Configuring intelligent category and support group predictions in incidents with BMC Helix classifier

Service desk managers can use AI to classify incoming incidents into appropriate categories. AI also predicts the best-suited support group for resolving incidents. AI analyzes historical, closed incidents in BMC Helix ITSM to predict the appropriate categories. The service capability uses the Helix model to predict the categories.

Important
The multi-attribute category prediction capability will be deprecated in the next version. Hence, we do not recommend creating new Multi-Attribute Prediction data set. Use the Helix model for category prediction in the upcoming release versions.

Use this capability for the following benefits:

Better classification of incidents into categories, resulting in quicker resolutions.
Improved assignments to support groups, ensuring appropriate utilization of support resources.

Scenario to perform category prediction

Carl, a Service Desk Agent at Apex Global, is handling a high volume of incoming IT support tickets. He receives a ticket with a vague description and no categorization. He clicks under the categorization fields.
With the new capability, the system instantly analyzes the ticket content and suggests appropriate categories based on historical data. Carl then clicks under the Assigned Support Group field to predict the relevant support group for resolution. He reviews all suggestions, makes a minor adjustment, and submits the ticket.

Workflow for category and support group prediction

Before you begin

Make sure that you have the Cognitive Service Config permission. For information about this permission, see Permissions-to-configure-the-cognitive-service.
Make sure that you understand the types of training data and the guidelines to follow while generating the data.
Obtain the URL and credentials required to configure the cognitive service.

To configure intelligent category prediction in incidents with BMC Helix classifier

To configure the CCS parameters

Log in to Mid Tier.
Select AR System Administration > AR System Administration Console > System > General > Centralized Configuration.
From the Component Name list, select com.bmc.arsys.server.shared > *.
Set the value of the following CCS parameters:
- Classification-Service-Provider CCS parameter as HELIX.
  Use this parameter to select the provider of the classification service.
- Cognitive-Service-Confidence-Threshold CCS parameter as 0.0.
Click Apply.

To configure the cognitive service connection settings

Log in to Mid Tier
Navigate to Application Administration Console > Custom Configuration > Foundation > Advanced Options > Cognitive Service Configuration.
On the Cognitive Data Setup form, click Cognitive Service Setup.
On the Cognitive Service Connection Settings form, enter the field values for User Name, Password, and Cognitive Service URL.
The URL and credentials are provided to the admin user.
In Enable Cognitive Service, select Yes.
The value that you select updates the Enable-Cognitive-Service CCS parameter.
After you save the settings, click Test Connection to check whether the cognitive service is configured on your system.
- If cognitive service is successfully configured, the following message is displayed:
  Connection Successful (ARNOTE 10000)
- If the system encounters problems while configuring the service, an error is displayed.
(Optional) If the system fails to configure the service due to an error, check the error details in the arextension.log file in the ARSysteminstalldirectory\Arserver\Db location and re-enter the correct values on the form.

To generate training data to train the algorithm on closed incidents of the past

Log in to Mid Tier.
Navigate to Application Administration Console > Custom Configuration > Foundation > Advanced Options > Cognitive Service Configuration.
From the Company list, select the company for which you want to enable the capability.
From the Application list, select Incident Management.
From the Template list, select Incident Multi Attribute Prediction Training Data to use the support group prediction and categorization capabilities together.
Click Add Selected Template.
Select the added template and click Generate Training Data.

Note: The multi-attribute category prediction capability will be deprecated in the next version. Hence, we do not recommend creating new Multi-Attribute Prediction data set.

The AI algorithm analyzes closed incidents from the selected company in BMC Helix ITSM, and considers them for model training.

If the training data generation fails, see Troubleshooting incident requests.

Recommendation

Each support group must have at least 100 incidents to train the model such that BMC Helix ITSM can predict categories and support groups of new incidents.
We recommend setting the Cognitive-Service-Confidence-Threshold CCS parameter as 0.0. This ensures that the Helix model can predict categories and support groups of new incidents.

Where to go from here

Creating an incident request