30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre UKIROC Support Process – Key Points for Staff

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Overview We need process, procedure, and rules to ensure users get a consistent experience from the distributed UKIROC Support organisation We need to set expectations of what we do, and also what we expect from Users

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Ticket Statuses Request –This status indicates a new ticket has been generated. New –This status indicates a new ticket has been allocated a queue label. Assigned –This status indicates a ticket has been assigned to an Agent. Waiting for Reply –This status indicates an Agent has communicated with a User. When an Agent s a User then this status is automatically set. In Progress –This status indicates an Agent is working on the issue. When a User s an Agent then this status is automatically set. Unsolved –This status indicates the problem cannot be solved. For example, it may be considered a ‘Known Issue’, or for example there may be a delay of one year in getting new software to fix a bug. Solved –A ticket is put in this status when the Agent/TPM/Management deems the issue is resolved. Ideally, a ticket should only be set to solved when the Agent has agreed with the User that a definitive solution has been provided and has indeed solved the issue Re-Opened –A ticket can be moved from ‘Solved’ to here, if for example, the problem which was thought to be solved has re-occurred.

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Ticket Statuses and Flows New Assigned Waiting for Reply SolvedUnsolved Re-opened In- Progress The flows illustrated show the ideal path(s) through the system. However, it is possible to manually reset the status of tickets to any status.

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Support Process and Ticket Lifecycle From status=’Assigned’ onward the Agent is responsible for timely and accurate resolution of ticket. The Agent may draw upon the Helpdesk Management and Administration to aid in the ticket resolution. –The Agent may choose to set the status of the ticket from ‘Assigned’ to ‘In Progress’ to indicate he is working on the issue, OR –The Agent may choose to set the status of the ticket from ‘Assigned’ to ‘Waiting for Reply’ to indicate he has communicated with the User and is awaiting a response, OR –The Agent may choose to directly set the status of the ticket to ‘Solved’ if he has agreed a solution with the User. –The Agent may choose to set status=Unsolved if there is no solution to the ticket. Note that the action of the Agent ing the User via the Helpdesk routing will automatically set the status to ‘Waiting for Reply’. During an investigation, it is expected that a ticket may alternate between the statuses of ‘In Progress’ and ‘Waiting for Reply’ as the Agent and User communicate with each other. When a User s an Agent via the Helpdesk routing, the ticket status is automatically set to ‘In Progress’. When the Agent agrees a solution with the User then the ticket can be set to ‘Solved’ to indicate closure of the ticket.

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Changing Ticket Status Aside from the automatic methods of changing the status of a ticket, an Agent can change the status of a ticket in the following ways: –1. Whilst logged on to the FootPrints application, the status may be changed on a ticket via a pull-down list. –2. When responding to a ticket-related routed through the Helpdesk system, the Agent inserts a line of text: status=string where string is the value of an allowable status, eg. ‘In Progress’, ‘Solved’ etc

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Rules for Progressing Tickets The Helpdesk Administration will intervene in tickets in the following cases: –1. Ticket is ‘In Progress’ but Agent has not replied for two working days since last response. In this instance the Helpdesk will contact the Agent to remind them that the ticket requires attention. If the Agent has a valid reason for not responding within this time, then the ticket should be updated to clearly indicate that to the Helpdesk (and User) in order to avoid being chased by the Helpdesk. –2. Ticket is ‘Waiting for Reply’ but User has not replied for two working days since last response. In this instance the Helpdesk will contact the User to remind them that the ticket requires attention. If the User has a valid reason for not responding within this time, then the ticket should be updated to clearly indicate that to the Helpdesk (and Agent) in order to avoid being chased by the Helpdesk. –3. Ticket is ‘Assigned’ but Agent has not updated the ticket for one working day since the ticket was assigned to him. In this instance the Helpdesk will contact the Agent to remind them that the ticket requires attention. If the Agent has a valid reason for not responding within this time, then the ticket should be updated to clearly indicate that to the Helpdesk (and User) in order to avoid being chased by the Helpdesk. The Helpdesk may re-assign the ticket if it has not been updated by the Agent for more than one day. –4. Ticket has not changed status after being through two cycles of chasing by the Helpdesk. In this instance the Helpdesk Administration will report the deviation to Management in order to plan resolution and closure of the ticket. The Helpdesk Administrator will produce a daily list of all tickets which are in this ‘escalated’ state, and deliver to Management. Management and the Helpdesk Administrator will agree how to progress each escalated ticket. Tickets should be updated to indicate the plan for progression. Note that the Helpdesk Administrator should also exercise judgment in bringing tickets which require intervention to the attention of Management, even if they have not been through a cycle of chasing. For example, a security breach or system-down incident.

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Resolution and Closure A ticket can be set to ‘Solved’ by the Helpdesk only after explicit permission to do so has been received from the Agent/TPM/Management. The communication must be recorded on the ticket. If a solution to a ticket appears to have been delivered for more than three working days with no activity on the ticket and the ticket is not at status=Solved, then the Helpdesk should contact the Agent to ask them to progress the ticket, or grant the Helpdesk permission to close the ticket. If, at a later date, a closed issue is felt to need re-investigation then the ticket can be re-opened with status=Re-opened.

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Service Level Targets Target time to assign ticket to an Agent: < 1 working day Target time for an Agent to give initial response to customer after being assigned a ticket: < 1 working day

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre User Responsibilities Communicates the problem precisely and accurately to the helpdesk Follows and conforms to the support process until the issue is closed Maintains communication (eg. results of investigation and analysis) relative to the issue with the assigned Agent Confirms issue closure when appropriate with the Agent and/or Helpdesk

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Agent Responsibilities Identifies the priority of the issue Develops a resolution plan for the issue Notifies management of any necessary escalation, eg. severe/critical problem Maintains communication (eg. updates on resolution progress) relative to the issue with the User Updates the ticket with all information relative to the query, including attempts (failed or otherwise) to contact the User Follows and conforms to the support process until the issue is closed Co-ordinates with any third parties required to resolve the issue Confirms closure of the issue with the User  Informs Helpdesk of availability/unavailability

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Helpdesk Responsibilities Manages tickets to ensure they are following the support process and ticket lifecycle workflows Communicates with Agents where there is a deviation from the support process (eg. Agent not progressing ticket in a timely manner) in order to progress ticket resolution and maintain user satisfaction Communicates with users where there is a deviation from the support process (eg. User not responding to communication from Agent) in order to promote timely, quality, resolution of issues Updates tickets to indicate any effort expended on the ticket resolution (eg. indicate date/time attempts were made to contact Agents and Users) Notifies management of any severe/escalated tickets requiring intervention Communicates with Agents and Users for confirmation of ticket closure Notifies management when the support process is not being followed and intervention is required (eg. Agent/User not responding to ticket) Uses judgment to inform management of any tickets which may require intervention, eg. Security Breach; System Down; ticket taking a long time to resolve

30 th April 2007Stephen McAllister and Philippa Strange UKIROC Support Centre Management Responsibilities Responsible that ticket workflow and support processes are followed Takes ownership of issues/tickets when intervention is necessary Plans issue resolution with Agents when necessary Takes action when support process is not followed, eg. Agent not responding to ticket. Responsible for continuous improvement of the Helpdesk and Support processes