Ticket Management Using Snap and ServiceNow

Jason Moore

This is a guide on ticket management using SNAP and ServiceNow.

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WAM

WAM(workflow automation manager) is a workflow automation utility that dispatches incoming tickets to the correct assignment group and technicians based on certain criteria and guidelines.

  1. Assigns tickets to technicians based on criteria such as workload, availability, role, skillset, etc…
  2. Reduces SLA infractions
  3. Increases customer response and satisfaction
  4. Prevents cherry picking of tickets and increases productivity

 

 

SNAP

SNAP is a semi-automation tool that implements a best practice ticket methodology for technicians.

  1. Mimics human behavior
  2. Proactive vs. reactive ticket management
  3. Decreased SLA infractions
  4. Decreased time on ticket for ticket inputs
  5. Improved customer response and satisfaction
  6. Management oversight for all tickets
  7. Easily customizable for most ITSM tools

 

Action Codes

Action codes can be regarded as status flags that are placed on a ticket as the ticket progresses through various stages on its way towards resolution.

 

They represent each action performed on the ticket or describe the state of the ticket. They can be used to automate inputs to various fields in the ticket such as:

  1. Worklog
  2. Incident state
  3. Incident reason
  4. Description

 

There are many SNAP code templates to work with:

Awcu - waiting on customer

Aweq - waiting on equipment

Awvp - waiting on vendor

Ceta - scheduled for today

Cnrc - called customer and did not reach

Dspt - dispatching ticket

Esca - ticket escalated

Ipro - ticket in progress

Ndup - ticket needs updating

Remr - issue resolved

Rsgn - ticket has been reassigned

Rslv - issue resolved

Schd - scheduled appointment with customer

Trni - in transit

 

After a ticket gets dispatched to you, putting the ticket in progress(ipro) should always be your first step.

 

Status code Timelines

All Codes - couple of times each hour - confirm all codes are future dated or real time

Ceta - today - change from schd to ceta on the data of the appointment

Dspt - 30 min - update within 30 min of it being placed in your queue

Ipro - 2 hours - tickets should not sit for longer than 2 hours unless valid reasons

Cnrc1-3 - 4 hours - tickets should be updated every 4 hours. Once in the morning and once before you leave for day

Schd - morning changed to Ceta - Arranged with customer a set date for working on issue

Awcu - date of future data 4 hour window - placed morning or afternoon

Aweq - day of future data 4 hour window - placed morning or afternoon

 

If it is past dated it is out of compliance. If it is future dated it is in compliance.

All tickets to be closed on time to ensure they do not become past dated.

Status codes to be updated on time

 

What are the advantages of using action codes in the SNAP ticket management tool?

 

The action codes provide the ability to view and determine at a glance the current status of all tickets and their next action dates or times.

 

They are designed to facilitate non-verbal and collaborative communication via the ticketing tool through the status code updates. Most of the action codes are future oriented in nature and indicate the current status and next action data or time towards resolving an incident or request.

 

The action codes are designed to be customer focused and ensure each incident or request ticket is updated daily as needed.

 

Without SNAP codes:

  1. No way of telling what is happening on each ticket
  2. No indication as to which ticket the technician is currently working on
  3. No indication as to what the technician is going to do next

 

With SNAP codes:

  1. From the initial view you can tell what the state of every ticket is
  2. The date indicates the next time the technician will interact with the customer
  3. IPRO shows the current ticket the technician is working on and when they started working
  4. Helps the technician to prioritize his tickets by sorting the queue by the status code data

 

The IPRO status code should be used after every other status code if possible

 

You can load up the technician dashboard by selecting the link for your location, select open dashboard, then you should save your dashboard to your favorites using the menu at the top of ServiceNow.

 

You will want to add the SNAP script to your browser. Open your browser and then open a new tab. Right click on the new tab and then select the 'add page'. Enter the bookmark name as 'name UAT Script'. Copy-paste the SNAP script shared by your supervisor on the URL field. Select the destination bookmark and click on Save.

 

When updating action codes:

  1. Every ticket should have an IPRO code for the first update from the technician no matter what.
  2. IPRO codes should also be in-between other codes such as AWCU and SCHD.
  3. IPRO is the action you are starting like calling the user, enroute to the user, etc…

 

Update all your tickets:

  1. Block off the first 30 minutes of every morning to devote to ticket updates
  2. Block off the last 15 minutes of every day before you leave to update any missed tickets
  3. Update each ticket you work on immediately. ServiceNow can be logged into at the user's desk. Do not wait for the end of the day and absolutely not the next morning.
  4. Do not schedule work during your designated ticket update times
  5. Hold off on answering emails or calls during designated ticket update times
  6. During your ticket updates, if you reach out to a user and they are not ready on the spot, try to schedule a call back or visit for a time after your updates.

