Creating a problem

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You create a Problem to record an underlying cause of one or more issues with service delivery or service support. Creating the Problem lets you analyze the cause of the problem and prevent recurrences. After creating the Problem record, you can investigate potential solutions. After you have identified a solution, you can record it on the Problem. Once the underlying cause is identified, mark the Problem as a known error.

If resolving the Problem involves creating a Service Request, Incident, Problem, or Work Order, you can create it directly from the Problem record. You can also relate existing records to the Problem.

Note: The system might create Problem records automatically from sources such as email, system monitoring tools, or external applications.
  1. In the Problems application, on the toolbar, click the New Problem icon. Alternatively, you can also click on the New Problem action in the Common Actions list.
  2. Determine whether you can apply a template to enter data for many fields quickly. After applying the template, enter or modify data in fields as needed.
  3. In the User Information section, enter information to identify the user who reported the Problem and the person who is affected by the Problem.
    • When you enter or select information for any of the user fields, the other fields are automatically filled with information from the person record if it exists. For example, if you enter a valid phone number for the person reporting the incident, the system fills in the corresponding user name (in the Reported By field), full name, and email address.
    • Use the Select Value icons associated with each field to assist you in finding and entering user information. Click Select Value or choose Select Value from the Detail Menu.
    • If you enter partial information in a field and then press the Tab key or click in another field, the system either completes the information (if the partial information is unique) or displays a dialog from which you can select a value. The associated fields are also filled.
    • After you enter information in the Reported By fields, all of the Affected Person fields are filled with the same information. You can change the Affected Person information if the affected person is different from the Reported By user.
    • After you enter information in the Affected Person fields, the Asset Site field is filled with the site listed in the person record of the affected user.
  4. In the Problem Details section, enter a description in the Summary field. To enter additional information, click the Long Description icon.
    Note: If you tab from the Summary to the Long Description field, you might have to press the Tab key twice to position the cursor in the Long Description field.
  5. Classify the problem. See the Classify a Problem topic for information about how and why to classify a Problem.
  6. Assign an internal priority to the record based on impact and urgency.

    The priority assigned to a record by the service desk analyst is called the internal priority. The internal priority is determined by the impact that the issue described in this record has on the business, and the urgency with which the issue must be resolved. Complete the following steps to assign an internal priority based on impact and urgency:

    1. In the Impact field, enter a number that represents the impact. The choices are 1 (Critical), 2 (High), 3 (Medium), 4 (Low), and 5 (Planning).
    2. In the Urgency field, enter a number that represents the urgency. The choices are the same as those for the impact.
    3. Press the Tab key. The Internal Priority field (a read-only field) is automatically filled based on the values that you specified for impact and urgency.
    Note: The value displayed in the Internal Priority field is determined according to the priority matrix, which is defined in the Priority Matrix application. A priority matrix specifies internal priorities for given combinations of impact and urgency. See the Ticket Priorities topic for more information.
    Fill in the remaining required fields. Asterisks indicate required fields. Enter information in other fields as needed.

    For information about a field, place the cursor in the field and press Alt + F1. See the Add Information to a Problem topic for information about other fields and tabs on the problem record.

  7. Click Save Problem. The system creates a problem record and, by default, automatically sends a communication to the Reported By and Affected Person users, notifying them that the new record has been created.