Tips for Creating a Support Ticket

Jennifer Taylor – Software Test Manager, Newton MA

Describe your issue in detail

Details are very important when trying to debug an issue. Typically, the more information you can include in the initial ticket, the faster and easier it will be to debug overall. Supplying detailed information up front can prevent a lot of the back and forth that often happens when a support technician needs to request information. This is helpful if the support technician is in a different time zone, or if they are trying to contact you at a time when you’re not available to speak with them.

Common information to consider including in your ticket:

  • What were the exact steps you performed that created the issue?
  • Is the issue reproducible?
  • What screen or dialog were you on when the issue occurred?
  • Was anything else processing at the same time?

An added benefit of being detailed with your ticket is that you sometimes discover the solution to your problem as you’re working through the description. Being thorough makes you start to think about the steps you’ve performed, which sometimes leads to resolution of the issue without having to go through the trouble of submitting a ticket.

Provide any available screen captures, logs, configuration files etc.

Visualization of an issue is very helpful. One of the best ways to convey the issue you’re having is to take a screenshot of the problem. This can provide important information to the support technician, such as the exact error message, some context on what’s going on with the computer (heavy processing load, for example), and an idea of the exact step of where the issue occurred. It may also help quickly reveal the issue. For example, if invalid data is seen being entered or sent, or some element is being mistakenly obscured or skipped, the detailed information will help isolate the problem in code.

Additional items to consider including in the support ticket:

  • Fabguard® IPM configuration files, recipes and run files from the problematic sensor.
  • FabGuard Executive configuration files.
  • If a Report or Model is involved, a saved *.dbf file of the problematic Report.
  • Log files from both FabGuard IPM and FabGuard Executive from around the time of the issue.

The more items you can supply to recreate the situation, the quicker the issue will be resolved.

Supply information about the computing environment

Issues due to a user’s computer environment crop up all the time. Some web browsers release a new update weekly, which introduces the potential for errors when interacting with existing websites. Some holes get patched and other holes are created when updates are released. That makes it critical to know the user environment so that any proposed fixes can be properly verified against the same or similar environments during testing.

The version of the product, the version of the operating system, which browser and version you are using, which database client you are using, and any 3rd party software installed that could be blocking or interfering with the application are all important troubleshooting details to include in a ticket.

Be specific about Feature Requests

Just like bugs, details are very important when trying to understand a Feature Request. Submissions that contain more than one idea can be confusing. Be sure to separate ideas even when they are about the same topic.

Oftentimes people have the best ideas for improvement when they are the most frustrated. State your frustration and your idea to resolve it clearly and concisely. In addition to a clear description, support your ideas with any/all of the following:

  • Include specific examples of ways this feature is needed to facilitate factory operations.
  • Share screenshots or mock ups of any kind.
  • Stick to the single idea in your subject line.
  • Do not use acronyms for a new technology. Use the full name of the technology.

Use other readers to check for understanding and review why you want the particular FabGuard feature to be implemented. It helps to define what problem the feature solves or how the feature improves factory operations.