Building a ticketing system with Centerpoint

Centerpoint is a platform with endless possibilities and use cases. The neat thing about the platform is that you can connect and integrate with your existing applications and business systems, build new processes, and optimize how you work.

The challenge

We've been growing fast over the last couple of years. We've also added new products, features, and functionalities to our platform. We realized we needed a ticketing system to handle customer requests, ideas for improvement, and bug reporting. While scanning the market for ticketing systems, we did find reasonable solutions. But they were rather expensive, and we would have to introduce another system to our colleagues. So instead, we built a solution using our own platform, Centerpoint.

Some of the critical success factors in creating a ticketing system were:

• Create a process to capture all bugs, questions, and requests from our customers.
• Make it easy to assign and prioritize tickets.
• Give all stakeholders access to information relating to tickets relevant to them.

The solution

The first thing we did was identify what we needed from a ticketing system. We involved stakeholders from all relevant departments to ensure we covered everything. In our case, this included colleagues from Development, Professional Services, and Sales.

The requirements we had for a ticketing system were:

1. Existing customers must have the option to report bugs and submit questions directly from our platform. Customers must be able to give the ticket a rating of how urgent the case is.
   1. Solution: We created an app inside the Centerpoint platform. We used our REST API to create a digital request form.
2. All requests must end up in a queue from where they can be assigned to the appropriate support person.
   1. Solution: We're catching webhooks from step 1 through Zappier.
   2. Solution: Data is fed directly into Azure DevOps, including attachments using Zappier. Tickets are categorized to ensure they end up with the correct support person.
3. The customer who submitted a ticket receives messages when the status of their ticket is updated or when we need further information from them.
   1. Solution: We're using an adapter in Zappier to generate emails with links to their original ticket.
4. The Metaforce Support Team must be notified when tickets are submitted by customers with non-standard SLAs.
   1. Solution: We used Zappier to transfer data from the Smartform to our Support channel in Teams. The automatic notification states that immediate attention is needed.
5. The Metaforce Support Team must also be notified by SMS when tickets are submitted by customers with non-standard SLAs.
   1. Solution: We integrated 46elks REST API to notify selected Support Personnel of the specific customer ticket.

The most time-consuming part of the process was step 1 - building the new app inside our platform. The other four steps were completed in less than an hour, as we already had Azure DevOps set up the right way.

Zappier is an excellent tool for connecting customer communication with other software packages quickly and efficiently. Here's an example of how we connected our existing business systems to Centerpoint using Zappier.

Results

The great thing about using current building blocks and our own platform were that we saved time and money. And we covered all our requirements. We're now able to prioritize, assign and communicate details of tickets and ensure we're getting all critical items submitted by our customers. It's been helpful for our support department as they can plan their work and optimize their time much better now. And for Sales and Professional Services, the big thing is that it is easy for them to see what's going on with the customers, and they can address it with them differently than before.

Interested in learning more about how Centerpoint can help your organization? Click here to talk to one of our communication experts.