Follow a case from call to closure

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. It can be difficult to envision what happens when a case is created and how it gets to its resolution. The following diagram illustrates a case from the first customer call to case resolution in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. A case is a record of an interaction between a customer and a customer service representative (CSR). The work a CSR performs to close the case is tracked as activities.

Initiate and verify
In this scenario, the initial call is taken by a CSR level I, who looks up the customer record and the contract. Individual contract lines in the contract identify the level of customer service that the CSR can provide. The CSR confirms that the customer has a contract line that allows a specific number of minutes of customer service time, and that the customer has not exceed that limit.

Research
After the CSR confirms that the customer is eligible for customer service, he creates a new case and escalates the case to a CSR level II. (If the call were about an existing case, the CSR reopens case and Microsoft Dynamics CRM would automatically reassign case to the CSR that originally closed it. Billing time continues to accrue through new activities.)

Resolve
Using activities, the CSR level II tracks her time researching and resolving the case. The time that the CSRs spend is recorded in the individual activities, which are then rolled up into the specific contract line. Before the CSR level II resolves the case, she can manually adjust the total billing time spent on the case, if necessary.