On-call coverage

Each on-call shift names a service and a responder, with a start, end and escalation level. That gives the Service Manager a concrete coverage plan for a handoff. The schedule can show which person is expected to receive work during a period and where an escalation level applies. The responder can review their own shifts before taking duty.

The shift is a planning record. The incident’s assigned person remains the owner of an actual disruption. When an incident continues beyond the end of a shift, the team should record the new owner on the incident and preserve response events that explain the transfer. A shift change alone does not show who acknowledged the active work.

• Plan coverage. Enter the service, responder, start and end of each shift so the schedule can be checked before an operating period.
• Review escalation levels. Record the level for each shift and agree how a higher level is contacted when the first responder needs help.
• Handoff active work. Check open incidents and recent response events when the incoming responder takes over.

The Service Manager should decide which services need scheduled coverage and who maintains the schedule. Review overlapping and empty periods before relying on the rota. Agree what the escalation level means for each service and how people find the appropriate person after hours. Keep the People records current, especially whether a responder remains active.

If a paging tool is used, its delivery process needs a connection or a team procedure. The shift record supplies a named person and interval; it does not establish that a notification reached them. Use a response event and incident acknowledgment to document what happened after contact.

A service has an evening shift and a following morning shift. An incident opens shortly before the changeover. The first responder records an Acknowledge response event and an investigation update; the Service Manager records the acknowledgment time on the incident. The second responder uses the on-call schedule to confirm coverage, reads the incident update history and accepts the assignment for the remaining investigation. The manager sees the shift plan and the incident owner separately.

If the first responder escalated the issue before leaving, the event should identify who acted and when. The next person can then tell whether escalation was already attempted rather than repeating a page without context. When the service recovers, the assigned responder records the mitigation or resolve event and the Service Manager reviews the incident outcome.

• On-call schedule — Service coverage intervals, responders and escalation levels for planning.
• My on-call shifts — A personal list of assigned coverage periods.

Prepare the coverage handoff and follow incident response.