Getting Started with Automation Rules

Ticket automation rules enable you to automate repeatable, consistent actions, such as automatically assigning a ticket to a group, changing its priority, and applying a workflow. Automation rules can reduce the time technicians spend processing tickets. For example, if a technician assigns 20 similar tickets to the same group every week, you can create a rule to automatically assign tickets that match those criteria to the appropriate group.

In this article, we'll cover:

What Are Automation Rules?

Automation rules are pre-configured workflows that automatically perform actions on tickets when specific conditions are met. They can significantly reduce manual ticket processing time by handling repetitive tasks such as assigning tickets to groups, adjusting priorities, and applying workflows.

Each Ticketing Application has its own set of automation rules, which function as a preconfigured series of steps applied when a ticket is created or modified.

Key Components:

  • Evaluation Order - Determines the sequence in which rules are processed (lowest to highest)
  • Conditions - Criteria that must be met for the rule to execute (based on ticket field values)
  • Actions - Changes applied to the ticket or actions taken when conditions are met
  • Stop on Match - Optional setting to stop processing further automation rules when this rule matches

When Automation Rules Apply

Automation rules can be configured to run:

  • On ticket creation - After a ticket is created
  • On ticket modification - Each time a ticket is updated
  • Both - On creation and any subsequent modifications

How Automation Rules are Evaluated

When a ticket is created or modified, TeamDynamix evaluates automation rules in a specific sequence:

  1. Capture ticket state - The system records all current field values at the moment the ticket is created or modified
  2. Process rules in order - Rules are evaluated from lowest to highest numbered evaluation order
  3. Check conditions - Each rule's conditions are compared against the captured ticket state
  4. Execute actions - If conditions match, the rule's actions are performed
  5. Stop or continue - If "Stop on Match" is enabled, evaluation stops; otherwise, it continues to the next rule

The evaluation order determines the sequence in which the rules are looked at for a match, from lowest to highest. Multiple rules can be configured for the same field, with different actions for different values. For example, one rule might apply to tickets with Priority = High, and another to those with Priority = Medium. The action would execute for whichever of the two rules matched the value in the ticket's Priority field.

Each rule can include a "Stop on Match" value, which means that if this rule's conditions are met, no rules after it will be evaluated.

Example Rule Set

Here is an example set of rules illustrating evaluation order, criteria, and actions:

  • Rule 1, evaluation order 10 – If the Priority is equal to High, notify the IT Manager and Stop processing further rules.
  • Rule 2, evaluation order 20 – If the Service is equal to New Password, assign to the IT Service Desk group.
  • Rule 3, evaluation order 30 – If the Priority is equal to Medium, assign to the IT Service Desk group.
  • Rule 4, evaluation order 40 – If the Service is equal to New Account, assign to Workflow Account Provisioning Workflow and notify Identity and Access group.
  • Rule 5, evaluation order 50 – If the Acct/Dept is the President’s Office, apply the VIP Requestor service level agreement.

Two or More Rules with the Same Evaluation Order

If you have two or more rules with the same evaluation order, the rules will be evaluated in alphabetical order. That said, we recommend giving each automation rule its own evaluation order unless you're sure the rules will never both attach to the same ticket.

For example, it would probably be OK for these two automation rules to have the same order:

  • (Evaluation order 10) Rule #1: If Ticket Type = "X"
  • (Evaluation order 10) Rule #2: If Ticket Type = "Y"

It would be OK for these to have the same evaluation order, since no ticket can have two different ticket types.

However, it would probably NOT be a good idea for these two automation rules to have the same order:

  • (Evaluation order 10) Rule #1: If Ticket Type = "X"
  • (Evaluation order 10) Rule #2: If Priority = "High"

That's because both these rules could apply to the same ticket. You might then become confused about which rule is being evaluated first.

Automation Criteria Use the Ticket's Values at the Start of Rule Evaluation 

If an automation rule changes a value in a ticket, subsequent automation rule criteria will continue to evaluate against the original ticket value.

