Case management for CSM release notes

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated October 17, 2024
  • 6 minutes to read
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    Summary of Case management for CSM release notes

    The ServiceNow® Case management for Customer Service Management (CSM) application enables customer service teams to collaborate proactively on resolving customer issues. The Xanadu release introduces enhancements focused on improving user guidance, process efficiency, and integration capabilities within CSM.

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    Key Features

    • Playbooks: Create pages and variants with horizontal or vertical playbooks using updated templates in UI Builder. Playbook record pages in CSM Configurable Workspace help guide users through case resolution stages and activities, incorporating generative AI and modern agent experience elements like modeless dialogs and activity streams.
    • Order Operations Case Management: Manage order-related cases referencing multiple line items (orders and order lines) for handling changes, inquiries, and disputes.
    • Case Lines and Workflows: Reference multiple related items such as orders, invoices, contracts, and sold products within a single case record.
    • Process Mining: Identify inefficiencies in customer operations using rule-based and automated finding definitions to classify improvement opportunities.
    • Quick Start Tests: Run after upgrades or new deployments to verify CSM functionality, with options to customize tests for tailored implementations.
    • Role Updates: The customer service manager role now includes the approver user role, replacing the deprecated approval admin role, allowing managers to approve assigned requests.

    Important Changes and Deprecations

    • CSM Agent Workspace: No longer supported or enhanced in Xanadu; customers should transition to CSM Configurable Workspace for the latest experience.
    • Case Type Selector: Configuration updates allow hiding the product filter within the Product Service select version.
    • Browser Requirements: ServiceNow workspaces do not support mobile devices, Internet Explorer, or legacy Microsoft Edge; use Microsoft Edge Chromium or other supported browsers.
    • Accessibility Enhancements: Playbook templates support reflow and zoom up to 400% without loss of content or functionality.

    Integrations and Related Applications

    • Now Assist for CSM: Summarizes customer chat conversations and case details to assist resolution.
    • Communities: Enable customers to engage via portals, with cases created from forum discussions.
    • Continual Improvement Management: Request and track improvement initiatives linked to process mining insights.
    • Customer Project Management: Integrates project visibility and management for customer accounts via Project Portfolio Suite with Financials.
    • Event Management: Proactively create cases from alerts, enabling better tracking of affected accounts and install base items.
    • Field Service Management: Enables technicians to access customer info on work orders and create work orders from cases, visible to customers via portals.
    • Flow Designer and Workflow Studio: Invoke and monitor flows or subflows as part of case workflows.
    • Knowledge Management: Provides searchable knowledge content for customers and agents to facilitate case resolution.
    • Process Automation Designer: Integrates with Playbooks for configuring customer service processes.
    • IT Service Management Applications: Enables creation of incident, problem, change, and request records from cases, with customer request submission via portals.
    • Next Experience UI Builder: Low-code tool for building workspace and portal pages with system and custom components.
    • Workforce Optimization for Customer Service: Helps route work efficiently, manage skills and schedules, and monitor team performance.
    • Workspace: Provides a unified graphical interface with tools for agents to research and resolve customer issues, with CSM Configurable Workspace tailored for customer service needs.

    Activation and Usage

    Case management for CSM is available through activation of the Customer Service Management plugin and additional plugins for extended features. Customers should ensure they use supported browsers and plan transitions from deprecated components like CSM Agent Workspace to the latest CSM Configurable Workspace for optimal experience.

    The ServiceNow® Case management for CSM application enables customer service organizations and support teams to collaborate on customer problems proactively to resolve issues. Case management for CSM was enhanced and updated in the Xanadu release.

    Case management for CSM highlights for the Xanadu release

    • Create pages and page variants that contain horizontal or vertical playbooks by using playbook templates.
    • Use playbook record pages in CSM Configurable Workspace to guide users through the stages and activities of a playbook and resolve cases.
    • Identify common inefficiencies in customer operations by using process mining definitions.

    See Case management for Customer Service Management for more information.

    Important information for upgrading Case management for CSM to Xanadu

    The customer service manager role [sn_customerservice_manager] includes the approver user role [approver_user]. The approver user role replaces the approval admin role [approval_admin]. Users with the customer service manager role can approve the approval requests that are assigned to them.

    New in the Xanadu release

    Playbooks
    Use updated playbook templates in UI Builder that incorporate generative AI feature parity and Agent Experience modernization features such as the modeless dialogs, activity stream, lookup cards, and related items.
    Order Operations Case Management
    Use the Order Operations Case Management application (com.sn_order_case) to create order cases that reference multiple line items, including orders and order lines. Agents can use these cases to process order-related services such as order changes, inquiries, and disputes.
    Case lines and workflows
    Use the Case lines and workflows application (com.sn_case_line) to reference multiple line items on a case record, including orders or order lines, invoices or invoices lines, contracts, and sold products.
    Quick start tests for Customer Service Management
    After upgrades and deployments of new applications or integrations, run quick start tests to verify that Customer Service Management works as expected. If you customized Customer Service Management, copy the quick start tests and configure them for your customizations.

