Jira for bug tracking and customer support?

We are thinking of using Jira for bug tracking and to integrate it with Git to connect bug fixes with version handling.

Do you recommend Jira also for customer support or should we find another system like for example Zendesk for that purpose? I know that it is possible somehow to integrate for example Hipchat with Jira to enable chat functionality with customers but is Jira too complex for Customer Service to handle? What is your experience?

We use Jira for customer support, but we found that Jira is missing many must-have features that are needed for this. that's why we make many changes.

All and all, we are very happy with our choice, and we managed to save a lot of money by using Jira instead of other solutions.

Here are the major changes that we made, this will show you what is missing, while on the other hand show you that with a little bit of programming, Jira can do anything :)

Note: The scripts writen below should be attach to a workflow transition. The scripts are written using Jython, so it needs to be installed to use it.

Create issues by email

Jira only sends emails to Jira users. Since we didn't want to create a user for every person that addressed the support, we used anonymous users instead, and used scripts to send them email.

First, set Jira to create issues from emails. Than, use Script Runner pluging to save customer's email and names to custom field. . code:

from com.atlassian.jira import ComponentManager
import re
cfm = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCustomFieldManager()

# read issue description
description = issue.getDescription()
if (description is not None) and ('Created via e-mail received from' in description):
    # extract email and name:
    if ('<' in description) and ('>' in description):
        # pattern [Created via e-mail received from: name <email@company.com>]
        # split it to a list
        description_list = re.split('<|>|:',description)
        list_length = len(description_list)
        for index in range(list_length-1, -1, -1):
            if '@' in description_list[index]:
                customer_email = description_list[index]
                customer_name = description_list[index - 1]
                break
    else:
        # pattern [Created via e-mail received from: email@company.com]
        customer_name = "Sir or Madam"
        # split it to a list  
        description_list = re.split(': |]',description)
        list_length = len(description_list)
        for index in range(list_length-1, -1, -1):
            if '@' in description_list[index]:
                customer_email = description_list[index]
                break

    # if the name isn't in the right form, switch it's places:
    if (customer_name[0] == '"') and (customer_name[-1] == '"') and (',' in customer_name):
        customer_name = customer_name[1:-1]
        i =  customer_name.index(',')
        customer_name = customer_name[i+2:]+" "+customer_name[:i]

    # insert data to issue fields
    issue.setCustomFieldValue(cfm.getCustomFieldObject("customfield_10401"),customer_email)
    issue.setCustomFieldValue(cfm.getCustomFieldObject("customfield_10108"),customer_name)

Send customer issue created notification

Send the mail using the following script:

import smtplib,email
from smtplib import SMTP 
from email.MIMEMultipart import MIMEMultipart
from email.MIMEBase import MIMEBase
from email.MIMEText import MIMEText
from email import Encoders
import os
import re
from com.atlassian.jira import ComponentManager

customFieldManager = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCustomFieldManager()
cfm = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCustomFieldManager()

# read needed fields from the issue
key = issue.getKey()
#status = issue.getStatusObject().name
summary = issue.getSummary()
project = issue.getProjectObject().name

# read customer email address
toAddr = issue.getCustomFieldValue(cfm.getCustomFieldObject("customfield_10401"))
# send mail only if a valid email was entered
if (toAddr is not None) and (re.match('[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@(?:[A-Za-z0-9-]+\.)+[A-Za-z]{2,4}',toAddr)):
    # read customer name
    customerName = issue.getCustomFieldValue(cfm.getCustomFieldObject("customfield_10108"))
    # read template from the disk
    template_file = 'new_case.template'
    f = open(template_file, 'r')
    htmlBody = ""
    for line in f:
        line = line.replace('$$CUSTOMER_NAME',customerName)
        line = line.replace('$$KEY',key)
        line = line.replace('$$PROJECT',project)
        line = line.replace('$$SUMMARY',summary)
        htmlBody += line + '<BR>'


    smtpserver = 'smtpserver.com'
    to = [toAddr]
    fromAddr = 'jira@email.com'
    subject = "["+key+"] Thank You for Contacting Support team"
    mail_user = 'jira@email.com'
    mail_password = 'password'

    # create html email
    html = '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" '
    html +='"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">'
    html +='<body style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana">'
    html +='<p align="center"><img src="http://path/to/company_logo.jpg" alt="logo"></p> '
    html +='<p>'+htmlBody+'</p>'
    html +='</body></html>'

    emailMsg = email.MIMEMultipart.MIMEMultipart('alternative')
    emailMsg['Subject'] = subject
    emailMsg['From'] = fromAddr
    emailMsg['To'] = ', '.join(to)
    emailMsg.attach(email.mime.text.MIMEText(html,'html'))

    # Send the email
    s = SMTP(smtpserver) # ip or domain name of smtp server
    s.login(mail_user, mail_password)   
    s.sendmail(fromAddr, [to], emailMsg.as_string())
    s.quit()

    # add sent mail to comments
    cm = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCommentManager()
    email_body = htmlBody.replace('<BR>','\n')
    cm.create(issue,'anonymous','Email was sent to the customer ; Subject: '+subject+'\n'+email_body,False)

content of new_case.template:

Dear $$CUSTOMER_NAME,

Thank you for contacting support team.

