Q&A - Fix Response - FRT/OFR

The Contact Us function at the top of every page on the tl9000.org website is the preferred means for asking questions and receiving answers from the subject matter experts of the TIA QuEST Forum. Over the last few years many questions have been answered through this means. The number of each question is the ticket number in the Contact Us tracking system.

These questions generally relate to the Fix Response Time (FRT) and Overdue Fix Responsiveness (OFR) measurements.

Question 9077 — How many days that the fix response time become overdue for category 7.7.2?

Answer — For products and services in Categories 7 and 8 there is no set time. It is whatever you set up with your customer via a contract, service level agreement (“SLA”) or standard practice of the organization.

Once a problem report becomes overdue, it is counted as overdue until it has been closed.

Question 9429 — For a customer reported problem report where the service level agreement does not specify a resolution interval for fixing the problem does this lack of a resolution interval justify excluding an otherwise countable problem report from NPR/FRT/OFR? If not, what resolution interval should apply for the FRT measurement?

Answer — The resolution interval for fixing problems is in section 5.2.4 d) 1) of the TL 9000 Measurements Handbook. The handbook states ‘The above threshold times shall be modified to reflect the SLA obligations if a formal service level agreement exists between the customer and the organization.’ Since the SLA you describe does not modify the default resolution interval, the default resolution interval applies.

Question 9752 — A customer opens a Minor Problem Report. After 30 days that customer tells us to change it to a Major problem report. If we have not yet delivered a fix, are we automatically late with the fix response to what is now a Major problem?

Answer — The rule that applies here is 5.1.4 b) 8), “To obtain a comparable measure, the organization and customers shall map the severity of problem reports according to the definitions contained in the glossary for critical, major, and minor problem reports. When a problem clearly belongs in a given severity classification per the glossary definition, then that severity shall be used. If it is not clear which severity applies, the customer’s assignment of severity shall be used.” So, the determination of severity classification is determined by the customer if and only if the problem report does not clearly fall into a given classification. It is therefore beneficial to the organization to at least do a preliminary analysis of every reported problem to determine those factors that would impact its classification. It is only if it still falls in a grey area or if there is a factor discovered later that the report would be subject to a change in severity. If that does occur until 30 days or more after the date the problem report was opened, then yes, the report is automatically late.

Another possible complicating factor here is if the characteristic of the issue being used to justify the major severity is actually a new problem report that was discovered during the investigation of the original problem and not a characteristic intrinsic to that original problem. In this case, there should be a new major problem report opened at the time of the request for change in severity.

Question 10248 — FRT Counting rules - Paragraph 5.2.4 d) does state the above threshold times (180 days & 30 days) "shall be modified to reflect the SLA obligations if a formal service level agreement exists between the customer and the organization." Can you provide TL 9000's definition of "Formal Service Level Agreement." If customer files a problem report and requests a written response to their complaint and specifies they require a response within a certain timeframe, and we agree to it, would that be considered an example of a formal service level agreement?

Answer — Yes, if the customer requests a fix be delivered by a specific date and the organization agrees to that date, then the due date for the problem report becomes the agreed to date. It should be noted the organization in this situation is under no obligation to agree to a date that is shorter than the 30 or 180 days. A longer date is automatically covered by the deferred fix rule, 5.2.4 b) 8)

Question 11091 — Regarding OFR, a problem reported was due to be closed on 12/6/19 and was closed on 12/16/19. For Dec FRT I would show 1 due to be closed in Dec and 0 closed on time. Do I also report this under OFR as 1 overdue in Dec and 1 closed in Dec, or is OFR 0 in Dec because it was reported as FRT in Dec. In other words, is this reported as FRT and OFR for Dec?

Answer — Yes. It is counted for both in December. See rule 5.3.4 b) 2).

Question 12102 — I have a question about the FRT and OTD measurements for 7.5 Customer Support Services. What is the difference between the FRT and OTD measurements for Family 7.5? My understanding is that they are the same, as the service the customer-support center provides is resolution to customer problems. Both measurements are measuring if a customer problem is fixed within SLA (CRD=SLA) or not. Is this correct? The only other way I could think of differentiating between FRT and OTD is if OTD only includes general sales or billing inquires customer support tend to get. FRT will measure the responsiveness to a customer reported problems while OTD will measure general customer inquiries and not problems. Would this be a possible solution?

Answer — There seems to be a misunderstanding here about what is included in the FRT and OTD measurements. FRT includes only problem reports from the customer about the service itself. In the case of 7.5 Customer Support Services, this would be reports of problems with the customer support service itself. It does not include problems about the products or services being supported. This would likely be a very few of the calls being received by the customer support service. OTD for a service category would include all applicable service transactions. For 7.5, this would be all calls for which the customer support service is responsible for resolving. For a typical customer support organization, very few of these calls qualify as a TL 9000 problem report but they will be counted in OTD.

Question 12680 — I report a minor complaint on 6/08/20, thus Np3 = 1 in June. I won't report Fr3d = 1 until December. I fix it in September. Do I report FR3c = 1 in Sept without reporting Fr3d?

Answer — As per the Rule 5.2.4 b) 4) “For FRT, problem reports are counted once, ONLY in the month they are due and not in the month they are resolved or closed.” This complaint would be reported in Fr3c (number of minor problem reports closed on time) and Fr3d (number of minor problem reports due to be closed) in December.