--- title: "Ticket escalation: how to do it well | attendo" description: "What escalating a support case means, how functional and hierarchical escalation differ, what makes it work and the mistake of reassigning without notes." url: "https://attendo.me/en/glossary/escalation" lang: "en" --- # Escalation: when to move a case up a level Also known as: Ticket escalation Escalation is handing a case over to a higher level, because of its technical complexity or because it is running late. ## Two kinds that get mixed up - **Functional**: the case needs more expertise than the person handling it has. It goes from tier 1 to tier 2. - **Hierarchical**: the case is running late or the customer is upset. It goes up to a manager, not to a more experienced technician. When they get mixed up, managers end up solving technical issues and experts end up handling upset customers. ## What makes an escalation work That the person receiving it **does not have to rebuild the story**. An escalation without written context means starting over, and the customer notices because they are asked the same thing twice. ## The usual mistake The hot potato: reassigning in a chain without anyone writing anything down. It is the fastest way to turn a two-hour case into a two-week one. ## In attendo Every change of owner is logged on the [timeline](https://attendo.me/en/modules/timeline) with its time and its author. If nobody picks up a ticket, attendo escalates it according to the [contract](https://attendo.me/en/modules/contracts-and-sla), and with [attendo Flows](https://attendo.me/en/modules/flows) you define your own rules. - [attendo Ticketing](https://attendo.me/en/ticketing) ## Where it is used in attendo ### Modules - [Timeline](https://attendo.me/en/modules/timeline): All activity on the document, in order, with its author and channel - [Flows and AI-Flows](https://attendo.me/en/modules/flows): Flows, phased processes with approvals, and AI inside the flow - [Contracts and SLA](https://attendo.me/en/modules/contracts-and-sla): Scope, SLA and hour bank, measured on every ticket - [AI Autopilot (Multiple AI Agents)](https://attendo.me/en/modules/ai-autopilot): Micro-agents that score and prioritize. You take the wheel. - [Compliance · My team](https://attendo.me/en/modules/task-compliance): The list of what could be missed, sorted by urgency ### Industries that use these modules - [Facility maintenance and services](https://attendo.me/en/industries/facility-maintenance) - [Compliance for consulting firms](https://attendo.me/en/industries/compliance) - [Hospitality, retail and multi-site](https://attendo.me/en/industries/multi-site-operations) - [Repair and after-sales service](https://attendo.me/en/industries/after-sales-repair) - [And any other business](https://attendo.me/en/industries) ## Related terms Support and service ### SLA Service level agreement An SLA (service level agreement) is the written commitment, usually part of a contract, on how quickly you will respond to and resolve a customer’s tickets. Support and service ### Ticket backlog Support backlog The ticket backlog is the set of open tickets waiting to be resolved at a given moment. Support and service ### Resolution time Time to resolution Resolution time is how long a case takes from the moment it comes in until it is closed as resolved. ### On the blog #### 24/7 on-call: how to run it without burning out your team On-call service is easy to sell and hard to run. It is usually built on a group chat and the goodwill of two people, and it lasts until those two people leave. 4 min read [See all 53 glossary terms](https://attendo.me/en/glossary) ## Shall we look at it with your data? We will show you how what you just read works in attendo, with your own assets, tickets and customers. If it is not a fit, we will tell you. - With your operation, not a generic demo - A real person from our team replies - No cold calls afterwards Would you rather talk first? - Phone [+34 910 053 530](tel:+34910053530) - Email [sales@attendo.me](mailto:sales@attendo.me) - Monday to Thursday 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Friday 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM (Spain time)