My question may have been already asked/answered in this forum, but I wasn't able to find any related articles on a search.

Here is what I have. In our environment, we have Service Manager set up to notify by email when a SR or IR is created and assigned to a specific support group.

Condition 1- In our case, we are Desktop and Laptop Support. When a ticket is created and assigned to that support group, all members of the group are notified by email that there is a ticket in that "bucket". So at that point, its up for grabs. 

Condition 2- When a ticket is created and directly assigned to a specific tech in that support group, it sends out the notification to the entire group as well as the one assigned tech. So you might see what kind of confusion this could cause. What we are trying to accomplish is this. When the IR or SR is created, and the field for Assigned to: is populated, it will only send notification to the assigned tech and not the entire support group. 

We have tried leaving the support group field blank as work around, but we eventually have to assign one as it is used for reporting purposes. 

Has anyone ever seen this sort of issue in your system? 
Thanks in advance for your assistance. 

Hi, do it the other way around: In condition 1: create a subscription to send email notification to the support group when a IR/SR is created with a criteria "support group" equals e.g. "Service desk" AND "assigned to user > display name" is not equal Nill (or empty) Doing this in condition 1, it will not send an email notification to the group in condition 2 Hope this helps!

I think that is how it is set up now. If a ticket is created and assigned to "Desktop and Laptop Support", it automatically send notification that there is an unassigned ticket waiting.

On occasion, a ticket will be opened and assigned directly to a specific tech. So what happens is the email sends out to all techs in that support group as well as an individual email to the assigned tech. What happens next is the other techs will try and jump on the ticket before the actual tech assigned can even respond.

Kind of comical on those days when we are bit slow and everyone wants the first ticket that pops up. Make sense?

Hi, what I have mentione in my previous post that will only apply when the ticket is CREATED. However, in you reply post <<On occasion, a ticket will be opened and assigned directly to a specific tech. So what happens is the email sends out to all techs in that support group as well as an individual email to the assigned tech>> this is when the ticket is UPDATED so it's completely a different subscription. Let me know if this makes sense!

Sort of makes sense. 

All I want to accomplish is this:  If a ticket is created and assigned to a tech directly, it will only notify the tech and not the entire support group even if the support group field is populated. The email everyone else sees looks like an open ticket that needs attention when it reality, it is already assigned to someone.

Ok, I guess what you want to do is: 1- when the ticket is created wait x mins before notifying the support group if the job has not been assigned 2- if the job had been assigned to someone within x mins from the time that the ticket was created just notify the assigned user ONLY Is this right? If yes, then you need to create the following subscription for Condition1: "notify periodically" / option "notify once" criteria - support group equals "desktop and laptop" & assigned to(display name) is nill & created date greater than [now-5m], recipient: "desktop and laptop" email (this will only notify the group if a job has been created and has not ben assigned to tech within 5 minutes)

Thank you. This sounds like a workable solution.

I have submitted the the idea to engineers in charge of Service Manager. 
I will let you know the outcome as soon as I know.