Call Management Procedure

ASL BiSL Foundation

P.O. Box9769

3506 GE Utrecht

The Netherlands

T+31 (0) 30 753 1424

F+31 (0) 30 755 1502

I

Table of Contents

Summary

1Introduction

1.1Definition

1.2Objective

1.3Scope

1.4Document Structure

2Procedure Overview

2.1Procedure Outline

3First-Line Support

3.1Objective

3.2Tasks

3.3Responsibilities

3.4Agreements

3.5Process Diagram

3.6Activities

3.7Call Types

3.8Call Response and Resolution Times

3.9Urgent Calls

4Second-Line Support

4.1Objective

4.2Tasks

4.3Responsibilities

4.4Process Diagram

4.5Activities

5Escalation

5.1Objective and Definition

5.2Call Resolution during Office Hours

5.3Call Resolution outside Office Hours

5.4Escalation in Response to a Complaint

6Reporting and Meeting

6.1Reporting

6.2Operational Meetings

6.3Objective

Appendix A: Tool Instructions for Process Steps

Appendix B: Call/Change Relationship

Version Management

Distribution List

Summary

• calls detected by an end user.
• calls detected by Application Management.
• calls detected by Systems Development.

• calls detected by Infrastructure Management.

• Call handling control.

• Structured working methods for planning andmanagement activities.

• end users.
• business information managers.
• technical infrastructure administrators from theInfrastructure Management department.
• application administrators from the Application Management department.

1Introduction

1.1Definition

Within theend user support processes, Call Management is a subprocess that primarily deals with queries, requests, complaints and incidents, as well as communications to and from end users.Call Managementcovers accepting calls,registering and initiating actions to deal with these calls, and call resolution monitoring and reporting.Call Management also involves periodic reporting onstatistics, type, average call handling times, etc. for all reported calls.

1.2Objective

Call Management objectives include:

• ensuring service continuity by dealing with calls as fast as possible
• being available for queries, orders, and comments from clients concerning current or future services

1.3Scope

This process description coversCall Management processes for the end userorganization and first-line support for the Application Management, SystemsDevelopment, and Infrastructure Management departments.

Changes and handling fall outside the scope of Call Management processes.Please refer to appendix B: Call/Change relationship for the relationship between Call Management and Change Management processes.

1.4Document Structure

Section 2 outlines Call Management procedures andSection 3 details the tasks and responsibilities for first-line Business Information Management support.These sections are followed by an explanation of the manner in which calls areclassified and prioritized.

If first-line support is unable to resolve a call, it is forwarded to second-line support.Sections4 and 5 describe the tasks and responsibilities of second-line support for the Application Management, Systems Development, andInfrastructure Management departments respectively.

Section 6 details procedures for dealing with calls during night processing (standby procedures) andSection7 discusses escalation procedures.

Management reporting and meeting structure and frequency are covered inSection 8.

AppendixA describes the information to be recorded throughout the call lifecycleusing the call registration tool.

AppendixB illustrates the relationship between a call and the change process.

2Procedure Overview

2.1Procedure Outline

Endusers and Infrastructure Management, Service Desk, or Application Management (AM) staff members report a call to first-line Business Information Management (BIM) support.

First-line support answers queries and handles problems concerning information systems, documentation, and procedures.

First-line support also supervises execution of Call Management processes, monitors call resolution progress, and reports to the person submitting the call about its progress.

First-line support classifies calls in consultation with the person submitting the call and determines where a call should be assigned.If first-line support is unable to resolve a call within the agreed response time (see Section3.8) or the call should be assigned to Application Management, Systems Development, orInfrastructure Management, it is forwarded to second-line support.

Second-line support is provided by Application Management, Systems Development,or Infrastructure Management department staff depending on the nature of the call.

3First-Line Support

3.1Objective

First-line Business Information Management support accepts reported calls.Simple calls are resolved and any complex or application/technical infrastructure-related calls are forwarded to second-line support.First-line support also keeps the person who submitted the call informed about its progress and closes the call once resolved.

