Issue Tracking Software: How to Choose in 2023

As your business grows, so does the number of customer support tickets. With rising tickets comes the responsibility of making sure each issue is tracked—to ensure quick responses and resolutions.

Issue tracking software that’s efficient for delivering exceptional customer support is crucial. So, which tool is the best for you? And how do you choose one on your own?

This is precisely what we’re uncovering in this article. We walk you through the concept of an issue tracking tool, provide you with a list of the top 6 software, highlight their benefits, and explain what to look for in an issue tracking software system.

Let’s jump in!

What is Issue Tracking Software?

Issue tracking software is a tool that helps customer support teams record, track and resolve queries that flow through the different support channels.  It is a project management tool for your customer support team.

With the right issue tracking software, you can:

• Automatically raise tickets as they arrive
• Assign these tickets to the right employee
• Prioritize your tickets
• Record and analyze the lifecycle of an issue ticket
• Analyze trends to produce valuable learnings
• Improve your bottom line by keeping your customers happy

Issue tracking systems are put in place to ensure no customer queries slip through the cracks, and that customer support operates smoothly.

Issue tracking software is usually used by your customer support staff or IT department.  But you can get your whole organization involved with the right tool.

But what is an Issue?

If you’re wondering and are unsure what classifies as an ‘Issue,’ let us explain. An issue is nothing but a unit of work required to improve a system. This could include errors, demands for new features, a lack of internal documentation, consumer inquiries, and so forth.

Read More: What is the Best Issue Tracking Software?

The 6 Best Issue Tracking Systems for 2022

We picked out six best issue tracking tools for you. Check out the list below to find free issue tracking softwares as well as the premium ones.

Keeping

The first issue tracking tool on our list is our very own Keeping help desk.

Keeping makes up for a great issue tracking software because it is simple to use, has all the features you need in an issue tracking tool, and is affordable! Our pricing starts at $8 per agent per month—that’s one of the cheapest pricing you’ll find on the market!

You have the automatic ticketing feature, agent collision detection, prioritization, labeling features, and advanced reporting to improve issue tracking by your teams.

And oh, the best part? Keeping works in your Gmail inbox! It’s time to bid goodbye to migrating to new software and learning a new UI because Keeping will work in the good old Gmail.

Does that mean your regular and customer support emails get mixed up, leading to a mess? Absolutely not. Your customer support emails are separated from your other emails in a new part of your mailbox.

Key Features

Take a look at Keeping’s key features:

• Agent collision detection that prevents duplication of efforts by your agents.
• Ability to set up workflows and automation for repetitive and mundane tasks.
• Zapier and Shopify integrations. Order status and history can be viewed on Shopify, and Keeping gets further connected to services like Slack with Zapier.
• Create canned responses and email templates for enhanced productivity.
• Assign tickets to agents best suited for particular tickets.
• Easy to set up and use, unlike other issue tracking tools.

Keeping works in your Gmail inbox. It means your team is not forced to learn how to use new software.

Pricing

You can start using Keeping with our Team plan that starts at $8 per user per month when billed annually. If you’re an organization, you can start with our $13 per user per month plan. Not sure yet? Start with our 14-day free trial.

Zendesk

Zendesk is help desk software that is a great issue tracking software with a shared inbox that has a ticketing system and omnichannel support. Using Zendesk’s issue tracking platform, service agents and customers can see how a support ticket is processed and resolved in real-time.

You have access to reports that let you know about your customer support performance and also tell you what the recent trends are. You can also create custom reports based on your preferences. Zendesk also has features like live chat, app integrations, multilingual support, custom branding, and ticket routing automation. Let’s take a look at its key features:

Key Features

• Intelligent AI-powered bots that help in providing quick responses.
• Enable self-service with the help of custom forums and knowledge bases.
• Support requests from different channels can be handled from one shared inbox.
• Data about customers’ history is available, which helps in providing personalized solutions.
• Routing and intelligence features that ensure tickets reach the suitable agents

Conversations remain connected even when customers change their channel, ensuring a seamless customer support experience.

