How can MSPs get clients to submit better tickets?

Why client tickets arrive incomplete

A client writing "my laptop is slow" or "new starter Monday" is not being careless. They do not know which details a technician needs: the device name, the affected user, when it started, the error message, who approved the purchase. Free-text email gives them no prompt, so the first reply is a list of questions and the actual work starts a day later.

Better tickets come from better questions, asked at the right time, not from asking clients to try harder.

What makes a good ticket request form

Start with the five to ten requests clients make most often, such as a new user, a leaver, a software request, a hardware problem, an access change and a general issue. Then build a short form for each.

1. Ask only what the technician needs. Every extra field makes the form feel like paperwork and pushes clients back to email.
2. Mark the fields that matter as required. A new-user request without a start date cannot be scheduled, so do not let it be submitted.
3. Use conditional questions. Ask about a monitor size only when the client says they need a monitor.
4. Let clients pick instead of type. A list of their own devices or users avoids misspelled names and wrong serial numbers.
5. Write in the client's language. "Which office?" beats "Site", and clients should never see board, queue or priority names.
6. Ask for a screenshot. One image often replaces three follow-up questions.
7. Include approvals where they belong. If a purchase needs a manager's sign-off, put the approval in the request instead of chasing it afterwards.
8. Route from the form, not from the client. The form should set the board, type and priority, so clients never have to guess how urgent their request is in your terms.

Review the forms every few months. If technicians keep asking the same follow-up question, add it to the form.

Make submitting a ticket easier than sending an email

A perfect form still fails if it is harder to reach than an inbox. Put the request catalog where clients already are: the portal home page, a browser extension, a Teams tab or a phone. Let them search by problem ("printer", "password") rather than by your category names.

It also helps to show a relevant how-to guide while the client describes the problem. Some issues can be solved without a technician, and the client can still submit if the guide does not help. See how clients can find documentation without opening a ticket.

How MSPortal helps clients submit complete tickets

In MSPortal, every request is built from a ticket template. Templates support over 30 field types, including devices, Microsoft 365 groups, screenshots and IT Glue or Hudu assets. Fields and sections appear only when an earlier answer calls for them, and an embedded template, such as a computer request inside a new-hire form, creates its own linked ticket. You can vary a template by client company, limit it to certain roles or industries, and import or export templates. Each template sets the PSA defaults, such as board or queue, type, status and priority, with rules that raise priority for specific answers.

Clients do not have to find the right form themselves. They describe the problem in their own words, and the AI assistant:

• picks the request template that matches the description;
• fills in the fields it can, including company and user defaults such as the email format, standard computer and software;
• asks about required details that are still missing.

The client then sees an AI Generation Summary listing what was filled and what is still required, checks the form and clicks Create Ticket. Nothing is submitted until they do, and routing follows the template rather than an AI guess. AI needs at least one active template, must be turned on for your portal, and uses each template's AI Description to decide when to pick it. The AI ticket guide shows the steps a client follows.

Two optional extras help further. Related guides shows up to three documents that might solve the problem while the client drafts the ticket; a person reviews each guide's AI-written summary before clients see it, and MSPortal support turns the feature on per organization. Change approvals let client approvers approve or reject change requests from the ticket. AI can also draft a new template for your team to edit and save.

The forms work the same in the portal, the Chrome extension with screenshot capture, and the Tickets tab in your Microsoft Teams app. See the ticketing feature page or the request template guide.

Related questions

Does AI submit tickets on the client's behalf in MSPortal?

No. The AI assistant chooses a request template and fills in the form, but the client reviews it and clicks Create Ticket. Nothing is sent to the MSP's ticketing system until the client submits.

Who decides the ticket's priority and routing?

The MSP does, through the template. In MSPortal each request template sets the board or queue, type, status and priority, and can raise priority for specific answers, so clients never choose internal routing values.

Can different clients get different versions of the same request form?

Yes. In MSPortal a template can have company-specific branches with their own questions or routing, and templates can be limited to certain roles, company types or industries.

How can clients follow a ticket after submitting it?

Clients see status, the assigned technician and public replies in the portal. See how clients can see the status of their IT tickets.

What else does AI do in MSPortal?

AI also drafts reports, compliance notes, Planner items and project updates for people to review. See what AI does in MSPortal.