3.2Tasks

• Accepting and recording calls from the end user organization
• Providing the person submitting the call withan assigned call referencenumber
• Assessing the registration for clarity and completeness
• Evaluating whether the call can be resolved immediately
• Resolving simple functional calls
• Evaluating and assigning calls
• Prioritizing calls within first-line support
• Ensuring that calls assigned to second-line support are dealt with
• Informing the person submitting a call about its progress and resolution
• Reporting on and closing calls

3.3Responsibilities

• Timely and proper communications (see Section 3.8) with those persons submitting calls
• Correct and complete registration
• Call classification
• Call closing
• Resolving or forwarding calls to second-line support within the predefined response time (see Section 3.8)

3.4Agreements

First-line Business Information Management support is available on workdays from 8a.m. to 6p.m.

Outside these hours (night window), Infrastructure Management and possibly Application Management are on standby for dealing with batch processing incidents.

3.5Process Diagram

3.6Activities

3.7Call Types

The following call types can be identified:

3.8Call Response and Resolution Times

Call response and resolution times are partly determined by the assigned call priority.In the event of an incident, the priority is determined by a combination ofitsimpact and urgency.

Impact

Urgency

Prioritization

Lead Times

Explanatory Notes onLead Times:

*From the moment anend user submits a call, the end user organization is to beinformed of its progress every 5 minutes, 1, 1.5, 6 or 40 hours respectively.These are maximum times.

**These are the total times required from the moment the incident is reported until the problem is resolved and operational processes can be continued at normal levels.If an involved party realizes that the resolution time (e.g. 4 hours for a Priority3 incident) cannot be achieved, the person submitting the call must be informed as soon as possible.If a high-risk situation could potentially arise due to delayed resolution, the business information manager must inform end user organization management.If necessary, Business Information Management support may decide to escalate the incident to the management level within Infrastructure Management or Application Management.It may be necessary toset the escalation process in motion.Escalation procedures are detailed inSection 5.

3.9Urgent Calls

Only calls genuinely threatening continuity may be assigned to Priority1 or 2.Allother critical calls should be assigned Priority3 meaning that they must be dealt with immediately and resolved the same day.

Roles and Responsibilities for Urgent Calls

• end users

• end user organization management
• service desk (ICT supplier)

• operations department management

4Second-Line Support

4.1Objective

Second-line support aims to resolve calls that first-line support is unable to resolve within a predefined timeframe, or calls that are too complex and require specialist knowledge.

4.2Tasks

• Verifying registration accuracy
• Verifying call priority.Adjusting, if required, in consultation with first­linesupport
• Estimating probabilities of resolving a call within the predetermined timeframe
• Investigating and diagnosing calls
• Looking for a solution to calls
• Conducting impact analyses for possible solutions based on input from thedepartments affected
• Estimating the impact of repair work on operational processes in the event ofan incident
• Carrying out repairs
• Reporting back to first-line support about call progress
• Recording action taken and results

4.3Responsibilities

• Resolving calls in a timely manner
• Selecting possible solution(s)

4.4Process Diagram

4.5Activities

5Escalation

5.1Objective and Definition

Escalation is understood to mean:

Taking additional measures to accelerate call resolution in the event that a call – potentially or in practice – cannot be resolved within the predefined timeframe.

The purpose of escalation is to ensure that a call is nonetheless resolved as quickly as possible.Escalation procedures improve the level of service and communications with the end user organization.

There are three types of incident that may require escalation:

• calls arising within production during office hours
• calls arising within production outside office hours
• complaints about service levels

Each of these is detailed below.

5.2Call Resolution during Office Hours

Time pressure and impact can often be greater during office hours.This is why adifferentiation is made in terms of priority.The table below illustrates the path for escalation/investigation.

Please note:This initially concerns investigations.During investigations, adecision may be made to further escalate the matter.

In principle, the business information manager initiates escalation procedures inconsultation with the IT Call Manager to the:

• Business Information Management manager
• IT Infrastructure Managementmanager
• Application Management manager
• End User Organization

This implies that the escalation path for first-line support runs via the Business Information Management manager.

The table below shows when the business information manager should first inform the Business Information Management manager and the end user organization.

5.3Call Resolution outside Office Hours