How Ticket Tracking Helps Homeowners Associations Work More Efficiently

supercobra

on April 11, 2013

Homeowners associations and other property management organizations can streamline operations and handle requests more efficiently by using web hosted ticket tracking software.Requests can include internal assignments related to the HOAs tech infrastructure (computers, laptops, phone lines, etc) as well as maintenance and support requests that come in from homeowners (landscaping, grounds keeping, security alerts, etc).While using email to handle requests can seem simple at first, as your residential community grows, it becomes highly inefficient.For example, how do you know all incoming requests are being followed up on and how do you know who is responsible for handling which requests? How do you keep track of projects that started months ago or years ago (such as a major park or pool renovation)? With email, it’s impossible to track everything and keep everything organized but with a help desk & ticket tracking system you can monitor projects to completion.Your residents will also feel comfort knowing they can email your support desk or login to the portal to create a support ticket. They can also track their issue with you until completion by logging into the portal to check the status.

Below we provide an example of how a web hosted ticket tracking software, like Mojo Helpdesk, could be used by homeowners associations. Managing tickets with Mojo Helpdesk is simple and works much like a group email inbox. With Mojo Helpdesk’s reporting tools you will be able to track issues assigned to your HOA staff members and know what issues are being handled in a timely manner and which are not.

{Author’s note: We’ve also included several references to one of our all time favorite cartoons. If you can name the cartoon, then send an email to ryan (at) metadot (dot) com and I’ll send you a special prize.}

How Ticket Tracking Software Helps HOAs Work Efficiently

1. Centralizes homeowner requests for you

We’re using the fictitious Orbit City HOA in our example and have assumed they have the following responsibilities:

Community landscaping
Maintain recreational facilities
Provide security
Arrange for maintenance of streets and curbs
Enforce deed restrictions

In this case, it will be helpful to centralize all the requests and then sort all the requests into topic specific queues:

Each queue is then assigned it’s own email address where homeowners can send messages. The email addresses for each queue would be listed on the HOA’s website for homeowners to reference.

In the example above, all landscaping requests are sent to landscaping@orbitcityhoa.com and then centralized in the ‘Landscaping and Grounds’ queue, all street and curb maintenance requests are sent to streets@orbitcityhoa.com and housed in the ‘Streets and Curbs’ queue, and so forth.

Orbit City HOA could assign staff members to each queue and have staff members automatically notified via email when a new ticket arrives in their queue. In the example above, Jane receives email notifications for all landscaping requests and Spencer receives all inquiries related to neighborhood security.

If an HOAs responsibilities expand, new queues can be added. Similarly, staff members can be reassigned to different queues or added to new queues as necessary.

2. Helps you turn requests into tasks and assign those tasks to staff

Homeowner issues often require some kind of follow up. Maybe a tree has fallen in the street and the debris needs to be hauled away. Maybe a sprinkler has gone haywire and needs to be repaired. Maybe homeowners have been given notice to remove holiday decorations by the end of the month and someone on the HOA team needs to confirm compliance.

In these situations you need a system like Mojo Helpdesk that lets you delegate tasks to your HOA staff or outside suppliers and then monitor those tasks to completion.

In the example below, George assigns the task of curb repainting (also called a ticket) to the HOA team member in charge of streets and curb maintenance, Rosie. Once George clicks ‘Submit Ticket’, Rosie receives real time email notification that she has a task to complete.

The ticket includes a text description of the task and priority level indicator (normal, low, urgent or emergency) so that the assignee knows how to prioritize the task.

43 2 HOA Blog - Assign Tickets to Staff 3

3. Allows you to tracks tasks to completion

When assigned a task in Mojo Helpdesk users can add comments to the ticket and give status updates so that anyone with permission can view the progress made on the task.

In the example above, George has added comments to the tickets indicating key milestones for a task as it moves towards completion.

4. Lets you search solved requests

Often times it’s helpful to check previously solved tickets for instances of precedent. For example, if a new homeowner has a question about attaching a basketball goal to his garage, it may be helpful to search previous tickets relating to ‘basketball goals’ to ensure that the HOA response to similar questions is consistent.

Once you’ve completed a search you can save it for later reference and make the search available for others on your HOA team using the Saved Searches feature.

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The example above gives a basic overview of how ticket tracking software such as Mojo Helpdesk lets HOAs centralize, assign, and track requests until they’re done. There’s also other benefits to consider:

It’s affordable for HOA’s, especially those managed by volunteers on a tight budget.
You can easily add new HOA members and de-activate past members.
Support tickets can be raised, tracked, and closed by residents.
HOA members can use the messaging feature to communicate with residents about important updates or notices, for example messages such as, “please remove all holiday decorations by the end of the month,” can be sent to all residents.
All resident contact information is stored in the user profiles, so each time a ticket is raised you have their profile info and ticket history right in front of you.

If you have any questions about ticket tracking software or you’d like to receive a demo of Mojo Helpdesk, please send an email to ryan |at| metadot (d o t ) com.

Filed under: Productivity