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Support
How support tickets are received, triaged, resolved and communicated back to the client.
Living document
Parts of this process are still in flux. Items marked TBC are not yet decided or set up – see Open items.
Roles
- Support team member – whoever is handling support for the day. Owns the ticket end to end: triage, billing, developer assignment, testing and client communication.
- Developer – investigates and resolves the issue where developer involvement is needed.
- Project manager (PM) – can advise on which developers are available and appropriate for a given client.
Receiving a ticket
Tickets arrive via either:
- The Jira support portal – this is the preferred route.
- Email to support@morphsites.com.
Where a client emails support, encourage them to submit future requests via the support portal.
TIP
Portal setup is required on our side before clients can be moved over. TBC
Triage
The support team member makes best efforts to triage each ticket, gathering enough information for a developer to investigate and resolve it where possible.
Developer involvement isn't always needed. Content changes and billing questions, for example, can usually be handled by support alone.
Where relevant, check for signs of a wider problem, such as an increase in errors:
- Laravel Pulse
- Laravel Horizon
- The log viewer
- Oh Dear
Billing and time logging
- Before requesting developer assignment, the support team member must ensure billing agreements are in place.
- Every ticket must have its own Agencybeam task for time logging. Create it via the Agencybeam support page where possible. A developer may ask for this before they start work.
- The only exception is critical vulnerability tickets raised by Agencybeam itself, which are tracked independently – see Vulnerabilities.
Assigning a developer
If an issue is confirmed, or triage isn't possible, the ticket goes to a developer.
Choosing a developer
Where it is clear only one developer can investigate, assign them directly using Jira's developer field:
| Area | Developer |
|---|---|
| WordPress sites | Bohdan or Petr |
| DNS changes | Jordan or Hector |
Before assigning, check with the PMs for the client in question whether a more junior – and therefore more available – developer could handle it.
If the developer isn't obvious
Comment on the ticket mentioning Chris, asking for assignment. If Chris is unavailable, the chain of responsibility is:
- Ethan
- Steve
- Claire, if none of the above are available
Notifying the developer
Assigning the ticket notifies the developer by email, and via Teams if they have that configured for Jira. For urgent tickets, also message them directly on Teams.
Priority
Support takes priority over scheduled work.
The exception is tickets that are neither urgent nor bugs – for example, minor enhancements. These should be scheduled rather than actioned immediately.
Developer responsibilities
- Keep the ticket updated as work progresses, for example by commenting when you start looking at it.
- Mention @Support Team – not an individual – when you have a question or feedback.
- When finished, comment mentioning @Support Team with a description of the resolution. This is mandatory.
- If the work is likely to take more than one hour, tell support so billing decisions can be made before more time is spent. See Estimating.
Support team responsibilities
Communicating with the client
Keep the client informed promptly and efficiently.
Never copy a developer's response verbatim. Developers don't always use client-friendly language. Make sure you understand the response, then write it in your own words.
Verifying the fix
Don't accept something as fixed just because a developer says so. Test it internally where possible before telling the client.
Open items
- Set up the Jira support portal and move clients over from email. TBC
- Define how support duty is rostered. TBC