Regardless of industry, technical issues are something every business experiences. Support tickets help organizations address technical issues that impact their customers or internal teams. Efficient technical communications during times of disruptions help businesses manage challenges and mitigate negative impacts to their product, service or reputation. Inefficient processes and communication around support tickets can strain customer relationships and experiences.
This blog shares tips for how to automate support tickets and deliver reliable technical communications for customers. We also discuss how automated support tickets improve employee experience and streamline internal processes.
What Are Support Tickets?
Support tickets are digital documents that record interactions between a customer and a support rep. The term “support tickets” can include interactions between someone needing help and a service representative. Customers also can create a support ticket when they submit a query via an organization’s help portal. The ticket is then automatically shared with the support rep.
Customers and employees can submit support tickets for various technical issues across severity levels, such as a password update or unplanned service interruption. Users can also submit support tickets across different channels (e.g., phone, email, an online ticketing system, company website, etc.). Support tickets log each party’s communication throughout the resolution process, which is available on a thread for easy reference.
3 Ways to Automate Support Tickets with IVAs
Companies can invest in intelligent technologies like AI and machine learning (ML) to automate support tickets and handle technical issues more efficiently. Below are a few examples of how intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) can help businesses introduce automation into technical communications.
Personalize and Automate Technical Communications
Customer support is no longer just about speedy ticket resolutions. It’s about a well-rounded customer experience that’s efficient and effective. In technical communications, it’s best to add a personalized touch. Businesses can achieve this personalized touch through an IVA.
For instance, a company’s IVA collects information during every customer interaction. The IVA learns from the interactions by evaluating the data in real-time and throughout the customer’s interactions with the company. Further, through predictive intent, the IVA gains and stores information on customers and identifies and executes the next best steps. Data from the IVAs can uncover trends that inform how the virtual agent delivers support and personalizes the customer’s experience going forward.
Enable Self-Service for Technical Issues
Customers want to take charge of their technical issues and have visibility into resolution. Self-service capabilities drive this control. This might include an online customer portal with a knowledge base, frequently asked questions, and product descriptions. Organizations can also use the information from support tickets as the basis for knowledge-based articles. Companies can combine these efforts with the IVAs they have in place. If customers submit support tickets through a self-service channel, an IVA can automatically solve the issue via voice resolution or redirect the inquiry to the right agent. The IVA might also automatically lead the customer to an existing resource with the answer.
Self-service also extends to internal IT issues. Employees can use IVAs to create support tickets for software updates or equipment malfunctions. They can also use IVAs to report more severe technical issues like phishing attacks or widespread outages. Businesses that enable self-service and automated support meet customer expectations, which can positively impact satisfaction.
Streamline Support with Automatic Updates
People don’t like waiting for answers, especially when they encounter technical issues. IVAs help facilitate proactive communications during technical issues. After a user creates a support ticket, an IVA can automatically update the ticket's status, including when it’s resolved. This process removes potential bottlenecks, so users gain real-time visibility into the issue as it evolves. This real-time visibility also reduces the burden on staff to manually update or respond to customer follow-up requests.
Key Benefits of Automated Support Tickets
Below are four examples of the benefits businesses can experience from automated support tickets.
Save Costs on Straightforward Tasks Like Password Updates
On average, IT costs an enterprise $70 for a single password reset. And large organizations allocate over $1 million annually for password-related support costs. Automation helps organizations save money per ticket by reducing manual labor and increasing efficiency.
One way to automate the password update process is to use an IVA. The IVA can verify the customer’s identity and walk them through the steps to create a new password. Updating a password with an IVA is secure and efficient, which can also grant cost savings to the business.
Increase Customer Retention
Positive service experiences strengthen customer engagement and increase the likelihood that customers will do business with you again. Automating technical support tickets increases speed to resolution and delivers personalized service to customers. This enhanced support encourages repeat business because customers trust you will meet their needs quickly.
Improve Agent Productivity
Support tickets provide a trackable inventory of the customer’s support requests. Support agents may work with dozens or even hundreds of customers daily. As such, it’s helpful to have a system that digitizes technical communications, tracks the progress of each ticket, and automates the next best action for resolution. Ticketing systems should be able to accomplish these tasks with or without human assistance.
Historical context benefits the agent and eliminates the need for customers to repeat themselves. Your company can design IVAs to answer repetitive questions, such as password resets, so agents can focus on complex technical issues.
Proactively Adjust Future Products and Services
Support tickets are valuable reference points for identifying problems with a company’s products and determining how to improve service. Customer support teams can relay support tickets to other departments, who can address these issues for future product or service releases.
Partner with Mosaicx to Modernize Technical Communications Strategies
Businesses that want to help customers overcome technical issues can deploy a Mosaicx IVA. Our IVA evolves technical communications by delivering an intuitive way for your business to approach technical issues and resolutions. Mosaicx leverages conversational AI to personalize service to users, which is vital to customer satisfaction and retention.
When customers and employees face technical issues, they turn to the business for support. Businesses need strategies to offer reliable, efficient, and personalized technical communications for their customers and employees. A modern technical communications strategy supports existing teams and helps save resources. Businesses can leverage AI-enabled communication tools such as IVAs to modernize customer service and drive customer satisfaction and loyalty.