Is it possible to start counting time for SLA from when an issue was updated

Question

I'd like to start counting my time from when an issue was last updated not when it was created.

If the user writes back that they need more time, how can I account for that in the SLA? I also need to account for those users that do not respond at all.  So I cannot key off of the comments.

Thanks for your help.

Stephan Stahl_eec2qy · Answer

Hi Mary,
I ran across your question while searching for a different scenario - nevertheless, I think this can be achieved by transitioning into a "stop" state (as you mentioned yourself).

If you transition from an "active" (Start) state to a "Stop"-state, the SLA will be stopped (obviously). When you transition back to a "Start"-State again, the SLA will re-start counting from the ORIGINAL value. (Say: SLA time was originally set to "4hrs", it will start @ "4hrs" again when re-transitioned to the "start" state.)

This will even be indicated on the ticket itself (two checkboxes - ticket was "re-transitioned" in the example):

Rather late response to your question, but maybe it still helps.

Mary Sage_ieexhl · Answer

Thank you for your response.

What I need is a way to "reset the SLA".  I have the SLA start when the state is "Waiting on User" for 7 days.  However, the agent needs a way to reset the start time back to 7 days if the user requests more time.

One suggestion was to move the workflow to another state, which resets the SLA, then move it back to "Waiting on User".  This does not work because I found the SLAs to be cumulative.  It was set to 0 in the new state, but went back to its time when it moved back to the "Waiting on User".  (Eg:  If the SLA Time was 3 days and the issue was moved to another state, the SLA time is gone.  When moved back to "Waiting on User" the time was again 3 days).

I found the custom field value that holds the JSON value of the "SLAValue" structure in the custom field for the SLA.  I have modified it by changing times in the database.  I even nulled out the value and had all SLAs be recalculated.  Unfortunately service desk doesn't use this field when performing the calculations.

If you have any other suggestions, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Jack Brickey · Answer

Hi Mary, welcome to the community.

SLAs are pretty configurable. The best way to see the options is to create a new SLA or edit an existing on. You have triggers for start, pause and stop. Now “updated” is a bit odd IMO because updated in Jira can be all sorts of things, e.g. assigned, due date, comment etc. I will say it isn’t the best practice to not start an SLA on creation if you are dealing with customers as an issue could sit unattended for any random amount of time and in the customer’s eyes it should be when they submitted. However, there are certainly many use cases where this is not the case.

when you say “the user writes back” do you mean the Customer (reporter) or someone else? The typical way to deal with waiting on customer feedback is to Pause the SLA. Maybe some further clarification from you would allow me to provide a more complete/helpful answer.