Is a SharePoint Helpdesk Ticketing System Good Enough?SharePoint can be used to create a very basic ticketing system, but fully building a SharePoint helpdesk ticketing system yourself has limitations compared to dedicated ticketing systems or helpdesk software. Here are some of the limitations you might encounter when using SharePoint for ticketing:

1. Limited Automation:

While SharePoint does offer workflow capabilities, they may not be as advanced or specialized as those in dedicated ticketing systems. You might find it challenging to create complex automated workflows for ticket routing, escalation, or SLA management.

2. No Built-in Knowledge Base:

SharePoint doesn’t include a built-in knowledge base for storing and accessing articles or solutions to common issues. Many ticketing systems include this feature to help agents and customers find answers without creating new tickets. Ticketing systems like NITRO Help Desk take this a step further with an AI-powered KB.

3. Reporting and Analytics:

SharePoint’s reporting capabilities are more limited compared to dedicated ticketing systems. You may have difficulty generating advanced reports or tracking metrics like response times, resolution times, and customer satisfaction.

4. Customer Portal:

Creating a customer-facing portal in SharePoint can be complex and may not provide the same level of self-service and ticket submission features as dedicated ticketing systems.

5. Integration:

While SharePoint can integrate with other Microsoft tools and services, it might require more effort to integrate with external applications and services commonly used in ticketing systems.

6. Scalability:

SharePoint’s performance for ticketing may degrade as the volume of tickets and users increases, especially if not properly optimized.

7. Limited Third-Party Add-Ons:

Dedicated ticketing systems often offer a wide range of third-party integrations and add-ons to extend functionality. SharePoint’s available integrations may be more limited.

Conclusion

In summary, while SharePoint can serve as a basic ticketing system for some organizations, building a SharePoint helpdesk ticketing system on your own may not be the best choice if you require advanced ticketing features, extensive automation, robust reporting, and a dedicated customer portal. In such cases, it’s often more efficient to invest in a dedicated ticketing or helpdesk solution that is specifically designed for managing tickets and customer support.

If you would like to leverage the benefits of a single sign-on and full functionality within Microsoft Teams, we recommend NITRO Help Desk. As a dedicated ticketing system, it combines all the robust features you want in a help desk with the native user experience of M365, Teams, and SharePoint, making it easy for users to adopt and simple to create and manage tickets from the exact environment users work in anyway.

Get your demo of NITRO Help Desk!