Automated Ticketing Processes that Run in the Background

Overview

The Enterprise Service Management (ESM) system runs various automated processes that act behind the scenes to handle ticketing workflows, notifications, and calculations. These process run at specific time intervals and process items sequentially, which can impact when automated actions occur.

Understanding these intervals helps set realistic expectations for:

  • When SLAs trigger notifications or escalations
  • When scheduled reports are sent
  • When tickets automatically come off hold or close
  • When workflow steps execute
  • When ticket metrics are recalculated.
Important
Processing intervals are approximate, not exact. The system process all items for the entire system, and then runs them sequentially (one after another, not simultaneously), which can cause delays – especially during high-volume periods.

In this article:

Processing Intervals at a Glance

Interval Primary Function Typical Impact
5 Minutes Workflow steps, SLAs SLA notifications may be sent 5-10 minutes after trigger
15 Minutes Surveys, scheduled ticets, auto-closures, reports Scheduled reports may arrive 15-30 minutes after scheduled time
120 Minutes Metric calculations check Asses whether daily metric calculations will be needed
24 Hours Metric calculations Ticket metrics update once per day around 10:30 p.m. AK 

5-Minute Interval: Workflow and SLA Processing

This interval handles time-sensitive workflow automation and service level agreements.

What's Processed

  • Workflow iPaaS steps - Integration platform steps in workflows
  • Ticket SLAs - Service level agreement notifications and escalations

15-Minute Interval: Scheduled Operations and Notifications

This interval handles the majority of automated ticketing operations, including scheduled activities and notifications.

What's Processed

The system processes these items sequentially in the following order:

  1. Tickets coming off hold - Evaluates hold expiration dates
  2. Ticket survey sending - Sends satisfaction surveys based on trigger rules
  3. Scheduled ticket creation - Creates recurring tickets per schedule
  4. Project health updates - Recalculates project health indicators (not ticketing-specific)
  5. Scheduled report emails - Delivers reports configured for scheduled delivery
  6. Item alerts - Processes "Notify Me When" alerts set on tickets and other items
  7. Source control integration - Links code commits to items
  8. Ticket auto-closures - Closes tickets meeting auto-closure rules

Impact of sequential processing: Because items are processed in order, scheduled reports (item 5) won't be sent until all off-hold evaluations (item 1), surveys (item 2), scheduled tickets (item 3), and project health updates (item 4) have completed. During high-volume periods, this can result in delays of 30+ minutes.

120-Minute Interval: Metric Calculation Check

This interval covers ticket metric calculation.

This process runs every 2 hours just to see if it is time to run a new metric calculation, but the actual calculations only takes place once a day around 10:30 p.m. AK.

Note
This is only a scheduling check. The actual metric calculations are performed during the 24-hour interval process described below.

24-Hour Interval: Ticket Metric Calculations

This process performs the actual recalculation of all ticket metrics and statistics.

What's Processed

  • Ticket metric calculations - Complete recalculation of ticket metrics, statistics, and performance indicators used in reporting

This process runs once daily at approximately 10:30 p.m. AK (2:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET)).

Important
Reports and dashboards that rely on ticket metrics will reflect data as of the most recent 10:30 p.m. AK calculation. Changes made after that time won't appear in metric-based reports until the next daily calculation completes.

Need additional help or have issues

For support, requests may be submitted anytime using the appropriate Enterprise Service Management form. Requests generate a Ticket which will be worked in order received and urgency by IT Employees with the knowledge and permissions to assist with the request.

For immediate assistance please review the Contact Us page for the appropriate support group.

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