Service Specification

Any service can be clearly and completely, consistently and concisely specified by means of the following 12 standard attributes which conform to the MECE principle (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive)

Service consumer benefits – describe the (set of) benefits which are triggerable, consumable, and effectively utilizable for any authorized service consumer and which are rendered to him as soon as he triggers one service. The description of these benefits must be phrased in the terms and wording of the intended service consumers.

Service-specific functional parameters – specify the functional parameters which are essential and unique to the respective service and which describe the most important dimension(s) of the servicescape, the service output, or the service outcome, e.g. maximum e-mailbox capacity per registered and authorized e-mailing service consumer.

Service delivery point – describes the physical location and/or logical interface where the benefits of the service are triggered and rendered to the authorized service consumer. At this point and/or interface, the preparedness for service delivery readiness can be assessed as well as the effective delivery of each triggered service can be monitored and controlled.

Service consumer count – specifies the number of intended, clearly identified, explicitly named, definitely registered, and authorized service consumers which shall be and/or are allowed and enabled to trigger and consume the commissioned service for executing and/or supporting their business tasks or private activities.

Service delivering readiness times – specify the distinct agreed times of every day of the week when the described service consumer benefits are

• triggerable for the authorized service consumers at the defined service delivery point
• consumable and utilizable for the authorized service consumers at the respective agreed service level
• all the required service contributions are aggregated to the triggered service
• the specified service benefits are completely and terminally rendered to any authorized triggering service consumer without any delay or friction. The time data are specified in 24 h format per local working day and local time UTC, referring to the location of the intended and/or triggering service consumers.

Service consumer support times – specify the determined and agreed times of every day of the week when the triggering and consumption of commissioned services are supported by the service desk team for all identified, registered, and authorized service consumers within the service customer's organizational unit or area. The service desk is/shall be the so-called Single Point of Contact (SPoC) for any authorized service consumer inquiry regarding the commissioned, triggered, and/or rendered services, particularly in the event of service denial, i.e. an incident. During the defined service consumer support times, the service desk can be reached by phone, e-mail, web-based entries, and fax, respectively. The time data are specified in 24 h format per local working day and local time UTC, referring to the location of the intended service consumers.

Service consumer support language – specifies the national languages which are spoken by the service desk team(s) to the service consumers calling them.

Service fulfillment target – specifies the service provider's promise of effectively and seamlessly deliver the specified benefits to any authorized service consumer triggering a service within the specified service delivery readiness times. It is expressed as the promised minimum ratio of the count of successful individual service deliveries related to the count of triggered service deliveries. The effective service fulfillment ratio can be measured and calculated per single service consumer or per service consumer group and may be referred to different time periods (workhour, workday, calendar week, work month, etc.)

Service impairment duration per incident – specifies the maximum allowable elapsing time [hh: mm] between

• the first occurrence of a service impairment, i.e. service quality degradation, service delivery disruption, or service denial, whilst the service consumer consumes and utilizes the requested service,
• the full resumption and complete execution of the service delivery to the content of the affected service consumer.

Service delivering duration – specifies the promised and agreed maximum allowable period of time for effectively rendering all specified service consumer benefits to the triggering service consumer at his currently chosen service delivery point.

Service delivery unit – specifies the basic portion for rendering the defined service consumer benefits to the triggering service consumer. The service delivery unit is the reference and mapping object for the Service Delivering Price, for all service costs as well as for charging and billing the consumed service amounts to the service customer who has commissioned the service delivery.

Service delivering price – specifies the amount of money the commissioning service customer has to pay for a distinct service delivery unit or for a distinct amount of service delivery units. Normally, the service delivering price comprises two portions

• a fixed basic price portion for basic efforts and resources which provide accessibility and usability of the service delivery functions, i.e. service access price
• a price portion covering the service consumption based on
• fixed flat rate price per authorized service consumer and reference period for an unlimited amount of consumed services,
• staged prices per authorized service consumer and reference period for staged amounts of consumed services,
• fixed price per single consumed service delivering unit.

Service delivery

• The delivery of a service typically involves six factors:
• The accountable service provider and his service suppliers (e.g. the people)
• Equipment used to provide the service (e.g. vehicles, cash registers, technical systems, computer systems)
• The physical facilities (e.g. buildings, parking, waiting rooms)
• The requesting service consumer
• Other customers at the service delivery location
• Customer contact

The service encounter is defined as all activities involved in the service delivery process. Some service managers use the term "moment of truth" to indicate that defining point in a specific service encounter where interactions are most intense.

Many business theorists view service provision as a performance or act (sometimes humorously referred to as dramaturgy, perhaps in reference to dramaturgy). The location of the service delivery is referred to as the stage and the objects that facilitate the service process are called props. A script is a sequence of behaviors followed by all those involved, including the client(s). Some service dramas are tightly scripted, others are more ad-lib. Role congruence occurs when each actor follows a script that harmonizes with the roles played by the other actors.

In some service industries, especially health care, dispute resolution, and social services, a popular concept is the idea of the caseload, which refers to the total number of patients, clients, litigants, or claimants that a given employee is presently responsible for. On a daily basis, in all those fields, employees must balance the needs of any individual case against the needs of all other current cases as well as their own personal needs.

Under English law, if a service provider is induced to deliver services to a dishonest client by deception, this is an offense under the Theft Act 1978.