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 document will guide you through the steps required to enter a new issuearticle provides guidance on the following topics associated with new issue Case creation in InfraLink.
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Creating Issues
This document will serve as a guide for creating a case in IMMSInfraLink. 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.
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| Every time you initiate an issue, IMMS InfraLink will "remember" your contract and case category selection. The system will use the "remembered" selection to initialize the form next time you initiate a case. |
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Following the instructions and screenshots below, populate the New Case form with all appropriate information.
Categorize the Issue
IMMS InfraLink will automatically reset the form and present additional custom fields when you make the contract and category selections.
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- 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 IMMS 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".
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Please summarize the nature of the issue as descriptive, yet concise as possible. IMMS 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.
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If you do not enter issue summary, IMMS 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. |
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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, IMMS InfraLink will automatically add that system element's location as the issue location.
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If selecting a particular location from the IMMS InfraLink location database is not practical or possible, include applicable reference information in the narrative (e.g. issue summary).
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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.
IMMS 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, IMMS 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.
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Note: When the issue is associated with one or multiple system element(s), IMMS InfraLink will prompt you to select the issue type(s) for each system element, as illustrated below. |
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Similarly, when the issue is not associated with a particular system element, IMMS InfraLink will prompt you to specify the issue type(s) for the issue as a whole:
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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 IMMS 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 IMMS 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 IMMS 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 IMMS InfraLink instance administrator, a tool tip will be provided to describe the purpose of each field.
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| Note: These additional information fields have specific behaviors defined by the IMMS InfraLink instance administrator. Based on these defined behaviors, the fields may be required, optional, read-only, or even hidden on the subsequent issue details and update screens. |
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- 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, IMMS 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 IMMSInfraLink, 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 IMMSInfraLink, you would need to indicate the date/time when the issue was actually reported to you (and to also back-date the updates).
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| Note: in order to protect integrity of the data and ensure accurate reporting, the IMMS InfraLink instance administrator may restrict who is allowed to back-date issues. If you are not granted the corresponding permissions, you will see the Time Reported field on the New Case form as read-only. If you need to back-date the issue, you will need to contact your project leader, so they can edit the case and modify the reporting date/time. |
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However, if the contract is not configured to perform the calculation automatically, IMMS InfraLink will allow you to specify the due date and time manually.
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In case your account has the privileges to assign work, IMMS 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, IMMS InfraLink will not allow you to select a user who cannot access or work on the issue.
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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.
IMMS 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, IMMS InfraLink will generate notifications only to users with active IMMS InfraLink accounts. You cannot add external email addresses not associated with an IMMS InfraLink accounts to the notification list.
Furthermore, IMMS 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 IMMS InfraLink will not allow you to select a user who doesn't have sufficient privileges to see the information.
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When you finish entering the information, you can save the new issue by clicking the "OK" button.
IMMS 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.
