Help Desk Ticket Resolution SOP Template

Action:

• Capture the request via email, portal, chat, or phone and create a ticket in the ticketing system
• Record: requester name/contact, subject, description, channel received, date/time
• Assign a category or type (e.g. access, hardware, software, how-to, bug)
• If taken by phone or chat, confirm key details with the requester before ending the conversation

Expected Outcome: Ticket exists in the system with enough detail for the next agent to act

Action:

• Apply priority based on organizational criteria, for example:
  • Critical: Broad outage, security incident, or blocking many users
  • High: Single user blocked, work severely impacted
  • Medium: Important but workaround exists
  • Low: Minor issue or general question
• Set or adjust SLA timers (first response, resolution) per priority
• Assign to the appropriate queue or agent (by skill, product, or availability)

Expected Outcome: Ticket has priority and assignee; SLA clock is set correctly

Action:

• Acknowledge the ticket within the required first-response time (per SLA)
• Confirm understanding of the issue and set expectations (e.g. “We’re looking into this and will update you by …”)
• If more information is needed, ask specific questions in one message
• Use templates for common responses but personalize where appropriate

Expected Outcome: Requester knows the ticket is in progress and what to expect next

Action:

• Search the knowledge base for known solutions and similar resolved tickets
• Reproduce the issue if possible; gather logs, screenshots, or steps from the requester
• Apply the fix, provide clear instructions, or document the workaround
• If the fix requires the requester to act (e.g. clear cache, restart), give step-by-step instructions
• Document all actions and findings in the ticket for audit and future reference

Expected Outcome: Issue is resolved or a workaround is in place; ticket notes are complete

Action:

• Reply to the requester with a clear summary of what was done and any steps they need to take
• Invite them to reply if the issue persists or if they have follow-up questions
• Once the requester confirms (or after your organization’s auto-close period), close the ticket with the appropriate resolution status (resolved, solved by KB, duplicate, etc.)
• Add internal notes or tags for reporting (e.g. category, root cause) if required

Expected Outcome: Requester is informed; ticket is closed with accurate status and notes

Action:

• Escalate to Tier 2, engineering, or management when:
  • Issue is beyond your scope or requires higher permissions
  • Bug or outage requires development or infrastructure
  • SLA is at risk and you need additional resources
  • Requester requests escalation or is dissatisfied
• Hand off with a clear summary, what was tried, and why escalation is needed
• Notify the requester that the ticket was escalated and who will follow up
• Update the knowledge base with new solutions so future tickets can be resolved faster

Expected Outcome: Escalations are timely, well-documented, and the requester is kept informed