Pricing

The starting package at Zendesk is called the Suite Team and begins at $49 per agent per month. Other pricing plans are:

• Suite Growth: $79 per agent per month.
• Suite Professional: $99 per agent per month.
• Suite Enterprise: $150 per agent per month.
• Custom plans start at $215 per agent per month.

Hubspot

Hubspot is a basic issue tracking software that is an excellent option to test the waters. With the help of HubSpot’s issue tracking tool, you can monitor all of your customers’ issues in one place and see information on all open and continuing issues. In order to ensure that your team never misses a request, the tool also automates ticket escalation and issue monitoring.

It helps you prioritize tickets based on urgency. You can also automate tasks and create workflows. Hubspot’s issue tracking software system also allows you to create custom reports while preparing in-built reports on its own as well.

Key Features

• Great automation features that save your team time and eliminate human mistakes in ticket tagging, assignment, and escalation.
• Over 500 integration options, Service Hub with more customer service features, and an all-in-one CRM available for integrating issue tracking data with all customer data.
• A shared inbox that creates and records each ticket from any channel. It also allows you to tag and assign tickets further.

The availability of over 500 app integrations via the Hubspot app marketplace, and you can use Service Hub to get more customer service features.

Pricing

Hubspot has a free basic plan with ticketing, live chat, basic bots, and a shared inbox. Paid plans are as follows:

• Starter plan at $45/per month.
• Professional plan at $450/per month.
• Enterprise plan at $1200/per month.

LiveAgent

LiveAgent excels at its robust helpdesk capability and cloud-based chat features—making it a versatile issue tracking tool.

You can build unique chat windows with LiveAgent, intelligently route issues through chat, automate routine tasks, and much more. You may personalize your chat window with LiveChat, control chat volume with intelligent routing, send pre-written greetings, and more. LiveAgent is the most useful if you’re searching for issue tracking via live chat.

It offers a wide range of features, and its helpful integrations only increase how powerful it is. Combining it with other CRM software, marketing solutions, chatbots, or billing management systems will be simple.

Key Features

• Unlimited ticket history that makes it easier to follow tickets and provide better solutions.
• Universal shared inbox to handle support tickets from different channels.
• Automatic ticket labeling with labels such as new, open, answered, and postponed.
• Hybrid ticketing system, which allows customers to switch channels and communicate through the same ticket.

Perfect for brands looking to track issues via Live Chat.

Pricing

LiveAgent has a forever free plan with 7 days of ticket history. Apart from that, LiveAgent provides three different pricing options:

• The Ticket subscription for $15 per agent.
• Ticket + Chat subscription for $29 per agent.
• An all-inclusive subscription for $39 per agent

Freshdesk

Freshdesk is another issue tracking software that provides top-notch ticketing services and other features. As soon as a ticket arrives, an agent will be notified, and further tickets can be prioritized. Freshdesk enables omnichannel support from live chat, email, social media, messaging, and phone.

To ensure smooth collaboration, features such as collision detection, internal chats, and canned responses are also offered by Freshdesk. Freshdesk has an intuitive mobile app that can be used on the go. Since Freshdesk has a free plan, it makes up to be a great free online issue tracking software. Here are its key features:

Key Features

• Introduce self-service options and assist people in finding solutions on their own.
• Automate repetitive, time-consuming operations to increase team productivity.
• Establish SLA reminders and escalations to ensure customers receive timely responses and resolutions.
• With reports and live dashboards, gain insights into the KPIs and customer service performance.
• Integrate with more than 650 apps on the Freshdesk Marketplace using versatile APIs.

Integrations with more than 650 apps via the Freshdesk Marketplace.

Pricing

Freshdesk has a forever free plan which allows up to 10 agents. The paid annual plans are as follows:

• Growth plan with $15 per agent per month.
• Pro plan with $49 per agent per month.
• Enterprise plan with $79 per agent per month.

Jira

Jira is a multi-featured tool from Atlassian and makes up for a diverse issue-tracking tool. The software can be used by any team, including the customer support teams. You have Jira Software and Jira Service Management.  Many use Jira for task management and bug tracking and developing complex software.

With Jira Software, you can track issues using scrum or kanban boards. With Jira Service Management, you can track and respond to customer issues.

