Using JIRA for Helpdesk or SupportNote: This content was created specifically for JIRA 3.x. While most of this information remains accurate for the latest versions of JIRA, some aspects may be out of date.

Introduction

Your customers expect timely responses and resolutions to their questions and problems. Behind the scenes, however, it is easy for an issue to go unresolved, be forgotten or simply slip through the cracks. This is where JIRA can help you.

JIRA is a highly customisable and inexpensive system that never loses track of support requests. It works well as a help-desk and support ticket system because you can:

Customise JIRA according to existing support practices. Easily keep track of tickets and people. Use JIRA as both your support ticket and issue tracker.

Helpdesk sample file

This sample file is just an example of how JIRA may be used in a helpdesk environment, it is not the only method nor is it the recommended solution. There are many other ways to handle different situations that you may have.

By restoring this sample file, you will loose any data you have created previously. Please back up your existing JIRA Enterprise instance.

The latest sample file was created using JIRA Enterprise 3.13.3, please ensure you have this version or a newer release.

Recommended Plugins

JIRA can be further enhanced for Helpdesk/Support by adding plugins. In this sample file you will also need to download some plugins for some user dashboards to work properly, but this is not compulsory.Please follow the instructions for each plugin listed below and be sure to create all the needed custom fields as explained in each plugin. You can view the custom fields I have used here.

The plugins you will need are: o JIRA Charting Plugin (this functionality is bundled in JIRA 4.0)o Filter list o Show Saved Filter With Select Columns o Available Workflow Actions Customfield o Toolkit

You can view all available JIRA plugins here. We find these useful: Links Hierarchy Reports and Workflow report. Another plugin you might be interested in can be used for conducting surveys, as some companies like to get feedback on their level of service.

Downloading

Please ensure you have backed up your existing JIRA Enterprise instance. Before you download the sample file please ensure you know how to restore it. You can download the sample file here.

Helpdesk sample file features

Based on using JIRA internally for one company 11 users in the database 9 new groups (not including default groups) 3 new project roles (not including default Roles) I.T Department reports and SLAs Specific user reports

10 Projects defined as common helpdesk support items

Click on each arrow to learn more about each feature.

1. SLA - Service Level Agreements (JIRA priorities)

Below is the list of priorities and what SLA they belong to:

This sample file uses filters based on issue creation date and priority to show SLAs, other ways can be found here.

2. Handling of SLA

SLAs are viewed via filters on a shared dashboard - SLAs and statistics (as shown below):* The left hand side will list the calls within SLA.* The right hand side will list the calls breaking SLA.* The SLA is based on the date/time the issue was created and it's priority.* Once an issue breaches its SLA, the issue will automatically move from the left side into the right.

You can also subscribe to any filter to receive notifications by email. This is useful for keeping track of your SLAs - for example, you can get email updates every two hours for your two hour SLA:

There is a demonstration video on this here.

3. Issue types

Here you can see what issue types are used in each project:

4. Statuses

Below is the list of workflow statuses that an issue can be in. Some things to note are:* When an issue is created its SLA will be set automatically. The SLA is based on the priority.

* Issues on hold are still counted towards the SLA, they can not be paused for SLA in this example.

5. Workflows

All projects use the 'default 3 stage workflow with hold options', the exceptions are:

* 'Suggested Improvement' project uses the 'suggested improvement 2 stage basic workflow' which offers a basic open and close workflow.

* 'New User Form' project and 'User Request' project use the 'user request 3 stage basic workflow' which does not offer all the holding options.

6. Issue security scheme

All projects use the same Issue Security Scheme. Below is an explanation and screen shot of the Issue Security Levels in this scheme:

* Reporter and I.T staff - the default setting, only the reporter of the issue and I.T staff can view the issue.* H.R and I.T - issues can be seen by everyone in the HR and I.T staff groups.* everyone! - these issues are for company wide viewing when logged into JIRA.

There is a related demonstration video on this topic here.

7. Notification schemes

All projects use the default notification scheme and if you wish to turn this on, please follow the documentation here.

You might also like to take a look at creating issues/comments in JIRA via email. There is a demonstration video on this here.

8. User list logins

All user passwords are the same: passwordThe main username to login with is: rmk, as he has full JIRA admin rights and is also a member of the Helpdesk group.

You can also jump to another user quickly by clicking their name in the top bar from the home page:

Screenshots

List of users Issue Security Levels 3 Stage Workflow

2 Stage Workflow Workflow statuses SLA (JIRA priorities)

Issue Types User list SLA subscription

SLA Dashboard Groups Project Roles

unassigned issues project list create new issue

custom fields filter list or report list helpdesk staff issues

3 stage workflow with holding options

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