AGENCIA GUBERNAMENTAL DE CONTROL

You can use escalation sequences in two ways: • To update certain fields on a call record.

• To execute specific tasks external to the Call Maintenance process, such as printing the call, sending an alert message to a manager, or paging the engineer assigned to the call.

To make these changes, the Escalation Monitor applies the instructions from the current escalation step. When a call is created, Call Maintenance also applies the first step of an escalation. The way these two updates occur is somewhat different.

Creating a Call with an Escalation

When you create a call with an escalation, the system applies the

instructions from step 0. If the escalation has no step 0, initial call values do not change.

A call’s escalation displays in the Call Info frame of Call Maintenance. A sequence number indicates the next escalation step that the Escalation Monitor will apply.

Fig. 15.2 Call with Escalation

Figure 15.2 illustrates a newly created call in Call Maintenance. The Escalation field displays the escalation name and sequence 10. The next step the Escalation Monitor will apply is step 10.

The system has already applied the values of step 0. Even though the service type’s response time is 4 hours, the call’s Next Status Time is one half hour from the call open time. The reason for this disparity is that the time allowed for step 0 is 30 minutes.

An escalation step can have the following effect when you create a call: • Increase the call’s Priority field by the value of Bump Priority. • Update the call’s Status field to reflect the value of Next Status. • Update the call’s Next Status field to reflect the value of the next

step’s Next Status field.

• Update the call’s Queue field to reflect the value of Next Queue. • Update the call’s Next Status Date field and Call Next Time field

using Days Allowed in Status and Time Allowed in Status.

When you create a call with an escalation, the system adds Days Allowed in Status and Time Allowed in Status for step 0 to the call’s open date and time to determine the call’s Next Status Date and Next Status Time.

Sequence 0 has been applied; 10 is the next sequence to be applied.

Note Escalations do not initially affect calls that the system creates, such as installation calls from invoice post and PM calls from contract

schedules. The system schedules these calls in advance. Escalations affect these calls only after they reach the default next status date and time. Using Other Defaults with Escalations

ÏSee Table 11.3, “Call Default Precedence Rules,” on page 322 for the order in which the system uses defaults.

For many call fields, you can set default values in more than one place. When an escalation is applied to a new call in Call Maintenance, values from the escalation step override other defaults. For example, the system uses the escalation sequence to determine call status, next status, and queue, even if you define defaults in Call Default Maintenance. In the following order, the system finds a default for the call’s initial priority from:

• The end-user record, if it is not zero • The call’s contract or warranty

• The Default Call Service Type in the Call Management Control File The Bump Priority value for the first escalation step then reduces the initial default priority.

Example You have a call where the end user’s priority is zero and the service type’s priority is 100. If the first escalation step specifies a bump priority of 75, the call’s initial priority is 25, not 100.

When you do not use escalations, the system calculates the call’s Next Status Date and Time using the service type’s response time. When an escalation applies to a new call, the system uses the Days Allowed in Status and Time Allowed in Status of step 0 to determine Next Status Date and Next Status Time.

Updating Existing Calls

The Escalation Monitor applies the escalation’s next step when the call’s Next Status Date and Next Status Time is older than the system date and time. After step 0, the system adds Days Allowed in Status and Time Allowed in Status to Event Date and Event Time to determine Next Status Date and Next Status Time.

Matching Escalations to Calls

Work Code, Call Type, Call Severity, and Call Problem in the top frame of Escalation Maintenance define the escalation key. The system applies the escalation only to calls with values that match the key.

You can leave fields blank to end the key, but you cannot skip fields. For example, to set up escalations based on call severity, you must also enter a call type and work code. When applying an escalation, the Escalation Monitor searches for the most complete match to the call’s fields. If no escalation matches the call exactly, it applies a more generic escalation. Example You create a call with work code Tech, severity 3, problem Elec. No escalation with these exact fields exists, but one does exist with work code Tech and all other fields blank. The system applies this escalation as the closest match.

Default Escalations

When you create escalation sequences to use as defaults, you must carefully consider how the escalation is set. When the escalation is associated with an end user, it may apply to many different kinds of calls. You create an escalation PREMIUM and a sequence of escalation steps for work code Tech, but not for work code PM. You associate the PREMIUM escalation with end user 1001000.

When you create a PM call for end user 1001000, the PREMIUM escalation defaults from the end-user record. When the system looks for the first step to apply, no match exists for work code PM, so the system does not apply the first sequence of the escalation.

As a result, the escalation sequence number that displays in Call

Maintenance is zero. The PREMIUM escalation remains associated with the call, but it does not take effect unless you change the call’s work code to Tech.