Five Questions Every Utility Locating Team Should Ask About Their Ticket Workflow

A ticket workflow can feel like it’s working simply because tickets are getting completed. But as volumes increase, teams grow, and customer expectations change, processes that once worked well can start creating unnecessary work, delays, and blind spots.

Taking a closer look at how tickets move through your operation can reveal where time is being lost, where risk is building, and where better processes or technology could make a difference.

Start with these five questions.

1. How Are Tickets Assigned?
Ticket assignment is one of the first opportunities to set the entire workflow up for success.

If assignments depend heavily on spreadsheets, calls, texts, emails, or someone manually reviewing and distributing work, the process can quickly become time-consuming as ticket volumes grow.

Consider how much effort it takes to determine which locator should receive each ticket. Are assignments based on location, workload, due date, priority, or other relevant factors? And how easily can work be reassigned when priorities change?

An effective workflow should help teams assign the right ticket to the right locator based on the factors that matter most, while making it easy to adjust as conditions change.

2. How Is Performance Measured?
Knowing how many tickets were completed is important, but it doesn’t tell the full story.

Effective performance management requires a clear view of the metrics that show how efficiently and consistently the operation is performing.

Ask yourself how easily you can answer questions such as:
• How many tickets are completed each day or week?
• What percentage are completed on time?
• How does productivity compare across teams, territories, or time periods?
• Are performance goals being met?
• What trends are improving or moving in the wrong direction?

If answering these questions requires manually compiling data from multiple sources, it becomes harder to identify trends, measure progress, and make informed operational decisions.

3. How Much Visibility Do Managers Have?
Managers should be able to quickly see what’s happening across the operation right now: which tickets are open, where locators are working, what needs immediate attention, and how today’s workload is progressing—without relying on repeated calls, texts, or manual status checks.
Real-time visibility gives leaders the information they need to respond as conditions change and make more informed decisions throughout the day.

The question isn’t simply whether you have the data. It’s whether the people who need it can access and act on it when it matters.

4. Do You Know Why Tickets Are Being Delayed?
Every locating operation encounters unexpected challenges. Emergencies arise, workloads fluctuate, and field conditions change.

But if delayed or aging tickets are becoming routine, it’s worth looking beyond the individual ticket to understand why.

Are certain territories consistently overloaded? Are inefficient routes costing technicians valuable time? Are certain ticket types creating bottlenecks? Are staffing levels aligned with ticket volume? Are priorities being adjusted quickly enough when conditions change?

Identifying patterns behind recurring delays helps teams address the root cause instead of repeatedly managing the same symptoms.

5. What Happens When Something Falls Through the Cracks?
Even strong teams can miss an update, overlook a ticket, or encounter a breakdown in communication. A strong workflow shouldn’t rely on someone remembering to catch every exception manually.

Consider what happens when something doesn’t go according to plan. Does the right person receive an alert? Are overdue or high-priority tickets automatically surfaced? Can important updates trigger action without someone constantly monitoring the queue?

The best workflows don’t just help teams manage tickets. They help teams recognize exceptions and act before those exceptions become bigger problems.

What Do Your Answers Tell You?
These questions aren’t about finding fault with your current process. They’re about determining whether it gives your team the visibility, efficiency, and control needed to manage today’s workload and tomorrow’s growth.

If your answers reveal heavy manual coordination, limited performance insight, poor real-time visibility, recurring delays, or too much reliance on people to catch problems manually, there may be opportunities to simplify and strengthen your workflow.

The right technology can help teams automate routine tasks, improve visibility, prioritize work more effectively, and make better use of the information already moving through the operation.

SmartTIX Helps Build a Smarter Ticket Workflow
Purpose-built for utility locators, SmartTIX brings ticket management into one easy-to-use platform designed to support both field and office teams.

From intelligent routing and prioritization to real-time tracking, automated notifications, reporting, and field-ready mobile tools, SmartTIX helps teams reduce manual work, improve visibility, and keep tickets moving from open to close.

Ready to take a closer look at your ticket workflow? Schedule a demo today and see how SmartTIX can help your operation work smarter.