Servicedesk Operator Guide

Email

As a servicedesk operator, the brics-support@bristol.ac.uk and brics-technical@bristol.ac.uk inboxes should also be monitored and emails raised to the appropriate person. You can add these to our outlook by following this guide. If you do not currently have access to this mailbox, please contact an administrator by emailing the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing mailbox.

We are using Zammad as our service desk. Zammad comes with extensive operator documentation (which Zammad confusingly calls "user documentation").

Logging in

Log into Zammad Here

You should use the "BriCS (Administrators Only)" login option, and login with your -admin account. Your admin account has "operator" privileges.

If you ever need to raise a ticket as a customer, you should use your UoB (MyAccessID) account.

Service Hours

Our service hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and University of Bristol closure days.

Facilities

Users of both Isambard 3 and Isambard-AI facilities can contact us. For each facility it would be convenient to remember to tag the facility name to the ticket for collection of metrics. There is "Isambard3" and "Isambard-AI" tag to use for this purpose.

Level 0 Support

Ideally, enough documentation and self-service options should exist that most customers can solve their problems themselves, and so won't need to raise a ticket in our service desk. This is what we call Level 0 support. It is the support we provide via our knowledgebase, user documentation, and (hopefully) easy-to-use tools that help our customers do most of what they need without needing to ask for help.

Level 1 Support

Everyone in the team is on a rota to spend a week providing Level 1 support.

The purpose of Level 1 is to provide front-line support to customers, and to triage tickets. This means:

Responding to tickets in a timely manner
Assigning tickets to the correct team member (if they need escalating)
Writing documentation or knowledgebase articles if you see a pattern of tickets that could be solved by a customer (Level 0)
Closing tickets that are resolved at Level 1 or Level 0.

Handling a Level 1 Ticket

Read the ticket carefully
Use the options on the right to assign the ticket to yourself, to change the status to open, and to add the Level 1 tag to the ticket. Click the Update button once you have done this.
If you can respond to the ticket, do so. Do this by clicking on the text box below the ticket. This will increase the size of the box and will show a number of icons.

Ticket Response

The padlock icon is important - this switches your response from being private (the default, as shown above) to public. The closed padlock, with the red banding around the text box is private, and should be used to write internal notes about the ticket. The open padlock is public, meaning that it will be seen by the customer when you update the ticket.

Public response

Click the "Update" button in the bottom right to update the ticket and send your response. You can also click the up arrow next to this button to access the "Save Draft" button in case you aren't ready to update.

What kind of responses are appropriate for level 1?

Level 1 responses should prompt, polite, professional and helpful. The aim is to provide a response to the customer within a reasonable timeframe, so that it is clear that the customer's request has been received and is being dealt with.

There are three main ways to respond at level 1.

If this is a question, then look for the answer in the documentation provided in either our knowledgebase or in our user documentation. If the answer exists, then provide a kind response to the customer pointing them to the relevant documentation. If the answer doesn't exist, but you know the answer, then provide it in your response. Either way, we say that this ticket has been answered at Level 0. Tag the ticket as Level 0, so that it is clear that this query could be answered by documentation in the future. If you had to write the answer yourself, then either write a knowledgebase article containing the answer, or create a new branch in the user documentation repository and write the documentation there (submitting a pull request when you are done). This way, the documentation will be available for the next customer who has a similar question. If you don't know the answer, then go into the team slack and post the question into the #servicedesk channel. Relay the answer back to the customer when you have it, and then write the documentation as described above.
If more information is needed, then ask the customer for it. This is a common response at Level 1, as customers often don't provide enough information for us to help them. Be polite, suggesting that they, e.g. post the commands that they have run, together with the error message, or provide more detail about the project they are working on. When you have done that, add the tag Waiting for Customer so that it is clear that the ticket is waiting for a response from the customer. If you don't get a response within a reasonable time (e.g. one week) then follow the "Closing a ticket" procedure below.
If this is any other kind of request, or a question that cannot be answered at Level 0, then escalate to Level 2 (see below).

Level 1 ticket ownership

You own and are responsible for the ticket until you either close it at Level 1 or Level 0, or you have escalated it to another team member at Level 2. Ideally, you should handle the tickets you have assigned to yourself before the end of your assigned week, so that you don't have many carried over to the next week.

Escalating a ticket to Level 2

If you are unable to resolve a ticket, you should escalate it to the appropriate team member. You can do this by going onto the team slack and posting information about the ticket into the #servicedesk channel. Use @ to notify the person you want to talk to about the ticket. Ask one of the Leads if you are unsure who to talk to.

Discuss with them who in their team should take the ticket. Once it is decided, go back to the ticket in Zammad and assign it to the correct team member. Remove the Level 1 tag and add the Level 2 tag. Then, write a private note in the ticket to say that it is being escalated as agreed to the correct team member to Level 2.

Finally, write a public note to the customer saying that you have consulted with your colleagues and that the ticket will be handled by the person you have assigned to (e.g. "I have consulted with my colleagues and Fred will help you find a solution.").

