Please suggest some best practices to manage ageing tickets and sla breaches.

[Sofiya Perumal]

Hi Team,
How can we handle Ageing tickets and SLA breaches in ServiceNow? How to manage and reduce the count ?

Regards,

Sofiya

[mahemoodhus]

• Hi @Sofiya Perumal 

Here the step-by-step approach to handle aging tickets and SLA breaches in ServiceNow effectively, focusing on immediate actions:

---

Step 1: Create a Dashboard to Monitor Aging Tickets

1. Go to Reporting:

   • Navigate to Reports > Create New and create a report that filters open incidents by aging (e.g., group by 0–3 days, 4–7 days, >7 days).
   • Add filters for SLA breached = false and another for SLA breached = true.

2. Set Up Dashboards:

   • Create a dashboard to track:
     • Tickets nearing SLA.
     • Tickets already breached SLA.
     • Tickets grouped by age.
   • Share it with relevant teams for visibility.

3. Use Performance Analytics (if enabled):

   • Use widgets like “Overdue Incidents,” “Open Incidents Aging by Priority,” and SLA breakdown graphs.

---

Step 2: Enable SLA Notifications

1. Access SLA Definitions:

   • Navigate to Service Level Management > SLA Definitions.
   • Open the SLA definitions for critical/prioritized tasks.

2. Set Up Alerts:

   • Add workflow actions or notifications:
     • Approaching Breach: Trigger emails or create tasks when the SLA is 75% consumed.
     • After Breach: Escalate to a manager or reassign to a senior team automatically.

3. Test the notifications with sample tickets to ensure they are triggering at the right thresholds.

---

Step 3: Automate Ticket Assignment and Escalation

1. Assignment Rules:

   • Navigate to System Policy > Assignment Rules.
   • Define rules to auto-assign tickets based on:
     • Priority (P1 goes to L2/L3 teams).
     • Category/CI (e.g., Network issues → Network team).
   • Use On-call schedules for critical tickets.

2. Escalation Workflows:

   • Use Flow Designer to create flows:
     • When tickets approach SLA breach, notify managers.
     • Reassign aging tickets to backup teams after X hours.

---

Step 4: Triage the Backlog of Aging Tickets

1. Prioritize Oldest Tickets:

   • Run a filter: State != Closed AND Age > 7 days.
   • Sort by priority to address P1/P2 tickets first.

2. Conduct Backlog Meetings:

   • Schedule daily/weekly meetings to review old tickets.
   • Assign specific owners for immediate action.

3. Bulk Updates:

   • Use List View to bulk update statuses or reassign tickets to reduce delays.

---

Step 5: Pause SLAs for Specific Scenarios

1. Configure SLA Conditions:

   • For scenarios where the team is waiting for customer input, pause the SLA timer.
     • Go to Service Level Management > SLA Conditions.
     • Add a pause condition: State = Awaiting Info.

2. Implement Pause Script:

   • Use a business rule to pause the SLA clock programmatically:
     javascript

     Copy code

     if (current.state == 'Awaiting Info') { current.sla.pause(); }

---

Step 6: Use Virtual Agent for Quick Resolution

1. Enable Virtual Agent:

   • Automate responses for common issues using pre-built Virtual Agent dialogs.
   • Route unresolved queries to live agents with high priority.

2. Promote Self-Service:

   • Publish Knowledge Articles for frequent issues.
   • Guide users to resolve issues independently, reducing ticket inflow.

---

Step 7: Track and Reduce SLA Breaches

1. Audit Breached Tickets:

   • Run a report: SLA breached = true.
   • Identify common failure points (e.g., misassignment, delays in escalation).

2. Improve SLA Durations:

   • For frequently breached SLAs, increase duration if current times are unrealistic.
   • Split SLAs for complex tasks into milestones (e.g., acknowledgment SLA, resolution SLA).

3. Implement RCA Reviews:

   • Regularly review breached tickets with the team.
   • Document and implement corrective actions for recurring issues.

---

Step 8: Incentivize Teams

1. Gamify Resolution:

   • Set KPIs like “Tickets Closed Within SLA” and reward top performers.

2. Set Goals:

   • Set team targets for resolving aging tickets (e.g., reduce tickets older than 7 days by 50%).

[Ravi Chandra_K]

Hello @Sofiya Perumal 

Are there SLA breach reminders in place?

like for 50%, 75% 90% and also notifying the agent in How many Days the SLA will breach?

also educating and making the agents practice that if anything pending from Vendor or Caller, they have to keep it in on hold instead of work in progress

This saves SLA for the Tickets.

Please mark the answer as helpful and correct if helped.

Kind regards,

Ravi Chandra