What is the difference between Action Status Automation and Case Action Status?

[Marc D]

My team is interested in possibly adding Action Status to a project. However, while researching the project, I noticed a number of things that have given me pause:

1. There seem to be two different features with "Action Status" as part of the name. These are "Action Status Automation" and "Case Action Status."
2. There is almost no information about "Action Status Automation" - the only place I was able to find any information was at the top of the list of plugins, https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/rome-platform-administration/page/administer/plugins/reference/list-of-plugins.html , and this was very bare-bones.
3. "Action Status Automation" and "Case Action Status" both have different plugins, meaning they are not exactly the same feature.
4. On the list of additional CSM plugins, https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/sandiego-customer-service-management/page/product/customer-service-management/reference/r_CustServMgmtAddtlPluginsTable.html , the one for "Case Action Status" says that it is a Customer Service-specific application of "Action Status Automation," but I see nothing else backing up this information.
5. Looking at the respective plugins for each on my PDI and clicking on the documentation had weird results. "Action Status Automation" brought me to documentation for "Case Action Status in Workspace" https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/rome-customer-service-management/page/product/customer-service-management/concept/case-action-status-csm-workspace.html , and "Case Action Status" brought me to a page that asked, "did you mean Case Action Status in Workspace, or Case Action Status overview?" These did not clear anything up for me.

With all of these in mind, I have a number of questions I wish to ask:

First, is there any difference between "Action Status Automation" and "Case Action Status"? If so, what is it?

Secondly, if the answer to the first question is "yes", why is there so little information on "Action Status Automation"?

Finally, regardless of the answers to the previous questions, can either version of Action Status be used for ITSM functionality (using it for Incident, Change, Problem, etc.), or are they CSM-exclusive plugins?

Thank you in advance.

[Community Alums]

Hi @Marc D ,

Both of these terms are related !!

Case action status provides a Customer Service-specific application of the Action Status Automation feature, which tracks blocking tasks created for customer service cases and updates the action status indicators.

Use the case action status feature to indicate the status of cases in the Case list. With this feature, customer service agents can easily identify cases that need attention and quickly prioritize their work.

Visual indicators in the Action Status column on the Case list highlight case status:

• A blue indicator highlights cases that need attention, such as cases that have been updated by customers or internal users and are waiting for input or review. In CSM Agent Workspace, cases that need attention also use a blue field highlight.
• A red indicator highlights cases that are blocked, such as cases that have open related task records or are waiting for customer feedback. In CSM Agent Workspace, cases that are blocked also use a red field highlight. Blocked cases can have the following status:
  • Blocked internally
  • Blocked by customer
  • Blocked internally and by customer

In addition to the colored indicators, the Action Status column also displays a brief status message.

The case action status feature uses actionable case flows to automatically determine the action status for customer service cases. These flows create and resolve blocking tasks for different case-related actions and update the action status indicators. Certain agent actions trigger these case flows, which in turn create and resolve the blocking tasks.

Customer service agents and managers can also manually set the action status for cases by enabling the Needs Attention field on the Case form.

Actionable case flows

Actionable case flows contain predefined user actions that automatically create and resolve blocking tasks for customer service cases.

Blocking tasks

Certain agent actions trigger case flows which create and resolve blocking tasks for customer service cases. These tasks determine the case action status.

Case action status analytics

The Customer Service Manager dashboard displays the percentage of the case backlog that is waiting for an agent response, customer input, or a response for other users.

Case action status logging

Logging for the case action status feature uses a metric definition to view information about blocking tasks associated with customer service cases.

Mark my answer correct & Helpful, if Applicable.

Thanks,

Sandeep

[Christopher Wea]

How helpful is service now!- re-writing all those links to go to a single service management top page, with no index.