    Changed in this release

    Case type selector configuration
    Configure the Product Service select version of the case type selector to hide the product filter.
    Roles included with the customer service manager role
    The customer service manager role [sn_customerservice_manager] includes the approver user role [approver_user]. For upgrade customers, the approver user role replaces the approval admin role [approval_admin]. Users with the customer service manager role can approve the approval requests that are assigned to them.
    Process Mining
    Added different variants of the two enhanced types of base system opportunities that you can use on a project to identify and address common inefficiencies in customer operations:
    • Rule-based finding definitions: Execute one or more finding rule chains in sequence according to the definitions. The records that match the logic of these specifications are classified as a match for improvement opportunities.
    • Automated finding definitions: Show improvement opportunities by using the default patterns that are already available for selection.

    Deprecations

    Starting with the Xanadu release, CSM Agent Workspace is no longer deployed, enhanced, or supported. For details, see the Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support knowledge base. CSM Configurable Workspace provides the latest experience for this functionality.

    Activation information

    Customer Service Management is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is available with activation of the Customer Service Management plugin (com.sn_customerservice). For details, see Activate Customer Service Management.

    Additional Customer Service Management features are available with the activation of other plugins. For details, see Additional plugins for Customer Service Management.

    Browser requirements

    ServiceNow workspaces don’t support mobile devices, Internet Explorer, or Microsoft Edge. Instead, use Microsoft Edge - Chromium or one of the other supported browsers listed in Browser support.

    Accessibility information

    The following templates were updated to support reflow, which enables pages and content to be zoomed up to 400% through your browser settings without loss of content or functionality. Additionally, content can be enlarged without scrolling in two dimensions at a width equivalent to 320 CSS pixels or a height equivalent to 256 CSS pixels.

    Related ServiceNow applications and features

    Now Assist for CSM
    Use the ServiceNow® Now Assist for CSM application to summarize customer chat conversations on interactions, summarize case details, and generate case resolution notes.
    Communities
    From the Customer Service Portal and Consumer Service Portal, enable your customers to connect, engage, and collaborate by using the ServiceNow® Communities application. Customer Service agents can create cases from the community discussion threads and resolve cases by using the community content.
    Continual Improvement Management
    Use ServiceNow® Continual Improvement Management to request improvement opportunities. You can implement phases and tasks to meet performance goals, track progress, and measure success. You can also view, create, and associate improvement initiatives from within the Process Mining application.
    Integrating with Customer Project Management
    The Customer Project Management plugin (com.snc.csm_ppm) enables you to create projects for a customer account by using the ServiceNow® Project Portfolio Suite with Financials application. It also gives end users visibility into their projects from the Customer Service Portal. This plugin requires the Project Portfolio Suite with Financials plugin (com.snc.financial_planning_pmo).
    Event Management
    Customer Service Management provides an integration with ServiceNow® IT Operations Management Event Management. This integration enables you to create cases proactively from alerts either manually or through automation. Customer service agents can track the accounts and the corresponding install base items that are affected by the alert. Agents can also track the operational status of an account's install base to better correlate customer issues and provide faster responses.
    Field Service Management
    Customer Service Management includes an integration with the ServiceNow® Field Service Management application. With this integration, you and your customers can perform the following tasks:
    • Field service technicians can view customer account and contact information on work orders and work order tasks in the Field Service Management application.
    • Customer service agents can create work orders from cases in the Customer Service Management application.
    • Customers and consumers can view the case-related work orders from the Customer Service Portal and Consumer Service Portal.
    Flow Designer
    Workflow Studio components enable you to invoke flows or subflows that are designed as part of a workflow and to find out the output or execution status of the flows or subflows.
    Knowledge Management
    From the Customer Service Portal and Consumer Service Portal, enable your customers to search for shared information by using the ServiceNow® Knowledge Management application. Customer service agents can resolve cases with the knowledge content.
    Process Automation Designer
    Customer Service Management provides an integration with the ServiceNow® Playbooks application. This integration provides the ability to configure processes such as playbooks.
    Process Mining
    ServiceNow® Process Mining helps analysts and process owners analyze the effectiveness of their business processes. Create automated business process flows from your data so that you can monitor and more quickly discover inefficiencies in your processes.
    IT Service Management applications
    Customer Service Management includes integrations with the following ServiceNow® Service Management applications: Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, and Request Management. With these integrations, you can create incident, problem, change, and request records from customer service cases. Customers can also submit requests from the Customer Service Portal.
    Next Experience UI Builder
    Next Experience UI Builder is a low-code web user interface builder that enables developers to build pages for workspace and portal web-based experiences. Use the base system and custom web components to build your pages.
    Workforce Optimization for Customer Service
    Manage and maintain the productivity of your workforce from a single application using ServiceNow® Workforce Optimization for Customer Service. With this application, you can help to efficiently route work to members of your team, manage your team's skills and schedules, and monitor their performance.
    Workspace
    ServiceNow® Workspace is a graphical user interface that puts multiple tools on one page, including the tools that agents use to find, research, and resolve issues. CSM Configurable Workspace is a customer service-specific implementation that provides agents with the tools that they need to respond to customers and to resolve cases.