Implementing ITSM technical support in Bitrix24

INTERVOLGA as a Bitrix24 Expert and Web integrator

Web integration is the creation of large information web systems, deeply integrated into a Company's business. This decreases the cost of working with clients, increases sales and automation of processes.

INTERVOLGA is a competent Bitrix24 Expert and web integrator. We have the resources (skill, competence and workforce)  to solve all complex web integration problems.
You can see some of OUR PROJECTS.

Our principle is to bring value to our clients' business through the intelligent application of web technologies. 

Bitrix24 CRM is one of the key platforms with which we solve integration problems.
The task of maintaining ITSM technical support standards with the help of Bitrix24 is an interesting integration task.

The 1C Bitrix platform includes a "technical support" module (it is used, for example, on the Bitrix website). In theory, the module is suitable for creating tickets, assigning responsible persons, and viewing statistics.

In practice, however, the interface is a bit outdated - It doesn’t have enough functionality for organizing support according to the principles of ITSM.

At the same time, it’s worthy of mention that the functionality of Tasks in Bitrix24 is developing quickly, has a convenient interface, and is favoured by users.

This made it reasonable to further develop Tasks to the level of a convenient ITSM tool with a user-friendly interface and a good reporting system.

We handled the project of expanding the logic of Bitrix24 Tasks from 2 main perspectives

• To add every feature our client needs that is “missing” in default Bitrix24 tasks (service directory, customers, objects, SLA, custom transition matrices), 

• while maintaining the current features of standard reports, the interface, and software mechanisms.

In a nutshell, our custom Bitrix24 CRM tasks should improve on and add to the standard features of Tasks, without breaking any of the default functionalities.

Here’s our account of our results.

Implementating Custom Tasks in Bitrix24 CRM 

We implemented custom tasks in Bitrix24 CRM. In addition to the “default task”, we added the following Technical Support tasks 

1. “incident”, 

2. “service request”, 

3. “change request” and 

4. “Contract negotiation”.

The last task type is used extensively in “advanced business processes”

Custom status system, customizable transition matrices

Each custom Bitrix24 task type has its own set of statuses.

We also configured transition logic between statuses is configured for each task: for example, immediately after “new” status you cannot move to “completed” status. There are also some statuses that require a comment before they can be changed .

The availability and visibility of buttons and their actions can also differ for different employees - Example more buttons and functions for the director of the company

Our Customer's employees actively use task filters, reports, work groups, and Gantt charts in their Bitrix24 CRM. Therefore, it was important that with the introduction of custom tasks, that these standard functions were retained.

It was also important that the custom CRM tasks were available on the general tasks list along with standard tasks.

We studied how Bitrix24 tasks and statuses work intensively, and improved on them.

The resulting “extended statuses” are adapted for the Customer.
They also have a simple settings page where a user with the needed accesses can rename the statuses and change their colors.

Moreover, the system administrator can set a “transition pathway(matrix)” between statuses for each task participant.

“Share” this article on social networks, fill out the form at the bottom of the article, and we will send you the second part of this article, which contains 

1. our steps for setting up extended task statuses, 

2. steps for setting up a transition matrix between employees, 

3. a  cost estimation of such work.

Adding ITSM to Bitrix24: Customer, service, objects and SLA

According to the ITSM standard, a task is tied to a specific business unit, service, and “object”. This further allows you to take into account the costs of maintaining units, equipment and facilities.

We made the directories customizable and linked SLAs to them. Now, after selecting a service, the deadline for the task is set automatically. It also records the time spent on task implementation in the log.

For clarity, resource management is implemented in the form of a “traffic light of objects”. The hierarchical map shows all serviced devices and services. Depending on the set of tasks for each, they are highlighted in colors: green - “okay”, yellow - “attention required”, red - “failure, main process stopped”.

You can see the details of what is wrong when you click on the object.

A site map with traffic lights allows Responsible persons, internal clients (employees who request for the implementation of business processes, usually directors, Head of departments) and management to keep track of the current situation.

The full picture of the work of technical support for ITSM will be described in the next article, where we will talk about the clever integration of Bitrix24 with e-mail.

“Share” this article on social networks, fill out the form at the bottom of the article, and we will send you the second part of this article, which contains 

1. our steps for setting up extended task statuses, 

2. steps for setting up a transition matrix between employees, 

3. a  cost estimation for such work.

Conclusions

Correct implementation of a corporate Bitrix24 CRM portal is the adaptation and customization of the CRM to meet the needs of the customer.

Two points are vital for this:

1. The client’s foresight and ability to describe clearly what they need. In this,our customer did great.

2. The Bitrix24 Expert's ability to develop complex modifications to the standard functionality of Bitrix24 CRM quickly and efficiently, and in such a way that nothing breaks.
   We do this very well!

If you are interested in how we achieved our results and how many hours it took for each custom feature, “share” this article on social media, fill out the form below, and we will send you the remaining part of this article privately.

You can order customization of the boxed version of Bitrix24 by filling out the form following the link.