Jira Service Management is the best issue tracker if your issue tracking needs are limited to customer support teams. However, if you need to work at scale, Jira software is a better option. With the Jira software, you can plan, assign, track, report, and manage your issues.

Key Features

• Integrations such as Slack, Confluence, BitBucket, Trello, and many more are available.
• The facility of multilingual support is available in up to 8 out-of-the-box languages.
• Track, assign, report or manage issues manually or using automation features and workflows.

Powerful, agile boards like scrum and kanban in Jira Software. Customized branding options in Jira Service Management.

Pricing

Jira has a forever free plan with up to 10 users. Paid plans are as follows:

• The standard plan starts at $7.50 per user per month.
• The premium plan starts at $14.50 per user per month.

The Benefits of Using an Issue Tracking System

The list of tools is all yours to choose from! Now, let’s take a look at some benefits of using an issue tracking tool.

1. Efficient Management of Issues

As a business, you usually start with one or two support channels and have fewer queries to deal with. But as your business grows, the queries grow too—making it difficult to manage them.

When your business is in such a situation, issue tracking software helps in efficient management of all customer queries ensuring there are no slips.

All customer communications are recorded as tickets by the issue tracking software, and these tickets gather pertinent customer data such as name, purchase history, prior interactions, etc. in one place. In order to track, route, address, and report on customer issues, CS agents can access this logged information whenever needed.

2. Ability to Provide Omnichannel Support

Since customers are present across different channels, being able to talk to them on these channels is crucial. Thanks to issue tracking tools, your customer support team can process omnichannel support requests right from one platform. Various issue tracking software systems provide you with the facility of processing requests from different channels like live chat, email, online forms and social media.

3. Improved Collaboration

Effective agent coordination is essential to ensure prompt and accurate response delivery. With issue tracking softwares, like the ones mentioned above, you’re able to improve collaboration between your agents.

These tools have features like collision detection, shared inbox, internal notes, and customer alerts that help in efficient collaboration among agents. The result of such collaboration is a great customer experience and a better brand image.

4. Easy to Measure Customer Support Performance

To improve your customer support efforts, you need to measure it as well. Measuring your customer support is nearly impossible without issue tracking tools. The best issue tracking software helps you measure customer support  by providing important data about important customer service metrics.

You get access to in-built reports about metrics like first response time, average resolution time, tickets handled vs resolved per hour, customer satisfaction score and much more.

What Should You Look at When Choosing an Issue Tracking Software?

Are you thinking of doing your own research and looking for an issue tracking tool? Here’s everything you should consider before picking one:

1. The Ease of Use

There are many issue tracking software out there—from simple to complex ones. Based on the needs of your team, you should select a tool that’s easy to use for them.

Keep in mind that not all issue tracking software systems may be suitable for smaller teams. Similarly, not all will be suitable for bigger and advanced teams. The software you choose should be easy to install, operate, and most importantly, increase the productivity of your agents.

2. Value for Money

In terms of prices, you have options ranging from cheaper to expensive. Naturally, the more features you require, the more expensive the software becomes. The less features it has, the cheaper it is.

Before you select an issue tracking tool, you should look at whether you are getting all features that are needed—without having to pay too much.  You must use foresight when doing this. Make your choice in light of the fact that your team and company will expand in the future.

3. Ability to Customize

Sticking to the theme of your team growing, you may need to customize the software based on your preferences. The stress on the IT team is lessened and there is no longer a need for outside assistance when a tool can be customized.

This also ensures that your team does not have to keep migrating from one software to another because the old one is no more suitable to your needs. So, make sure to check for customizability before selecting the right software for you.

4. Integration Options

Whether you are a small or big team, integrations are always required. If you’re a smaller team, you may choose a software with fewer integrations. In this way, you’ll also not pay extra for integration you may not even use. Similarly, if you’re a larger team, you may want to opt for the software that has more integration options.

Start tracking your issues with Keeping

Now that you have read the complete guide to issue tracking softwares, you’re all set to start using the right one for you. The best way to start using one is to start simple. With Keeping’s simple, easy to set up and use software you can track your customer support issues with ease. Keeping helps you multitask with ease instead of messing up multiple tasks at once! Watch our demo video to have a look around.