Impact and Risk Analysis for Replacing the Contact field with a Custom Table user in the Case form

[suresh91]

Hi All,

I have a requirement to replace the standard Contact field with a custom table–based user reference on the Case form only. Before proceeding, I would like to understand the potential challenges and risks involved. I have listed a few based on my current knowledge.
Please review and let me know if there are any additional points to consider.

• SLA behavior depends on the caller’s time zone. If the correct contact information is not maintained, SLAs may not function as expected and could breach.
• Inbound and outbound email notifications may fail, because case updates sent via email rely on matching the sender with a valid Contact/User record.
• Workspace-level reports and dashboards (e.g., “Tickets assigned to me”) will not work correctly without proper contact/user associations.
• CSM Portal widgets such as My Cases and Create Case rely on accurate contact-case relationships and may not function properly.
• New ACLs must be created to accommodate the updated data model.
• Existing ACL logic and all case‑related scripts,flows using fields like current.contact, current.account, or current.contact.account will need to be rewritten.
• Integrations that depend on contact‑case or account‑case mapping must be reworked.
• Any upgrade enhancements related to the contact–case relationship will no longer apply.
• Contact → Account auto‑population will break, affecting how cases are linked to accounts.
• The case form will require re‑customization, including logic such as Contact → Email auto-fill.

Thanks
Suresh