Roll out an IT ticketing system in four weeks

Before you start: three decisions

Write down three things before you set anything up. First, where requests come in: usually an email address and, from now on, a portal, with the phone kept for real emergencies. Second, what counts as urgent: three priorities are enough. Third, who picks up new tickets: one person per day, a rule by topic or, in a one-person IT team, you. Without someone responsible for intake, a new tool simply creates a new place for work to wait.

Week 1: IT only

Set up the system and use it yourself for a week. Log every phone call, every shout across the office and every Teams message as a ticket. This has two effects: you learn the tool before anyone else asks questions, and for the first time you see in black and white how much really comes in.

Use the same week to write up your five most common questions as knowledge base articles. After three days, your own list shows which ones they are.

Week 2: one department

Pick a department that reports often and is well disposed towards you. In their team meeting, explain in five minutes how reporting works and ask for honest feedback. The most important question: can someone report a problem without help and find its status later?

Change whatever does not work now, while only 15 people are affected: rename categories, drop a required field, shorten the confirmation email.

Week 3: everyone

Send a short email to everyone. Not a guide with twenty screenshots, just three sentences and a link.

Subject: IT issues: report them here from today

Hi everyone,

From today, please report IT issues at [portal link].
You can see there at any time where your request stands.
Emails to it@company.example still arrive.

For real emergencies, when nothing works at all: [phone number].

Thanks,
[Name], IT

Stick QR labels on the devices that fail most often in the same week: printers, projectors, the reception PC.

Week 4: adjust and measure

• What percentage of requests came through the portal or email, and how many still came by shout or phone?
• Which categories does nobody use? Remove them.
• Which question came up five times? Write a guide.
• Which deadline never fitted? Adjust it.

Do not expect everyone to use the portal after four weeks. If it is three quarters, that is a good start.

Common mistakes in the rollout

• Too many required fields. Every required field is a reason to phone instead. The only requirement is “What is wrong?”. Everything else helps, but is not essential.
• Too many categories. If people cannot find the right one in three seconds, they pick “Other”. Six to eight categories are enough for most companies.
• An unfriendly reaction to calls. “Write a ticket” as an answer to a problem sounds like bureaucracy. Better to help, create the ticket yourself and send the link. Habits change through good experiences, not rules.
• No end date for the old ways. If the old spreadsheet keeps running, soon nobody maintains both. Set a cut-off date after which the old list is read-only.

Starter categories: a suggestion

Categories decide whether you get meaningful figures later. Start with a few that people understand without thinking, and name them from the employees’ point of view, not IT’s. Eight are enough to begin with: printers and scanners; Outlook and email; access and passwords; hardware (laptop, monitor, phone); applications (ERP, Office, specialist software); network and home office (Wi-Fi, VPN); orders and requests; other.

“Other” is allowed. If more than a fifth of all tickets end up there after a month, a category is missing, and the tickets show you which one.

Who does what

IT

Setup, categories, snippets, first guides and the announcement.

Management

One sentence saying that IT issues now go through the system. That helps more than any guide.

HR

Reports new starters and leavers through the new route.

Works council

If you have one, involve it before launch to discuss reporting, access and safeguards.

Pilot department

Tries real requests and says honestly what does not work.

How to tell after three months that it works

• Most requests come through the portal or email, and shouting across the office is the exception.
• Nobody asks any more whether their request arrived.
• During holidays, your cover could carry on without phoning you.
• You can say which three topics take the most time.
• The five most common questions have a guide, and the number of those tickets is falling.

If none of that has improved, talk to employees before adding features.

What to prepare on the first evening

• Five snippets for the most common answers, with a placeholder for the first name.
• A confirmation email that says in two sentences what happens next.
• Three priorities with deadlines.
• One automation that sorts printer issues, because they top the list in almost every company.
• The portal link in your email signature.

The phone stays for emergencies

Do not abolish the phone. Decide what it is for: when nothing works at all, when someone has no computer, when it needs fixing right now. Everything else goes through the portal or email. Whoever calls gets help, and you create the ticket. After a few weeks the calls become fewer, because people see that the portal shows them where their request stands.

What the software should do for you

A setup wizard with templates saves the first evening. A portal that needs no instructions saves the training. An honest time estimate on the ticket saves the follow-up questions. In 404desk, that means a setup wizard with one step per page and starter packs for categories, snippets and request templates, the employee portal, which shows the stages and an estimated time frame on each ticket, and help before a request is sent. The estimate is based on previous resolution times and the current queue, and it only appears once enough tickets have been resolved. The application itself is currently in German. Also take a look at the IT console.