Jira Ticketing System Simplified 101

To keep track of their tasks, businesses utilize a variety of Work Management Systems and Issue Trackers. Atlassian created Jira as a Project Management Software Tool for Bug Tracking and Agile Project Management. Since it supports languages like English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish, Jira is a multilingual tool.

On a complete walkthrough of this article, you will gain a decent understanding of Jira Ticketing Systems. Also, you will be able to set up Jira Ticketing Systems and gain in-depth knowledge of all the terminologies and processes involved in Jira Ticketing Systems.

Table of Contents

• What is Jira?
• How do you Pronounce “Jira”?
• What is the Purpose of Jira Software?
• What is a Jira Ticket?
• How Does a Ticketing Platform Benefit a Software Team?
• How to Set Up Jira as your Support System?
• How do you Search for Issues and Attachments in Jira?
• How do I Create a Jira Ticket?
• What is an Epic in Jira?
• Jira Ticketing Best Practices
• What to Look for in Jira Alternatives?
• Conclusion

What is Jira?

Jira is a proprietary platform developed by Atlassian, an Australian Corporation. It was first launched in 2002. Jira was originally designed for Bug Tracking, but more current versions now include non-IT Project Management, Agile Project Management, and Service Desk Features. The operations team, the IT team, and the service team can all carry out their tasks effortlessly from this single platform.

The following are some of Jira’s products:

• Jira Core is used for non-IT Project Management, such as HR, Manufacturing, and Content Development.
• Jira Software is a Bug and Problem Tracking program that also has Agile Management features such as Kanban and Scrum boards.
• Jira Service Desk includes features like Internal Help Desk, Customer-facing Request, and Issue Tracking.

How do you Pronounce “Jira”?

Jira is derived from Gojira, the Japanese name for the movie character Godzilla, as it is known in English. The term Godzilla is said to have inspired the name Bugzilla, a Bug Tracking program developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The product’s name is pronounced JEErah, according to Atlassian sources.

What is the Purpose of Jira Software?

Jira Core and Jira Software, two of the most popular IT Jira Ticketing solutions for Agile Development teams, have features that can help you finish and release a variety of deliverables. Jira interacts with Atlassian release tools like Bitbucket and Bamboo for Software Development, as well as the Atlassian Marketplace’s hundreds of feature-rich Apps and Add-ons.

Even with frequent releases, Jira allows you to employ default or customized workflows to match the needs and schedule of your project or team. With customizable fields, boards, and more, Jira’s Mobile-capable Apps can adapt to fit the size of your team and your project.

Scrum or Kanban Backlogs and sprint planning are available in Agile Implementations, allowing for precise estimations and prioritizing of the work that matters most to customers. Atlassian’s Knowledge Management Tool, Confluence, Reporting Capabilities are able to provide, more Transparency in Work, Faster Processes, a better understanding of any bottlenecks, as well as Collaboration and Information Exchange.

Jira Service Desk, which was built on Jira’s Bug and Issue-Tracking base, offers integrated Jira Ticketing, Tracking, and Notification Solution for both Internal and External Clients. When used in conjunction with Jira Software, Service Desk speeds up the process of finding Jira Tickets, Fixing Defects, and Implementing Client Requests. Jira full form refers to the combination of Jira and Jira Service Desk.

Jira Disadvantages

Adding a Bug Tracker can help to keep track of new issues and how they’re handled. Jira Service Desk takes advantage of Atlassian’s initial product, Jira, Jira ticketing works for both External and Internal Service Desks, as well as a seamless connection with Jira Software’s Bug-tracking Capability, SLA, and self-service capabilities.

