Worklog and Worklog Notifications

Worklog stores information related to the activities performed by the user on a request such as ticket updates and time spent on a ticket. There are specific communication templates associated to the worklog, which controls the notification that are sent to the requester and the ticket owner. Communication Templates can be managed by Intelligent Service Management (ISM) Administrators only.

Worklog Specifications:

Worklog can be added from the interface or by sending an email.
When sending an email the subject line of the email must begin with RE: or FW: and must have a reference to the ticket number that you would like to update.
The Subject Line should be something like RE: Case#100-80 - Please help with this.
Notifications go out when a worklog is added to keep the Requester as well as the Owner of the ticket informed about any activity on the ticket.
End User or Self-Service User can add a Client Note from the Self-Service Interface.
An Analyst can select a combination of 'Worklog Type' and 'Client Viewable' flag to control the behavior of the worklog added. For more information, refer to the following table.

Using Worklog Type and Client Viewable Options in Combination

These are the results of using these fields in combination:

Worklog Type	Client Viewable	Result
Update	Yes	This should be used to update and notify the requester of the ticket. By default this action sends out the worklog as an email to the requester of the ticket. The worklog is also visible to the Requester/Customer on the Self-Service Interface. The system uses the System Defined Communication Template -16 to send the notification. (Note: System Defined Communication Templates have a negative id. The email may go out to additional people other than the requester depending upon what the ISM Administrator has defined in the Cc field of the communication template -16)
Update	No	The worklog remains hidden from the Requester/Customer on the Self-Service Interface. It is visible only to the Analyst. If the ticket is assigned to a Support Group instead of an individual, it will send an email to all members of the group to which the ticket is assigned, using the communication template with id -2.
Work OR First Contact OR Resolved OR Custom defined worklog type	Yes	The worklog becomes viewable to the Requester/Customer from the Self-Service Interface but does not send an email to Requester. If the owner of the ticket (assigned individual) is the one who added a worklog, no email notification is generated. If a third person (not the requester/requested for/owner) of the ticket adds a worklog OR If the ticket is assigned to a Support Group instead of an individual, system will send an email to all members of the group to which ticket is assigned, using the communication template with id -2.
Work OR First Contact OR Resolved OR Custom defined worklog type	No	The worklog remains hidden from the customer. It is not visible in the Self-Service Interface and does not send an email to the requester. If the ticket is assigned to a Support Group instead of an individual, it will send an email to all members of the group to which the ticket is assigned, using the communication template with id -2.
Client Note	Yes	This is set when the customer adds a worklog to the ticket from the Self-Service Interface. The client note goes out as an email to the ticket owner (assigned individual on the ticket) using the communication template with id -2. If the ticket is assigned to a group then the email for worklog update goes to all members of the group.

Send as an e-mail

An Analyst can add a worklog and control sending of the worklog content via email to a specific set of recipients. Before saving a new worklog, the Analyst can select the 'Send as an e-mail' flag. The worklog will save and a new window will open to send the worklog content via email and the Analyst can then select the desired recipients in the 'To' and 'Cc' fields.

Notes for Administrators:

There is a slice configuration parameter SSU_SHOW_COMMUNICATION_WORKLOGS, which can be used to set restrictions on what communication records the Self-Service User can view on a ticket. If the parameter value is set to "None", no Communication records are shown on the ticket. When "Only Incoming" is selected, only Communications marked as Incoming are visible to the Self-Service User - i.e. only communications sent by Self-Service User is visible. When both "Incoming and Outgoing" options are selected, all communications are displayed where the Self-Service user is either the sender or receiver.

System Defined Communication Templates Associated with Worklogs

There are four System Defined Communication Templates associated with worklogs. The details are given below.

Communication Template ID	Purpose
-2	This template is used to send worklog notifications to an Analyst or a Support Group. When a Client Note is added by a Requester or if a third person who is not the owner of the ticket adds a worklog entry into a ticket, this template is used to send the notification. If the ticket is assigned to an Individual the email will go to the Individual, if the ticket is assigned to a Support Group the email will go to all active members of the Group.
-16	This template is used to send worklog notifications to the Requester of the ticket.
-19	This template is used to notify the Assigned Individual or Group of a ticket that an Incoming Email Communication has been added into the ticket.
-29	When an analyst creates a new worklog entry and selects the 'Send as an e-mail' flag, a new window pops up, to send the worklog content via email. The worklog content is auto-populated using this communication template.

Note: Note that, if any of the above-mentioned Communication Templates are in an Inactive status in your instance then the underlying notifications will not go out.