Creating a Service Request

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You create a Service Request record to document a service requirement.

A Service Request record is a mechanism to track initial service contacts. Resolving a service request involves capturing relevant information from the party making the request and determining what, if any, further action is needed. If resolving the Service Request involves creating an Incident, Problem, or Work Order, you can create it directly from the Service Request. You can also relate existing records to the Service Request.

Note: The system can create service requests from sources such as email, system monitoring tools, or external applications.

A Service Request record can be created using the following methods:

  • The minimalist method only includes the essential service-request-relevant information, and you can update the Service Request with more details at a later time.
  • The complete method includes all service-request-relevant information when the service request record is first created.

Minimalist method

  1. In the Service Requests application, choose the New Service Request action.
  2. The Service Request number is automatically filled. This is the only information required to create a Service Request record. The more information you enter, the more efficient the processing of the Service Request is.
  3. The Source field is also automatically filled with, for example, PHONECALL. You can modify or disable the default value for this field by editing the dialog definition or behavior using the Application Designer application.
  4. In the Reported By field, select the person who is affected by the service request. Once selected the Name, Phone and E-mail fields is automatically filled with information from their personal record, if it exists.
  5. In the Service Request Details section, enter a description in the Summary field. Enter additional information, in the Details field.
  6. In the Reported Priority field, select a number that represents the impact. The choices are critical, high, medium, low, and planning.
  7. In the Common Requests field, select the service request type. The service request type selected might include associated summary information in the template.
  8. Click Submit Now to save the service request record. The system creates a service request record and, by default, automatically sends a communication to the Reported By users, notifying them that the new record has been created.
  9. You can add details for the Service Request record now or update them later.

Complete method

  1. In the Service Requests application, on the toolbar, click the New Service Request icon. The initial dialog requires a minimal amount of service-request-relevant information.
  2. In Attachments, you can add new attachments, either as a file or as a URL link to a web page, and to specify the attachment type (folder location) as either an attachment, diagram, or image. All attachments are stored in a library, and this library can then be used to add attachments to other Service Requests. You can view all existing attachments supporting the Service Request.
  3. In the User Information section, enter information to identify the user who reported the Service Request and the person who is affected by the Service Request.
    • 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 dialogs 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. The User Information section can also include a View User Feedback button that displays survey data. The data, submitted by the end user, is their feedback on how the Service Request was handled. The feedback is a useful resource to quickly understand customer satisfaction levels. This option is only available for selection if there is relevant feedback is available. In the Service Request Details section, enter a description in the Summary field. To enter additional information, click the Long Description icon. Classify the Service Request. See the Classify a Service Request topic for information about how and why to classify a Service Request.
  5. 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.
  6. A Service Bulletin in a service request is represented by an icon. If there are existing service bulletins that match the service request input criteria, such as configuration item(s), classification(s), asset(s), location(s), and customer, then they will be represented by a tick-mark icon, indicating that there is one or more service bulletins that match the service request input criteria. Click the icon to see the details, including message ID, subject, and description details of the service bulletins for the service request. If there are no existing service bulletins that match the service request input criteria, then they are represented by a cross icon. Service bulletins are refreshed when the Configuration Item, Classification, Asset, Location, or Customer fields are modified.
  7. Fill in the remaining required fields. Asterisks indicate required fields.

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

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