What's the best way to log requests for information?

[Jeff W1]

We are transitioning from just logging all user tickets in the Incident form to using Incident for incidents and the Service Catalog for requests for goods, access and services, and the use of the new employee center for self-service, including access to the knowledge base. We also want to switch to using Interactions for interaction management. 

But there is a gap that I haven't found a solid answer for: when someone contacts a live agent to ask a question about how to use a product or where to find something, those requests for information don't require a full on REQ or RITM but definitely aren't incidents. We thought of Universal Requests, but ServiceNow suggests URs are for self-service only.

Interactions aren't tasks and don't have built-in access to the KB. So if an agent gets a call with a "how to" questions, what type of task-based form should be created? If the question just remains in the interaction form, then the agent can't easily search the KB (at least out of the box). Also, those questions are tied to apps and services, and we want to report on all records for those apps/services (easier if all records we search are tasks). We also want to be able to report on customers' tasks across Incidents, Universal Requests, and Requests.

Universal Requests seems like a good option and I'm considering adding an Action to link to it from the Interaction form, but I feel like I'm missing what ServiceNow may intend for us to use in these situations.

[Brian Lancaster]

Every place I worked has used incidents because of the following.

1. If a user like to use self-service and was searching the knowledge base but could not find their answer. They would always log an incident.

2. Logging these as incidents helps you determine if there a knowledge base gaps or perhaps gaps in training given to the use for systems.

Two places used there categories they cam up with to categorize these incident while one kept the out of the box inquiry/help category. They then used that to filter these incidents from the SLA reports.

[Frank de Roos]

We are running into the same issue. We've found the category, but an incident is "an unplanned interruption to a service or reduction in the quality of a service." Which is not the case if someone just has a question (like: "When will the new laptops arrive?" of "How do I send an email?") Still struggling with the semantics to get it to fit.

[Brian Lancaster]

Your first one sound like something that should be asking on a request for a laptop they already have open. The second one should hopefully be a KB Article although I'm not sure I would want an employee working for me who doesn't know how to send an email :).

The problem with putting it in Service Catalog is how do you know what team should be responding to the request. Not only that it creates a Generic Catalog Item which then users will just use when they cannot find what they are looking for or just don't want to look. With incident you typically have a default group like Service Desk that gets all the incidents and can rout it to the appropriate group.