Cases, merge and parent-child cases
The case is the center of Customer Service. Almost every exam topic, such as queues, SLAs and entitlements, hangs off the case record.
The case record
A case (the Incident table) has a customer (account or contact), a title, a case type (question, problem, request), a priority, an origin (email, phone, web, social) and a subject. Subjects form a tree used to classify cases and also to organize knowledge articles.
Common statuses are In Progress, On Hold and Waiting for Details. Closing a case creates a case resolution activity with a resolution type and billable time.
Automatic case creation
An automatic record creation and update rule turns incoming activities into cases. You set:
- Source type: Email, Social Activity, Service Activity, or Teams chat.
- Conditions: for example only create a case if the sender has a valid entitlement or is a known customer.
- Actions: create a case, apply a template, send an automatic reply, or update an existing case.
The rule must be activated, and the mailbox must be set up to track the right emails.
Merge cases
Use merge to eliminate duplicates. Select the cases, choose the master case and merge. What happens:
- Activities of the subordinate cases move to the master.
- Subordinate cases become inactive (canceled). They are not deleted.
- You can pick which fields to update on the master from the subordinate case.
- Only cases for the same customer can be merged, up to a limit per merge.
Similarity rules help find duplicates and also power the similar cases suggestions.
Parent and child cases
Use parent-child when one issue needs several pieces of work. Settings are in the Customer Service admin center under case settings:
| Setting | Controls |
|---|---|
| Closure preference | Whether a parent can be closed while child cases are open |
| Fields copied | Fields copied from the parent to a new child, such as customer, title, product, case type |
| Related case types | How the relationship is set on the case table |
Child cases can have their own children, so the hierarchy can be several levels deep.
Other case tools
- Case templates prefill fields.
- Business process flows guide agents through case stages.
- Connections link a case to other records.
Exam traps
- Merge is for duplicates of the same problem. Parent-child is for one problem split into several tasks.
- Merging does not delete cases, and you cannot merge cases of different customers.
- A routing rule sends cases to queues. An automatic record creation rule creates the case.
- Parent closure is a setting. It is not enforced by a business rule or an SLA.
Practice questions
Choose an answer, then review the explanation to check your understanding.
1. Two agents have created cases for the same customer problem. What should you do to remove the duplication?
Show answer
Answer: B.Merge cases combines duplicates into one master case and keeps the activities of the subordinate case.
2. A large case must be split into smaller tasks. The parent case must stay open until all child cases are closed. What do you configure?
Show answer
Answer: B.The parent-child case settings include a closure option that does not allow a parent case to be closed until all its child cases are closed.
3. Emails from customers with a valid support contract must create cases automatically. What do you create?
Show answer
Answer: B.An automatic record creation and update rule creates records from activities. Source type is Email, and you can require a valid entitlement.
4. Which feature defines the fields that make two cases look alike, so agents can find likely duplicates?
Show answer
Answer: A.Similarity rules define the matching fields. The system uses them for similar case suggestions.