TDX: Work with Parent/Child Ticket Relationships

As you work within TeamDynamix, you will see the language Parent and Child. This article explains what that terminology means and how it works for our processes and procedures.

Defining the Terminology of Parent/Child Tickets

The terms Parent and Child refer to the hierarchy of how tickets can be related to one another. 

A Parent ticket must be a higher classification of a ticket to have any children.

  • Major Incident tickets can be parent tickets of Incidents or Service Requests.
  • Problem tickets can be parents of Major Incidents.
  • Change tickets can be parents of Problems. 

Parent tickets can have multiple children tickets. A child ticket must be at least one classification below that of the parent ticket. 

Making Parent Tickets

Any ticket can be made to be a parent ticket. 

  1. Navigate to the ticket that you want to act as the Parent ticket.
  2. Select the Action menu in the Incident ticket; choose Create Parent from the dropdown menu. The Select Application/Form window pops open.
    General Tab, Actions menu, Create Parent highlighted
  3. Choose the type of parent ticket you want to create.

See the following resources for specific scenarios to create Parent tickets:

Associating Child Tickets to a Parent Ticket 

Child tickets can be associated with parent tickets from within the child ticket or the parent ticket.

Associating existing tickets as Child tickets to/from a Parent ticket

  1. Navigate to the ticket that needs to be associated as the child ticket.
  2. Click the Actions menu and select Set Parent. The Set Parent window opens.
  3. Type the ticket number for the parent ticket in the New Parent field. The name of the parent ticket will automatically populate the field.
    Set Parent window; Incident ID#; Current Parent: None; New Parent field populated; Text box says, "If the "New Parent" is left blank, this will remove the parent from the ticket."
    1. If needed, use Lookup New Parent to search for the parent you want to associate with this ticket.
  4. Select Save. The initial ticket will now be a child ticket of the parent ticket.

Adding multiple Children Tickets to a Parent Ticket

  1. Navigate to the parent ticket that you are working from.
  2. Select the Children tab on the menu bar.
    Major Incident window including ticket title; Major Incident ID #; menu bar with Children tab highlighted and associated menu buttons
  3. Click Add Existing. The Add Children window pops open with a list of all incidents.
    1. Click the filter results icon (top right corner) to search for the tickets you want to add as children to this parent ticket. 
    2. Check all tickets in the search results that you want to set as children tickets.
      Add Children window with list of filtered incidents; checkboxes highlighted for selected tickets
  4. Click Add Selected at the top of the window. The window closes and the window will update to include all of the tickets you selected. 

Unassociating a Child Ticket from a Parent Ticket

Likewise, you can take a child ticket out from under a parent ticket.

  1. Navigate to the parent ticket that you are working from.
  2. Select the Children tab on the menu bar. A list of all child tickets appears.
    Major Incident window including ticket title; Major Incident ID #; menu bar with Children tab highlighted and associated menu buttons
  3. Find the child ticket that needs to be removed in the list of tickets and select Remove in that ticket row.
    XXXXX
  4. Click Yes when prompted with a notification box asking you if you are sure you want to remove the ticket as a child.

The Children's tab ticket list will automatically update and the ticket you removed will no longer be on the list.

Communicating with Parent and Child Tickets (Cascade Communications)

When working with any ticket classification that has child tickets associated with it, you will have the option to send communications to the people connected to all of the child tickets any time you update the parent ticket.

  1. Open the parent ticket that you need to update.
  2. Click Actions and select Update from the dropdown menu.
  3. Change the Status field to reflect the current status, if applicable.
  4. Check the Cascade checkbox. A new Cascade Notifications field will appear below the Cascade checkbox.
    XXXXX
    • ​​​​​​​Note: If you do not communicate and close the child tickets associated with the Major Incident or Problem ticket when you first close the ticket, you can go back to the resolved Major Incident or Problem ticket, select Update, and re-check the Cascade box to notify and close the child tickets associated to the resolved Major Incident/Problem ticket.
  5. Click in the Cascade Notification field. A menu will appear with various groups who can be notified.
    XXXXX
    1. Click the checkbox next to all people groups you want to receive the notification.
    2. Creators refers to the technician who created the child ticket.
  6. Uncheck the box labeled Make comments private (only visible to U of M Tickets users).
  7. Write a customer-friendly response in the Comments box based on the status of the parent ticket.
  8. Complete the Notify and Notify Other People fields accordingly.
    • Note: These fields will help you select to notify people associated with the Parent ticket. 
  9. Select Save at the top of the window. All child incidents will have been updated with the status update and comments you wrote in the comment box.
TDX ID
5382