Narrative 2 - Understanding Organizational Departments

Narrative 2 - Understanding Organizational Departments

Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system - BTS Series

Narrative 2 - Understanding Organizational Departments



A ticketing system's departments are essential because they provide an organized and practical framework for handling and addressing customer support inquiries. Departments improve workflow by classifying inquiries and allocating them to the relevant teams, guaranteeing that a specialized agent handles every issue. 

 

This way, companies increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving response times and overall customer service quality. Departments guarantee a streamlined procedure that benefits both the support staff and the customers they serve by clearly defining roles and responsibilities.

Why employ organizational departments?

Ticket routing

Departments ensure that support requests are automatically directed to the right team with the right agent. This reduces delays and faster resolution by discarding unnecessary hand-offs.

Specialization

Typically, different teams, such as IT, HR, Billing, and Technical Support, handle various issues. In this case, departments are managed by experienced agents in their respective areas, thereby enhancing service quality.

Organized prioritization

Categorising tickets by department helps teams prioritise workloads based on urgency, service level agreements (SLAs), and impact, ensuring that critical issues are addressed promptly.

Accountability

Departments also assign clear responsibility for resolving tickets, preventing confusion over who should handle a request. This fosters accountability and reduces the risk of tickets being overlooked.

Monitoring

Departments enable granular analytics, allowing organizations to measure metrics (e.g., resolution time, backlog) for each team. This helps identify bottlenecks and optimize workflows.

Better customer experience

Proper department routing ensures customers interact with the right agents from the start, reducing frustration and improving satisfaction by avoiding misdirected queries.

Workflows made easy

Departments enable customized automation rules (e.g., auto-assignment, escalations) tailored to specific teams, streamlining processes and reducing manual effort.

Data privacy

Sensitive requests (e.g., Finance, Legal) can be restricted to authorized personnel, ensuring data privacy and Desk's regulatory compliance.

While departments segment teams, they also facilitate cross-department collaboration when needed (e.g., escalating a billing issue to IT for technical verification), maintaining structure while enabling cooperation.
Idea

Are contacts or accounts department-specific?


When a user raises tickets for various issues across different departments, each ticket must be explicitly linked to the relevant department. This ensures that the appropriate expert is assigned to address and resolve the problem effectively. Importantly, the user's contact details will remain consistent regardless of the department involved; therefore, the contact information should not be considered department-specific. This streamlined approach facilitates efficient communication and resolution while maintaining clarity and organisation within the ticketing system.


However, several other modules within the platform, such as Tickets, Knowledge Base, and Activities, do support department-specific associations. This feature enables you to align these modules with the relevant department, enhancing your workflow and improving departmental accountability.

Example - Hospital Management Service

In a hospital, the way departments are managed plays a crucial role in providing top-notch healthcare services. By organizing the hospital into different departments, each one guided by knowledgeable and skilled staff, we can not only improve how services are delivered but also make processes more efficient and ensure that everyone is held accountable. This structured approach not only fosters teamwork but also helps meet patients' needs more effectively, ultimately creating a better experience for them.

Organizational departments in a hospital

  1.  Emergency Department 
  2.  Surgical Department
  3.  Radiology Department
  4.  Pharmacy Department
  5.  Administration and Human Resources

 

This teamwork is vital for enhancing the quality of patient care and streamlining operations, creating a well-functioning machine that ultimately benefits everyone involved. When departments are well-structured, it fosters a sense of accountability across the board, which is essential in a healthcare environment. A well-organised hospital not only supports its staff but also delivers the best possible healthcare to those it serves.

Conclusion

Utilizing separate departments for your help desk establishes structure, efficiency, and expertise within ticketing systems, enabling you and your team to collaborate effectively without chaos. This leads to quicker resolutions, better use of resources, and a smoother experience for both customers and agents. Without these departments, support operations would likely become chaotic, sluggish, and more prone to unnecessary issues.

 

Please stay tuned for more Desk behind-the-scenes series.

 

Regards,

 

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team


    • Recent Topics

    • Form name incorrectly displayed in URL

      Hi, I have a form I created called "Design Request form". It displays this way everywhere I look. However, in the URL, it shows up as "DesignJobRequestFormFINAL011325PROOFV1B" and I'm not sure why. I can't find where to fix this. Does anyone have any

    • I can't receive mail

      Hello, I can't receive e-mail. I no longer receive e-mails to the e-mail I received for ​my site. I also edited the DNS settings, but it doesn't work at all.