We will address your case as soon as possible and respond with a solution very quickly.

Issue key $$KEY has been created as a reference for future correspondence.

If you need urgent support please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page at http://www.example.com/faq.

Thank you,

Support Team


Issue key: $$KEY
Issue subject: $$PROJECT
Issue summary: $$SUMMARY

Issue reminder - open for 24/36/48 hours notifications

Created a custom field called "Open since" - a 'Date Time' field to hold the time the issue has been opened.
Created a custom field called "Notification" - a read only text field.
Using the Script Runner pluging , I've created a post-function and placed it on every transition going to the 'Open' status. This is to keep the issue opening time.

the code:

from com.atlassian.jira import ComponentManager
from datetime import datetime

opend_since_field = "customfield_10001"

# get opened since custom field:
cfm = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCustomFieldManager()
# get current time
currentTime = datetime.today()
# save current time
issue.setCustomFieldValue(cfm.getCustomFieldObject(opend_since_field),currentTime)

I've created a new filter to get the list of issues that are open for over 24h:

JQL:

project = XXX AND status= Open ORDER BY updated ASC, key DESC

Lastly - I've used the Jira remote API - the XML-RPC method to write a python script scheduled to run every 5 minutes. The script reads all the issued from the filter, pulls all of them that have an 'Open' status for over 24h/36h/48h, send a reminder email, and mark them as notified, so only one reminder of each type will be sent.

The python code:

#!/usr/bin/python

# Refer to the XML-RPC Javadoc to see what calls are available:
# http://docs.atlassian.com/software/jira/docs/api/rpc-jira-plugin/latest/com/atlassian/jira/rpc/xmlrpc/XmlRpcService.html
# /home/issues_reminder.py

import xmlrpclib
import time
from time import mktime
from datetime import datetime
from datetime import timedelta
import smtplib,email
from smtplib import SMTP 
from email.MIMEMultipart import MIMEMultipart
from email.MIMEBase import MIMEBase
from email.MIMEText import MIMEText
from email import Encoders

# Jira connction info
server = 'https://your.jira.com/rpc/xmlrpc'
user = 'user'
password = 'password'
filter = '10302' # Filter ID
# Email definitions 
smtpserver = 'mail.server.com'
fromAddr = 'support@your.jira.com'
mail_user = 'jira_admin@your.domain.com'
mail_password = 'password'
toAddr = 'support@your.domain.com'
mysubject = "hrs Issue notification!!!"
opend_since_field = "customfield_10101"


COMMASPACE = ', '
def email_issue(issue,esc_time):
    # create html email
    subject = '['+issue+'] '+esc_time+mysubject
    html = '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" '
    html +='"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">'
    html +='<body style="font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana">'
    html +='<p align="center"><img src="your_logo.jpg" alt="logo" height="43" width="198"></p> '
    html +='<p> The issue ['+issue+'] is open for over '+esc_time+' hours.</p>'
    html +='<p> A link to view the issue: https://your.jira.com/browse/'+issue+'.</p>'
    html +='<BR><p> This is an automated email sent from Jira.</p>'
    html +='</body></html>'
    emailMsg = email.MIMEMultipart.MIMEMultipart('alternative')
    emailMsg['Subject'] = subject
    emailMsg['From'] = fromAddr
    emailMsg['To'] = toAddr
    emailMsg.attach(MIMEText(html, 'html'))
    # Send the email
    emailserver = SMTP(smtpserver) # ip or domain name of smtp server
    emailserver.login(mail_user, mail_password)
    emailserver.sendmail(fromAddr, [toAddr], emailMsg.as_string())
    emailserver.quit()
    return


s = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy(server)
auth = s.jira1.login(user, password)

esc12List = []
esc24List = []
esc48List = []


