Field notes
Short observations from escalation audits — what breaks when a customer is already waiting.
A runbook is not a live escalation path
Procedures look complete on paper until a ticket shows three silent handoffs and no owner after 02:00.
Severity words that mean nothing to agents
If “urgent” has no criteria, every shift invents its own — and escalation becomes noise.
Vendor handoffs where customers disappear
Escalation to a processor or BPO is not complete until someone owns the customer update.