We’ve all been there–we sit down at our workstation on a Monday morning, ready to get our week started.  Then, we power on our computer and something goes wrong.  Whether it’s not being able to open your email or another application not allowing you to print, unexpected issues that hold you back from getting your job done can pop up far too often.

When it happens, you do your best to figure out the resolution yourself.  You search Google, Bing, and Internet Explorer for answers.  You check for any other type of information that might help you.  But it quickly becomes clear…you’re going to have to open a support ticket. 

We understand that opening support requests is not fun.  You may be frustrated and find yourself at a loss on what to say and what information to include in a ticket so that you get your issue across to the support team effectively. 

The thing is, writing a clear and detailed support ticket is the key to speeding up the support process.  It saves our engineers a lot of time going back and forth trying to get information from you.

Here are some helpful tips to follow when writing a support ticket:

Do not panic.

We understand that you’re frustrated but before you begin typing, try to stay calm.  This may sound ridiculous, but it helps you explain your issue in a more clear and concise way.  Our engineers handle a heavy load of high-pressure issues from a lot of customers.  When you are calm, it helps our team stay calm, which helps them resolve your issue more quickly. Everybody wins!

Write a clear and concise subject line – focus on the details.

This is the key to getting your issue resolved more quickly.  It helps to immediately tell us what your issue is.  Bad subject lines do not give any context, are hastily written, and waste valuable space with redundant wording and punctuation.

Here are two example subject lines.  Which do you think is better?

1. NEED HELP ASAP!!!!!!
2. URGENT – Cannot access my computer remotely

I am sure you will agree that subject line B is the best.  Effective subject lines can still display urgency, while simultaneously explaining what the issue is. 

Give a full and detailed description of the problem.

This is the most important part of your support ticket.  This cannot be stressed enough, the more details you provide, the better and faster we can help you.  Here are some tips to help you through this part of the process:

• Use a list and bullet points for easy communication.
• Provide us with a description of what you are trying to do or what you did when you encountered the issue.
• Inform us about the prioritization of this issue.  We need to know how many people this issue affects, the impact that it is having on the business and realistic expectations for time to resolution (Ex:  I need this for a report for a board meeting this afternoon)
• Include the time and frequency of the issue. 
• Do not forget to tell us any efforts that you made to resolve the issue yourself.
• If applicable, be sure to tell us:
  • What browser you are using
  • What operating system are you using (Windows, Mac) and
  • Any other technical details that you can such as:
    • The web address or URL where the error occurred.
    • Type of device you are using when you encountered the issue. 
    • If you are not sure, visit supportdetails.com to get the information.
• If you can, attach a screenshot or screen recording showing the issue that you are encountering.

If you do not hear from us after 24 hours, reach out to us.

Rest assured, we are doing our best to get back to you in a timely manner and we do not want to keep you waiting.  However, there are times when we handle a very high-ticket volume or are dealing with major issues.  Every ticket that arrives in our ticketing queue is triaged based on its importance and then is assigned to the most qualified resource to help you.

Please do not create more than one ticket for the same issue.  We realize that you may be waiting for us to contact you but duplicating a ticket will only delay the process.  Instead, it is best to check your ticket status and add a note to us to let us know that you are waiting for a response.  We understand that when you have an issue with your technology that it is frustrating and that you want quick results.  However, to do our best at resolving your problem, we need you to help us by providing us with a good support ticket.   

As always, our team of experts at Concensus Technologies is happy to help you through any of your other IT needs or questions. Reach out to our team here.