MET Group is an integrated European energy company.

At the end of 2018 the company was already using ((OTRS)) Community Edition, version 4. There was no support or anything else available for it. It just functioned as a simple ticketing system.

But, we wanted to run an enterprise helpdesk system. It had to be secure, because a lot of confidential information goes into it. Also, Active Directory (AD) integration was very important for us to make it work so that our colleagues only had to login once.

Another criteria was that the data had to be migrated so that we could search through the huge amount of historic data we'd captured.

We had used ((OTRS)) Community Edition before, so when I saw on the internet that the software was being improved and newer versions were available that could provide the functionality we needed, we contacted OTRS Group in Hungary about implementing the then-current version with GOLD support.

Of course, we looked at other ticketing software. Our main motivations were functionality and value for money. OTRS was very customizable: You can get a lot out of it, and it can do a lot of things that are specific to your needs.

We introduced the CMDB at group level as an IT asset register. We populated it with data and have been using it ever since. Users can see the devices, laptops, mobiles, and monitors they have. Once we implemented this, we were able to add the handover process and other process-based tickets too. Thanks to this, we have eliminated paperwork when transferring devices and everything is recorded automatically in the central database, such as who we handed over the device to and when.

In conjunction with this, we introduced user satisfaction measurement to see how satisfied users were with the ticket solution. To further support users, we also gave them the option to open a ticket via the website. (This was not possible before.) And, we have added knowledge base articles, so users can even look up the wifi password. Essentially, we have opened up the possibility for users to track their tickets, where they are, and what's happening with them through a dedicated customer interface. All the correspondence is there: there's no need for the user to go rummaging through their inbox.

Of course, management has not been left out of the changes, because we have introduced reporting. The tool came with this feature, so we could set up the reports needed for standard operations. Regular reports are sent on the number of tickets, when and who updated a ticket, or what the last status of the ticket was. As the IT customer service manager, these reports are important.

This is also how we report to finance on the transfer of assets to the different subsidiaries, and finance really likes these reports because they can see which assets are with whom and where they are. They see who it was issued to and when, when it was taken back, what the serial number is, when it was purchased, what account number it was issued with, and what the delivery note number was. The report is very customizable, and we can arrange the columns the way we want. You can take them out or put them in. It's just very good, but you must know how to do it.

We also provide application support and Azure support from here with different queues.

For what we need, this system can be set up well. It is not difficult to manage at all, in fact, but you do need the administrator training. We have been able to start using it for a lot more than just a ticketing tool.

With the new features and services, everything is centralized in one place and is very accessible from anywhere, whether on mobile or tablet. This gives mobility for both our users and colleagues. And, we were able to introduce many extras that were not available before.

Also, through a lot of automated reporting, it has made it easier for management to see what's going on and where things are going. It has made the whole operation much easier, more transparent and centralized so that we can be mobile. Not only can we access the OTRS system from an internal network, but for example, the customer service coordinator can check anytime anywhere to see if there is a ticket that is important and needs to be dealt with urgently.

On top of all this, one of our colleagues has also been trained as an administrator, which means that our colleague can handle a lot of things in-house, so we don't have to wait for OTRS customer service to sort it out. That said, the OTRS customer solutions team has already helped us a lot, but this gives us the freedom to do a lot of the basics in-house.

We started from a long way away. It was like having a smartphone, but not using it for anything other than making phone calls. Once we bought the newer version of software and started to explore what the possibilities were as well as unpack our needs, we started to explore the features I mentioned.

User communication has evolved and improved, and that is one of the deliverables. All communications can be traced back within the ticket.

With reporting, we have improved a lot by being able to do better quality work. I am thinking of situations where we have been able to proactively avoid escalation of a ticket, because it was already foreseeable that there might be a problem with a given ticket. And in such cases, by working in advance, we could prevent a bigger problem from developing.

I also think it is also positive for the users now that they can check their devices, find information on the website, see the status of their tickets and update the tickets from the device. In the past, it was sometimes the case that they were struggling to communicate with us. But we were able to make everything user-friendly with OTRS, and in doing so, we also got closer to the users, because they can find all their ticket information in one place. This has definitely improved our day-to-day work as well as proactively preventing problems.

A positive experience for users is that they get a lot more service than before. Once we close a ticket, the user is given a questionnaire to rate our work from 1 to 10 points. Last year, we had something like 10,000+ tickets in IT customer service, and we got a rating close to 10, which is very good and stable. Of course not everyone replies and this is based on nearly 1000 user reviews per year.