• Simple to Set Up: Setting up a service desk may be as simple as registering up Online, choosing an Account Name, and selecting a Service Desk template.
• Engine for Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Include the proper SLA Metrics for each customer so that critical issues are automatically prioritized and highlighted to meet your SLA obligations. To estimate solution time, use the native countdown devices.
• Real-Time Data: With Real-Time Analytics and Reporting, you can see how quickly and well IT answers to Jira Tickets. Keep an eye on SLA Measurements to spot bottlenecks before they happen.
• Customizable Team Queues: Create unique queues for your team to easily push essential requests to the front of the line. You may use pre-built Automation and Workflows to speed up common operations, but you can also create your own rules and workflows. Jira Query Language (JQL) enables advanced issue searches to keep IT and Support Teams informed about significant issues.
• Connects with Jira: Send Service Desk issues and problems straight to Jira Software Developers for faster resolution.
• Asset Tracking and Management: Build a basic but effective Asset Management Project to track equipment as it is ordered, shipped, implemented, upgraded, and repaired. The New Service Requests’ information can be retrieved quickly from Jira Service Desk.
• Customer Tab: Create request forms and templates with ease, and change the design of your Customer Portal. Customers can see or hide fields and functionality as needed.
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Reporting: When an issue is fixed, Jira Service Desk sends out a customer satisfaction survey automatically. You can change the survey question’s wording or turn it off entirely.

Licensing and Price

Jira offers Cloud and On-premise licensing for the three options: Jira Core, Jira Software, and Jira Service Desk. Consider your budget and the number of license seats you’ll need for access to technical support resources when choosing the proper licensing type. Some general guidelines are listed below:

• No matter how large your team is, Cloud Implementations provide a quick setup on the Atlassian-hosted platform, allowing you to sign up and get to work right away.
• Maintenance Upgrades and annual renewal support are included in self-hosted perpetual licenses. For Example, the On-Premise Jira Software Server provides more customization and control choices for hosting on a single server.
• Data Center is a multi-server, Scalable Enterprise-Level Deployment option. It provides the highest levels of availability and performance for critical services and functions.

Atlassian distinguishes between Commercial and Academic licenses as well. Jira offers monthly and annual licenses for each platform. For Cloud deployments, the minimum term of service is one month, which can be renewed monthly or rolled into a longer-term license.

What is a Jira Ticket?

In Jira or any other Service Desk software, a Jira Ticket represents an occurrence that has to be investigated or a work item that needs to be addressed. Customers’ Jira Tickets are referred to as requests in Jira Service Desk. A request is referred to as an issue in Jira Software or in a Jira Service Desk queue.

How Does a Ticketing Platform Benefit a Software Team?

Organizations and their customers are still struggling to successfully Route Tickets and Communicate Queries and Updates nearly 40 years into the IT era, well into the 21st century. Jira can be used by businesses to collect Requests and Issues. Companies that use Bug Tracking and Project Management may be missing a Unified Ticketing Platform that allows customers to send requests directly to Engineers.

When the Service Desk misses in progress and reported issues, teams lose transparency. The following benefits can be obtained with a Custom-Built Ticketing System:

• Users save time and money by recording all issues, notes, and communications in one tool that the entire team can access; eliminating the need to look for memos across or between programs.
• Customers’ most important requests and issues are accessible to the entire team, allowing for more user-driven development and delighting customers with faster, more effective remedies.
• Collaboration and Transparency between the Development and Service Desk teams have improved.
• There’s no waiting in the dark for answers and messages when service workers and consumers get status updates.

How to Set Up Jira as your Support System?

Jira Service Desk is simple to set up. You must be an administrator to configure the product. Jira Service Desk comes with three basic Jira Service Desk templates to get you started with your projects:

• Basic Service Desk: Internal customers are served by the basic service desk.
• IT Service Desk: A template that follows ITIL principles and practices for more advanced implementations.
• Customer Service Desk: This template allows external customers to report faults or suggest new products, as well as track their requests.

You’ll go through Jira Service Desk Cloud in this article. Make a Jira Service Desk project in Jira It’s simple to set up a Jira Service Desk project:

• Step 1: Select Projects from the left-hand panel. To start a New Project, click the Create Project button. Give the Project a Name.

• Step 2: Change or use the default Project Template. 

• Change the Template by clicking the Change button.

• Whether it’s an IT Service Desk, an Internal Service Desk, or an External Service Desk, choose the Suitable Template. Select the option you want.

• Step 3: Click Create on the Create Project Page. Jira Service Desk walks you through all of the processes to configure a project after you’ve created it.

Configure How Customers Submit Requests

Specify a Support Channel for Clients to submit requests in your New Project, such as a Customer Portal or a Linked Email Account. You may also choose which parts of the website they can access on the Portal Setup page.