    • 1‑to‑1 invite missing post-setup (needs re-invite) vs channel invite auto-joins without business prompt

      1. Zoho Cliq 1‑to‑1 external invite The inviter sent a 1‑to‑1 invite to an invitee who didn’t have a Cliq account. After the invitee completed account setup and created a business/organization, the website redirected them to Cliq, where they opened Cliq

    • 【開催報告】東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.3 2025/10/17 Zoho サービスの活用促進を外部ツールとの連携で実現！

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 10月17日(金)に新橋で「東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.3」を開催しました。ご参加くださったユーザーの皆さま、ありがとうございました！ この投稿では、当日のセッションの様子や使用した資料を紹介しています。残念ながら当日お越しいただけなかった方も、ぜひチェックしてみてください😊 ユーザー活用事例セッション：Zoho Flowと決済システムの連携 あみろくの岡島さんに、Zoho サービスの活用事例として、Zoho Flow を活用した外部サービスとの連携事例をご共有いただきました。

    • received email opens in a new tab every time I log in

      as per the title: since about when I first made my email account, every single time Ive logged in to view my inbox, a new tab opens for an email I viewed once as if restoring a closed session. I thought I just didnt understand the "starting up" settings

    • Engage with your customers at scale using WhatsApp Marketing Template messages

      Hi everyone, To make it easier for organizations to communicate with customers, Desk now allows you to send individual, mass, and bulk WhatsApp template messages from both the Ticket and Contact modules. How is this going to benefit your business? WhatsApp

    • Importation Tickets error

      Hi, I'm newbie here 🤓 So, i'm importing data from csv, but when I try advance to mapping fields the importer tool show this message: Previously I try import, other data, and not show errors in this step. Some ideas? Best Regards,

    • Showing description in timesheet and timelogs.

      I am wondering if it’s possible in version 5 of Zoho People to have the description show by default or with a manipulation on the user’s part. Let me show you what I mean. As you can see this is the view for the users. Now if they want to see the full

    • Direct “Add to Google Calendar” Option in Zoho Meeting

      Hello Zoho Meeting Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related to the “Add to Calendar” functionality in Zoho Meeting. Currently, when we open Zoho Meeting and view our meetings under My Calendar, there is an Add to

    • Add Flexible Recurrence Options for Meeting Scheduling in Zoho Cliq (e.g., Every 2 Weeks)

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, when scheduling a meeting inside Zoho Cliq, the recurrence options are limited to Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly. There is no ability to set a meeting to occur every X weeks — for example,

    • Workaround: openURL in Blueprints - An alternate approach

      There is a roundabout way to open a URL in blueprints after a save event. By using the 'onBeforeMandatoryFormSave' in Client Script, you can open an external URL. Now, the problem is, this is designed to be run BEFORE the blueprint is saved, not after,

    • MTD SA in the UK

      Hello ID 20106048857 The Inland Revenue have confirmed that this tax account is registered as Cash Basis In Settings>Profile I have set ‘Report Basis’ as “Cash" However, I see on Zoho on Settings>Taxes>Income Tax that the ‘Tax Basis’ is marked ‘Accrual'

    • Migrate file from Single File Upload to Multi File Upload

      Dears, I have created a new field Multi File Upload to replace the old Single File Upload field. I'd like to ask you guys what is the best way to migrate the files to the new field?

    • Open "Live Chat" from a hyperlink?

      Hi, I often write paragraphs and text on our company website, and usually say you can get in touch with us via live chat. Can the chat window be triggered to pop open without clicking the chat graphic in the bottom window, and use it in a hyperlink? ie:

    • Zoho Sites search box

      Is there a Search box that can be added to a Zoho site? It would be for searching within the site only.

    • What stops me from packaging and shipping an order when the inventory is negative?

      It seems if the inventory value is negative, that Zoho Inventory should not allow me to create a Package and Ship it.   But, there seems to be nothing to stop me from doing that other than when I go to physically package the item and realize that there is no stock. There also seems to be nothing on the screen that even indicates to me that I should not package and ship.  To me this is the fundamental point of an inventory system.  Am I doing something wrong?   

    • Conditional formatting based on another field

      Hi I have two fields on my form stage 1 complete and stage 1 deadline.  I am trying to setup conditional formatting so that if stage 1 complete is after stage 1 deadline the record is highlighted in red. I need both stage 1 complete and stage 1 deadline

    • Is there API Doc for Zoho Survey?

      Hi everyone, Is there API doc for Zoho Survey? Currently evaluating a solution - use case to automate survey administration especially for internal use. But after a brief search, I couldn't find API doc for this. So I thought I should ask here. Than

    • Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

      Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure

    • The sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on spamrl.com as a source of spam.

