<h2>Create an escalation policy</h2><br/><div style="overflow-x:auto"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"><head><meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><meta name="copyright" content="(C) Copyright 2025" /><meta name="DC.rights.owner" content="(C) Copyright 2025" /><meta name="generator" content="DITA-OT" /><meta name="DC.type" content="task" /><meta name="DC.title" content="Create an escalation policy" /><meta name="abstract" content="An escalation policy includes the policy type that defines the order in which rosters and roster members receive escalation notifications. You can create a custom escalation policy for a shift by overriding settings in a default escalation type, for example, by configuring custom delays between escalation steps." /><meta name="description" content="An escalation policy includes the policy type that defines the order in which rosters and roster members receive escalation notifications. You can create a custom escalation policy for a shift by overriding settings in a default escalation type, for example, by configuring custom delays between escalation steps." /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/on-call-scheduling/concept/designing-escalation-process-oncall.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../product/it-service-management/reference/r_ITServiceManagement.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/on-call-scheduling/concept/c_OnCallScheduling.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/user-administration/concept/defining-escalation-process-and-template.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/on-call-scheduling/concept/escalations-oncall.html" /><meta name="DC.creator" content="ServiceNow" /><meta name="DC.date.created" content="2023-08-03" /><meta name="DC.date.modified" content="2024-02-01" /><meta name="DC.format" content="XHTML" /><meta name="DC.identifier" content="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall" /><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../../CSS/commonltr.css" /><title>Create an escalation policy</title></head><body id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall"> <div class="breadcrumb"><a class="link" href="../../../product/it-service-management/reference/r_ITServiceManagement.html" title="The IT Service Management (ITSM) solution provides scalable workflows to manage and deliver IT services to your users all through a single cloud-based platform.">IT Service Management</a> > <a class="link" href="../../../administer/on-call-scheduling/concept/c_OnCallScheduling.html" title="The On-Call Scheduling application identifies the assigned and available member of a support group, for example, when assigning an incident.">On-Call Scheduling</a> > <a class="link" href="../../../administer/user-administration/concept/defining-escalation-process-and-template.html" title="Create shift and group templates, escalation policies and trigger rules. Design escalation process and track progress of an escalation.">Defining On-Call Scheduling escalation process</a> > <a class="link" href="../../../administer/on-call-scheduling/concept/escalations-oncall.html" title="An escalation is a mechanism that ensures that important issues are addressed in a timely manner.">Escalations in On-Call Scheduling</a> > </div> <h1 class="title topictitle1" id="ariaid-title1">Create an escalation policy</h1> <div class="body taskbody"><p class="shortdesc">An escalation policy includes the policy type that defines the order in which rosters and roster members receive escalation notifications. You can create a custom escalation policy for a shift by overriding settings in a default escalation type, for example, by configuring custom delays between escalation steps.</p> <div class="section prereq p"> <p class="p">Role required: rota_admin, rota_manager, or admin</p> </div> <div class="section context" id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall__context_fq1_mw1_cgb"> <p class="p">Users with rota_manager role can edit policies only for their groups. Users with rota_admin and admin role can edit policies for all the groups.</p> <div class="p">The escalation type determines the order in which members of a user group are notified about the escalation. The escalation type depends on the number of rosters. <ul class="ul" id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall__ul_and_pg5_jlb"><li class="li">If a shift has only one roster, the escalation type is automatically set to <span class="ph uicontrol">Rotate through members</span> and the escalation path goes through the member list of a roster (primary, secondary, tertiary) to determine whom to notify.</li><li class="li">If the shift has multiple rosters, the escalation type is automatically set to <span class="ph uicontrol">Rotate through rosters</span> and the escalation path goes through all rosters to determine whom to notify.</li><li class="li">If the shift has a customized escalation hierarchy, the escalation type is set to <span class="ph uicontrol">Custom</span> and the escalation path goes through members as defined in the escalation hierarchy. See <a class="xref" href="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall.html" title="An escalation policy includes the policy type that defines the order in which rosters and roster members receive escalation notifications. You can create a custom escalation policy for a shift by overriding settings in a default escalation type, for example, by configuring custom delays between escalation steps.">Create an escalation policy</a> for details.</li></ul> </div> <p class="p"><span class="ph">On-Call Scheduling</span> supports multiple escalation policies per shift; for example, policies based on the priority of the incident or type of task record.</p> </div> <ol class="ol steps"><li class="li step stepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">Create a custom escalation policy using the escalation designer.</span> <table border="1" frame="hsides" rules="rows" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" class="simpletable choicetable choicetableborder" id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall__choicetable_xjj_bsh_cgb"><colgroup><col style="width:50%" /><col style="width:50%" /><table><thead><tr class="sthead chhead"><th class="stentry choptionhd" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;" id="d465312e92-option">Option</th><th class="stentry chdeschd" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;" id="d465312e92-desc">Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="strow chrow"><th style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e92-option" id="d465312e96" class="stentry choption">Access the designer from the On-Call Schedules module</th><td style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e92-desc d465312e96" class="stentry chdesc"> <ol class="ol" type="a" id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall__ol_jzd_dsh_cgb"><li class="li">Navigate to <span class="ph menucascade"><span class="ph uicontrol">On-Call Scheduling</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">On-Call Schedules</span></span>.</li><li class="li">Click the required shift card.</li><li class="li">In the <span class="ph uicontrol">Shifts</span> tab, click the actions icon for the shift.</li><li class="li">Click <span class="ph uicontrol">Override escalation</span> and click <span class="ph uicontrol">OK</span> in the confirmation window.