Learn in the textbookResponding to Demand and Operational Processes
DefinitionEscalation (エスカレーション) is when staff hand a case they cannot resolve with their own knowledge or authority over to a specialist or a higher-level manager.
ExplanationIncidents that a first-line point of contact such as the service desk cannot resolve are passed to more specialized second-line support and beyond. Depending on who receives the case, it is sometimes divided into functional escalation, which goes to staff with greater technical skill, and hierarchical escalation, which goes to a manager with the authority to decide or approve.
AnalogyIt is like a family doctor who writes a referral letter and sends a patient whose symptoms are beyond them to a specialist department at a large hospital.
Memory hookEscalation comes from the same family as escalator: picture the case being carried up one floor.