Support Team Guidelines

Core Principles

Answer Quality Standards:

• Link to relevant documentation AND explain specific steps for their scenario
• Include screenshots/Loom for complex issues or when no doc exists
• Provide direct links to relevant pages in the client's account
• Screenshot anything in the account that might change

One-Touch Solve:

• Aim to resolve in one response
• Educate clients so they can self-serve next time
• Delete unnecessary information that causes confusion
• If you write the same answer 3 times without a doc, we need documentation

Documentation Rule: After 3 duplicate answers without a support doc reference, bring to CS leadership with examples so that we can see about creating a new Support Doc

Team Structure

Escalation Triggers:

• Juniors: Skip if outside time limits  [DEFINE JUNIOR/SENIOR?]
• Seniors: Escalate if outside time limits
• T3: Escalate after 20 minutes without progress

Workflows

Triage Process

Actions:

• Handle trivial/urgent issues immediately (macros, 2FA, locked accounts)
• Escalate system outages to On-Call
• Escalate research needs to T2 with transition comment
• Assign to T1 if no backlog exists

T1-T2 Workflow

• Answer if possible, otherwise escalate
• Always add transition comment before escalating
• Provide relevant information in Internal Notes

T3 Workflow

Daily checks:

• Aim to start all tickets within 24 business hours of escalation
• Send status update if unanswered for 2 business days

Bug handling:

• Create GitHub issue and DPAF entry
• Create PR if fix is straightforward
• Escalate to T4 for verification
• Leave the GH unassigned (if not hotfixing), or assigned to yourself (if hotfixing). Escalate the Zoho Ticket or Forum Topic to T4.
• If submitting a PR for the GH as well, add the "possible-hotfix" label and assign the GH to T4 after submitting the PR.

Additional duties:

• Monitor Dev Phone a Friend forum
• Debug GVR price accuracy issues

T4/On-Call Workflow

Responsibilities:

• Own overall issue flow and proactively monitor
• Skim T2/T3 buckets multiple times daily
• Check error feeds 1-2 times daily
• Monitor new issues email feed
• On release day: hourly checks immediately after release

Escalation paths:

• New T4 technical questions → Architecture group
• Business questions → T5 with explanation

Documentation:

• Maintain Changing of the Guard agenda
• Record all hotfixes, known issue changes, SQL scripts, open loops

Cross-Tier Rules

Process violations: [SOFTEN LANGUAGE TO MISS? THOUGH I THOUGHT THIS WAS A KEN THING AND WE STOPPED DOING PROCESS MISSES]

• Tag with "Process Tweak"
• Add internal comment explaining the issue
• Kick back to appropriate tier
• For missing transition comments: answer anyway but still tag

Unrelated questions on same ticket:

• Use Split Ticket button
• Reset to Team:Helpdesk with no agent
• Add internal note explaining the split

Escalation Guidelines

Escalating Up from T2

1. Check Known Issue tracker first
2. Add transition comment if user hasn't heard from us in 1 day
3. Request more info from user while escalating if needed
4. Write clear ESCALATED QUESTION 1, 2, etc. headers
5. Include debugging details and where you got stuck
6. Re-escalating for incomplete answers = Process Tweak [TAG THIS? OR IS RE-ESCALATION ENOUGH?]

Escalating Down

1. Check Known Issue tracker, add/mark resolved
2. If answer was in docs → internal comment + "Missed Doc Review" tag
3. If no doc exists:
   • Assign yourself
   • Answer user directly
   • Create "Proposed User Doc" or "Proposed Internal Doc" issue if helpful [THIS MEANS SUGGESTED NEW DOCUMENTATION?]
   • Provide detailed "why" not just "what" to lower tiers

Ticket Management

Ticket Statuses

• Open - Awaiting OR staff action
• Pending - Answered, waiting for client (3-day reminder, then auto-resolve)
• Resolved - Complete, no response expected
• Closed - Completed (client replies create new ticket)
• Waiting on Customer - No reminder, returns to Open after 10 days
• Hold for X days - Returns to Open after specified time with auto-note
• Review (then Resolve) - Client thinks it's resolved, staff needs to review

Known Issues

When issue exists:

• Tag ticket with format: <issue#>-<brief-description>
• Add to index ticket

Creating new issues:

• Enter via Google Form
• T3/T4 create GitHub issue if applicable
• Format title per changelog guidelines

Thresholds:

• Create tag: 3+ tickets (general guide)
• Create Sorry page: 6+ tickets (based on severity)

Routing to Other Teams

Send to Engagement if ANY of these apply:

• Client doesn't understand after 2 explanations
• Delivering unusually bad news (call preferred)
• Complex question requiring detailed client info
• Sales opportunity (ProService, new account, etc.)
• Potential new client who hasn't signed up (send macro + notify Engagement)
• Client mentions closing account
• Invoice pushback not resolved in one email
• Level 3 security issue

How: Set Ticket Owner to Teams: Engagement (removes agent assignment; add yourself as Follower to get updates; remove escalations)

Send to Product

• General Product feedback → Internal comment starting with "Product" + check "Notify Product" box (don't CC Product team)Don't send to product:
• Feature requests → Internal Requests forum
• Bugs (not ticket-related) → Dev Phone a Friend forum
• Bugs from tickets → Escalate through T2+

Send to Marketing (Paul Hall)

Notify for:

• Potential new partner inquiries
• Systemic partner problems
• Partner non-responsiveness
• Merch/T-shirt requests

How: Internal comment + @Paul Hall or assign to Marketing/Paul Hall if ticket is otherwise complete

Support Article Issues

Follow reporting guidelines

Forum Feature Requests

• If already possible → Educate user, close ticket
• If legitimate → Internal comment starting "Product" + check "Notify Product" box
• If unnecessary/low votes → Close ticket
• Don't escalate to T3/4

Opportunities for Improvement (OFI)

For "not quite right" issues not clear enough for Forum:

1. Resolve actual client issue first
2. Document OFI clearly
3. Internal comment starting "Product" + check "Notify Product" box

Partner Questions

• Channel partners → See channel doc
• Other partners → Use Partner Contacts (YELLOW only)
• CC dev@ownerrez.com and tier2@ownerrez.com on all partner communications
• Enter partner ticket number in Known Issues if multi-user issue

SLA Response Times

On-Call Response: Within 1 hour (note seen + handling)

• No response in 1 hour → Use wake-up email (Rex, Adria)
• No response after 30 min → Call using Emergency Contacts

Additional Processes

Changing of the Guard

When: Monday after release planning
Who: Current/previous week T3 and On-Call, T2+ support
Cover: Last week recap, this week changes, open issues, Known Issue tracker updates

Cross-Week Tickets

• T3 unfinished tickets: Leave open with research notes for next T3
• T3 tickets you responded to: Handle follow-ups yourself
• T4: Covered by On-Call doc and Changing of the Guard

Sorry Status Page

Who can post: Sysops Team, Chris, PW, Shawn, Rex

When to post:

• Investigating: Anything triggering On-Call (not blasted)
• Known Issue: If affecting thousands or many hundreds of clients (blasted)

Process:

• Work hours: Helpdesk and T4 consult in Support ↔ Dev T4 chat
• After hours: Authorized person's judgment for On-Call level issues