Link to Training Recording from Dani: April 17, 2025
Recording for Staging Reports Breakdown & Agent Training - 4.15.25.mp4

In Zendesk, a support ticket typically moves through several stages from the moment it’s created to when it’s actively being worked on. This dashboard shows how long tickets stay in their individual stages, which include:

(1) authentication  --->  (2) review  --->   (3) assigned   --->   (4) working

For UMG, the stages have been set up differently, which are: 

         UK tickets coming in via Portal or Form: 

           - (1) authentication  --->  (2) review  --->   (3) assigned   --->   (4) working

         UK tickets coming in via Email:  

           - (1) review  --->  (2) authentication  --->  (3) assigned  --->  (4) working

         All US Tickets: 

           - (1) review  --->  (2) authentication  --->  (3) assigned  --->  (4) working

Using Filters

When using the dashboard, you can filter by: 

• Date & Time: You can filter by SIMPLE or ADVANCED by selecting the appropriate tab. 

• Updater Name: You can filter by SELECTED or EXCLUDED or use the Search Bar for  SELECTED or EXCLUDED by selecting the appropriate tab. 

Definitions of Different Stages:

1. Authentication (Ticket Creation & Validation)
When a ticket is submitted, Zendesk first handles basic validation and routing. This includes:

• Source Verification: Tickets can come from email, and Zendesk authenticates the user’s identity.
• Suspended Tickets Check: If Zendesk suspects the ticket is spam or fails domain checks, it may be suspended.
• Triggers/Automations Fire: System rules may auto-tag or route tickets based on sender, keywords, or custom fields.

NOTES: 

• If the user stays unauthenticated and the agent continues to interact with the ticket, it will not move to the Working stage because it's stuck in the Authentication stage. 

• Tickets that are submitted via the portal or Help Centre will bypass the Authentication stage and go directly to the Review stage as they are already authenticated in those systems.  

2. Review (Triage Phase)
Tickets that pass authentication are usually routed into a triage or review queue:

• Views: Tickets land in a view like New Tickets or Unassigned.
• Initial Classification: A triage agent or automation, then may:
  • Add a tag or update ticket fields (like enquiry type or priority)
  • Use macros for consistent replies or routing
  • Add followers or mention others via internal notes
• Decision Point: Triage decides whether to:
  • Auto-resolve (for spam or duplicate)
  • Assign to a specific team or agent
  • Escalate based on urgency or content

3. Assigned (Ownership)
Once reviewed, the ticket is assigned:

• Assignee Set: Either manually or through a trigger or macro. This changes the ticket status from New to Open.
• Team-Based Routing: If using groups, tickets may go to a queue specific to a department or team.
• SLAs Begin: Timing starts based on when it’s assigned or updated.

NOTES: 

• Agents need to interact with the tickets they are assigned, or the ticket will not leave the Assigned stage. Opening the ticket and reviewing it won't move the ticket out of the Assigned stage to the Working stage. For example, an agent would need to do things like...
  • Change a field and save it
  • Click on something in the ticket and save it
  • Check a box and save it
  • Apply a macro
  • Interact with one of the side-bar apps

4. Working (Active Handling)
The assigned agent now owns the ticket and is responsible for working on it:

• Communications: Agents send public replies or internal notes, possibly using macros.
• Side Conversations: For cross-functional help, agents may use side conversations via email or child tickets.
• Status Updates:
  • Open:
    • The agent is working on the ticket.
  • Pending:
    • The agent is waiting for more information from the requester (the customer).
    • This shifts responsibility to the end user.
    • Often used when you’ve asked the customer a question.
  • On-hold:
    • The agent is waiting on a third party (e.g., vendor, another team).
    • Not visible to the customer.
    • Used to internally pause the workflow without affecting customer perception.
  • Solved:
    • The agent considers the issue resolved.
    • The ticket is still visible to the end user, who can reopen it by replying.
    • Automatically moves to Closed after a period of time based on business rules.

NOTES: 

• Agents need to interact with the tickets they are assigned for the ticket to move from the Assigned stage to the Working stage. Opening the ticket and reviewing it won't move the ticket out of the Assigned stage to the Working stage. For example, an agent would need to do things like...
  • Change a field and save it
  • Click on something in the ticket and save it
  • Check a box and save it
  • Apply a macro
  • Interact with one of the side-bar apps

Summary Flowchart

Other Reports on Dashboard

1. Median Time in Review Stage by Group (hours)

• This refers to the middle value when all the durations for a given stage within a group are ordered from shortest to longest.
• Review stage: You can track it by focusing on the time a ticket spends in a specific status, like Pending or a custom status that represents your review process.
• By group: You can then slice this information by ticket group to see the median time spent in the review stage for each group.  

2. Time in Stages by Group (Median Hours)

• This refers to the duration tickets remain in different stages of their lifecycle based on reports set in the dashboard (different stages explained above):
  • Review / Authentication / Assigned / Working
• By Group: This allows you to break down the time spent in each stage by the different groups or teams assigned to handle the tickets. This includes, for example:
  • Client Services
  • Decca - UK
  • IEG - UK
  • PLG - UK
• Median Hours: This indicates the middle value when all the time durations for a particular stage within a group are arranged in ascending order. Using the median helps to avoid skewing the results due to outliers (tickets that spend unusually long or short periods in a particular stage).  

3. Time in Stages by Enquiry Type

• This refers to a report that shows how long tickets spend in different stages of their lifecycle, categorised by the type of customer enquiry.
• Enquiry Type: This is typically a custom ticket field that classifies tickets based on the nature of the customer's request or issue. This includes, for example (to name a few):
  • Estate
  • Goodwill Request
  • Reset GRP Password
  • Reset User MFA
• Median hours in stage: This indicates the middle value when all the time durations for a particular stage within a group are arranged in ascending order. Using the median helps to avoid skewing the results due to outliers (tickets that spend unusually long or short periods in a particular stage).