter the issues into the system, the concerned team members create a clear course of action by prioritizing them, adding status, trying to replicate them, and assigning them to the developers.

Timely resolution:

An efficient tracker system streamlines the entire work process where the whole team is clear about the tasks they need to do to resolve an issue. As a result, this process saves time and ensures the timely resolution of issues.

Who can use it?

An issue-tracking system can be used by anyone dealing in customer service.

These and many more companies can use the issue tracker system for various purposes.

Types of cloud computing services for Issue-tracker:

• Web-based/Online:

  In this type, no installation is required; the customer can create an account online with any browser and continue using the software.

• On-Premise:

  On-Premise means downloading and installing the software on the machine.

• Hosted Infrastructure:

  A third-party hosting provider handles the hardware in this service, like server, storage, and bandwidth. Then, the customer installs and manages the server online.

• Hosted Platform:

  In this, the customer rents the operating system from the service provider and pays based on the resources used, like operating system, CPU, memory, database server, etc., for a particular period.

• Open-source Sofware:

  Nowadays, open-source software is available that is publicly accessible and can be modified to fit your requirements.

Why should companies use an issue tracker system?

In all businesses, customers have their queries or complaints regarding products. Therefore, companies must listen to their complaints and fix them quickly for customer retention.

With a large customer base, it is not possible to maintain all the list of complaints or issues in spreadsheets. Spreadsheets may cause:

1. Loss of crucial data
2. No team members may know who has updated what information
3. Spreadsheets cannot send alerts if an issue is created
4. There will be a lack of team collaboration, and nobody will be aware of what tasks they need to do
5. Users cannot track the progress of their issues; they will have to depend on the support team for updates
6. It is time-consuming
7. There are no ways to add notes or attach related documents
8. It will create a communication gap between the team members and users.

Therefore, a proper system is required to track customer complaints so the teams and users can be on the same page.

The transparency created with the issue tracker helps to build customer trust, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance the overall customer experience.

How does it help businesses?

Effective team communication and collaboration:

Considering the complexity of issues, the developers need to anticipate the root cause. And then create multiple tasks or sub-tasks for team members with appropriate skills.

So, a single issue helps the team collaborate and synchronize on the same page and communicate effectively. This collaborative process may include analysis, planning, fixes, and testing.

Improvised product quality:

Businesses aim to develop a product or software that is bug-free or has fewer issues. A proper system like an issue tracker plays a vital role in managing issues or bugs efficiently at an early stage. This tool will help to produce a better-quality product, ensuring a good customer experience.

Improves customer satisfaction:

When customers submit a ticket or issue in the system, they might expect a long wait time. But with a properly organized approach, they will be surprised to receive a response quickly.

The best part is that most issue tracker systems today opt for automation. So the customers can receive a quick response once the issue is submitted.

In addition, the concerned authority in the company receives a notification once the issue is submitted, where teams can take timely action.

Real-time updates can let customers know when their issues will be resolved.

It relieves the company from manually tracking and prioritizing all the issues that come to different people in various channels like email, web forms, phone, etc.

Points to consider while choosing an issue tracker system

How does the OfficeClip Issue-tracker prove to be an efficient choice?

1. Simple Interface:

   OfficeClip has a straightforward interface that can be quickly adopted by your team members, right from creating binders for issues to resolution.

2. Get a broad view of issues:

   The Issue Tracker software provides a 360-degree detailed view of all the issues and allows all your team to access it from different places and devices.

3. Analyze the status of all issues:

   The powerful reporting features in OfficeClip will give you an overview of all the issues in one report.

   In addition, you can create custom reports as per your requirements and view different kinds of in-built reports.

4. Tracking time:

   You need to know how much time your team spends solving each issue. OfficeClip has the track time feature in the issue tracker module.

   With this track time feature, the managers can get an overview of the time required to resolve each issue. This time-tracking feature is also helpful for future estimation and planning.

5. Advanced Search:

   You can search for issues using different field options. But with many issues in the system, it is difficult to search for a particular set of issues.

   For example, search issues with high priority or issues assigned to a specific team member.

   In this case, managers can create filters for advanced search where they can search for issues using particular conditions.

6. Automation:

   This is one of the most important features used by many of our clients. It includes automation features like:

   • Issue Notification: Where managers can set a course of action if any new issue is created.
   • Issue Escalation: Managers can set a course of action if the status of an issue is open for more than 3 hours or if the severity of an issue is critical.
   This feature sets the team to take immediate corrective actions to get the issue resolved.
7. Track customer issues via Webforms:

   Your customers can enter issues via the customer portal, for which you can provide them with a login id and password, or you can also create a web form and place it on your website.

   Once it is placed on the website, the visitors can quickly fill them up and submit all their queries, complaints, and suggestions.

8. Tracking issue lifecycle:

   Once the issue is raised in the system, the customer can track the progress of the issue right from the stage of initiation to resolution. Additionally, through notes, they can communicate with the developers.

9. Pricing:

   OfficeClip Issue tracker has a Free version which is available in Standard Edition.

   Also, they have a Professional and Enterprise Edition with advanced features, starting from $3/user/month. Both these editions have a 30-day free trial.

Additionally, apart from issue-tracking, OfficeClip has different binders in the Issue-tracker module which can be used for:

1. Sales tracking
2. General tracking
3. Patient tracking
4. HR Candidate tracking
5. Workmans Comp Claims tracking