Incident Template

Incident Template

Incident templates are used to build forms with pre-populated data that can be utilized to log incidents quickly. Templates save time and effort by effectively capturing necessary information.

Role Required: SDAdmin

Benefits:
  1. Collect information for similar incidents each time by adding relevant default/additional fields to the template.
  2. Pre-populate category, impact, urgency, priority, and other vital details. This will help users log the request instantly with accurate details.
  3. Avoid back-and-forth conversations by capturing contextual information using additional fields.
  4. Divide the work involved into tasks.
  5. Add to-do lists or reminders within the template to assist technicians working on the request.
  6. Build automated actions within each template.

Create Incident Templates  

To create an incident template,       
  1. Go to Setup > Templates & Forms > Incident Template.
  2. Select the respective customer from the filter in the header.
  3. Click New Incident Template.
 
By default, the Technician View is loaded. Configure the three main sections: Header, Field List, and Canvas.


Header
Provide basic details of the template.
  1. Icon: Add an icon to the template. You can choose from the available library, upload a new icon, or attach an icon from the Cloud.
  2. Template Name* - Enter a name unique to the customer for the template.
  3. Comments - Briefly describe the usage of the template.
  4. Workflow/Life cycle: Select the workflow or life cycle to be associated with the template.
Field List
The field list in the right pane contains two tabs: Available Fields and New Fields.
  1. Available Fields - Contains default and additional fields configured in the application that are not used in the canvas. Drag any field from this list to the canvas.
  2. New Fields - Contains various field types that you can use to create additional fields instantly for the incident template. To create a new field, drag a field type to the template canvas and add the required details.
    1. Based on the selected field type, the field properties vary.
    2. You can create additional fields under Setup > Customization > Additional Fields > Request.
You can also add sections to the template from the right pane. Use the New Section button to add sections to the template and group the fields within the section.
Canvas
The canvas contains various fields that are vital in capturing information about the incident. Some fields are system-defined.
To customize sections added to the canvas,
  1. By default, sections are untitled. Click on the left corner of the section header to name the section.
  2. Hover over a section and click to set the following section properties:
    1. Number of Columns - Choose if you want the section to have one or two columns.
    2. Label Orientation - Choose if you want the field labels to be aligned on the left, top, or right to the input boxes.
    3. Collapsed State - You can choose to collapse sections automatically while loading the form. This property can be defined only if the section is named.
    4. Click Delete Section to remove the section from the template. The fields in the section will be moved to the field list on the right pane.
  3. Click on the section header to drag the section anywhere in the canvas.
To customize fields added to the canvas,
  1. Hover over a field to define the field properties.
    1. Click to mandate the field and allow requesters to view/set the field value.
    2. Click to remove a field from the template.
    3. Click or on the either sides of the field to adjust the field width.
    4. Use to move the field within or across sections.
  2. Specify values in the field to set default values.

Info
Mandating Item field will also mandate Sub-category and Category fields.
Mandating Impact Details field will mandate Impact field as well.
For the Requester Name field, you can configure sub-fields as field properties. Hover over the field and click . Select the sub-fields to be displayed beneath the field. When a requester is selected, the details will be auto-populated in the sub-fields.
Hard-coded fields  or sections containing hard-coded fields cannot be removed from the template. However, you can move these fields to other sections before deleting a section.


  1. Add resolution steps to the incident template. The resolution will be added to the request upon creation.
  2. You can associate the template with specific technician groups. The template will be accessible only to the technicians in the associated groups.
  3. Enable Show to Requester to allow requesters to create requests using the template. You can associate the template to specific user groups.
  4. Click Save or Save and Configure Requester.
You can see how the template is displayed to technicians using the Preview button on the top of the template.


 
The form will reload as Edit Incident Template form and the Requester View, Tasks, Checklist, and Form Rules tabs will be displayed.

Configure Requester View      

If the template is enabled for requesters, go to the Requester View tab to configure the template layout for requesters by adding fields and sections as explained above.
Use the Preview button at the top of the template to see how the template is displayed to requesters.

Add Tasks     

The work involved in resolving the request can be broken down into tasks. You can assign technicians to the tasks and set the tasks to be triggered when needed.

Define Task Settings
Requester Permissions - Enable permissions to allow requesters to track tasks in a request as follows:
  1. Requesters can select the tasks to be added to the request and triggered while they are creating the request.
  2. All tasks associated with the template are added to the request. Requesters can view the tasks and track their progress from the request details page. 
Trigger Options - The tasks that are marked to technicians/groups can be triggered manually or set to auto-trigger when the incident request is created or approved.

Add Tasks to Incident
  1. Go to the Tasks tab and click Add Task.
  2. You can also go to Actions > Add Task on the top of template.
  3. Populate the Add Task form fields as explained here.
  4. Click Save.

 
You can associate tasks with predefined details by clicking Add Tasks from Template in the Tasks tab or Actions menu. Select the task templates to be associated with the template and click Add Tasks.
 

 
After adding tasks to the incident template, you can perform the following actions on the tasks:
  1. Edit/Delete Tasks - Click beside the task title to edit or delete a task. To bulk-delete tasks, select the tasks and click Delete.
  2. Organize Tasks - Set the order of task execution using the Organize button.
  3. Mark Dependency among Tasks - You can mark dependencies among parent and child tasks by clicking Manage Tasks Dependency.
  4. Search Tasks - Click to search through tasks based on criteria. Add the criteria and value and click Enter. After the results are displayed, you can add multiple search criteria using the icon or click on the existing criteria to edit it.
  5. Define Table Settings - Click to select the number of records displayed on the tasks page and sort the tasks by the column values.
 