 

Processing the 3-strike rule:

  1. Document each attempt or call, email, or visit to the user immediately
  2. Each day make at least one or two attempts to reach the user by all applicable methods available like phone, email, visit, or chat.
  3. After the 3rd consecutive day of multiple types of documents unsuccessful contact attempts, close the ticket indicating that you were able to reach the user.

 

The compliance dashboard gives an overview of all accounts. It has the ability to deep dive down to the technical level. Automated compliance notifications emails are sent when necessary. The compliance emails will let you know when tickets need to be updated or if there is another problem.

 

Work notes are another feature.

  1. Include a brief statement of issue
  2. Bulleted list of steps you took to resolve the issue
  3. The 'Next Step' field says what you plan on doing next.

 

WAM, workflow automation manager, has the capability to dispatch tickets in a smart fashion. This includes its ability to look inside of a ticket to identify what type of ticket it is and the skills required to handle it. It then dispatches the ticket to the technician that possesses that skill set.

 

SNAP Configuration

SNAP provides the capability to configure its action codes to represent each action performed on the ticket or to describe the state of the ticket. Once configured, these action codes can be used to automate inputs to various fields in the ticket without having to manually type them in. This automation decreases time on task for ticket inputs.

 

SLA stands for service level agreement, and it contains the description and metrics by which the services provided are measured. With ticket management, the SLA stipulates a specific amount of active production time that can be invested per ticket. Since there are fees and fines associated with SLA time, the SLA clock measures the amount of production time invested in each ticket.

 

To ensure compliance to the status code timelines, you need to ensure that you constantly check to confirm that all codes are either future dated or reflecting real time. Remember to change the status code on your tickets from SCHD to CETA on the data of the appointment of a scheduled event. Also ensure that your assigned tickets are sitting on DSPT for no longer than 30 minutes and on IPRO for no longer than 2 hours.

 

With the 'could not reach customer' status codes or CNR 1,2,3, we need to execute what we call 4-hour updates. That is, the ticket has to be updated twice daily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

 

SNAP provides the capability to configure action codes that can be utilized to automate inputs to various fields in the ticket. This automation is able to save a technician about 2-3 minutes per ticket. This adds up to about 10-15 minutes of time saved over the entire duration of the ticket. This time saved as a result of the tool's efficiency allows the technician to follow up and close more tickets on a daily basis thereby increasing that technician's productivity.

 

Why is it important to put a ticket in 'in progress' mode between updates?

Putting a ticket to 'in progress' enables the tool to accurately capture your work and 'time on task' on the ticket. If you do not turn the SLA clock on in between updates and leave it in waiting states, then you do not have much SLA time chewed up on the ticket. This might not capture a fair representation of the amount of work invested on the ticket.

 

How do I ensure that I do not forget to put a ticket in 'in progress' between updates?

In the SNAP configuration menu, you can select the 'reset to ipro on send' option to reset the ticket to a default state of 'in progress' after every single update that you process on the ticket. This will ensure that the ticket is put in the 'in progress state between updates even if you forget.

 

Will I be notified if I have tickets in my queue that are out of compliance?

Yes, the compliance tool automatically sends out notification emails for tickets that are out of compliance. You will receive notification emails once in the morning and once in the afternoon to remind you that tickets need to be updated.

 

How do I ensure that I enter good work notes?

When entering work notes, make sure that you start out with the description or a summary of what the issue is. Then, list down each line item of actions that you took on the ticket. Finally, provide details about what your next steps are going to be.

 

Ticket Tagging

Ticket tagging is a system of classifying resolved/closed tickets based on the type of support task performed in order to provide an overview of the category of the ticket. This is done by tagging the ticket with additional category, sub-category, and the work detail codes of the support task performed.

 

Helps Identify:

  1. If the support task was performed by the primary support group
  2. Incoming tickets that can be put into automation
  3. Tickets that are outside of NTT support boundaries
  4. Tickets that can be resolved at a higher level

 

Field Services - Deskside Support

  1. Indents - laptop/desktop hardware issues - COTS application issues
  2. Requests - laptop/Desktop move - Device re-image
  3. Depot/Staging - Boxing and unboxing - Device wiping
  4. Rounding - Basic device health checks - Network connectivity

 

Field Services - Project Work

  1. OS/Windows 10,11 Rollouts - Refreshes/Deployments

 

Field Services - Smart hands

  1. Servers - Vendor Escort

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