Handle a ticket

INTRODUCTION

Handling a ticket in Gfacility

Handling a ticket is done via the clear ticket overview in Gfacility. With full rights the overview looks like this:

Contents

This article covers a number of topics:

1. General information & details
2. Status & SLA
3. Linking tickets
4. Communication
5. Creating tasks
6. Similar tickets
7. History
8. Rating
9. Knowledge base
10. Configuration Items
11. Actions

1 General information & details

The title, description, and details panel give information about the ticket.

The fields available in the details panel are standard Gfacility fields, but can be extended with custom fields. Field labels may differ depending on the naming chosen on the template. The standard fields are:

• Template: indicates which ticket template was used to create the ticket.
• Reported on behalf of: indicates on whose behalf the ticket was created.
• Major: indicates whether this is a major ticket. With this box ticked, tickets are shown in the major tickets widget on the homepage, when added.
• Organisation / location: the organisation and location that apply to the ticket.
• Classification: a classification to indicate what the ticket is about.
• Priority: a priority on a scale of 1 to 5.
• Assignment: the assigned user to handle the ticket.
• Workgroup: the assigned workgroup to handle the ticket.
• Planned date: the date on which the work is planned.
• Created by: the person who created the ticket.
• Created on: the date the ticket was created.

2 Status and SLA

A status and SLA are shown on the ticket.

Status

The progress of tickets is shown by the status, which follow each other like a workflow.

Ticket type & status

The ticket type in the “Details” panel determines which statuses are available. When the ticket type is changed, the status drops back to the starting position of the new type.

SLA

The desired time within which a ticket has to be handled is shown via the SLA. In the SLA settings conditions are configured which indicate how much time may be spent on a ticket. Based on these settings the SLA time is started, paused, and stopped when the ticket enters a status.

Two different SLAs can be measured on a single ticket:

• Time to response.
• Time to resolution.

The SLA on a ticket looks like this:

Elapsed: indicates how much time has passed and should be read as follows:

% time used of allowed time - used time hh:mm / allowed time hh:mm:

Status: indicates whether the timer is running, paused, or stopped.

The coloured time indicator shows the remaining time.

3 Linking tickets

Tickets that relate to each other can be linked. When you link a ticket you choose between “related” or “duplicate”. The two ways of linking are described below:

• Related: an informational link that only shows that tickets relate to each other. Beyond that the link does nothing.
• Duplicate: a link in which all duplicate tickets are closed when one of the duplicate tickets is moved to the closed status.

To link a ticket, click on Link ticket. Then choose the link type, select the ticket to link by title, and click “Link”.

4 Communication

The communication panel can be used to post textual updates about the ticket, or to ask a colleague something directly.

A note can be posted as Internal, Open, or Public. Depending on the settings of the user group a user belongs to, they can see the note or not.

It is also possible to mention a colleague directly in a note with an @. The colleague will then see this under my notifications. Notes with an @ are always visible to the mentioned person, regardless of the note type used.

The paper icon in the communication panel gives you the option to use communication templates to quickly add standard notes. How to create new communication templates can be read here.

5 Tasks

Tasks can be added to a ticket in three ways.

1. Manually without a template
2. Manually with a template
3. Automated

Manually without a template

To add a task without a template, click “Add task”. You are then entirely free in filling in the task fields. The desired workflow can also be selected. Before you can save and assign the task, you need to choose a title, task type, and classification.

Manually with a template

With task templates the content of these tasks can be predefined. To add a task from a template, click “Add task from template”. Based on the chosen template, task fields are filled in automatically and the workflow is assigned automatically. This is handy for adding common tasks in one click. You can still change the standard fields after creating the task.

Automatic

With Task rules, tasks can be added to a ticket automatically.

6 Similar tickets

The similar tickets tab shows tickets that appear to match the ticket you have opened.

7 History

The history tab shows all actions performed on the ticket.

8 Rating

The rating tab shows all submitted ratings for this ticket.

9 Knowledge base

The knowledge base tab shows knowledge articles that appear to match the ticket you have opened.

10 Configuration Items

In the knowledge base panel, configuration items (think of corporate assets, services, knowledge articles) can be added that you want to link to the ticket. E.g. linking a printer that the ticket applies to.

11 Actions

When a ticket is opened you see a number of actions at the top.

The actions, left to right:

• Indicate yourself as a follower of the ticket, or add another user as a follower.
• Give a rating for the ticket.
• Get the link to the ticket.
• Refresh the ticket form.
• Delete the ticket.
• Open the ticket in full screen.
• Close the ticket.