Referring Cases to Developers
In this guide, we will go through the process in which any cases needing to be investigated by a developer, can be properly logged, checked, triaged, and updates provided.
Create your Support Case
You must first create a VTiger Support Case detailing the issues that have been reported by the client. If a client is reporting multiple issues, then separate cases will need to be created for these issues.
Please see our guide on creating a support case here; How to Create a Support Case
Information Required for Referring the Case to Developers
There will be a lot of information that is useful for the developers, however, there will also be information that is not useful. Please remember that developers are not client-facing and so we need to provide them with all of the relevant information about the issue. We should not be forwarding an email to the developers to take a look.
You can use the template below for providing information about an issue to the developers;
Client Name
Which system/product is the client having issues with? I.E. ProPoint, DigiTickets Back Office, API etc
What is the exact problem the client is having? e.g. unable to view orders created from ProPoint
What internet browser is the client using? Especially useful when looking at ProPoint issues
Step-by-step, how do we replicate this issue?
What are the event, order, category, ticket, email ID’s that need to be investigated?
What impact is this issue having on the client? e.g. they are unable to trade, unable to run reports accurately, small impact but the investigation still required
Have any other clients reported this issue before?
Are there any outstanding Jira cases open for this already?
If you are also able to provide any screenshots, or ideally videos of the issue, then please also attach this to the case.
Sending the Case to the Developers
Before any case is referred to the developers, it is triaged and reviewed by the Support Team Leader and/or the Client Services Manager.
The following process should be followed;
Email the client responding to the issue and advise them that you are referring the issue to the developers for further investigation
Using the template of questions above, add a comment and tag the Developer User “@developeruser”
Client Name;
Which system/product is the client having issues with?
What is the exact problem the client is having?
What internet browser is the client using?
Step-by-step, how do we replicate this issue?
What are the event, order, category, ticket, or email ID’s that need to be investigated?
What impact is this issue having on the client?
Have any other clients reported this issue before?
Are there any outstanding cases open for this already?
Ensure that your comment tagging the developer user also matches the summary box
Ensure that the Support Case title reflects the issue being reported
Change the status to Send to Developer User
6. Assign the case to the Support Team Leader
Case Escalation Process for Bugs
If you have a client that needs to have a bug escalated, then you should follow the process set out below.
Inform the client that you will escalate the case to the Support Team Leader to get any latest updates, and an estimated timeframe as to when we are likely to have the bug resolved
Email the Support Team Leader noting the client name, the VTiger Case, and the Jira Link (if already created)
The Support Team Leader will then liaise with the Head of Product and the Technical Development Leader to get the case prioritised.
The Support Team Leader will then act as the liaison between yourself and the development team. It will be your responsibility to manage the communication for the client. This process is separate from the complaints escalation process.
Developer User Triage Process for New Cases
Cases that have been referred to the developer user will be found in the “Dev V-Tiger” queue. Linked here.
Review the case and determine if the behaviour is expected or unexpected. If the behaviour that is being reported is unexpected then you should also determine the following;
Whether you can resolve it immediately (within 5 minutes).
Whether another developer needs to deal with it if you don’t know the area of the system.
Whether or not we are going to fix it.
Whether a Jira bug needs to be created.
Additional Information Required from the Client/Support Agent
There may be times in which you will require additional information from the client, or the support agent to progress the case further. If you do, then follow the steps below.
Add a comment to the vTiger case to ask for additional information, and tag the support agent. You can also tag the Head of Product and the Support Team Leader to track and escalate if needed.
Change the status of the vTiger case to Dev Has Responded.
Assign the VTiger case back to the Support Agent so that they can action any next steps.
If there is a Jira issue and this is stopping progress, place the Jira issue On Hold and add a comment to explain why it's on hold.
If you are not able to create a Jira issue because the information required is stopping you from creating this, then please place a note in your comment stating that a Jira issue will not be raised until the information is provided.
Adding a Jira Issue
Once you have created the Jira task, please ensure that you assign the case back to the original Support Agent.
Create the issue within Jira adding in all of the relevant information. Note; you should always be creating bugs within Jira. The only time you should be creating a task is if the case is for a membership extension/deactivation.
The reporter should be the Support Agent who raised the VTiger case.
In VTiger, Change the status of the VTiger case to In Jira and add the reference to the Jira (full URL) in the pop-up window for the dependent fields.
Add a comment in the VTiger case to explain the status, note the full Jira URL in that comment as well as on the Details page. Please also tag the Support Agent who raised the case so that the Support Agent can then watch the issue for any email updates.
Make sure your comment has context, and that your intentions can be understood by someone who comes to the issue cold, at a later date.
Providing Updates/Additional Comments on a VTiger Case
If you are providing an update on a case or advising that something has been actioned by the development, then you should add a comment to the VTiger case, tag the support agent, and add your name.
You should also change the status of the case to Dev has Responded.
Time Critical Tasks
If when you are going through the list of VTiger cases and your investigation concludes that the case needs to be treated with a higher priority, then you should reach out to the Support Team Leader to let them know.
Once you have reached out to the Support Team Leader, you will be asked to create a Jira ticket immediately. This will then be escalated through to the Head of Product, and the Technical Development Leader respectively.
Things to Note
Make sure you put your name in any comment so all parties know which developer wrote it.
Each ticket has a priority assigned. Start with the highest priority first, for tickets of the same priority, start from the tickets with the lowest SLA Time Remaining.
Handover any outstanding cases to the incoming developer looking at the developer queue.
If more than one client is reporting the same issue, we should have separate VTiger cases for them, but the VTigers should be linked to the same Jira case
For membership activations or extensions, if a client reports many different requests within a short space of time, then we shall merge the VTiger cases together and send one request over to the developers.