Test 1: Creating ticket with technician...
Test 2: Creating ticket without technician (fallback to Auth::id())...
Test scenarios prepared. The actual database insertion would require a full Laravel environment.
Key fix: assigned_staff_id now uses $request->technician ?? Auth::id() fallback
This prevents the 'Column assigned_staff_id cannot be null' error.

Fix implemented successfully!
- Updated TicketController@store method
- Added client-side validation for technician selection
- Enhanced form to populate technician dropdown for all user roles