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Service Cloud: Case Management and Support
Case Management, support automation, Service Console, and Salesforce Knowledge.
⏱️ Estimated reading time: 45 minutes
Case Management and Support Processes
The Case object is the core of Service Cloud. Like Opportunities, Cases use Support Processes to define values for the 'Status' field (e.g., New, Working, Escalated, Closed).
Creation Channels (Case Origin):
- Email-to-Case: Automatically converts incoming emails into cases (On-Demand vs. Agent).
- Web-to-Case: HTML forms on your website (Limit: 5000 cases/day).
- Manual: Created by agents.
Case Hierarchies: Allows associating child cases to a parent case to group similar incidents.
Creation Channels (Case Origin):
- Email-to-Case: Automatically converts incoming emails into cases (On-Demand vs. Agent).
- Web-to-Case: HTML forms on your website (Limit: 5000 cases/day).
- Manual: Created by agents.
Case Hierarchies: Allows associating child cases to a parent case to group similar incidents.
🎯 Key Points
- ✓ To create a Case Record Type, you must first create a Support Process
- ✓ Email-to-Case preserves email threads and attachments
- ✓ Case Merge: Allows merging up to 3 duplicate cases into one (Master Case)
- ✓ Case Comments: Can be made public for the customer to see on the portal or private
Automation: Assignment, Auto-Response, and Escalation
The 'Big Three' Service Cloud rules. Only ONE rule of each type can be active at a time.
1. Case Assignment Rules: Determine the owner (User or Queue) upon case creation.
2. Auto-Response Rules: Send a confirmation email to the customer based on criteria (e.g., 'Thanks for contacting the VIP team').
3. Escalation Rules: Reassign the case or notify a manager if the case is not resolved within X hours (based on Business Hours).
1. Case Assignment Rules: Determine the owner (User or Queue) upon case creation.
2. Auto-Response Rules: Send a confirmation email to the customer based on criteria (e.g., 'Thanks for contacting the VIP team').
3. Escalation Rules: Reassign the case or notify a manager if the case is not resolved within X hours (based on Business Hours).
🎯 Key Points
- ✓ Escalation rules DO NOT change the record, only reassign or notify
- ✓ Escalation rules monitor the 'Age Over' field (elapsed time)
- ✓ Order of execution: Assignment -> Auto-Response -> Escalation
- ✓ Queues allow teams to take ownership of cases ('Accept' button)
Service Console and Omni-Channel
Service Console: An interface optimized for agents to reduce clicks. Uses tabs and subtabs to view multiple records at once. Includes 'Knowledge Sidebar' and 'History'.
Omni-Channel: The routing engine. Pushes work to agents in real-time based on:
- Presence: Is the agent 'Available'?
- Capacity: How many cases can they handle at once?
- Skills-based: Does the agent speak Spanish?
Omni-Channel: The routing engine. Pushes work to agents in real-time based on:
- Presence: Is the agent 'Available'?
- Capacity: How many cases can they handle at once?
- Skills-based: Does the agent speak Spanish?
🎯 Key Points
- ✓ Omni-Channel requires configuring 'Presence Statuses' (e.g., Available, Busy, Lunch)
- ✓ Queue-based routing vs. Skills-based routing
- ✓ Macros in the console: Execute repetitive actions (send email + close case) in one click
- ✓ Utility Bar: Fixed bar at the footer for quick access to Omni-Channel or Softphone
Salesforce Knowledge
Allows creating, managing, and publishing articles (solutions, FAQs) for agents and customers.
Lifecycle:
Draft -> Approval -> Published -> Archived.
Data Categories: Used to organize and filter articles. They also control security: you can restrict which roles see which article categories (e.g., Only Engineers see the 'Technical' category).
Lifecycle:
Draft -> Approval -> Published -> Archived.
Data Categories: Used to organize and filter articles. They also control security: you can restrict which roles see which article categories (e.g., Only Engineers see the 'Technical' category).
🎯 Key Points
- ✓ To create/edit articles, the user needs the 'Knowledge User' license (Feature License)
- ✓ Articles can be automatically suggested on the Case based on the Subject
- ✓ Record Types in Knowledge determine article format and layout (e.g., FAQ vs Manual)
- ✓ Rating: Users can vote on article utility