Managing Service Agreements

Service Level Agreements define the quality of service that specific organizations, groups, and / or assets should receive. Each agreement includes its own Default Severity, as well as a Start and End Date. It may also have list of Subscribers that notifies additional users (or groups) of the following:

Notification Definition
Response Reminder First Response time is halfway over.
Response Alert First Response time exceeded (Out of Compliance).
Resolution Reminder Resolution time is halfway over.
Resolution Alert Resolution time exceeded (Out of Compliance).

These Notifications are automatically sent to an issue’s current Assignee and Next Action.

 

From an SLA's Start to End Date, the Service Level in effect is displayed in that organization, group, or asset's record. All users can view the Terms by clicking on the Service Level name.

Regardless of its Start Date, an SLA is automatically applied only to new issues submitted after the date and time it was saved to your system. However, it can be manually applied to existing issues submitted on or after their Start Date by updating their Severity (or any other value). More importantly, if an issue simultaneously qualifies for multiple SLAs, only one can be applied. This will be the Asset’s SLA—or if there is no Asset SLA—the Group or Organization SLA with the strictest Terms.

While the Agreement determines the default Severity, a user with the permission Can select Severity when submitting and maintaining SLA issues may change the value, potentially changing the terms that apply to the issue.

Once applied to an issue, the Service Level in effect is also displayed in that issue record (with Terms popup included), along with two additional fields. First Response Time is automatically populated with the date and time an initial response is added. First Call Resolution will appear on every facet of an issue's screen except for the Submit screen. This checkbox is automatically selected when the Submit and Close button is used from the Submit Issue screen—or can be manually selected from the Close Issue screen.

All users can view First Response and First Call Resolution data within issues and reports. If necessary, only users with Can edit Issues and Can modify the First Response Time entered in Issues permissions can change an issue’s First Response Time values.


 

Adding Service Agreements

Only users with Sys Admin or Can access and maintain Administration functions permissions can add, edit or delete Service Agreements within your system.

Subscribers for Service Level Agreement can be added to an Agreement (from the Edit screen) only after the Agreement has been saved.

  Steps:
  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click Service Level Agreements beneath the Tools > click Add beneath the Agreements area of the right quick menu.
  2. Select the Client Type and name.
  3. Select the Service Level for this Agreement.
  4. Select the Default Severity for this client’s issues.
    • This value will only be used when the issue submitter cannot or has not specifically selected one.
  5. Use the calendar search to define the Start Date and End Date of the Agreement.

An SLA is automatically applied only to new issues submitted after it is saved but can be retroactively applied to existing issues from Start Date by updating their Severity (or other value).

  1. Click Save.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.


Editing Service Agreements

Steps:

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click Service Level Agreements beneath the Tools > click List beneath the Agreements area of the right quick menu.
  2. Click the number next to the Service Level that contains the Agreement you are modifying.
  3. Click edit next to the Agreement in the Client List that appears.
  4. (Optional) Before making any other changes on the Edit Service Level Agreement screen, use the View/Maintain Subscribers... link to add or change member settings on this SLA’s list of Subscribers:
     
    • Response Reminder 1st Response term halfway over
    • Response Final 1st Response term exceeded (Out of Compliance)
    • Resolve Reminder Resolution term halfway over
    • Resolve Final Resolution term exceeded (Out of Compliance)

SLA-based Notifications are automatically sent to an issue’s Assignee and Next Action by default, and thus do not need to be added to the distribution list.

  1. Make your changes in the Edit Service Level Agreement screen.

  2. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.


 

Deleting Service Agreements

Steps:

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click Service Level Agreements beneath the Tools > click List beneath the Agreements area of the right quick menu.
  2. Click the number next to the Service Level that contains the Agreement you are deleting.
  3. Click del next to the Agreement in the Client List that appears.
  4. Click OK when prompted to confirm.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.