</li></ol> </td></tr><tr class="strow chrow"><th style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e92-option" id="d465312e138" class="stentry choption">Access the designer from the My Group Schedules module</th><td style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e92-desc d465312e138" class="stentry chdesc"> <ol class="ol" type="a" id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall__ol_swr_fsh_cgb"><li class="li">Navigate to <span class="ph menucascade"><span class="ph uicontrol">On-Call Scheduling</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">My Group Schedules</span></span>.</li><li class="li">Open the required shift.</li><li class="li">Click <span class="ph uicontrol">Override Escalation Policy</span> and then click <span class="ph uicontrol">Yes</span> in the confirmation dialog box.</li></ol> </td></tr></tbody></table><ul><li class="li step stepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">Click the Add Escalation Step icon and then fill in the Add Escalation Step form.</span> <div class="itemgroup info"> <div class="tablenoborder"><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall__table_xrx_th1_cgb" class="table" frame="border" border="1" rules="all"><caption><span class="tablecap"><span class="table--title-label">Table 1. </span>Add Escalation Step form</span></caption><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;"><tr class="row"><th class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d465312e201">Field</th><th class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d465312e204">Description</th></tr></thead><tbody class="tbody"><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Name</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Name of the escalation step.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Escalation level</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Hierarchy level of the step.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Time to next step</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Wait time from the last reminder to run the next step.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Escalation set</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Escalation set for the step.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Number of reminders</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Number of reminders to send in this step.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Time between reminders</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Time between each reminder of this step.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder sub-head" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 d465312e204 ">Escalation audience</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Roster</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Rosters to which escalation notifications and reminders are sent.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Groups</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">User groups to which escalation notifications and reminders are sent.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Users</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Users to whom escalation notifications and reminders are sent.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Devices</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Devices to which escalation notifications and reminders are sent. For example, a mobile phone that is rotated between group members.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Group manager</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Option to send escalation notifications and reminders to the group manager.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e201 ">Group manager field</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e204 ">Option to select group managers hierarchically to send escalation notifications and reminders.<p class="p">This field is available only when the <span class="ph uicontrol">Group manager</span> check box is selected.</p> </td></tr></tbody></table> </div> <div class="tablenoborder"><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" id="create-custom-esc-policy-oncall__table_ix4_mxt_nhb" class="table" frame="border" border="1" rules="all"><caption><span class="tablecap"><span class="table--title-label">Table 2. </span>Add Escalation set form</span></caption><colgroup><col style="width:50%" /><col style="width:50%" /></colgroup><thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;"><tr class="row"><th class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d465312e357"> </th><th class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d465312e359"> </th></tr></thead><tbody class="tbody"><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Name</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">Name the escalation policy.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Shift</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">The shift to which the escalation policy applies.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Default</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">Select the check box to mark the escalation policy as default. The default escalation policy is used for all on-call escalations in the case that none of the specified <span class="ph uicontrol">Conditions</span> are met.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Table</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">Choose the table for which you want to set the escalation policy.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Condition</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">Use the condition section to add filters to the escalation criteria.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Description</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">Short description of the escalation policy.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Active</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">Select the check box to enable the escalation policy.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Override user preference</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">Select the check box to override the user's contact preferences.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e357 ">Order</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d465312e359 ">When there are multiple escalation policies defined for a shift, the order in which to apply this policy. Smaller numbers first.</td></tr></tbody></table> </div> </div> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"><strong>Optional: </strong> <span class="ph cmd">To edit an escalation step, click the edit escalation step icon and perform the edits.</span> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"><strong>Optional: </strong> <span class="ph cmd">Add multiple escalation steps if required.</span> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"><strong>Optional: </strong> <span class="ph cmd">To edit the escalation hierarchy for the shift, click the actions icon and click <span class="ph uicontrol">Edit escalation</span>.</span> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"><strong>Optional: </strong> <span class="ph cmd">To reset to the default escalation type for the shift, click the actions icon and click <span class="ph uicontrol">Reset escalation</span>.</span> </li><li><div class="related-links"> <div class="familylinks"> <div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent Topic:</strong> <a class="link" href="../../../administer/on-call-scheduling/concept/designing-escalation-process-oncall.html" title="To design an escalation process for a task, you define a trigger rule and configure one or more escalation policies.">Designing an escalation process</a></div> </div> </div> </li></ul></colgroup></table></li></ol></div></body></html></div>