Entering a new issue is a simple process whose main purpose is to clearly communicate the nature and the severity of the issue to the project team and, if applicable, capture additional information necessary for effective and efficient resolution of the issue or request.
This article provides guidance on the following topics associated with new issue Case creation in InfraLink.
Creating Issues
This document will serve as a guide for creating a case in InfraLink. Issues are populated with the information necessary for a technician to troubleshoot and resolve an issue as well as providing useful information to program management personnel. The admin configures different category of cases. In another instance, the admin may want to call the "issue" something else, like "problem", "concern", etc. Although they are all different names, the admin creates them all under the same type "Problem", essentially making them all the same.
Creating an Issue
At the top-left corner of the main menu, select the 
button. This button is used to create cases of all categories, except for preventive maintenance. There are other ways to initiate an issue, such as through the system element being affected and/or if the location of the issue is known.
Following the instructions and screenshots below, populate the New Case form with all appropriate information.
Categorize the Issue
InfraLink will automatically reset the form and present additional custom fields when you make the contract and category selections.
Select a Contract depending on your user permissions and instance configuration.
Select a Case Category. Case Categories can vary between contracts. It is important to choose the appropriate Category, as this determines the workflow and custom fields for the case.
Describing the Issue
A standard description of an issue consists of the following elements:
- Priority
- Issue Summary
- Associating the Issue with a Particular System Element (Device)
Special Consideration - Associating the Issue with Multiple System Elements
Associating the Issue with a Particular Location
Selecting Issue Type(s)
Providing Additional Details
Priority
Each contract in InfraLink may be configured with up to several levels of priorities. The priority names are self-explanatory. While every issue is important, please select the priority level which is consistent with the issue at hand and the project-specific conventions and operational agreements. Priorities determine the thresholds for handling metrics, so it is important to correctly prioritize work. Priorities can vary between contracts. Some examples of metrics are: "Response Time" and "Resolution Time".
Issue Summary
Please summarize the nature of the issue as descriptive, yet concise as possible. InfraLink will use the information you enter in the summary field when the issues are listed on the Issue Monitor or in other spots throughout the application user interface. The summary is also commonly included in email notifications.
If you do not enter issue summary, InfraLink will generate it automatically based on the selected Issue Type and system element or location. While this is the easiest way to enter an issue, it may not be the most effective way to communicate to the project teams who manage large numbers of issues and may ultimately delay issue resolution.
Associating the Issue with a Particular System Element (Device)
If you can identify a particular system element - a device, it's component, or even an entire system or a subsystem, - which is affected by or causing the issue, you can associate the issue with the said system element by either initiating the issue from the system element details view or by selecting the system element using the System Element lookup on the Create New Case form.
Identifying the affected system element is beneficial for several reasons: it prevents miscommunication and allows the project team to more effectively direct the issue response efforts; it allows for more accurate system performance and availability reporting, and it streamlines issue description, as it allows the user to not spend as much time on the narrative description. Additionally, if you select a particular system element, InfraLink will automatically add that system element's location as the issue location.
On the other hand, if you do not know or cannot reliably identify a particular system element associated with the issue, it may be best to leave the selection blank and allow the project team to select the system element based on their troubleshooting efforts. In a sense, not identifying a system element may produce better results than identifying a system element incorrectly. You may also associate an issue with a particular location, instead of a system element. See "Associating the Issue with a Particular Location" for more information.
Special Consideration - Associating the Issue with Multiple System Elements
It will sometimes be appropriate to have more than one system element (e.g. a device) associated with the issue. Generally, if it will be accomplished as part of a larger repair, will be performed by the same party, and has the same Issue/Cause/Resolution; it is acceptable to combine multiple items. Simply put, if it is part of the same repair action, it is acceptable to add multiple items to a single issue. Conversely, if the issues affecting the devices are different, create a separate issue for each, to keep the information and reporting clear and accurate.
The screenshot below illustrates entering an issue related to multiple system elements:
Select the "Create an individual issue for each System Element
Associating the Issue with a Particular Location
If selecting a particular location from the InfraLink location database is not practical or possible, include applicable reference information in the narrative (e.g. issue summary).
If the system element cannot be reliably identified, identifying a particular location may be the most effective way to communicate the issue. For example, "Cannot access room 123" provides very actionable information to the project team.
You can associate the issue you are creating with a particular location by either initiating creation of the issue from the Location Details view for the location in question or by selecting the location via the Location lookup from the Create Case form.
InfraLink maintains location information in a hierarchical database. For example, a campus may be defined as a collection of buildings, and each building may consist of multiple floors, and, in turn, each floor may contain multiple rooms. When selecting a location of the issue, try to identify a location as closely as possible. For example, if you cannot identify a particular room, try identifying a floor or an area affected by the issue.