issues = s.jira1.getIssuesFromFilter(auth, filter)
print "Modifying issue..."
for issue in issues:
        creation = 0;
        # get open since time
        for customFields in issue['customFieldValues']:
                if customFields['customfieldId'] == opend_since_field :
                        print "found field!"+  customFields['values']
                        creation = customFields['values']
        if (creation == 0):
                creation = issue['created']
                print "field not found"
    creationTime = datetime.fromtimestamp(mktime(time.strptime(creation, '%d/%b/%y %I:%M %p')))
    currentTime = datetime.fromtimestamp(mktime(time.gmtime()))
    delta = currentTime - creationTime
    esc12 = timedelta(hours=12)
    esc24 = timedelta(hours=24)
    esc48 = timedelta(hours=48)
    print "\nchecking issue "+issue['key']
    if (delta < esc12):
        print "less than 12 hours"
        print "not updating"
        continue
    if (delta < esc24):
        print "less than 24 hours"
        for customFields in issue['customFieldValues']:
            if customFields['customfieldId'] == 'customfield_10412':
                if customFields['values'] == '12h':
                    print "not updating"
                    break
                else:
                    print "updating !!!"
                    s.jira1.updateIssue(auth, issue['key'], {"customfield_10412": ["12h"]})
                    esc12List.append(issue['key'])
                    break
        continue
    if (delta < esc48):
        print "less than 48 hours"
        for customFields in issue['customFieldValues']:
            if customFields['customfieldId'] == 'customfield_10412':
                if customFields['values'] == '24h':
                    print "not updating"
                    break
                else:
                    print "updating !!!"
                    s.jira1.updateIssue(auth, issue['key'], {"customfield_10412": ["24h"]})
                    esc24List.append(issue['key'])
                    break
        continue
    print "more than 48 hours"
    for customFields in issue['customFieldValues']:
        if customFields['customfieldId'] == 'customfield_10412':
            if customFields['values'] == '48h':
                print "not updating"
                break
            else:
                print "updating !!!"
                s.jira1.updateIssue(auth, issue['key'], {"customfield_10412": ["48h"]})
                esc48List.append(issue['key'])
                break

for key in esc12List:
    email_issue(key,'12')
for key in esc24List:
    email_issue(key,'24')
for key in esc48List:
    email_issue(key,'48')

The main pros of this method is that it's highly customizable, and by saving the data to custom fields it's easy to create filters and reports to show issues that have been opened for a long time.

Escalating to the development team

Create a new transition - Escalate. This will create an issue for the development team, and link the new issue to the support issue. Add the following post function:

from com.atlassian.jira.util import ImportUtils
from com.atlassian.jira import ManagerFactory
from com.atlassian.jira.issue import MutableIssue
from com.atlassian.jira import ComponentManager
from com.atlassian.jira.issue.link import DefaultIssueLinkManager
from org.ofbiz.core.entity import GenericValue;

# get issue objects
issueManager = ComponentManager.getInstance().getIssueManager()
issueFactory = ComponentManager.getInstance().getIssueFactory()
authenticationContext = ComponentManager.getInstance().getJiraAuthenticationContext()
issueLinkManager = ComponentManager.getInstance().getIssueLinkManager()
customFieldManager = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCustomFieldManager()
userUtil = ComponentManager.getInstance().getUserUtil()
projectMgr = ComponentManager.getInstance().getProjectManager()
customer_name = customFieldManager.getCustomFieldObjectByName("Customer Name")
customer_email = customFieldManager.getCustomFieldObjectByName("Customer Email")
escalate = customFieldManager.getCustomFieldObjectByName("Escalate to Development")

if issue.getCustomFieldValue(escalate) is not None:
    # define issue
    issueObject = issueFactory.getIssue()
    issueObject.setProject(projectMgr.getProject(10000))
    issueObject.setIssueTypeId("1") # bug
    # set subtask attributes
    issueObject.setSummary("[Escalated from support] "+issue.getSummary())
    issueObject.setAssignee(userUtil.getUserObject("nadav"))
    issueObject.setReporter(issue.getAssignee())
    issueObject.setDescription(issue.getDescription())
    issueObject.setCustomFieldValue(customer_name, issue.getCustomFieldValue(customer_name)+" "+issue.getCustomFieldValue(customer_email))
    issueObject.setComponents(issue.getComponents())
    # Create subtask 
    subTask = issueManager.createIssue(authenticationContext.getUser(), issueObject)
    # Link parent issue to subtask
    issueLinkManager.createIssueLink(issueObject.getId(),issue.getId(),10003,1,authenticationContext.getUser())
    # Update search indexes
    ImportUtils.setIndexIssues(True);
    ComponentManager.getInstance().getIndexManager().reIndex(subTask)
    ImportUtils.setIndexIssues(False)

Moving to sales

reate a new transition - Move to sales. Many support calls end up as a sale call, this will move the issue to the sales team. Add the following post function:

from com.atlassian.jira.util import ImportUtils
from com.atlassian.jira.issue import MutableIssue
from com.atlassian.jira import ComponentManager

customFieldManager = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCustomFieldManager()
userUtil = ComponentManager.getInstance().getUserUtil()

issue.setStatusId("1");
issue.setAssignee(userUtil.getUserObject("John"))
issue.setSummary("[Moved from support] "+issue.getSummary())
issue.setProjectId(10201);
issue.setIssueTypeId("35");
ImportUtils.setIndexIssues(True);
ComponentManager.getInstance().getIndexManager().reIndex(issue)
ImportUtils.setIndexIssues(False)


# add to comments
from time import gmtime, strftime
time = strftime("%d-%m-%Y %H:%M:%S", gmtime())
cm = ComponentManager.getInstance().getCommentManager()
currentUser = ComponentManager.getInstance().getJiraAuthenticationContext().getUser().toString()
cm.create(issue,currentUser,'Email was moved to Sales at '+time,False)