Time limits: reminders and escalation

Platform, Automation, Time Limits says when an approval or a support ticket left alone is reminded, and when and to whom it is escalated.

There is one time limit each for workflow and automation approvals, purchase order approvals, purchase requisition approvals, hiring request approvals, agent approvals and support tickets. Each starts on: remind whoever has it at its due time, and escalate it a day later to their manager.

• Hours allowed: used when the approval or ticket has no due date of its own.
• Remind, hours after due: whoever has it is mailed once.
• Escalate, hours after due: it goes to the manager of whoever has it, a role, or a named person, who is mailed. With Move it to them it becomes theirs; otherwise they are added beside a role-routed approver, or told to chase.
• An agent approval is reminded half way to its expiry and escalated just before it, and its expiry moves on by the escalation hours. If the person it was escalated to does not answer either, it expires as before.
• A support ticket that is escalated is marked Escalated, with the reason.
• Only what falls due after a time limit is switched on is swept, so a backlog is not mailed all at once.

The sweep runs every five minutes; Sweep now runs it at once. Reminders & Escalations lists everything it did.