Create a new incident
- Choose "Create a new incident" in the top menu bar.
- Enter a brief incident name. This will appear as the headline on the service alert.
- Select a status (Available, Maintenance, Service Outage, or Service Disruption).
- Select the affected service(s). If the affected service does not appear in the list, go to Structure > Taxonomy > Services > Add Term to add it.
- Under "Is active?" choose "Yes" if the service alert should be displayed on the Systems Dashboard and Support homepages.
- Enter a description of the incident.
- Under "Notifications," if you would like to send notifications via e-mail, choose "Yes" from the drop-down menu and select the mailing list(s) you would like to notify.
- Save. Your active incident should now appear on the Systems Dashboard homepage and the color of the service in the services list should reflect the current service status.
Manage existing incidents
- Use the blue "Update" link near the bottom of your alert message on the Systems Dashboard homepage to edit the incident. (You can also edit any incident or service using the "Incidents" and "Manage services" links in the top menu bar.)
- When service has been restored, update the status to "Available."
Leave "Is active?" set to Yes if you would like to send another email notification that the service has been restored and continue to display a message on the Systems Dashboard and Support homepages. - Change "Is active?" to No when you wish to remove the message from the Systems Dashboard and Support homepages.
Guidelines
Occurrence | Stoplight | Email Audience |
Unexpected Outages | Stoplight should be changed to yellow using “Service Alert” as soon as reports begin of a problem by either the Help Desk, Communication Manager or someone from the area in ITS related to the outage.
Stoplight should be updated to red or green when owner of service or mgr/director of area gives instructions to do so. | Email should be sent to the Tech List for informational purposes immediately when the stoplight is changed to yellow.
Email should be sent to faculty/staff students if the issue is determined to be longer than 15 minutes and impacts core services. |
Maintenance with expected outages that have previously been announced.
(These messages are now only announced if there is an outage of more than 15 minutes of a core service) | Stoplight should be changed to blue using “Service Alert” when maintenance begins.
Stoplight should be changed to green using “Service Alert” when maintenance is complete. | Email should be sent to the Tech List at the beginning and end of maintenance for informational purposes.
Send to faculty/staff/students if the issue is determined to be longer than 15 minutes and impacts core services, Send email when maintenance begins and send another “all clear” message when maintenance is over. |
“Emergency” Maintenance | Stoplight should be changed to blue using “Service Alert” when maintenance begins.
Stoplight should be changed to green using “Service Alert” when maintenance is complete. | Email should be sent to the Tech List at the beginning and end of maintenance for informational purposes.
Email should be sent to faculty/staff/students if an outage is anticipated. |
Maintenance without outages | Stoplight should be changed to blue using “Service Alert” when maintenance begins.
Stoplight should be changed to green using “Service Alert” when maintenance is complete. | Email should be sent to the Tech List at the beginning and end of maintenance for informational purposes.
Do not send email to faculty/staff/students. |