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Table of Contents

• What is Issue Tracking Software?
• The benefits of Issue Tracking Software
• Typical features of Issue Tracking Software
• The cost of Issue Tracking Software
• Considerations when purchasing Issue Tracking Software
• Relevant Issue Tracking Software trends

What is Issue Tracking Software?

Issue tracking software records and manages customer complaint tickets and helps users follow up with relevant stakeholders until resolution. The solution is generally used in the customer services or information technology (IT) department of an organization. This software allows managers to track issues by priority levels or sort them by using custom criteria.

The benefits of Issue Tracking Software

• Centralized platform to track various types of issues: The software can handle different types of IT and business-related issues such as resource sharing, system maintenance, and access change requests. Based on the issue type, the stakeholders for issue resolution also vary significantly. A centralized platform ensures smooth coordination between multiple stakeholders which helps to reduce the overall issue handling time. 
• Customized issue tracking workflow: The software allows non-technical users to create a workflow without any specialized coding skills. It provides drag and drop features where end users can build their own workflows with custom fields. Managers can also define roles and permissions when creating workflows. 
• Send automated alerts and notifications: When a huge number of tickets are generated, there’s a higher chance of a few being unintentionally overlooked. Automated alerts via email or SMS text keep users updated on each customer query until it gets resolved.
• Customer database integration: Integration of issue tracking software with customer collaboration or customer relationship management (CRM) software provides agents quick access to customer data. It also assists helpdesk agents to validate customer calls and identify the correct issue tickets.

Typical features of Issue Tracking Software

• Dashboard: Track and view metrics using graphs and charts in a centralized location.
• Ticket management: Track, manage, and resolve the issue tickets raised by stakeholders.
• Assignment management: Assign issues and tickets to various departments based on their skill set.
• Task management: Manage a task throughout its lifecycle which includes planning, scheduling, dependencies and milestone tracking, and outcome reporting. 
• Issues auditing: Examine and evaluate past issues to check whether they are in compliance with the set standards.

The cost of Issue Tracking Software

Most products in the market are priced on a “per user, per month” basis and can be divided into three pricing tiers based on their starting price.

Price ranges*:

• $3 - $5
• $5- $10
• $10+

*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offerings found on vendor websites on June 13, 2019. These ranges correspond to 25th, 75th, and 100th percentile of the pricing information gathered from the vendor websites of sample products.

The above list summarizes pricing for the base plans of most products. An enterprise or premium product, which is priced higher, may include some additional features such as scaled data storage, gamification of issue resolution, information technology service management (ITSM) integration, and live call routing.

Considerations when purchasing Issue Tracking software

• Check for analytics component: An analytics component offers built-in metrics to track the count of new and closed tickets, backlogs, average ticket reply time, and traffic analysis. Tracking these parameters can help you in improving customer service. 
• Total cost of ownership (TCO): While some software is priced on a “per agent, per month” basis, others may charge businesses on the basis of total tickets issued in a month. Therefore, buyers must assess their team size versus the total issues raised in a month to identify the best solution for the business. Also, it’s good to check for the installation fee, maintenance cost, and training and support charges to calculate the TCO.

Relevant Issue Tracking Software trends

• Artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help in knowledge curation: AI-enabled issue tracking tools utilize the data from prior and current issues to provide relevant information to agents. These tools can also create a knowledge base by summarizing the details related to common problems, known errors, and anticipated resolutions. With AI, organizations can identify gaps in their existing knowledge base and update it on a regular basis by using insights from current data.
• Chatbots can handle a high volume of issues: Chatbots are capable of automating customer service with 24/7 support and offers proactive customer interaction. They provide a rapid system-generated answer and can handle a high volume of similar issues. Chatbots can also resolve issues by using the knowledge base and in case of critical needs, they direct a user to the appropriate department. These virtual assistants make the process more collaborative and efficient, as well as increase an agent’s productivity.