Today my apartment complex upgraded their website to provide more features. One of the features was “Submit a trouble ticket”, where you filled out various fields such as “Category” and “Priority”. Then you wrote a description of the problem.

On a whim, I tried it out, since one of my windows had refused to latch, and my AC unit had been putting out a funky smell. I submitted two tickets, got immediate email notification that my tickets had been accepted to the queue.

Two hours later, a maintenance guy knocked on my door. He fixed my window, cleaned the AC unit, and fixed a latch problem on the sliding glass door that I had forgotten to report.

For those of you keeping score, my apartment’s maintenance department has a better Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) than any IT department I’ve ever worked in. And a trouble ticketing system that many companies would be envious of.

The next time someone in management tells you that you don’t need a ticketing system, tell them about my apartment complex. Maybe that will change their tune.