Consider this scenario:

  • Ticket 123 is created with Acct/Dept set to "Example," and Responsible set to "" (i.e., responsible is blank)
  • Automation Rule #1 has the criteria: "If responsible is not set AND Acct/Dept = Example," then "set responsible to Group X"
  • Automation Rule #2 has the criteria: "If responsible is not set" and rule "set responsible to Group Y"

In the above scenario, ticket 123's Responsible value will be set to Group Y, not Group X. Automation rule #1 matches and sets the Responsible value to Group X. Automation rule #2 then matches the ticket's values at creation and sets the Responsible value to Group Y.

Configuring Automation Rules

Create a New Automation Rule

To create a new rule:

  1. Open the Automation Rules configuration page:
    • Ticketing Application Admins: In Work Management, go to the Ticketing Application > gear icon > Admin > AI and Automation > Automation Rules
    • Global Admins: In TDAdmin, go to Applications, select the Ticketing Application > AI and Automation > Automation Rules
  2. Click the +New button.
  3. On the New Automation Rule page, enter a Name that indicates what the rule does.
  4. Choose a value for Applies To (Create, Modify, Both)
    • Consider carefully when the rule should apply. 
  5. Enter the Evaluation Order.
  6. If you want the automation to stop running when this rule is processed, leave the Stop on Match box checked. To continue processing rules, uncheck it.
  7. Enter a brief Description of how the automation rule affects tickets.
  8. Click Save.
  9. On the newly created Automation Rule Detail page, click the Edit button.
  10. Click the Active checkbox
  11. Click Save

Active automation rules will not take effect until at least one condition is specified. Thus, a rule must be Active and have at least one configuration rule before it is evaluated when a ticket is created.

Configure the Automation Conditions

To set up the conditions that must be met for the rule’s actions to be executed on the ticket:

  1. On the Automation Rule Detail page, click the Edit button.
  2. Under Automation Conditions, in row 1, search for and select an attribute in the Column field.
  3. Choose an Operator from the dropdown if needed.
  4. Select one or more Values that must be matched in the new ticket.
  5. Repeat steps 2-4 for each condition to be applied. Note that by default, each row in the condition list acts as an AND function, and the criteria in all the rows must be true for the automation rule's conditions to be met.
  6. Click the Show Advanced button to enter an Advanced Filter Expression. The advanced filter lets you broaden the rule criteria.    ​​​​​​
    • To expand your criteria to include tickets where the conditions are true for any one of the rows, enter “OR” between the condition numbers. Refer to a filtering condition by its number in the list. For example, “1 OR 2 OR 3” means the rule applies to tickets that match any one of the three listed conditions — rather than requiring all three to be true. 
    • The advanced filter also supports using AND and OR in combination. For example, “(1 OR 2) AND 3” means the rule applies to tickets that match condition 3 and at least one of conditions 1 or 2.
    • The advanced filter must address all of the configured conditions. Any omitted conditions will not be included when the report is run. For example, if I have three filter conditions, but my advanced filter only addresses 1 & 2, rule 3 will be ignored when the report is run.

Configure the Automation Actions

To set up the actions that are triggered when a ticket meets the automation conditions:

  1. Select the relevant action(s). See the Available Automation Actions below.
  2. Select the appropriate values from the dropdowns and/or lookup fields.
  3. When you have selected the actions/values you need for the rule, click Save.

Note that while it is possible to configure all actions, in practice, you will typically select only a few for a given rule.

Available Automation Actions

All actions provide the option to replace existing values with those specified here, except Notify People and Notify Groups.

