About Automatic Incident Data Archival
In order to improve the overall user experience and to expedite the speed at which the incident dashboard and search results load, GoToAssist Service Desk performs regularly scheduled (i.e., daily) archiving of historical incident data within our system. Incidents and their associated data (e.g., comments on incidents) that are older than 2 years from the date they were last updated are automatically archived and available in Read-Only format.
Once incidents are archived (2 years after the date they were last updated), they will be deleted from our system 1 year from the date they were archived, allowing incident data to stay in our system up to 3 years from the date it was last updated.
While it is the incident and related data that becomes archived, this does not mean Service Desk users need to create a Knowledge Article for every incident. Service Desk users can get the most optimal performance and results by creating Knowledge Articles that document the most useful information, like the root cause of an underlying issue, pertinent actions and processes that lead to identifying a solution, and the solution itself.
The following are examples of the archival process: and removal process:
Search archived incidents
All incident data that becomes archived still remains available to users in Read-Only format within their account. To access archived incident data, agents can use keywords in the "Search" field, then filter by "All records" in the right navigation under the Services/States section. Users can also filter by "Non-Archived records only" to view service records that can still be edited, as they have not yet been archived by the system.
When users click to view an archived incident, an "Archived by System" notification appears at the top with a message, "This incident was last updated more than 2 years ago and hence it has been archived."
Export your account data
Admins can export their entire account, including ALL Incidents, Problems, Changes, Releases, Messages, Services, Users, Customers, Companies, Groups, and archived incident data in XML or CSV format, as follows:
- Go to https://desk.gotoassist.com/admin/account/export.
- Use the radio button to select XML or CSV format.
Note: Exporting of note fields such as Symptom, Discussion, and Resolution will only be included in the XML format.
- Click Save.
- An email notification will be sent to your account email address once the export is complete. The email will contain the same link (https://desk.gotoassist.com/admin/account/export) where you can download the .zip of your exported account in the file format you selected.
Note: Attachments contained within records will need to be downloaded separately as they are not included in the export.
General FAQs
- Yes! Admins can select the Exclude account from archival process checkbox to opt-out of data archiving via the Self Service tab within their Account-Wide Settings.
As an admin, can I restore incidents that have been archived?
Yes! Admins can select the Unarchive Incidents checkbox to restore all archived incidents via the Self Service tab within their Account-Wide Settings
What data is being archived? and eventually removed?
- Incidents and their associated data (e.g., comments on incidents) that are older than 2 years from the date they were last updated.
What actions count as "last updated?"
- De-linking a customer
- Linking a customer
- Closing an incident
- Re-opening an incident
- Any action that requires clicking Save on the incident page (e.g., adding a comment, adding a task, changing assignee/owner/status, etc.)
- Any "mass action"
- Any "trigger" action
What actions do not count as "last updated?"
- Adding a tag
- Removing a tag
- Self-subcribing to the watchlist
- Linking to another incident, problem, change, release, or knowledge article
- Marking items as "Helpful"
- Adding time
When does archiving begin? How often will it occur?
- Service Desk began archiving incident data on May 03, 2017. Since then, an archival script has been run daily.
Can I still view archived incidents?
- Yes. You can search for archived incidents, and they will populate in your search results. You can filter your search results by enabling the radio button for either "All records" or "Non-Archived records only" to perform your desired search.
Can I edit archived incidents?
- No. Archived incidents will be in read-only format, and only accessible in search results.
When does removal begin? How often will it occur?
- Service Desk will begin removing incident data 1 year from the date it was archived. A removal script will be run daily.
How do I preserve my incident data?
Although there are many different ways that Service Desk is used, agents can get the most optimal performance and results as follows:
- Use Records and Record Management and Use Services and Service Management to create an incident (via customer portal, email, or the agent), or import multiple incidents. Use Time management to log time agents spend working on records.
- Use Time Management to log issues and resolve them. You can track multiple incidents by linking them together using Tags, which create Problems.
- Use Problems and Problem Management to identify underlying issues with a service, and resolve Problems by creating Changes.
- Use Changes and Change Management to approve, build, test, and close Changes, which allows you to create Releases.
- Use Releases and Release Management to create, test, deploy and close Releases. You can then create Knowledge Articles.
- Use Knowledge Articles and Knowledge Management to outline the root cause, pertinent information, and the resolution, which can be published internally or externally (i.e., on the customer portal). For externally published Knowledge Articles, you can also solicit feedback from your customers.
- Learn more About Reports and Queues so you can access and run shared, custom, or standard service reports. You can even perform mass actions on multiple records, and schedule and queue or export & email reports to save for your own records outside of our system.