I would emphasize that “slickness” of the system is secondary to user adoption, so if Google Docs is working for you, stick with it. What is key is to ensure that users have access to it so that they know if their concerns are being heard and addressed!

What you’ve described in terms of reviewing the doc on calls is exactly what we’re shooting for; a single source for everyone to refer to. It sounds like you’re actually being fairly successful, even if it doesn’t look pretty.

I’d estimate my organization has invested several hundred hours of staff time in trying to find and implement a low cost, flexible, and user-friendly issue tracking system – and getting users to adopt it. We still haven’t found something that works. All of the ones that integrate nicely with version control software tend to be too technical for non-technical staff. When we’ve implemented open source solutions, we’ve found ourselves investing a lot of time in administrating the system. When we’ve used paid services, user adoption is a major problem because it is yet another system for our users to log into.

Lately, I’ve been using a Google Spreadsheet with priority, description, due date, time estimate and commentary columns. I put items in there when people send them to me and keep the table sorted by priority. Anyone can review the spreadsheet at any time. On team calls, we sometimes review it together. It’s not ideal, but all of us have Google Apps open all day. And, while I do all the entry and updating, that’s not unlike the way it was when I used ticket systems with low user adoption. I was the one creating the tickets out of everyone else’s emails.

Would love to hear what issue tracking tools you have had success with.