Creating Out of Office Rules for JSM Customers

Overview

Out of Office Assistant enables administrators to create delegation rules for Jira Service Management (JSM) customers, ensuring critical approval workflows continue uninterrupted when customers are unavailable. This feature is particularly valuable for change management processes where customers serve as approvers, preventing bottlenecks when they're out of office.

Understanding Customer Rules

What Are Customer Rules?

Customer rules are specialized Out of Office configurations that apply to JSM customers (users without agent licenses) who participate in approval workflows. These rules:

• 🎯 Target non-agent users who act as approvers in service requests

• 🔄 Delegate approval rights to designated colleagues during absences

• ✅ Maintain workflow continuity by preventing approval bottlenecks

• 📊 Support change management and other approval-dependent processes

How Customer Rules Work

When a JSM customer with an active rule is set as an approver:

1. The system detects the absence through the active rule

2. Approval rights are automatically transferred to the designated coverer

3. The workflow continues without manual intervention

4. Original approver is restored when the rule expires

Enabling Customer Rules

Prerequisites

Before creating customer rules, ensure you have:

• OoO Admin permissions in Out of Office Assistant

• Jira Administrator or equivalent permissions

• JSM projects with approval workflows configured

• Customer accounts registered in your Jira instance

Step 1: Access Global Settings

1. Navigate to Apps → Out-Of-Office Assistant

2. Click on User Administration in the main interface

3. Select Global Settings from the administration menu

Screenshot Placeholder: [Global Settings Navigation - 800x400px]

Step 2: Enable Customer Rules Feature

1. Locate the Customer Rules section in Global Settings

2. Toggle the Enable customer rules switch to ON position

3. Review the confirmation message about feature activation

4. Click Save to apply the configuration

💡 Tip: Enabling customer rules adds a new "Customers" Switch to the User View interface, separate from regular user management.

Creating Customer Out of Office Rules

Step 3: Navigate to Customer Management

1. Return to the main User View interface

2. Notice the two tabs now available:

   • Users: For managing agent/licensed user rules

   • Customers: For managing JSM customer rules

3. Click on the Customers tab

Step 4: View Available Customers

The customer list displays:

• Customer Name: Display name of the JSM customer

• Email: Customer's registered email address

• Active Rules: Number of currently active rules

• Actions: Available management options

Step 5: Create a New Rule

1. Locate the customer who needs coverage

2. Click Add Rule next to their name

3. Configure the rule parameters:

Basic Configuration

Coverage Configuration

Scope Configuration

Customer Rules Status: ✅ COMPLETE
Next Step: Configure Agent Availability Display in JSM Customer Portal