Level 2 Support

The purpose of Level 2 is to provide in-depth support to customers. This means:

Responding to service requests that fall under your purvue
Responding to bug reports and incidents
Escalating tickets to Level 3 if vendor support is required, and then acting as a bridge between the vendor and the customer
Closing tickets that are resolved at either Level 2 or Level 3

Handling a Level 2 Ticket

Read the ticket carefully
Check that the ticket has been assigned to you, that it is in the open state, and that it has the Level 2 tag. Fix things as needed.
Identify what the problem is and work out a solution. Ask the customer for more information as you need it (adding the Waiting for Customer tag as appropriate). Use the private notes feature to add notes to the ticket that may be useful for other operators in the future.
If the problem can be solved by you, then do so. Once solved, write a public note to the customer letting them know about the solution. Hopefully, they will be thankful and will close the ticket. If they don't, then follow the "Closing a ticket" procedure below.
If you don't know how to resolve a ticket, then reach out to the rest of the team via the #servicedesk channel in slack. Discuss the problem with them. If agreed and appropriate, hand over the ticket to another team member. If you do this, make sure to make a private note of this handover, then assign the ticket to the new team member, and then write a public note to the customer letting them know that the ticket is being handled by the new team member (e.g. "I've talked with my colleagues and Jane is better placed to provide an answer, and will now help you find a solution").
If the problem requires support from one of our suppliers, then you will need to escalate to Level 3.

Level 2 ticket ownership

You own and are responsible for the ticket until you close it at Level 2 or Level 3, or until you have negotiated with another member of the team to take over ownership (e.g. if this is a long-running issue that requires multiple team members to solve, or if you are going on holiday). Please use the #servicedesk channel in the team slack to discuss transferring ownership of a ticket.

Escalating a ticket to Level 3

Some problems need the involvement of the vendor who provides the service. In this case, you should escalate the ticket to Level 3. First, identify the supplier you are escalating to and add a tag to the ticket for that supplier. Then, raise a new ticket in the supplier's helpdesk to discuss the problem. Provide as much detail as you can, but you cannot share personal data about the customer with the supplier.

Warning

A customer's personal data is protected by law. You cannot share this data with an external supplier. If they need to get in contact with the customer directly, then you must ask the customer's permission first before sharing their contact details.

Once you have raised the ticket with the supplier, add the Waiting for Supplier tag to the ticket in Zammad. Then, write a private note in the ticket to say that you have escalated the ticket to the supplier, add the ticket number in the supplier's helpdesk, and, if possible, copy the direct hyperlink to that ticket. Then, remove the Level 2 tag and add the Level 3 tag. Finally, write a public note to the customer saying that you have had to get in contact with the supplier to resolve the issue, and that you will keep the customer informed of progress.

You will need to act as a bridge between the supplier and the customer, and will continue to own the ticket until it is either resolved, or you have negotiated to transfer ownership to another member of the team (e.g if you are going on holiday).

Level 3 Support

Level 3 support is in-depth, technical support that requires the help of the supplier. You will have escalated the ticket from Level 2 to Level 3, and will have created the supplier ticket in their helpdesk. You will be acting as a bridge between the supplier and the customer, and will be responsible for keeping the customer informed of progress.

Handling a Level 3 Ticket

Keep the customer informed of progress. This should be at an appropriate frequency to ensure that the customer knows that you have not forgotten their problem, and to check whether this problem is still an issue for the customer.
Work with the supplier to resolve the problem. This may involve providing more information to the supplier, or working with the supplier to implement a solution. Where the supplier needs more information from the customer, it is your job to use Zammad to request that information via public notes. You can then update the supplier ticket with any relevant information (remembering not to share personal data).
Where needed, the supplier may want to get in direct contact with the customer. You must ask the customer for permission before sharing their contact details with the supplier. Be careful not to be cut out of the loop, and do what you can to ensure that data about the ticket is captured in Zammad as private notes.
Once the supplier has resolved the problem, you should update the ticket in Zammad with the solution. Write a public note to the customer to let them know that the problem has been resolved. Hopefully, they will be thankful and will close the ticket. If they don't, then follow the "Closing a ticket" procedure below.

Handling silent tickets

Sometimes, customers will not respond to your requests for information, or will ignore tickets that they have raised. This can be frustrating. Add the Waiting for Customer tag to the ticket if you are waiting for a response from the customer. You can also use the pending reminder ticket status to set a date to remind a customer about their ticket. If the customer continues to ignore you, then you should set the ticket status to pending close and set a date of 1 week in the future for the closure date. Add a public note to the ticket saying that you will automatically close the ticket at the set time unless they get back in touch to indicate that this is still a problem for them. If they don't respond, then the ticket will close automatically. If they do respond, then move the status back to open and continue to work with them to find a solution.

Closing a ticket

It is very common that customers will not close their tickets once their problem has been solved. You have two options for closing a ticket.

If you are unsure that the issue has been resolved, then post a public note to the customer asking them directly. Ask them if the solution proposed has solved the problem, or if they are still experiencing any issues. If they respond negatively, then you will need to work with them to resolve the issue. Otherwise, you can proceed to option 2.
If you are sure that the problem has been resolved, then you can propose that the ticket be closed. Do this by changing the status of the ticket to pending close and set the closure date to be at least 1 working day in the future (e.g. 8am on the day after the next working day). Write a public note to the customer saying that you believe the issue has been solved, and that you have set the ticket to automatically close on the date you have set. Tell the customer to let you know if they still want to keep this ticket open.

Now, if the customer does not respond, then the ticket will automatically close at the date you have set. If the customer does respond, then you should move the status back to open and continue to work with the customer to find a solution.