Jira Service Management is a powerful tool for ITSM and external support. It not only helps teams manage incoming requests in one, easy-to-use interface, it helps requestors by giving them a clear destination to get the help they need and check-in on their asks.

But if you’re reading this, you probably already know that. And probably, you just want to learn how to use JSM better than you already are.

To that end, the road to JSM optimization often starts with steps like these:

• Link a knowledge base from Confluence, which allows you to surface potentially relevant self-help articles as users file requests. The goal? Avert requests and help users help themselves.
• Integrate with dev tools like Jira and Bitbucket to align business, product, IT teams around the same base platforms. This also allows support teams to link JSM requests to relevant Jira issues to facilitate the product-development process, especially as it relates to bugs and feature improvements.
• Add apps from the Atlassian Marketplace that can help improve the quality, speed and effectiveness of the support you’re providing.

One app, Refined for Jira, allows you to build custom support portals themed in your brand identity. In addition to giving JSM a makeover that improves the user experience, when paired with Refined for Confluence it allows you to deploy key functionality from JSM, Confluence, and Jira together in new ways.

The result can be better support for your users and fewer tickets for agents.

1. Display content from your knowledge base front and center on support portals to cut down on requests

Anyone with both Confluence and Jira Service Management can integrate a knowledge base into their support portal, so that users can access self-help resources as they file requests. But what if you could reach users even sooner, before they go asking for help?

Refined support sites with linked Confluence instances can be designed from the get-go with self help in mind. You can add links to the most common needs right on the home page of your support site, for instance. Search bars placed prominently on the site can encourage users to hunt for answers in documentation before they file a request. And you can even cluster content into links that lead to landing pages containing related self-help documentation — and relevant requests types.

2. Add intuitive navigation and links to portals to guide users toward the help they need

Refined support sites look and work like websites, with top-of-page, drop-down navigation menus and all. These menus can be configured to your liking depending on what you add to your site: JSM support desks, Confluence spaces, external links to other sites and resources, and so on.

The benefit: you can distill even large, multi-portal support sites into easy-to-navigate experiences that require zero training or learning curve for users.

Well planned and navigable support sites are easy to scale because menus are flexible. Simply add new service management projects as they come online (and corresponding knowledge base spaces) by building on the structure of existing sites.
3. Embed service points in Confluence documentation, like on HR policy pages or IT instructions

3. Embed service points in Confluence documentation, like on HR policy pages or IT instructions

You can take your Confluence integration a step further by adding JSM request type links directly to Confluence pages. So while a user is reading, say, a time-off policy, they can create a vacation request using a request link directly on-page. That spares them the headache of switching contexts to another site to file a request. The request form appears right over the Confluence page, and once it’s submitted, the user picks up on the page where they left off.

Here’s a few scenarios where this comes in handy:

• Policy pages on an HR service desk, like for parental leave.
• On documentation pages for customers or partners. If the instructions aren’t clear or helpful, the user has immediate recourse with a request type link.
• On an IT access policy page. Users can request access to a system right on the Confluence page detailing how to sign up for or use that system.
• On legal documentation pages. Request types can live alongside instructions for submitting a contract for review.
  4. Create custom issue trackers so users can keep tabs on what you are working on (without bugging you)

4. Create custom issue trackers so users can keep tabs on what you are working on (without bugging you)

Issue trackers built from Jira are a phenomenal way to boost transparency and give users insight into what’s on your roadmap, what’s currently in progress and what’s already been fixed and awaiting release. At the same time, they can drive down requests for anything in these areas, since users can get the answers themselves.

Refined allows you to configure custom issue lists based on your needs and those of your end users using in-module filters or advanced JQL. Issue trackers display the information you want users to see in a clean, easy-to-digest format—a nice contrast to the Jira Software interface, which could confuse users who aren’t used to working in it.

Upgrade the face of your support operation
Refined is available on both cloud and data center.

Get in touch with a META ITSM specialist (info@meta-inf.hu) to see how to upgrade your support operation with a Refined site.