Getting Started with Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

This getting started article will help Administrators to configure Service Level Agreements using the TDAdmin interface.  The user must be and administrator and have access to TDAdmin to configure SLA’s.

Overview

Service Level Agreements (SLA) are the terms of the contract between the service provider (either internal or external) and the client or end user and are crucial to providing quality IT service. In TeamDynamix they define the level of service – the response time plus what outcomes the customer will receive within that time. 

 

Features

  • The SLA requirements can be configured for your customer’s needs in each Ticketing Application.
  • Escalation steps can be added to each requirement to trigger ticket events or notifications.

Where to Find This

This feature appears in the TDAdmin interface.

Navigate to Service Level Agreements following this path:

  • TDAdmin > Applications > Ticketing Application Name > Service Level Agreements

Where to Start

Respond By and Resolve By Requirements                                            

In TeamDynamix, there are two possible requirements for an SLA, Respond By and Resolve By.

  • Respond By is the agreed to time limit, in hours, for communicating with the requestor, confirming the ticket has been received, and setting expectations; this is satisfied by changing the status to any In Process status class status.
  • Resolve By is the agreed to time limit for moving the ticket to a resolved, closed or whatever your organization has named the final status. Learn more about status here.

If the time limit is reached for either of these deadlines, the SLA has been violated.

Each of these requirements are set in relation to the creation date and time. They can have multiple escalation steps that must be completed before a certain percent of the time elapses to meet the service level agreement. If the set amount of time for a step to be done is reached and the step is not complete, an automatic action can be triggered.

Some of the possible actions that can be triggered by an escalation step are:

  • A notification can be sent to:
    • Responsible resource
    • Responsible resource’s manager
    • Reviewer
    • Requestor
    • Creator
  • The priority of the ticket can be changed
  • Responsibility of the ticket can be reassigned

There is no limit on the number of escalation steps per SLA requirement.

If 100% of the time passes for Respond By or Resolve By, then the SLA has been violated. Escalation steps can be set to occur after the SLA time requirement has been passed by setting the percent of the deadline has passed to 100% or greater. 

Creating or Modifying Service Level Agreements

To create an SLA:

  1. In TDAdmin, click Applications in the left navigation.
  2. Click the desired Ticketing Application.
  3. Click Service Level Agreements in the left navigation.
  4. On the Service Level Agreements page, click the +New button.
  5. Enter the Name and make any additional configuration selections
    1. Description – Description of the SLA
    2. Active – Activates SLA
    3. Use Operational Hours – This selection will use configured operational hours to calculate deadlines.  If unchecked a 24/7 time clock will be used
      1. Operational Hours Set - Allows you to choose from any operational hours sets that are active
    4. Respond by – Enter the Hours and Minutes a ticket must be responded by.  A ticket is Responded to when it reaches the status class of “In Process” or “Completed”
    5. Resolve By – Enter the Hours and Minutes a ticket must be resolved by. A ticket is Resolved to when it reaches the status class of  “Completed”
  6. Click Save

Adding Escalation Steps

To Add escalation steps to the Respond By or Resolve by deadlines, scroll to the corresponding section

  1. Navigate to the Service Level Agreements page.
  2. Click the Name of the SLA
  3. Click Add next to the Respond to or Resolve by section
  4. Select a Deadline Percentage and any additional configuration selections
    1. Reassign To – This would reassign the ticket to the selected Group or Person selected
    2. Change Priority To – Change the Priority on the Ticket to what is selected
    3. Notify – Send notifications to those selected
  5. Click Save
  6. Repeat for as many escalation steps as needed

To modify an SLA:

  1. Navigate to the Service Level Agreements page.
  2. Click the Name of the SLA to modify
  3. Make any desired changes and click Save

Applying an SLA to Tickets

Service Level agreements can be applied one of 3 different ways:

  1. Through the use of an Automation Rule
    This allows you to set specific criteria that must be met to apply specific SLAs
     
  2. By Setting the Default SLA on the Ticket Type
    This allows you to pick one overall default SLA and this can be combined with Automation Rules to process exceptions to that default
     
  3. Manually when updating a ticket (the user must have the Change Service Level Agreement Permission within the ticketing application)
    This can allow you to individually override SLAs applied automatically or only apply them selectively as needed

SLA Visibility

Some people ask if it is okay to apply SLAs even if you do not want to show them to your clients or customers.  This is possible and common. Review your notification templates and remove any reference to SLAs (the default notifications will include SLA-related information if an SLA is attached to a ticket). 

100% helpful - 5 reviews
Print Article