Create an interaction category

If you are a Service Manager Administrator, you may want to create new interaction categories. You may want to create a category when you require a different worfklow that specifies unique forms and business rules.

Micro Focus Service Manager provides a number of out-of-box category records that you can use or modify. For more information, see Out-of-box Service Desk categories.

To create new category record:

1. Click Service Desk.

2. Click Configuration > Interaction Categories.

3. Click New.
4. Type the name of the category.

5. Specify the Apply To option to indicate the modules that can share this category.

   Note The Apply To flag indicates whether the category is shared across different modules. For example, if the Apply To is set to "Interaction/Incident", this category will be created in both the interaction category table and the incident category table. Typical shared categories in the out-of-box system include:

   • complaint

   • incident
   • problem
   • request for information
   • request for administration

   For an Interaction Category, the following rules apply:

   • Once a value is specified in the Apply To field and the record is saved, the value cannot be modified.

   • If Apply To is set to "Interaction" only, the Allow Escalation flag becomes read-only.

     The following table describes the Allow Escalation settings for the out-of-box categories that only apply to Interaction.

     Category	Allow Escalation	Notes
     compliment service catalog	Disabled (Read-only)	This is because "Apply To Interaction" means the category is not shared among other modules, and interactions of this category do not need to trigger a record in another module. A compliment can be closed immediately or worked through the phases as a normal interaction. A service catalog interaction can be resolved by ordering items from the catalog.
     complaint incident problem request for administration request for change Request for information	Enabled (Editable)	Although the category is not shared among other modules, an interaction of one of these categories should be allowed to trigger a change request or a service request.

   The Apply To options that are used in Interaction Categories include:

   • Interaction
   • Interaction/Incident
   • Interaction/Incident/Problem
   • Interaction/Problem

6. Specify whether the category is active and whether escalation is allowed.

   Note If the Active check box is unchecked, you cannot use this category when creating a new record.

7. Type the category description.
8. Select a workflow for the category.
9. Click Save to view the Workflow tab and other associated tabs.
10. Click Subcategories tab to create subcategories for the interaction category.

11. Click Service Desk Approval tab to configure approval settings.

    Note The settings in the Service Desk Approval tab are only for service catalog approval. That is, in the out-of-box system, they are only valid for the service catalog category.

12. Click Save.

Related topics

Add a new interaction subcategory
Add a new interaction area