workflow/ticketing type system suggestions?

[untoldtech]

fellow nibblers,

one of my clients is moving remote where they want to continue to work but their approval process for their invoices needs a workflow. What I mean is, an invoice comes in, it goes to one person who then moves it to someone else to get their comments/approval then it gets moved to someone else. I was thinking of using something like bugzilla. Any suggestions? The workflow would require the customer moves the tickets along as they process but I think this would work for their setup. Ideas?

 

[Kirby]

It has been a while since I have looked into ticket tracking (call tracking) software, but I was playing with some years ago. There were a few free options, all web-based, back then. I didn't use them because it meant having 2 tickets for everything I was working on, one in the accounting software for actual invoicing.

The software I was looking at was really nice. I have a bad memory and I wanted to keep track of a lot of information. First, I wanted to keep track of interactions with customers. If I get a few "hints" about something it all seems to come back to me. I just have to relate the face I'm looking at or voice I'm hearing to one specific situation and then I remember who they are. So this software would allow me to take notes on calls and interactions as a memory aid to who a specific person was. I have this thing where I associate names or faces with places instead of each other. Just yesterday I was working on a computer and the girl had given me her mom's number to call. The name sounded familiar. On the phone I didn't think much of it. Then I looked at the picture on her background. She calls me often. I go to her work site often. I know her as well as I know any client, just not her name, voice or the old name for her place of employment, where she has been for over a decade but which has changed names.

The second thing I wanted to do was take notes as I was fixing things. Many times I have found fixes to weird issues, but can't remember them when I need them again. This software made a searchable database, so I could just do a search to find what I had done in the past for a particular issue.

This software, as I recalled, was really a "call tracking" software. But it let me create tickets, assign them to a user, assign them to a customer and, eventually, close them out. I think it even had the ability to allow a "manager" to approve closing out a ticket. My memory isn't great, but as I recall it sounds like it did everything you wanted. And at the time there were a few free or "free-ish" web-based solutions out there where all you had to do was set up Apache on a server to handle it. As I recall, there was a paid version with more functionality. Try searching "ticket tracking software" and, especially, "call tracking software". As I recall, the search was tedious and time consuming, but, starting there, you could eventually come up with maybe as many as half a dozen free solutions. Keep in mind this was about 15 years ago. I have looked again from time to time over the years, but never again to that extent.

 

[NviGate Systems]

When I worked at Rogers Communications we used IBM's ITSM (I believe that was the name) and it was a huge system but had all the functionality to push tickets through any volume of personnel.

There are plenty of clones these days however, these types of solutions are not exactly turn key, and will require ongoing support, backup etc. It sounds as though this will be a Mission Critical item, so not sure.

 

[fencepost]

You might find the software library at https://www.softaculous.com/apps to be worth looking at. While Softaculous is generally used for installing software on a website via a hosting provider, they have a decent library of apps with brief descriptions of each. I'd look at the options under Project Management, ERP (likely to involve a lot more customization) and Customer Support.

Ultimately this is also going to be a business issue not a technical problem. The best system in the world won't fix things if they can't keep it going cleanly at the business level.

Edit: Also an option might be something like Trello if they're open to having it hosted outside their offices. Bear in mind that any open-source solution you put in is almost guaranteed to require maintenance at some point - possibly maintenance that you're not prepared or equipped to deal with like "All of our invoice approval records are gone! GONE! What are we going to DO?!?!?!??" and because you sold it to them it's going to be all your fault.