Customize your gateway by giving it a unique Name and including your corporate logo. Under the channels on the left sidebar, you’ll find the Email Address and Portal Link. You can create a knowledge base from which articles are accessible through the portal to reduce requests for common and easy-to-solve problems with the Collaboration Tool Confluence, which is licensed separately.

Create Request Types to Expedite Ticket Routing

You may help Customers communicate their issues more clearly and simplify Jira Ticketing Management by routing Jira Tickets to the right queues and thereby expediting answers by building catalogs of requests from which they can choose. Consider the following while writing these request types:

• Find the most typical forms of client concerns and queries, such as Plans and Pricing, Something is Broken, or Requests and Suggestions.
• Create distinct request types within request groups. For example, Cloud and On-Premise might be listed under Plans and Pricing. Detail components that Customers can identify under Something Are Broken. Electrical Cord or On-Off Switch could be used to describe an appliance.
• Write requests in the same way that your customers would, and only use jargon when it’s the clearest method to describe a portion of an issue.

When creating New Requests in Jira Service Desk, you can apply a unique icon to each one to improve usability.

Create Queues

Customer service representatives operate in queues, where they can see requests, their priority, criticality, and the time it takes to meet the SLA. Queues sort requests based on the priority and category you specify. You can build queues to perform automatic triage as an Admin, but you can also Adjust Priority and Reassign Issues to other agents manually.

Add Agents and Assign Issues to Them

Two jobs are available in Jira Service Desk: Service Agent and Customer. You take on the position of Project Administrator as a project creator. You invite agents to join the project by inviting individuals with existing Jira Accounts. After selecting an issue, you can manually allocate issues to agents if necessary.

Create SLAs

The expected Response and Resolution time for each issue are specified in Service Level Agreements. It is shared with your customers and agents. A consumer might expect a response to all of their complaints in four hours, and a resolution to major ones in twelve hours.

Distinct issues have different Time Constraints. You can set goals and deadlines as reminders. When developing SLAs, focus on long-term features rather than ephemeral characteristics like status or assignee.

View Reports on Team Metrics

Reports are an important tool for determining whether or not your team is meeting SLAs and other objectives. Reports can show the types of concerns that have been raised and how quickly your team has resolved them, as well as longer-term trends. Jira Service Desk allows you to generate Custom Reports, but it also includes pre-built reports such as the Average Customer Satisfaction Rating, the number of SLAs met versus breached, issues produced against issues handled, and more.

How do you Search for Issues and Attachments in Jira?

You want to know which Jira Tickets are critical and which you’ve updated as a Developer. As a Service Desk Representative, you want to know if similar problems have been reported before and if a bigger problem is being addressed. You can create filters using the Jira Query Language strings. The following steps should be followed for searching issues:

• Step 1: Click the Jira Service Desk button or any other Jira program’s button. Click Issues & Filters in the left panel. Issues can be found by clicking Search.

• Step 2: Add the relevant JQL string to the Search box. Jira will automatically return any issues that have been requested if the syntax is right. Jira will automatically return any issues that have been requested if the syntax is right.

Look for Items that have Attachments

For Faults and Defects, developers and others frequently need to look at the associated supporting documents. Type the below JQL string into the Search box:

project = “projectName” AND NOT attachments is EMPTY

List All Jira Tickets Ever Assigned to a User

The JQL string below retrieves issues from all projects allocated to a user. 

Type assignee = “username” in the Search box.

How do I Create a Jira Ticket?

Depending on Service Desk configuration, a Jira Service Desk user creates a Jira Ticket through the Customer Portal or by submitting a Jira Ticket via Email. Each project, like each subpage on the portal, has its own Email Address and Portal Link Address.

Customers may be given the Project’s Email Address via an agent, or it may be published on a website.

Creating Jira Tickets via Email

A Customer care person must first send you the relevant Email Address for requests before you may send a Jira Ticket request by Email.

• Step 1: Open your preferred Email program.
• Step 2: Put the support Email Address in the To line.
• Step 3: Fill in as much information as you can about the Product, Component, and Problem in the body of your Email.
• Step 4: Send the message. Jira confirms receipt of the request by sending an email to your address.