      Hi, it just two day when i am using zoho mail for my business domain, today i was sending email and found that message "The sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on https://spamrl.com as a source of spam" I hope to know how this will affect the delivery

    • Changing a Single-Line Text field into a Multi-line Field without losing data

      Is it possible to change a Single-Line Text field into a Multi-line Field without losing data. I have a module with data for which I would like to change a single-line field into a multi-line field but I'm worried it might delete the pre-existing da

    • Webhook - Google Sheets

      I have 2 forms that are both integrated with Google Sheets. I've set up a webhook to pull form 1 data from Google Sheets to prefill data in Form 2. The issue I have is that the forms name fields are First Name & Last Name but the Google sheets integration

    • Verified Mark Certificate

      Hello Dears, Can anyone help and check my mail or direct me to the desired person who can add the verification tag to my mail https://www.zoho.com/blog/mail/email-authentication-with-bimi.html

    • Appointment booking is temporarily unavailable

      Embeded Zoho booking page in my WordPress website. When someone starts a booking, after choosing time and date, an error appears before payment - "Appointment booking is temporarily unavailable due to restricted settings." Used the embeded code given

    • Cannot connect to 365 business calendar and Teams, says personal but it is not.

      hi I have a number of users connected to their 365 business accounts. Adding a new user and it thinks hes got 365 personal edition. He does not.... Anyone know what's going on. Trying for days now. Bookings go into his MS calendar but as its thinks its

    • Limited review (/questions) for Bookings 2.0

      Hi all, I'm writing this review of Bookings 2.0 for two reasons: 1) it may be of interest to others, and 2) I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong on any points. It's a very limited review, i.e. the things that have stood out as relevant, and particularly

    • Zoho Bookings - Reserve with Google

      Does Zoho Bookings plan to to integrate with Reserve with Google?

    • Tip #3: How to change your booking page language

      Displaying your booking page in your target audience's language can greatly increase customer satisfaction. By speaking their language, you will help customers feel more comfortable scheduling with you and create a stronger connection with them. Let's

    • Bigin Android app update: Alerts while creating tasks outside of working days, conflicting events and calls.

      Hello everyone! In the most recent version of the Bigin Android app, we have brought in support to display an alert if task is being scheduled outside of the working days. Also, when scheduling an event or call in the Activities module, a conflict alert

    • Bigin update: Link email messages to pipeline records.

      Hello everyone! In the latest version of the Bigin iOS(v1.11.9) and macOS(1.8.9) app, we have brought in support for an option to link email to pipeline records. This helps you to view emails specific to a deal, especially when a contact is associated

    • Bigin Android app update: Custom buttons and widgets

      Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce custom buttons and widgets on the Bigin Android app. Widgets: A widget is a customizable UI component in Bigin that improves efficiency and user experience. It lets businesses embed components, streamline interactions,

    • Biometric Access Support on Zoho Vault Desktop App

      Is there any plans to add biometric authentication (fingerprint, face recognition) for Vault desktop apps (Windows/macOS) to enhance security and ease of access. I would love to hear other members view on this

    • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

      Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?

    • Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

      Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.

    • Collective-booking event not added to all staff calendars

      We assign two staff to certain events. When the client books this event, it adds it to one staff calendar (the 'organiser') but not the other. How can I ensure all staff assigned to a collective booking get the event in their calendar? (A side note: it

    • Project Management Bulletin: October, 2025

      Every need leads to innovation. Project Management tools were developed out of sheer necessity to drive large projects. With wide usage, the specifications grew precise, and so did the refinement. Over years we’ve crafted one of the best project management

    • Zoho Sheets saying locked when not locked

      Zoho Sheets won't let me add more rows to sheet because it's saying the sheet is locked, but the sheet is not locked. I tried using a different browser but I still have the same issue.

    • Identifying and Merging Accounts with Similar (Non-Exact) Names

      Hello everyone, I’m aware of the built-in deduplication feature in Zoho CRM that allows merging records with exactly matching values for selected fields. However, I’m running into a situation where our migrated data contains multiple variations of the

    • Option for super admin to recover the deleted chats in Zoho Cliq

      Currently, in Zoho Cliq, if a user accidentally deletes their chats, there is no option for the Super Admin to recover or view those deleted messages. I believe it would be helpful if Super Admins had a recovery option, perhaps within a certain time frame,

    • Zoho CRM iOS app updates: the Homepage, Zoho Survey integration, and support for multiple file uploads in subform

      Hello everyone! The Zoho CRM mobile app continues to evolve to bring you a smoother and more powerful CRM-on-the-go experience. We're excited to share some important updates now available in the iOS app. Here's what's new: Homepage support Zoho Survey

    • Next Page