When to use it
Use this when several people need the same service information. Keep the technical investigation in its own incident record; the update should help staff decide what to do now.
The blank template: what to record
- Service and update time
- Name the affected service and give the time of this update.
- Known impact
- Describe the affected school task, locations and checked scope.
- What is known
- State confirmed facts and what is still being investigated. Avoid speculative causes.
- Approved alternative
- Give the alternative agreed with the responsible school lead, or explain who is arranging it.
- Owner and next update
- Name the accountable role and the next update time, even when a repair estimate is unavailable.
- Recovery confirmation
- Explain which checks must pass before staff are told the service has recovered.
Download the TXT version to edit these headings, or print the PDF pack for a paper draft.
Fictional training example
A completed example
- Service and update time
- Teaching Wi-Fi, update 09:05.
- Known impact
- Devices in the fictional North Block cannot connect. Two checked rooms in South Block remain connected.
- What is known
- The network team is comparing affected and working connections. The cause and recovery time are not yet confirmed.
- Approved alternative
- Use the lesson contingency agreed with the school lead. Do not move school work to personal accounts.
- Owner and next update
- Network service owner. Next update at 09:25, including if there is no material change.
- Recovery confirmation
- Test sign-in and the intended teaching service in two affected rooms; obtain staff confirmation before closing the incident.
Check the finished record
- Can a member of staff understand the impact without IT terminology?
- Have uncertain causes stayed labelled as uncertain?
- Is there a next update time?
Use an explicit “unresolved” or “workaround” outcome when a service has not been fully restored. A neatly completed form is useful only when it represents the evidence accurately.
Put it into practice
Choose one recent, non-sensitive example with your team. Ask another person to read the draft and explain the next action. Revise any field that leaves them guessing, then transfer the agreed structure into your approved record system.