8.1 Case Management Setup and Use

How a case is created

Case management records a customer problem and the response a support rep gives. On this exam you create the case, control its fields, route it, and store support defaults on the correct record. A case is a support record. It is separate from a marketing campaign and from a promotion.

Help lists four creation paths: a rep enters the case on a call, a customer submits an online case form, a customer emails the support address, or a customer uses Contact Support in the Customer Center or on your website. Email still creates a case that routing can assign, and Email Case Capture cannot update it after lockout.

Online case form

Create the form at Setup > Support > Online Case Forms > New, from the Default Form Template or a Custom HTML Template in the File Cabinet. On Select Fields, add each field, edit labels, check Mandatory for required answers, and add the File field for uploads. Submit creates the case. Link it from the website or the Customer Center. Publish a Site Builder link only after the form exists.

In OneWorld, Subsidiary is a hidden search field. Set Default Subsidiary on Set Up Workflow, or pass it on the form URL. A matching customer is used. If nothing matches and duplicate handling does not create a record, the case uses that subsidiary's anonymous customer placeholder, which exists for each subsidiary by default. A subsidiary filter on the case profile overrides the form default. The form collects the issue. Routing chooses the rep.

Customer Center

A signed-in customer clicks Contact Support, and the case is tied to that customer. Customize Standard External Case Form at Customization > Forms > Entry Forms: name it, clear Show to hide fields, and add custom fields on the Custom subtab. Routing can assign it after save. The Customer Center cannot update a locked case.

Internal entry by a support rep

The rep uses Standard Case Form, customized from the same Entry Forms list. That layout changes which fields the rep fills in. It does not pick the assignee. Employees, Customer Center users, and website visitors each use their own form, so a custom field on only the internal form stays invisible to the customer.

What the case form controls

The form supplies what a rule can test: case type, origin, support issue, priority, item, and, in OneWorld, subsidiary. A hidden field gives that rule nothing to match. Define those lists first, then show them on the form the person actually completes. The internal form, the external form, and the online case form each keep a separate field list.

Company defaults and the subsidiary record

Support preferences exist in two layers.

Company defaults are at Setup > Support > Preferences > Support Preferences. Help treats that page as the default for every subsidiary. The General subtab sets statuses for new, grabbed, reopened, escalated, and closed cases, the priority for new cases, and case lockout. Restrict Cases Based on Subsidiary limits what a rep can see. A subsidiary with no own value uses this page.

Subsidiary-level preferences are stored on the subsidiary record. They are not stored on a case profile, on General Preferences, or as another edit of the company Support Preferences page. Go to Setup > Company > Classifications > Subsidiaries, edit the subsidiary, and open Preferences, then Support. Set Default Case Profile there. The profile should contain the From name and From email customers see. If those are blank, the parent company name and email are used instead.

The case profile is a separate record at Setup > Support > Case Profiles > New. It holds the From name, From email, an optional OneWorld subsidiary filter, the anonymous customer for online submissions, and notification templates. The subsidiary preference points at a profile. It is not the profile.

A value on the subsidiary record overrides the company page. If the subsidiary preference is unset, the company value applies. If the subsidiary value matches the company value, a later company change updates the subsidiary automatically. To keep Canada different, set the Canada subsidiary record to the Canada profile so it does not stay matched to the company page.

How routing assigns the case

A case rule is criteria on a case field. Create it at Setup > Support > Case Management > Case Rules > New and set the qualifying values. You can select more than one value. Help's Wolfe Electronics example, Installation Issues, matches cases whose Support Issue is Installation.

Group rules into a territory at Setup > Support > Manage Case Territories > New. Match All Rules requires every rule. Match Any Rule requires one. On Support Assignment, add reps or support groups. An employee appears only if Support Rep is checked on the Human Resources subtab. A group appears only if Support Group is checked. Cases are distributed evenly. Territory priority breaks a tie when several territories match.

A support rep may grab an unassigned case and cannot grab one already assigned. In OneWorld, put Subsidiary on the rule and assign the reps for that subsidiary. Otherwise a rep can receive a case the rep cannot open, and the case stays out of that rep's lists, saved searches, reports, and KPIs. If the role lists no subsidiaries, the employee-record subsidiary is the limit. After save, the customer's subsidiary is read-only on the case.

Who can edit a locked case

On Support Preferences, General subtab, Case Lockout, check Lock Closed Cases After Lockout Period. Period (Days) is how long a closed case can still be edited, updated, or reopened. Enter 0 to lock it as soon as it is closed.

Help's Locking Closed Cases topic says you can view a locked case, but only Administrators can reopen, edit, or update it. The preference page says only account administrators. There is no Edit or Grab link, and the Customer Center and Email Case Capture cannot update it. Messages Reopen Closed Cases does not override the lock.

The October 2024 sample keyed that edit to the Administrator only, and Help agrees. Administrators, Support Administrators, and Support Managers can turn lockout on and set the days. Help does not let the other two roles edit the case after it locks. The assigned rep can view it and cannot correct it. An Administrator makes the change. Do not borrow roles from the locked-transaction topic.

Canada defaults and a correction after lockout

Leave the United States subsidiary on the company defaults. On the Canada subsidiary record, Preferences then Support, set Default Case Profile to a profile with the Canada From name and From email. That subsidiary value overrides the company page for Canada. Use the Canada profile, not a copy of the company value, so a later company edit does not replace it.

Create a case rule on Subsidiary equal to Canada, put it in a Canada territory with Match All Rules, and assign the Canada reps. Confirm Support Rep is checked and that their roles can see Canada. Otherwise the territory can assign a case that never appears on their list.

After that case is closed and the lockout period passes, a wrong serial number can be fixed only by an Administrator. The Canada rep can view the case. Contact Support and Email Case Capture cannot change it. A Support Manager can change Period (Days) for cases closed later and still cannot edit this locked case.