Selecting Issue Type(s)
When entering a new issue, InfraLink will prompt you to describe the issue by selecting one or multiple well-known issue types (or symptoms) from the hierarchical reference list (dictionary) maintained by the administrator. The selection is made via an intuitive lookup organized as an expandable tree (see the screenshots below). The reasons this is important to select are because it clearly defines the issue, which in turn speeds up the resolution, but it also shows trends in repeated issues. Selecting an issue type tells the contractor what to fix. There is an issue to fix, but it will be no help if you do not clarify what needs fixing.
Note: When the issue is associated with one or multiple system element(s), InfraLink will prompt you to select the issue type(s) for each system element, as illustrated below.
Similarly, when the issue is not associated with a particular system element, InfraLink will prompt you to specify the issue type(s) for the issue as a whole:
If there is no appropriate issue, or the issue could be better described, please utilize the Submit Feedback button in the upper right portion of your browser to send a request / feedback to your InfraLink instance administrator. Issue trending is important to ensure resources are allocated to best serve the customer.
In the meantime, select "Other" or another applicable generic option and use the "Summary" field, as well as additional fields that may be configured (see below) to communicate the nature of the issue.
Providing Additional Details
The InfraLink instance you're using may be configured to capture additional information for each new issue. The information to be captured is defined by the InfraLink administrator for each contract and case category (i.e. different categories of cases may require different fields to be populated). Some of the additional data elements may be defined as required, while the other ones may be defined as optional.
Required fields, if any, are denoted with an asterisk (*). If configured by the InfraLink instance administrator, a tool tip will be provided to describe the purpose of each field.
Using the additional information fields allows and reminds you to provide pertinent details to the project team without having to write an extensive narrative. Please take a moment to populate the fields with the available information to streamline issue resolution, as well as subsequent reporting.
Multiple example of additional details/custom fields are seen below:
- JIRA Issue Link and Point of Contact Details
- Images and System Element Data Collection Fields
- Procedure Development
Specifying the Time When the Issue Was Reported (Administrative Privileges Required)
In some cases it may be necessary to back-date the issue being entered. If you have sufficient privileges, InfraLink will allow you to back-date the issue by editing the Time Reported field, which is set to the current date/time by default. The reported time will be used as the creation date for this case when calculating handling metrics.
For example, if you were in the field where you cannot access InfraLink, and you started addressing the issue before you had a chance to get online. Note the time the issue occurred. When you get a chance to enter the issue in InfraLink, you would need to indicate the date/time when the issue was actually reported to you (and to also back-date the updates).
Setting the Resolution Due Date
The due date will auto-populate, based on the priority selected and the terms of the contract. If no due date is set, you can set the due date and time for the case.
However, if the contract is not configured to perform the calculation automatically, InfraLink will allow you to specify the due date and time manually.
Assigning the Issue (Administrative Privileges Required)
Most issues are assigned to one or multiple members of the project team who become responsible for bringing the issue to a resolution. Who is allowed to assign and reassign issues is controlled via user permissions and roles. Depending on the project, the assignment privileges may be granted to all technical members of the project team or only to the supervisory personnel.
In case your account has the privileges to assign work, InfraLink will allow you to save time by assigning the issue you're creating directly from the New Case form using the Assigned To control. The control is self-explanatory and will allow you to select one or multiple users to assign the issue to. Note that the user selection will be constrained to only those users who have the necessary role(s) to be responsible for work under the contract you selected on the New Case form. In other words, InfraLink will not allow you to select a user who cannot access or work on the issue.
Sending Notifications to Other Users
In some cases, you may want other users to receive email notifications pertaining to the resolution progress on the issue you are creating. For example, when entering an issue on behalf of the end-user/customer, you may want the end-user/customer to be notified. Likewise, when dealing with a complex technical issue, you may want to keep the engineering team members informed of the issue and the progress on it.
InfraLink will allow you to select one or multiple users to be notified of the issue and its updates via the Notify via Email control. The control is self-explanatory and will allow you select one or multiple parties and add them to the notification list. The following restrictions apply:
To prevent disclosure of sensitive information to unauthorized parties, InfraLink will generate notifications only to users with active InfraLink accounts. You cannot add external email addresses not associated with an InfraLink accounts to the notification list.
Furthermore, InfraLink will send notifications only to those users who have sufficient privileges to see cases under the contract you selected on the New Case form. The list of users presented on the Notify via E-Mail user lookup will be restricted accordingly, and InfraLink will not allow you to select a user who doesn't have sufficient privileges to see the information.
Saving the Issue, Correcting Exceptions
When you finish entering the information, you can save the new issue by clicking the "OK" button.
InfraLink will verify the information and flag the fields that may be missing data or containing errors, as illustrated below. You will be required to correct the exceptions to submit the data.