Add Help Cards     

Using help cards, you can add instructions to be displayed to users while they fill out an incident/service request form.
You can choose to display these instructions to technicians or requesters when they create/edit a request or view the request details page.

Help cards configured in request templates will also be visible when the user creates a maintenance request using that template.

Role Required: SDAdmin, HelpDeskConfig

Help card in request form:

 
Help card on request details page:

To configure help cards

  1. Go to Setup > Templates & Forms.
  2. Open an existing incident template or click New Incident Template.
  3. If you are creating a new template, you can add the help card only for technicians.
    1. To add a help card for requesters, ensure the Show to Requester option is enabled in the template.
    2. Once enabled, you can edit the template to include a help card for requesters as well.
When editing a template, go to the Technician View or Requester View tab, depending on your requirement.
You can create two help cards for a template: one for the Technician View and another for the Requester View.


  1. On the incident template, click Form Customization. The form customization pane will open on the right.
  2. In the text field, enter the information you want to display and format as needed.
  3. You can also attach a reference document by uploading a file from your desktop or attaching it from the cloud.
  4. Choose whether the help card should be displayed on the request add/edit form or the request details page.
  5. Save the template after you have added the help card.

Info
  1. To copy the technician help card content to the requester's view, click Actions > Copy Help Card to Requester View.
  2. The Copy Help Card to Requester View option will only be available if Show to Requester is enabled in the template.
  3. When you copy a template, its help cards will also be copied.  
  4. For a help card, you can attach a maximum of three files. The total size of all attachments should not exceed 50MB.
  5. Help cards will not be shown in archived requests but will be visible in trashed requests.   
  6. Even if the Request Form and Request Details Page options are enabled in the help card, the help card will not be shown to users if the text field is empty or if no files are attached.

Edit/Delete Help Cards:
To edit or delete a help card, open your preferred template, click Form Customization, and make changes to the help text.
To delete a help card, remove the help text content and the attached reference files in the template.
 

Associate Checklists    

Checklists allow you to add reminders or to-do lists to the template. Technicians can refer to checklists to ensure that all vital activities are completed before closing a request.

You can associate up to 5 checklists with an incident template.
  1. Go to the Checklists tab.
  2. Click New Checklist to create and associate new checklists to the template.
  3. To add existing checklists to the template, click the New Checklist drop-down and select Associate Checklists.
  4. Click beside a checklist name to expand the checklist and preview items added.
  5. Click beside a checklist and select Dissociate to remove the checklist from the template.
 

Set Up Form Rules    

Form rules allow you to create request forms that load based on the data provided by users while creating/editing an incident request. You can define field restrictions and execute predefined actions when the user input matches certain conditions. Form rules enable the usage of the same template for different purposes.

Create Form Rules
  1. Go to Form Rules tab. By default, global form rules configured for the template under Setup > Templates and Forms > Form Rules > Incident will be reflected here.
  2. Click New to set up template-specific form rules.
  3. Define the form rule as explained here.
  4. Click Save.

 
After creating form rules for the incident template, you can perform the following actions:
  1. Edit/Delete Rules - Click to edit or delete a form rule. To bulk-delete, select the rules and go to Actions > Delete Rules.
  2. Enable/Disable Rules - Click to enable/disable a rule. To enable/disable rules in bulk, select the rules and go to the Actions menu.
  3. Preview Rule Configurations - Click to expand the rule and preview the criteria and actions configured.
  4. Customize Layout - Click to select the number of records displayed on the list view page and sort the rules by the column values.
 

 

List View Operations    

Manage incident templates from the list view page and perform the following actions:
  1. Edit,Delete, Enable/Disable Templates - Click beside a template name to edit, delete, enable/disable a template.
  2. Copy Templates - Select templates and click Copy Template on the toolbar. You can also go to Actions > Copy Template in the Edit Incident Template form.
  3. Mark Template as Default - Set the frequently used template as default template by clicking icon next to the template name.
  4. Search Templates - Use the icon to search through templates based on a criteria. Add the criteria, value, and click Enter. After the results are displayed, you can add multiple search criteria using the icon or click on the existing criteria to edit it.
  5. Customize List View - Click to limit the number of templates displayed in the list view. You can also choose the view option - Grid View or Template View.
Info
You cannot delete or disable default templates.
 



    • Related Articles

    • Incident Workflow Editor

      The Workflow Editor enables you to build a directional pathway for the service request to follow through its life cycle. The workflow editor is provided with an expandable, scrollable canvas for creating workflow diagrams and a collapsible stencil ...
    • Raise an Incident/Service Request

      A request is anything that is raised by an employee in the organization to the support or IT team, and in this case, the Manage Service Provider (MSP). A request is typically raised in order to solve an issue, require assistance, or request ...
    • Convert Requests to Incident or Service Requests

      Technicians can convert incident requests to service requests in the following cases: An Incorrect request template was used while logging the request. The incident's resolution involves providing a service. The converted service request will contain ...
    • Reply Template

      Configure reply templates for the repetitive responses to requests, thus saving time and easing their work. Reply templates can be configured for all and are not customer specific. Role Required: SDAdmin Configure Reply Templates To configure the ...
    • Resolution Template

      Create resolution templates to handle repeated requests with the same solution and for the workaround and resolution in problems. Resolution templates can be configured for all and are not customer specific. Role Required: SDAdmin Configure ...