An important aid to timely and smooth processing of the defect tracking process is automatic notification of events. Standard Internet email is the most widely accepted form of notification.

There are several events that could trigger notification:

• Adding a record
• Editing a record
• Deleting a record
• Performing the Task operation on a record
• Change of record state
• Change of assignment

• The user who is currently assigned to the problem record
• The user who reported the problem record
• The manager assigned to the state of the record when it is added
• User groups within your database

When an edit or task operation is performed on a problem record, the following users may be interested:

• The user who is currently assigned to the problem record
• The individual assigned to the record if the Assigned To field is changed during the Edit / Task operation.
• The individual who was the previous assignee if the Assigned To field is changed during the Edit / Task operation.
• The individual who reported the problem record.
• The manager assigned to the process state of the record when the Edit / Task operation is performed.
• The manager assigned to the new process state of the record if the State field is changed during the Edit / Task operation.
• The manager assigned to the previous process state of the record if the State field is changed during the Edit / Task operation.
• User Groups within your database

When a problem record is deleted, the following users may be interested:

• The individual who is currently assigned to the record.
• The individual who reported the problem record.
• The manager assigned to the process state of the record when it is deleted.
• User Groups within your database

On a change of record state, the following users may be interested:

• The individual who is currently assigned to the record.
• The individual who reported the problem record.
• The manager assigned to the new process state.
• The manager assigned to the original process state.
• User Groups within your database

On a change of record assignment, the following users may be interested:

• The individual the record is being assigned to.
• The individual the record was assigned to before the change of assignment.
• The individual who reported the problem record.
• The manager assigned to the current process state of the record.
• User Groups within your database

Determining which users and under what events notification should occur is really a trial-and-error process, determined by the personal working habits and preferences of users of the system. The issue should be discussed and tested with the users in your organization until consensus is reached on the desired behavior.