Log an Incident

The following procedure walks you through the typical steps to log an Incident. A Request follows a similar workflow.

Good to know:

To log an Incident:

1. On the CSM Desktop Client toolbar, click New>New Incident.

   

   A new Incident Record is created with a unique Incident ID) and a status of New. The Incident automatically enters the Record phase.

2. Step 1: Record the basic details (Who, What, How):

   

   1. Requestor (in the Quick Info Tile): Provide the name of the Customer who initiated the contact, and then press ENTER or TAB to search for the Customer Record.

      If an exact match is found, the Requestor fields are auto-populated with the Customer’s name, avatar, e-mail, and phone. If multiple matches are found (ex: Multiple Customers named Max), the Contact Manager opens so that you can select the appropriate Customer.

   2. Short Description: Provide a concise description of the Incident.
   3. Description: Provide a detailed description for the Incident.

      Tip: Description is a Rich Text field. To format the text or embed an image, click the Zoom button .

   4. Call Source: Select a source for the initiation.

   After all required fields are completed, the Incident automatically enters the Classify phase.

   Note: When the Incident is saved , an e-mail is automatically created and sent to the Customer to confirm receipt and relay the Incident number (Incident ID). If the Incident is resolved before the first save, the receipt e-mail is not sent because the Resolve e-mail is already being sent. A Journal-History record is created to track the e-mail communication. View e-mails in the Incident Journals tab (Arrangement section).

3. Step 2: Classify the Incident (Categorize, Priority, Major Incident, CI):

   

   1. Categorize the Incident:
      1. Service: Select the affected Service.
      2. Category: Select the affected Service category.
      3. Subcategory: Select the affected Service subcategory.

         Note: Category is filtered by Service; subcategory is filtered by category. This three-tiered categorization determines the Incident Type (Incident or Request), which Specifics form to display to capture the appropriate details, and which SLA to invoke.

         Tips: If you do not know the three-tiered categorization, provide a word in the Quick Classify field (ex: Printer) , and then press TAB or ENTER to locate a possible match. Wildcards (% or *) can be used when searching. If matches are found, the Category Selector opens to select the appropriate categorization. To browse all categorizations, click the Category Selector button to launch the Category Selector.
         

      After an Incident is identified as an Incident or Request, the relevant Specifics form is displayed.

   2. Priority: Select an Incident priority:
      1. Click the Priority drop-down to reveal the Priority Matrix (determined by invoked SLA), and then click a priority number.

         

      The priority is displayed in the Priority alert bar of the Quick Info Tile.

      

      After a priority is selected, respond by and resolve by target times are calculated based on the defined priority target times in the invoked SLA, and are then displayed in the SLA section of the Quick Info Tile.

      

   3. Major Incident: Select this box if the Incident/Request is causing serious interruptions of business activities, and requires shorter timescales and greater urgency to resolve (ex: Network outage). Click the Link to Existing Major Incidents link in the I Want To... section of the Quick Info Tile to link the Incident to an existing major Incident.
   4. Primary CI: Select an affected CI, if any:
      1. Click the CI Selector button to launch the CMDB window, and then select a CI.

         

      The selected CI record appears on the Configuration Items tab (Arrangement section).

   After the Incident is categorized and prioritized, the Incident automatically enters the Investigate/Fulfill phase. (This example follows an Incident, so it enters the Investigate phase. Request Fulfillment follows a similar workflow.)

4. Step 3: Investigate the Incident:
   1. Assign an owner to the Incident by clicking one of the ownership links in the Quick Info Tile (Owned By and I Want To sections). Ownership is required:

      

      The Incident status changes to Assigned and the ownership information appears in the Quick Info Tile.

   2. The owner begins work:
      1. In the Status alert bar, click Begin Work.

         

         The Incident status changes to In Progress and stamps the Date/Time milestone.

      2. Complete the Specifics form (these will vary).
   3. Develop a resolution. You have several options:
      • Search the Knowledge Base.
      • View Similar Incidents.
      • Create Tasks to either escalate the issue to a higher tier or support, track time, or schedule an immediate Action Item for another Team/User.
      • Use Actions (Actions/One-Steps/Quick Templates).

        

   4. After a resolution is developed, resolve the Incident and log the resolution details:
      1. In the Status alert bar, click Resolve.

         

         CSM prompts you to log the resolution/fulfillment details and possibly a Cause Code (if it is an Incident).

   After the Close Description and Cause Code are logged, a Resolution Details record is created and appears on the Resolution Details tab (Arrangement section) to track the resolution, the Incident status changes to Resolved, and the Incident automatically enters the Resolve phase. An e-mail is created and sent to the Customer to notify him that his Incident was resolved.

   After three days, an Automation Process automatically closes the Incident, the Incident status changes to Closed, and the Incident enters the Closed phase. An e-mail survey is automatically created/sent to the Customer to notify him that his Incident was closed and to solicit feedback.

   Note: To manually close the record sooner, click the Close Incident link in the I Want To section of the Quick Info Tile.
   
   If, during the three days, you discover that the Incident/Request is not ready to be closed, reopen the Incident/Request by clicking the Reopen Incident link in the Status bar of the Quick Info Tile. If reopened, the Status changes to Reopened and the Incident can be investigated/fulfilled again.
   

5. If you discover that the Incident was not resolved, clone it (create a new Incident with fields auto-populated with information from the cloned Incident) by clicking one of the following links in the Quick Info Tile:
   • Mark as Recurring: Click this link to clone a closed Incident/Request, populating the Requestor, Description, Call Source, categorization, and priority fields with information from the cloned record. A "reference" to the cloned Incident ID is also captured in the Description and below the Call Source field.
   • Mark as Never Fixed: Click this link to clone a closed Incident/Request, populating the Requestor, Description, Call Source, categorization, and priority fields with information from the cloned record. A "reference" to the cloned Incident ID is also captured in the Description and below the Call Source field.