Attaching Calls to Problems


Overview

Tasks

Included with

Tivoli Problem Management

Overview

Numerous calls about the same problem

If you get many similar calls about the same problem, you can speed up call registration by attaching the calls to an existing problem. This method can help you give better support and keep more accurate support statistics.

For example, if four people at one location call separately to tell you that their network is down, you can attach these four calls to the same problem record. When you resolve the problem, you can make sure that everyone who called is notified. Your problem record accurately indicates that the network went down once, not four separate times.

There are several ways to attach a new call to an existing problem.


Tasks

Attaching a call before registration

If you want to find a specific type of problem and it does not matter who reported it or where it occurred, search for the appropriate problem record before you register the call.
  1. Open the Call Registration dialog box.
  2. Before you make any entries, click the Problem History tab.
  3. From the Problem History tab, choose Inquiry.
  4. In the Problem Inquiry dialog box, make any appropriate entries to narrow your search for the correct problem and choose OK. For more information on inquiries, see Searching and Inquiring.
    Result: The Problem History tab appears. The Problem List shows the problems that match your inquiry.
  5. Select the problem to which you want to attach the call and choose Attach.
  6. Make any necessary changes to the Attach Call dialog box to reflect the new call that you are attaching to the existing problem.
  7. Select the Notify Owner check box if you want the problem owner notified of the call attachment.
    Note: The problem owner is the analyst who is currently responsible for resolving and closing the problem. This may be the person who initially took the call or an analyst to whom the problem was transferred.
  8. Choose OK.
    Result: The call is now attached to the problem. Depending on your system configuration, either the problem is resumed or the call is ended.
    Note: For more information on resuming problems, see Resuming a problem.
Attaching a call after registration If you want to find a problem previously reported by your caller or by any caller at the same location, search for the problem after you specify the location information in the Call Registration dialog box.
  1. Open the Call Registration dialog box and complete at least the Location box. You can also complete the Caller box to limit your search to problems reported by one person.
  2. Choose the Problem History tab.
  3. Select the problem to which you want to attach this call and choose Attach.
    Result: Depending on your system configuration, either the problem is resumed or the call is ended.
    Note: If you intend to do more than register the new call, you can attach a new call to an existing problem and resume work on the problem from the Work with Problems dialog box. For more information on resuming problems, see Resuming a problem.

Attaching a call from the Work with Problems dialog box

If you wish to attach a call from the Work with Problems dialog box, perform the following:
  1. In the Work with Problems dialog box, select the problem to which you want to attach the call, then choose Attach.
  2. Make any necessary changes to the Attach Call dialog box.
  3. Select the Notify Owner check box if you want the problem owner notified of the call attachment.
    Note: The problem owner is the analyst who is currently responsible for resolving and closing the problem. This may be the person who initially took the call or an analyst to whom the problem was transferred.
  4. Choose OK.
  5. Result: The call is now attached to the problem. Depending on your system configuration, either the problem is resumed or the call is ended.
    Note: For more information on resuming problems, see Resuming a problem.