Introduction
ServiceNow is the help desk/ticketing system used by CRE to handle tickets for incidents. It is supported and maintained by MIT IS&T.
Ticketing systems are used to track issues and responses over the course of the issue's lifespan. This typically happens when someone emails cre-info@mit.edu if they have a general question about CRE's website, or cre-it@mit.edu if they have a problem with some hardware or software and need technical support. An
A ticketing system For example, when an inquiry comes in from a website, a ticket will be created for that email, and a notification will be sent to the staff listed for that particular ServiceNow Queue/Department.
Advantages of Ticketing Systems over Email
Using a ticketing system is superior to using email because:
- Tickets are centered around a specific issue. If a user has a problem with their computer, the IT department can create a ticket for the incident and record the troubleshooting steps they have taken, as well as any interactions with the client. If the incident takes several days to resolve, it is helpful to be able to review the steps that have already been taken to avoid trying things that have already been done.
- Tickets prevent incidents from falling through the cracks. A ticket can have a status of Open, In-Progress, or Closed. Keeping a ticket "open" ensures that you do not forget to follow up with someone, and that nothing falls through the cracks.
- Tickets provide continuity. If you run a lab or group where team members are constantly coming and going, a ticketing system allows anyone on the queue's staff list to see the history and interactions that the former staff member had with the client regarding each issue.
- Tickets make escalations easy. You can easily reassign tasks to other departments, or automatically notify other staff members of the responses. This helps prevent staff from responding to a client's question more than once.
- Tickets provide greater insight into common problems. You can categorize problem types and assign tickets to them, which helps management understand where the organization needs more help. For example, you may have categories such as "IT - Desktop Support" and "IT - Printing" to see how frequently printer problems occur, and whether or not it makes sense to look at reducing the ways in which that will be problematic.
CRE's ServiceNow Instance
We have several service queues within ServiceNow.