OOO Ticket Management

Overview

These workflows discuss how support engineers can asynchronously manage and summarize on-going assigned tickets within Zendesk before they go on PTO.

Using the OOO Ticket Summary macro

As part of this workflow, the Support Engineer going on leave will leave notes on currently Open, Pending and On-Hold tickets with a macro. This macro will provide a summary of the ticket, add the Support Engineer to the ticket’s CC list, and adds the ooo_summary summary tag to the ticket. It is recommended to follow this workflow for all high-priority tickets or when taking three or more days of PTO.

Ticket Prioritization Workflow

Before Going on PTO

• Optional: You may choose to document your tickets by making a list or taking a screenshot, including the description and ID numbers. This can serve as a helpful backup reference.
• Understand Automation: A ticket will automatically be unassigned and placed onto the Global Queue if: The tag ooo_summary is applied to it AND the customer responds to the ticket.

For Severity 2 and Above Tickets

When planning PTO with high-priority tickets in your queue:

1. Find an appropriate assignee through the following progression:
   • Check for colleagues on the same shift.
   • Check regional support channels if no one is available on your shift.
   • If no assignee can be found, escalate to your manager.
2. Conduct a warm handover with the new assignee:
   • Schedule a pairing session or have a detailed Slack discussion.
   • Walk through the ticket details, customer context, and current status.
   • Apply the General::OOO Ticket Summary macro using the below Flow Chart Workflow.
   • The new Assignee takes assignment of the ticket.

For Severity 3 and Below Tickets

For lower-priority tickets:

1. Inform customers of your upcoming absence.
2. Set your ticket to Pending status.
3. Apply the General::OOO Ticket Summary macro to all tickets.

Workflow

Go to the My Assigned Tickets view in Zendesk. For each ticket you wish to summarize because you anticipate on-going work will be required, do the following:

1. Use the General::OOO Ticket Summary macro.
2. Fill in the sections of the internal note with details for your peers. It is important that you summarize:
   • What is the problem to be solved?
   • Action Taken?
   • Next Steps Needed? Alternatively, clarify if you are uncertain what the next steps are.
   • Blockers?
   • Return Date.
3. Feel free to also ask regional peers if they can pickup tickets in other forms of communication, such as Slack, but Zendesk should remain as the single source of truth for tickets that need attention from other team members.
4. At the end of your last work day before taking PTO, update your availability using the Out of Office app in Zendesk.
   1. Navigate to the app in Zendesk.
   2. If empty, select “Refresh the app” at the top of the page.
   3. Click the Make unavailable button in the row with your agent information. It is important that you do this for tickets to be unassigned when the customer responds.

Ticket Handover Process

When taking over a ticket that has the ooo_summary tag:

1. Review unassigned tickets for your region from the Global Support Ticket View.
2. Assign the ticket by clicking take it. It is important that you also perform an update (such as adding an internal note or sending a customer update) — this both documents your work and ensures the ooo_summary tag is automatically removed from the ticket.
3. Set the Zendesk field Handover Status to Handover Completed.
4. After the return date specified in the macro, you can liaise with the original engineer to hand the ticket back. If needed, schedule a knowledge transfer session with the returning engineer.

Important: If you skip removing the tag ooo_summary then the ticket will be automatically unassigned if the customer responds again.

Returning from PTO Process

1. Make yourself available in Zendesk by selecting “Make available” in the Out of office app.
2. Optional: Review the status of the tickets assigned to you before your PTO. You can coordinate with the new owner if it makes sense to reclaim ownership. This could be beneficial if you have an established rapport with the customer, possess strong technical expertise on the issue, or had previously agreed to continue the investigation upon your return.

PTO FlowChart

flowchart TD
    Start[Engineer Planning PTO] --> DocumentTickets[Document Ticket List/Screenshot]
    DocumentTickets --> TicketPriority{Check Priority?}

    TicketPriority -->|Sev 2 and Above| HighPriority[High Priority Process]
    TicketPriority -->|Sev 3 and Below| NormalPriority[Normal Priority Process]

    HighPriority --> NotifyManager[Notify Manager 2+ Days Before]
    NotifyManager --> FindAssignee[Find Assignee]

    FindAssignee --> SameShift[Check Same Shift]
    SameShift --> OtherRegions[Check Regional Channels]
    OtherRegions -->|Found| WarmHandover[Conduct Warm Handover]
    OtherRegions -->|Not Found| EscalateManager[Escalate to Manager]

    WarmHandover --> PairingSession[Pairing Session/Slack Discussion]
    PairingSession --> ApplyMacro[Apply OOO Ticket Summary Macro]

    NormalPriority --> InformCustomer[Inform Customers of Absence]
    InformCustomer --> SetPending[Set to Pending Status]
    SetPending --> ApplyMacro[Apply OOO Ticket Summary Macro]


    subgraph MacroDetails [OOO Ticket Summary]
        ApplyMacro --> Summary[Add Ticket Summary]
        Summary --> AddOOOTag[Add ooo_summary Tag]
        AddOOOTag --> AutoUnassign[Note: Ticket will auto-unassign if customer responds]
        AutoUnassign --> DocumentDetails[Document:
        - Problem Description
        - Action Taken
        - Next Steps Needed
        - Blockers
        - Return Date]
    end

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