Here is how I like to set it up. We have 4 pools that handle different responsibilities. The type of tickets assigned to each pool is based on the tickets category. When a ticket is created the system sends out an email notification to one these pools. In the email I inform all recipients what the Escalation Level is and the Priority.
I use a message template:
And the recipients are listed in a procedure variable:
When the ticket enters the “main” working stage I run a Stage Entry procedure. (This runs only one time)
This is where I set the escalation times: {If you want you could send out an email here but I prefer to do it by job function}
If the ticket meets the escalation time I have another email that gets sent out during the Escalation Procedure.
This moves the ticket to tier 2 support. (On my setup the Escalation Procedure also moves the ticket into a new stage).
