Dynamics 365 Customer Service Case Management – A Ticketing Application too!

Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Dynamics 365 Customer Service is used by Organizations for a variety of reasons –

• Tracking Completion of Task Requests
• Recording and resolving Complaints
• Managing and Monitoring Service issues

While some of these reasons may be simple to work on and complete, others may be long-drawn, requiring multiple people to work on it and have it pass through various stages before closure.

Defining Tickets and Cases

While we usually interchange the words “Cases” and “Tickets” when referring to the above activities, Industry Standards have separate definitions for both.

“Tickets” are simple with fewer statuses’, shorter gestation, faster turnaround, and simple closure activities when compared to “Cases”. Case components like Routing queues, Service Level Agreements, Entitlements [like Contractual scope] are not required on Tickets

A good example is a simple Internal Request raised by a peer for access to a server/ an application which can be termed as a “Ticket” versus a Service Request where a System error or Application error has been reported.

The former would be a simple Task to action and close, however, the latter may need to go through the initial investigation, escalation, Remote session, reporting, Resolution, review, Closure – a much longer lifecycle.

Can Users be trained to understand the difference between Tickets and Cases?

Usually, all complaints, requests, and tasks come through the same channel[s]. User understanding may differ from the Service Team’s activities. The user may be able to define the Issue, Product, but the Service team can define its Complexity, Routing, Team to work on it, etc.

This is the definition that segregates Tickets from Cases. So, Tickets and Cases cannot be segregated before they reach the Service team/ the customer service application.

The Dilemma

• Can Dynamics 365 Customer Service which has all the tools to handle cases not be used as a Ticketing system too? Can it not cater to both, allowing simple cases to be closed simplistically without a lot of ado and ensure that complex ones need to have all processes of a case adhered to.
• Will the application Need Customization?

The solution

Dynamics 365 Customer Service can be set up to jointly serve as a Case Management and a Ticket management system

Configuring the system correctly – simple automation and intelligent configurations can tone down the complex processes into extremely simple ones. The Onus of defining these criteria of when should tracking be done and when not required, can be removed from the Agent and added into the application automation

• Step 1 – Implement the full Case Management solution
• Step 2 – Create a lite Ticketing version

Case Management – full Customer Service Implementation

A typical Dynamics 365 Customer Service engagement leverages the core and ancillary components of the product to create an Omnichannel and seamless experience for Case Management

Implementations would go through below processes –

• Configuring Case forms
• Automating Case creation rules
• Queue assignment automation
• Entitlements set up
• Configuring Service Level agreements and Timers
• Managing Workdays, Work Hours and Holidays
• Fine-tuning Dashboards and Reports
• Training on Knowledgebase
• Configuring and Branding the Customer Service Portal and processes
• Setting up and training on Portal Chatbots

Ticket Management version – The “Lite” Solution

Pointers to create the “Lite” Ticketing system using Dynamics 365 Customer Service. The rule of thumb – remove all that is not needed and facilitate and automate any process to run in the background and ensure that tickets are closed faster

• Identify sources of “simple” tickets.
• Define Support teams to be able to handle these requests
• Create queues to route tickets to these relevant teams
• Create a shared support mailbox
• Use an addon like “Email to Case” to exclude domains so that junk emails don’t create unnecessary cases
• Set up automated emails to inform/ update internal Support staff and External customers
• Enable Support staff with some standard auto texts and Knowledgebase articles to add on emails.
• Create “lite” case forms for tickets
• Remove overheads of entitlements and SLAs
• Reduce status navigation
• Facilitate case closures triggered as a background process, rather than making it data-centric detailed process
• Retain and share value of Knowledge Base, Portal, and Chat Bots

Keep an eye out for exceptions and tweak.

You now have your 2in1- Case and Ticket management application, ready!

Final words – Dynamics 365 Customer Service is an application that can be configured to meet varying needs across the Organization– the keyword being ‘configuration’, not ‘customization’! It can work for simple and complex scenarios. It can be used across SMB and Enterprise Organizations!