Incident Triage

Overview

Use this skill to classify incoming incidents, validate priority, select an assignment group, and document the triage decision.

Prerequisites

• Read and update access to incident records
• Read access to assignment groups
• Knowledge of the organization’s impact, urgency, and escalation rules

Procedure

Step 1: Identify Incidents Requiring Triage

Query for active incidents that are unassigned or in "New" state.

Tool: SN-Query-Table
Parameters:
  table_name: incident
  query: active=true^priorityIN1,2^assigned_toISEMPTY
  fields: number,short_description,description,impact,urgency,category,priority
  limit: 20

Step 2: Analyze Each Incident

For each incident, determine:

1. Category — Match keywords to category:

   • Network: "network", "connectivity", "VPN", "wifi", "firewall"
   • Hardware: "laptop", "monitor", "keyboard", "printer", "device"
   • Software: "application", "crash", "error", "update"
   • Email: "email", "outlook", "mailbox", "calendar"
   • Security: "password", "access", "locked", "breach", "phishing"
   • SAP/ERP: "SAP", "ERP", "finance system", "procurement"

2. Priority — Apply the Impact/Urgency matrix:

   Impact ↓ / Urgency →	High (1)	Medium (2)	Low (3)
   High (1)	P1	P2	P3
   Medium (2)	P2	P3	P4
   Low (3)	P3	P4	P5

3. Escalation triggers — Bump to P1 if any apply:

   • Executive mentioned or revenue impact
   • Security breach or phishing confirmed
   • Outage affecting multiple users
   • SLA at risk of breach

Step 3: Resolve Assignment Group

Map the category to an assignment group:

Category	Assignment Group
Network	Network Operations
Hardware	Desktop Support
Software	Application Support
Email	Messaging Team
Security	Security Operations
SAP/ERP	ERP Support
Unknown	Service Desk L2

Look up the group sys_id:

Tool: SN-Query-Table
Parameters:
  table_name: sys_user_group
  query: name=Network Operations
  fields: sys_id,name
  limit: 1

Validation checkpoint: Confirm the query returns exactly one result with a valid sys_id. If no group is found, fall back to "Service Desk L2" and note the mismatch in work notes.

Step 4: Assign the Incident

Tool: SN-Assign-Incident
Parameters:
  sys_id: [incident_sys_id]
  assignment_group: Network Operations
  work_notes: "Triage: Assigned to Network Operations based on keyword analysis (VPN connectivity issue). Priority validated as P2 per impact/urgency matrix."

Validation checkpoint: After assignment, query the incident to confirm assignment_group and state were updated. If the update failed (permissions, read-only state), log the error in work notes and flag for manual review.

Step 5: Document Triage Decision

Tool: SN-Add-Work-Notes
Parameters:
  sys_id: [incident_sys_id]
  work_notes: "TRIAGE: Category=Network (VPN, connectivity). Impact=2 Urgency=1 → P2. Assigned Network Operations. Next: investigate VPN tunnel status."

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
No incidents found	Query too restrictive	Broaden query; check different states
Assignment group not found	Name mismatch	Use LIKE operator: nameLIKENetwork
Insufficient permissions	Missing itil role or incident read-only	Verify roles; check incident state

Examples

Network Issue Triage

Incident INC0012345 — "Cannot connect to VPN from home"

• Keywords: "VPN", "connect" → Network
• Impact: Medium (single user) / Urgency: High (cannot work) → P2
• Assignment: Network Operations

Tool: SN-Assign-Incident
Parameters:
  sys_id: abc123
  assignment_group: Network Operations
  work_notes: "Triage: VPN connectivity issue assigned to Network Ops. P2 priority."

Security Escalation

Incident INC0012346 — "Suspicious email with attachment clicked"

• Keywords: "suspicious", "email", "clicked" → Security → Escalate to P1
• Assignment: Security Operations — notify security manager

Tool: SN-Update-Record
Parameters:
  sys_id: def456
  table_name: incident
  fields: { priority: 1, assignment_group: Security Operations, work_notes: "Triage: Escalated to P1. Phishing indicator. Security Ops notified." }

Best Practices

• Verify impact and urgency independently before accepting the calculated priority.
• Confirm the assignment group exists before updating the incident.
• Record the evidence and reasoning behind every triage decision.