Let's walk through a few cases. The network drop for Bill's workstation fails. He calls x4357 and opens a routine ticket. The ticket number he gets in return is his initial notification. The duty sysadmin comes by in 20 minutes, repatches him to a working port, and closes the ticket.
Work flow is normal, so there is no escalation.
Susan needs an alias created to support her latest project and wants it done immediately. She knows that alias creation is a routine event and can reasonably take up to three business days. She can escalate it, but her management will be automatically notified if she does. Susan chooses to wait. The alias is created in a timely manner and the ticket is closed.