--- sourceDocument: Australia IT Service Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-service-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia IT Service Management ft:clusterId : - itsm bundleId : - itsm workflow : - Technology --- # Managing incidents # Managing incidents {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Managing incidents Managing incidents involves diagnosing, investigating, recording findings, escalating, or promoting incidents as needed. The process is primarily human-driven, with service desk agents working directly with users and utilizing tools like the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) to understand hardware, software, and relationships within the network. Show full answer Show less ## Incident Investigation Tools * **Configuration Management Database (CMDB):** Helps agents diagnose issues by providing detailed network and asset information. * **Related Incidents Icon:** Displays incidents associated with the same caller to help identify recurring issues. Administrators can enable this icon on reference fields for users with appropriate access. * **Incidents by Same Caller Related List:** Shows related incidents for the caller and may require configuration by the administrator. * **Dependency Views:** Visualizes relationships between configuration items (CIs) and related tasks, aiding in identifying linked incidents. ## Incident Promotion and Requests When an incident is linked to a broader error, problem, or requires infrastructure changes, it can be promoted to initiate problem or change management processes. The Incident form includes menu options to create and associate problem or change records. Additionally, agents can create requests for hardware or software directly from the incident, associating the request with the incident. This feature is available in Jakarta release and later with the appropriate plugin activated. ## Incident Escalation * **Service Level Agreements (SLAs):** Track incident progress based on agreed service terms, escalating priority and marking progress as time passes. SLAs also serve as performance metrics for the service desk. * **Inactivity Monitor:** Detects incidents without updates for a set period, generating events that trigger email notifications or scripts to ensure incidents do not go unnoticed. Working on incidents involves diagnosing and investigating the incident, recording results, and sometimes escalating or promoting the incident. Initial diagnosis of incidents is largely a human process. The service desk agent looks at the details of the incident and communicates with the user to diagnose the issue. To aid in the diagnosis, the service desk agent can query the configuration management database, or CMDB. The CMDB contains information about hardware and software within a network and the relationships between them. The CMDB can be populated by: [Discovery](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=r-discovery&version=australia&pubname=australia-it-operations-management&ft:locale=en-US) . Discovery is available as a separate product. ## Incident investigation Incident investigation is also a human process. The service desk continues to use the information in the Incident form as well as the CMDB to solve the issue. Work notes are added to the incident as the service desk evaluates the incident, facilitating communication between the concerned parties. Work notes and other updates can be communicated to the concerned parties through [email notifications](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_EmailNotifications&version=australia&pubname=australia-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US). One way to investigate incidents is to determine whether related records exist, using one of the following features. Related incidents icon : The show related incidents icon (![Show related incidents icon]()) appears beside the Caller field when it is populated. Click the icon to view the list of incidents for the same caller. Note: Administrators can add this icon to any reference field by modifying the dictionary entry and adding the ref_contributions=user_show_incidents dictionary attribute. The icon appears only for users who have read or write access to the field. A UI macro named user_show_incidents defines the behavior. The UI macro must be active to view the related incidents icon. Incidents by Same Caller related list : Another way to research related incidents is to use the Incidents by Same Caller related list. The administrator may need to configure the form to display this related list. Dependency views : Dependency views can help find related incidents based on configuration items (CI). If a configuration item is attached to an incident, click the map icon (![Dependency view icon]()) to display the dependency views map. In the dependency map, if you want to view the tasks that are attached to the CI, click the down arrow next to the CI and from the menu, select View Related Tasks. Figure 1. CI options ## Incident promotion When the incident management team has determined that the cause of an incident is an error or widespread problem, the team initiates the problem management process. When the issue requires a change to the infrastructure or a business service, the team initiates the change management process. A menu item on the Incident form lets you create a problem or change record easily and associate the incident with the problem or change record. For more information, refer [Create a record from incident](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/8jV1mc8YDoJDrlyueHCFfw "Create a problem, change, or request record from an incident.") Note: If the incident already has an associated problem or change record, you cannot create another record of the same task type. Sometimes, the resolution for the user is to request hardware or software for them. For example, a user may report a problem that requires a new mouse device or keyboard. The service desk agent can create a request from the incident. The incident is associated with the requested item. Note: This feature is available only in new instances starting with Jakarta or a later release. The Problem Management Best Practice -- Jakarta plugin (com.snc.best_practice.problem.jakarta) plugin must be activated. ## Incident escalation There are two escalation methods the platform uses to track and report on incidents that are not being resolved according to your organization standards. [Service level agreements](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/4GMbHHrBsZIm70KchH2V2Q "The ServiceNow Service Level Management (SLM) application facilitates you to oversee and control the services within the organization.") (SLAs) : SLAs monitor the progress of an incident according to a set of agreements between a service provider and customer that define the scope, quality, and speed of the services being provided. As time passes, the SLA escalates the priority of the incident and leaves a marker as to its progress. SLAs are also used as a performance indicator for the service desk. [Inactivity monitor](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=t_SetAnInactivityMonitor&version=australia&pubname=australia-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US) : The inactivity monitor generates an event to prevent incidents from going unnoticed. When a certain amount of time has passed without an update to the incident, the event creates an email notification or triggers a script.