  • Assign To - This will take effect even if a responsible resource has been specified elsewhere. To prevent this behavior, include the conditions "Unassigned is true" and "Group Unassigned is true" to ensure that only items that lack a responsible assignee will be affected.
    • You can opt to Replace Existing Assignment and Notify New Assignee
  • Change to Impact - Select an Impact value to assign to tickets that meet the conditions
  • Change to Urgency - Select an Urgency value to assign to tickets that meet the conditions.
  • Change to Priority - Select a Priority value to assign to tickets that meet the conditions.
  • Assign to SLA - Select an SLA to assign to tickets that meet the conditions.
    • Specify how to handle existing SLAs if already assigned to the ticket. 
    • Specify whether to base the SLA deadline on the current date or the ticket creation date.
    • Optionally, assign a task template.
    • You can opt to delete any existing tasks.
    • Specify whether to base the ticket tasks' deadline on the current date, ticket creation date, or ticket start date.
  • Assign to Workflow - Specify a workflow to enroll the ticket in. If a ticket is assigned to a workflow via an automation rule, it will be reclassified to the Ticketing application's default classification unless it is created as a parent ticket. 
    • Specify how to handle existing workflows if already assigned to the ticket. 
  • Notify People - Select individuals to notify when a ticket meets the conditions. 
  • Notify Groups - Select groups to notify when a ticket meets the conditions.

Example Rules

Automation Rule Best Practices

Evaluation Order Strategy

  • Leave gaps between numbers - Use increments like 10, 20, 30, or 100, 200, 300 to allow for future insertions. Don't worry about using large numbers - you could even use 1000, 2000, 3000.
  • Cluster by function - Group related rules together:
    • 100-199: Priority and urgency rules
    • 200-299: SLA assignments
    • 300-399: Group assignments
    • 400-499: Workflow applications
  • Specific rules first - Place more specific rules before more general rules, and use "Stop on Match" on specific rules to prevent generic fallback rules from also executing.
    • For example:
      • Rule 100: If Service = Password Reset → Set to Help Desk (Stop on Match = Yes)
      • Rule 900: If Responsible is blank → Set to Service Desk (Stop on Match = No)
    • Now, if a Password Reset ticket comes in:
      • Rule 100 matches, sets to Help Desk, and stops evaluation
      • Rule 900 never evaluates
    • If a different ticket type comes in:
      • Rule 100 doesn't match
      • Rule 900 catches it and sets it to Service Desk

Using 'Stop on Match' Effectively

  • Use for exclusive conditions - When only one rule should apply (e.g., priority-based assignment). I.e., use "Stop on Match" when you have mutually exclusive scenarios in which you want only one outcome to occur.
  • Avoid for complementary actions - When multiple rules can apply to the same ticket (e.g., one sets Responsible, another applies SLA). Avoid using "Stop on Match" when you have different rules doing different things that should all happen together.
  • Be judicious - While it is okay to use "Stop on Match" for every rule, if you want more than one automation rule to apply to a ticket, you will need to review all uses of "Stop on Match" to make sure they're appropriate.
  • Review regularly - When adding new rules, verify "Stop on Match" settings don't prevent needed automation.

Naming Conventions

  • Use descriptive names that indicate the rule's purpose
  • Include the trigger condition in the name (e.g., "High Priority - Notify Manager")
  • Consider prefixing with evaluation order for easy sorting (e.g., "100 - High Priority Assignment")

Common Issues and How to Resolve Them

Issue: Rules Don't Execute as Expected

Cause: Incorrect evaluation order or Stop on Match configuration

Solution: The most common issue with automation rules is that tickets are not processed as intended. This is usually the result of conflicts arising from an incorrect evaluation order and the application of "Stop on Match." Review the evaluation order and verify "Stop on Match" settings. Remember that rules evaluate against the original ticket state, not values changed by previous rules.

Issue: Multiple Rules with Same Evaluation Order

Cause: Rules with identical evaluation orders are processed alphabetically

Solution: Assign unique evaluation orders unless you're certain the rules can never both apply to the same ticket

Issue: Subsequent Rules Don't See Previous Changes

Cause: All rules evaluate against the ticket's state at the start of processing

Example: If a ticket is created without a Responsible value and Rule 1 sets Responsible to "Group A" based on Priority = High, Rule 2, with the condition "Responsible is blank", will still match because it evaluates the original blank state

Solution: Order rules carefully and use "Stop on Match" strategically to prevent conflicts. Remember that even if an automation rule changes a value in a ticket, subsequent automation rule criteria will continue to evaluate against the original ticket value.

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