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# [Ticket Escalation](https://intum.com/help/billing/ticket-escalation.md)

## What Is Escalation?

Escalation is an automatic notification mechanism that ensures no helpdesk ticket goes unanswered. When a client submits a request and nobody responds within the designated time, the system automatically notifies the appropriate people.

Escalation runs in the background - it checks tickets every 5 minutes and reacts when the response time is exceeded.

## How Does It Work?

The escalation mechanism consists of three elements:

1. **Escalation policy** - a set of rules (steps) defining who should be notified and when
2. **Escalation steps** - successive notification levels with increasing delays
3. **Incidents** - individual escalation cases on specific tickets

### Example

A company creates a "Standard Escalation" policy with three steps:

| Step | After how many minutes | Who to notify | Channel |
|------|----------------------|---------------|---------|
| 1 | 10 min | Person responsible for the ticket | Notification |
| 2 | 30 min | Team leader | Email |
| 3 | 60 min | Customer Service Director | Email |

When a client submits a ticket:
- After **10 minutes** without a response - the responsible person gets an in-system notification
- After **30 minutes** - the team leader gets an email
- After **60 minutes** - the Customer Service Director gets an email

If someone responds to the ticket or closes it in the meantime, the escalation is automatically ended.

## Creating an Escalation Policy

1. Go to **Automation -> Escalation Policies**
2. Click **New Policy**
3. Fill in the form:
   - **Name** - a descriptive policy name (e.g., "Standard SLA", "Critical Escalation")
   - **Active** - whether the policy should be active
   - **Skip people on leave** - optionally, don't send notifications to people marked as on leave
4. Add **escalation steps** (at least one):
   - **Delay (minutes)** - how many minutes after the client's last activity to trigger this step
   - **Who to notify** - the person responsible for the ticket, a specific user, or a group
   - **Channel** - in-system notification or email
5. Save the policy

## Where to Assign an Escalation Policy

A policy can be assigned at three levels. The system checks them in order from most specific:

1. **Ticket** - a policy set directly on the ticket (highest priority)
2. **Client** - a policy set on the client in CRM
3. **Desk** - a policy set on the helpdesk desk (lowest priority)

If a ticket has its own policy - that one is used. If not, the system checks the client assigned to the ticket. If there's none there either - it takes the policy from the desk.

This allows you to, e.g., set faster escalation for important clients while having a default policy at the desk level.

### Assigning to a Desk

1. Go to **Helpdesk -> Desks**
2. Edit the selected desk
3. In the **Escalation Policy** field, select a policy
4. Save

All tickets in this desk will be monitored by this policy by default.

### Assigning to a Client

1. Go to **CRM -> Clients**
2. Edit the selected client
3. In the **Escalation Policy** field, select a policy
4. Save

This client's tickets will be monitored faster (or slower) than the desk settings would dictate.

### Assigning to a Ticket

On the ticket page (detail view), in the side panel you'll find the **Escalation Policy** field. The change takes effect immediately - just select a policy from the list.

Useful when a specific request needs special treatment, regardless of the client or desk settings.

## Escalation Dashboard

You can find an overview of active escalations in **Automation -> Dashboard** (or at `/automation/escalation`).

The dashboard shows:
- **Active escalations** - tickets waiting for a response, with information about the current step
- **Confirmed escalations** - someone is handling it, but the ticket is still open
- **Resolved today** - number of closed escalations from today
- **Active policies** - how many policies are enabled

From the dashboard you can click on a ticket to go to its details, or confirm an escalation directly.

## Acknowledging an Escalation

When a user receives an escalation notification, they can click the **"I'm on it"** button (available in the email notification, on the ticket page, or in the dashboard). Acknowledgment means:

- The escalation is **stopped** - subsequent steps will not be triggered
- The ticket remains open for resolution
- The system records who confirmed and when

## Escalation Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| **Active** | Escalation is ongoing - the system is waiting for a response or proceeding to subsequent steps |
| **Confirmed** | Someone confirmed they're handling the ticket - escalation stopped |
| **Resolved** | The ticket was closed - escalation automatically ended |

## When Does an Escalation End?

An escalation is automatically closed when:

- **The ticket is closed** (status "resolved")
- **Someone confirms the escalation** (clicks "I'm on it")

## Tips

- **Start with a simple policy** - e.g., one step after 15 minutes. Expand later once you see how it works
- **Adjust times to your team** - if the average response time is 10 minutes, set escalation at 20 minutes
- **Use different channels** - first step as an in-system notification, subsequent ones as email
- **One policy for multiple desks** - the same policy can be assigned to multiple helpdesk desks
- **Important clients** - assign them a faster escalation policy in CRM so their requests get priority
- **Exceptional tickets** - if a specific request needs different escalation, set the policy directly on the ticket