Workflow recipe: Manage outages using SLA policies

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<div class="p">When your business experiences an outage, it's imperative that you get back online as soon as possible. You can use Service Level Agreement (SLA) policies to make sure you and your agents are aware of any outages and prioritize this type of call within a specified time frame to keep your customers happy.</div>
<div class="p"></div>
<div class="p">With this workflow, you can:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_knh_pwn_53b__ul_k5j_fwn_53b">
<li class="li">Automatically prioritize outage tickets.</li>
<li class="li">Keep agents aware of the time they have left to resolve the outage.</li>
<li class="li">Notify the customer when the issue has been resolved.</li>
<li class="li">Alert supervisors if the SLA has been breached.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">You can use the example workflow in this article as a starting point for managing workflows in your own account. This article includes these steps:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="zag_recipe_sla__ul_hlz_wwn_53b">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_cht_ty4_53b">Step 1: Create custom fields</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_ry5_zwn_53b">Step 2: Create SLAs</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_c4w_zwn_53b">Step 3: Create triggers</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_gww_zwn_53b">Step 4: Create automations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_lmt_kxn_53b">Step 5: Create views</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_dc5_kxn_53b">Step 6: Create macros</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_knh_pwn_53b"></div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_cht_ty4_53b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Step 1: Create custom fields</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In Step 1, you'll create a drop-down ticket field that enables you to record details of the outage by adding it to your web form.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create the drop-down ticket field</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_cht_ty4_53b__ol_htc_bw4_53b">
<li class="li">
<span>In</span><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span> </span>Admin Center</a><span>, expand </span><strong>Objects and rules</strong><span> (</span><img class="image" id="topic_zkg_rxf_sv__image_x1z_qbf_gz" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png"><span>) in the sidebar, then select <strong>Tickets &gt; Fields</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add field</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">On the <strong class="ph b">New field</strong> page, click <strong class="ph b">Drop-down</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">On the <strong>Drop-down field</strong> page, enter a <strong>Display name</strong> for the field. This is the field name shown to agents.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Permissions</strong>, choose <strong class="ph b">Customers can edit</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Title shown to customers</strong>, enter <strong class="ph b">Reason for contact</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Field values</strong>, enter the options that the drop-down list will present. Ensure that one of the options is <strong class="ph b">Outage</strong>.
<p class="p"><img src="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/article_attachments/7856563433114"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you are finished, click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_ry5_zwn_53b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Step 2: Create SLAs</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In Step 2, you'll create an SLA policy that monitors the field you created above. If the ticket is about an outage, the service level agreement will apply. For more information about SLAs, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829459866-Defining-and-using-SLA-policies-Plus-and-Enterprise-" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Defining and using SLA policies</a>.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create the SLA</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_ry5_zwn_53b__ol_ufc_r14_53b">
<li class="li">
<span>In</span><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span> </span>Admin Center</a><span>, expand </span><strong>Objects and rules</strong><span> (</span><img class="image" id="topic_zkg_rxf_sv__image_x1z_qbf_gz" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png"><span>) in the sidebar, then select</span> <strong class="ph b">Business rules</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Service level agreements</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add policy</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Enter the policy name, for example, <strong class="ph b">Outage</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Apply this policy to tickets that meet <u class="ph u">ALL</u> of these conditions</strong>, add the following two conditions:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_ry5_zwn_53b__ul_m1g_bx4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Reason for contact</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">is</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Outage</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Organization</strong> is &lt;<em class="ph i">your customer organization name</em>&gt;</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_ry5_zwn_53b__image_lzj_c2w_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_2_1.png"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong>Resolution t</strong><strong class="ph b">argets</strong>, enter the following values for <strong class="ph b">Requester wait time</strong>:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_ry5_zwn_53b__ul_usm_bc4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Urgent:</strong> 1 hour</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">High:</strong> 24 hours</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Normal:</strong> 24 hours</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Low:</strong> 24 hours</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_ry5_zwn_53b__image_dnr_22w_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_2_2.png"></p>
<p class="p">These values are examples. Configure the requester wait time with the values that best suit your own business needs.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you are finished, click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_c4w_zwn_53b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Step 3: Create triggers</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Next, you'll create a trigger that automatically sends a notification to the ticket requester whenever the ticket is for an outage. For more information about triggers, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886797466-Streamlining-workflow-with-ticket-updates-and-triggers" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Creating triggers for automatic ticket updates and notifications</a>.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create the trigger</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_c4w_zwn_53b__ol_pzp_gd4_53b">
<li class="li">
<span>In</span><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span> </span>Admin Center</a><span>, expand </span><strong>Objects and rules</strong><span> (</span><img class="image" id="topic_zkg_rxf_sv__image_x1z_qbf_gz" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png"><span>) in the sidebar, then select <strong>Business rules &gt; Triggers</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">From the list of triggers, find <strong class="ph b">Notify requester of received request</strong>, click the menu to the right of the trigger, then click <strong class="ph b">Clone</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Support creates a copy of the trigger and opens its properties. Change the trigger name to <strong class="ph b">Notify customer of outage report</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Add the following new conditions under <strong class="ph b">Meet ALL of the following conditions</strong>:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_c4w_zwn_53b__ul_akf_px4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Reason for contact</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">is</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Outage</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Organization</strong> is &lt;<em class="ph i">your customer organization name</em>&gt;</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_c4w_zwn_53b__image_f2f_k2w_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_3.png"></p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note tip">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> You'll need to modify the default notice to exclude the conditions above so that two notices don’t fire off.</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Actions</strong>, add the following:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_c4w_zwn_53b__ul_t1d_4f4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Priority</strong>: <strong class="ph b">Urgent</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Notifications</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Email user</strong>: <strong class="ph b">(requester)</strong> (Tailor the email subject and body the customer and mention the guaranteed resolution time)</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Notification</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Email group</strong>: &lt;<em class="ph i">your team that handles outages</em>&gt;</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_c4w_zwn_53b__image_gwn_m2w_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_3_2.png"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you are finished, click <strong class="ph b">Create</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_gww_zwn_53b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Step 4: Create automations</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In Step 4, you'll create an automation that runs every hour on open tickets. If a ticket is about an outage, it will be tagged with <strong class="ph b">SLAbreach</strong> and an email will be sent to your group supervisor. For more information about automations, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408832701850-About-automations-and-how-they-work" rel="noopener" target="_blank">About automations and how they work</a>.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create the automation</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_gww_zwn_53b__ol_clk_3g4_53b">
