What is ticket routing?
Definition: Ticket routing is the process of assigning customer support tickets to the appropriate agent or team for resolution.
It involves analyzing the content of the ticket and determining which agent or team is best equipped to handle the request based on predefined criteria such as skillset, language, or issue type. Ticket routing is usually done through an automated system that helps streamline the customer support process and improve efficiency.
It ensures that representatives with the proper skill for the issue handle customer tickets while lowering the number of tickets in the backlog by routing them to the available representatives and increasing the speed at which they are closed.
What is automated ticket routing?
Ticket routing was once done manually, but today, automation software does everything behind-the-scenes much faster and more accurately.
The use of software in the ticket routing process automatically assigns tickets to the right representatives without human intervention.
Automation software does it by analyzing different aspects of the ticket, like the location it was sent from, product features, the type of problem, and the role of the customer. They can do this through AI analysis or ticket input forms where customers can select predetermined fields that help the software route the ticket.
Ticket Input Form:
The software takes the data provided and, through predetermined rules, finds the right representative to take on the ticket based on their location, availability, workload, and expertise.
Sophisticated software can route customers to helpful resources instead of representatives, saving them time.
Benefits of ticket routing
- Fast solutions as tickets are automatically assigned without delays to the representatives with the skills to solve the issues quickly.
- Balanced workload as tickets are distributed evenly without representative intervention.
- Reduced errors made by manual ticket routing by automating the process.
- Increased productivity by only letting representatives solve tickets they are suited for solving.
- Reduced costs due to the system's efficiency and time spent on solving tickets.
Potential challenges of ticket routing
- Ensuring the routing system can adapt to new customer needs.
- Balancing the speed of tickets being routed as it can impact quality.
- Scalability of the system in the long run.
- Routing errors leading to tickets being improperly routed or not routed.
- Identifying areas of improvement, if they are due to the support or system.
- Ensuring that the system fairly distributes tickets.
Common ticket routing methods
There are four main methods used for ticket routing:
- Round-robin: Assigning tickets to available representatives equally splitting them.
- Skill-based: Assigning tickets to representatives with the necessary skills to solve the issue.
- Priority-based: Labeling tickets with levels of urgency and assigning the most urgent first and the least last.
- Location-based: Assign tickets from specific locations to representatives responsible for that location.