Requests Made through the Customer Portal

You must either acquire a link from a customer care representative or find a link on the website of a product or service provider.

• Step 1: To use the Portal, you must first log in.
• Step 2: Select a Category for your request.
• Step 3: Select a specific request in the What can we help you with? box.

Include a summary of the request as well as specifics. Include any components or goods that are relevant to the request. Any Screenshots, Scripts, or other documentation that supports the request should be attached and then send the message.

Creating Requests in Multiple Service Desks

An Issue addressed to the Service Desk may need to be escalated to Developers by a Service Desk Agent. The agent can escalate the problem by connecting it to the Jira Software Platform used by the Development team. Assigning limited access to Jira Core or Jira Software Users is the simplest approach to allow them to read and submit internal comments to Service Desk Issues. By adding them to the Jira Service Desk Team role, you may accomplish this. Make these users request participants if they must engage with Customers.

• Step 1: Select the issue in Jira Service Desk. Make a click “I need to store my Documents”. Select Link from the menu.

• Step 2: Indicate why you’re elevating the problem and whether it’s related to another one. Select the appropriate option for responding to Customer or Internal Comments, and add any Relevant Comments. Go to the link and click it.

The linked problem is mentioned in the main issue, along with any comments.

Tracking and Editing Jira Tickets

You can Update and Comment on your requests through the portal whether you submit them by Email or through the portal. To access the website after submitting a request by Email, open the Confirmation Email and select View Request.

• Step 1: Go to the Portal and login. Click the Profile Symbol in the upper-right corner, which also shows the number of requests you’ve made. Select Created by me from the options.

• Step 2: You can search for requests or see a list of your requests on the website. You can click on the Request to see the details.

• Step 3: You may see the Issue’s Specifics as well as any Connected Activities. In the Comments section, you can make notes. You can choose to escalate or settle the issue on the right, or you can cancel the request.

What is an Epic in Jira?

An Epic is a long user story that defines a single goal, such as a Finished Product, a Business Need, or a Bug Remedy. An Epic is broken down into smaller tales. After then, the stories are broken down into manageable jobs. Epics may be completed over numerous Sprints or Versions. Epics are frequently linked to the Scrum Project Management Approach.

Since Epics and Stories aren’t available in Jira Service Desk, some users utilize Jira Software to track new features suggested by clients as epics.

Jira Ticketing Best Practices

As with any other Platform Setup, you optimize your benefits by thinking about Implementation from the perspective of the people who will actually use the Software, as demonstrated by the recommended practices below:

• Consider what Terms and Phrases clients would use to generate their requests when generating Request Categories and Individual Requests.
• There are three types of Requests: if a product works correctly, whether users find it easy to use, and whether the product fulfills the task that users want it to do. Analyze your requests to identify which of these categories the majority of them fit into, and what this means for your Service Desk and Product Development.
• Use Self-Service Tools like Knowledge Bases and user forums to prevent your Service Desk from becoming overburdened with simple inquiries.
• Create Request Categories to elicit (at the very least) what the user performed, what the user expected to happen, and what actually happened.

What to Look for in Jira Alternatives?

Although the Jira Ticketing platform is one of the best in the industry. But if you’re looking for a different ticketing platform, search for the following features:

• Development, HR, Legal, IT services, and Customer Care all have access to the same platform.
• The setup is simple.
• Fields, Dashboards, and Workflows can all be easily customized.
• Adaptability to larger or smaller teams, as well as more or less complicated Projects.
• Kanban and Scrum Boards, as well as Backlogs and SprintPplanning, are all examples of Agile Support.
• Burndown, Cumulative Flow, and other Charts and Data are available in real-time.
• Monitoring and tracking of Issues.
• Capability for Source Control and Code Review.
• Interfaces and Source Code that are localized.
• Role-based Access Control Security.
• Long-Term Support and Consistent History.

Conclusion

This article teaches you about Jira Ticketing Systems. It provides in-depth knowledge about the concepts behind every step to help you understand and implement them efficiently. In case you want to analyze data from Jira into your desired Database/destination, then Hevo Data is the right choice for you! 

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