[otrs] How to implement OTRS

[Nils Breunese (Lemonbit)]

Scott Edwardsen wrote:

> We have OTRS installed and running.  However, I am looking for  
> direction on how to use the software.  I have used help desk systems  
> where tickets are created in the General Mailbox queue.  The tickets  
> are then assigned to technicians by moving them out of the general  
> mailbox queue and putting them in the technician’s queue.  It does  
> not appear that OTRS is designed to operate in this manner.  This is  
> my understanding of how OTRS is suppose to work (please correct me  
> if I am wrong):
>
> 1.       One or more agents are assigned to a queue
> 2.       Customer inputs ticket and assigns the ticket to a queue
> 3.       An agent sees the ticket and responds to the customer’s  
> request
> 4.       The ticket is then automatically locked
> 5.       The agent no longer sees the ticket in their queue because  
> the ticket is locked
> 6.       The agent then needs to unlock the ticket so it appears  
> back in the queue
>
> What is the best way to use OTRS?  We have three different locations  
> with nine technicians.  I would like customers to create tickets in  
> a general mailbox.  I would then like to assign tickets to  
> individual technicians.
>
> Is there any documentation for a question like this?  I tried  
> searching for documentation and I found the Admin Guide.  Either I  
> missed the answer to this type of question or it isn’t there.

There is no single best way to use OTRS. You could have your customers  
send mails to different addresses for different queues, or you could  
just use one address and move the tickets into the correct queue  
yourself. Usually you do not create a queue for every agent, but more  
for related tickets (say Sales, Support, etc.), but that is all up to  
you. (You can even use a hierarchy of subqueues.)

When a ticket is locked by an agent, this means 'this agent is working  
on this ticket'. Typically the agent doesn't unlock the ticket after  
replying to the customer. The ticket stays locked by the agent that  
replied and when the customer responds, the agent that originally  
replied can work on it some more, etc. until the ticket is resolved  
and closed. An agent can click the 'Locked Tickets' button in the  
upper right to see the tickets that (s)he's working on.

Nils Breunese.