<li class="li">
<span>In</span><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span> </span>Admin Center</a><span>, expand </span><strong>Objects and rules</strong><span> (</span><img class="image" id="topic_zkg_rxf_sv__image_x1z_qbf_gz" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png"><span>) in the sidebar, then select <strong>Business rules &gt; Automations</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add automation</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Enter an <strong class="ph b">Automation title</strong> like <strong class="ph b">Outages</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Meet all of the following conditions</strong>, add the following conditions:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_gww_zwn_53b__ul_xnr_4g4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket: Status</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Less than</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Solved</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket: Organization</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">is</strong> &gt; &lt;<em class="ph i">your customer organization</em>&gt;</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket:</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Reason for contact</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">is</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Outage</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket: Tags</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Contains none of the following</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">SLAbreach</strong> (this prevents the automation running more than once)</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_gww_zwn_53b__image_v51_jfw_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_4_1.png" width="850"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Perform these actions</strong>, add the following actions:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_gww_zwn_53b__ul_qh1_xg4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket: Add tags</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">SLAbreach</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Notifications: Email user</strong> &gt; &lt;<em class="ph i">your group supervisor</em>&gt; (add relevant information to the email subject and body to inform the supervisor about the outage)</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_gww_zwn_53b__image_x5t_lfw_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_4_2.png" width="850"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you are finished, click <strong class="ph b">Create automation</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested1" id="topic_lmt_kxn_53b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title7">Step 5: Create views</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Finally, create two new views that enable you check at a glance any tickets that have breached your SLA and any tickets that are related to an outage. For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408888828570-Using-views-to-manage-ticket-workflow" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Using views to manage ticket workflow</a>.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create the views</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_lmt_kxn_53b__ol_sbv_q34_53b">
<li class="li">
<span>In </span><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Admin Center</a><span>, expand </span><strong>Workspaces<span> </span></strong><span>(</span><img alt="" class="image" id="topic_gvb_5fq_zl__image_tyn_jfp_bm" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_workspaces_icon.png"><span>) in the sidebar, then select <strong>Agent tools &gt; Views</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Click </span><strong class="ph b" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Add view</strong><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">Name the first view <strong class="ph b">SLA breaches view</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Meet all of the following conditions</strong>, add the following conditions:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_lmt_kxn_53b__ul_pbk_fj4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket: Status</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Less than</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Solved</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket: Tags</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Contains at least one of the following</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">SLAbreach</strong>
</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_lmt_kxn_53b__image_rvc_sfw_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_5_1.png"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you are finished, click <strong>Save</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Repeat this process and create a view named <strong class="ph b">Outages view</strong> with the following conditions:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_lmt_kxn_53b__ul_drg_pk4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket: Status</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Less than</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Solved</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Ticket</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Reason for contact</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">is</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Outage</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_lmt_kxn_53b__image_pj5_tfw_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_5_2.png"></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title8" class="topic nested1" id="topic_dc5_kxn_53b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title8">Step 6: Create macros</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In this final step, you'll create a macro that solves the ticket, sets the ticket type to <strong class="ph b">Problem</strong>, and leaves a comment informing the customer that the outage has been resolved. For more information about macros, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408887656602-Using-macros-to-update-tickets" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Using macros to update tickets</a>.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create the macro</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_dc5_kxn_53b__ol_jzx_xk4_53b">
<li>
<span>In </span><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Admin Center</a><span>, expand </span><strong>Workspaces<span> </span></strong><span>(</span><img alt="" class="image" id="topic_gvb_5fq_zl__image_tyn_jfp_bm" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_workspaces_icon.png"><span>) in the sidebar, then select <strong>Agent workspace &gt; Macros</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Click </span><strong class="ph b" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Add macro</strong><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">Enter a name for the macro like <strong class="ph b">Close outage ticket</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Actions</strong>, add the following actions:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_dc5_kxn_53b__ul_ix4_4l4_53b">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Status</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Solved</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Type</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Problem</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Comment/description:</strong> Let the customer know the outage has been resolved and how they can contact you if the problem persists</li>
</ul>
<p class="p"><img alt="" class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_dc5_kxn_53b__image_n2b_bgw_53b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/SLA_workflow_6.png" width="850"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you are finished, click <strong class="ph b">Create</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
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