---
sourceDocument: Australia Customer Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/customer-service-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Customer Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - csm

bundleId :

    - csm

workflow :

    - Customer and Industry


---

# Personas

# Service Model Foundation personas {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated November 5, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read
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## Summary of Service Model Foundation personas

Service Model Foundation (SMF) defines key user personas to facilitate collaboration in managing, delivering, and consuming services across business organizations and service operations.
These personas are role-based and adaptable to different industries and organizational needs, enabling precise assignment of access, responsibilities, and tools.
Users can hold multiple roles across different business organizations, with their capabilities determined by a combination of user roles and organizational responsibilities.
Show full answer Show less  

## Key Personas and Their Roles

SMF includes several personas that represent how users interact within service and business organizations. Each persona corresponds to specific responsibilities and examples from various industries illustrate their use:

* **Service organization contributor** -- Assigned to a service organization, can make requests and view cases for their business organization. Example: Bank branch tellers handling customer requests and reporting issues.
* **Location agent** -- Works within a service organization to report issues and manage cases for both B2B and B2C customers at their business organization. Example: Radiology operations associates submitting and fulfilling patient requests.
* **Location consumer agent** -- Focuses on B2C customer interactions, reporting issues and managing cases, primarily consumer-centered. Example: In-store customer care associates assisting retail shoppers.
* **Location manager contributor** -- Manages teams within a business organization and submits requests for issues arising. Example: Hotel front desk managers overseeing operations and support requests.
* **Location manager** -- Combines team management with actively fulfilling cases assigned to the location. Example: College supervisors managing student services and fulfilling requests.
* **Location support agent** -- Supports other business organizations by handling their requests and viewing relevant organizational details. Example: Public sector shared services staff assisting multiple departments.
* **Location relationship manager** -- Manages relationships with external organizations and supports third-party locations through internal contacts. Example: Dealership liaisons managing external dealer groups in manufacturing.
* **Administrator** -- Supports configuration of service organizations, hierarchy, and member roles without direct application use.

## Practical Application

ServiceNow customers can leverage these personas to align roles and responsibilities accurately within their service organizations, regardless of industry. Assigning the appropriate persona ensures users have the needed access to perform their functions effectively, supports flexible role assignments across multiple business organizations, and enables efficient service management and collaboration.  
Understand the key personas involved in managing and using Service Model Foundation and their responsibilities in supporting business organizations (formerly business locations) and service operations.  
Important:  
Some table and field labels have been changed across recent releases. For a mapping of former labels to current labels, see [Service Model Foundation renamed Entities](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/GOd50bOlCGACQLLY5iN1tA "The renamed entities display several Service Model Foundation entities that are renamed, including the previous and current names.").

## Understanding Service Model Foundation personas {#smf-persona__section_mpm_fp2_1hc}

Service Model Foundation supports collaboration between multiple personas, each playing a distinct role in managing, delivering, and consuming services. Understanding these roles helps administrators
assign the right access, responsibilities, and tools within the framework.

Service Model Foundation (SMF) supports access based on predefined personas that reflect the type of work users perform within a service
organization. Because SMF is industry-agnostic, these personas aren't tied to specific job titles and can be tailored to match your organization's needs.  
A single user can represent different personas across multiple business organizations. For example, a user might act as a Location Manager at one branch and a Contributor at another. SMF models this flexibility through:

* Roles -- Defined at the user level.
* Responsibilities -- Defined according to business organization.
{#smf-persona__ul_lfz_z42_1hc}The combination of user roles and responsibilities determines what a user can do within each service organization.

## Service Model Foundation user personas and their interactions with different industry verticals {#smf-persona__section_ufy_fq2_1hc}

Each following persona represents a different way users interact with business organizations (formerly
business locations) and service
organizations.
{#smf-persona__table_idr_2r2_1hc__entry__4}

| Persona | Related role | Description | Industry vertical example |
|-|-|-|-|
| Bank branch teller | Service organization contributor | A service organization contributor is assigned to a specific service organization and can make requests on behalf of their business organization . They can also view any cases submitted by others for their location. | Banking: At the local Solana Bank branch, tellers primarily handle customer requests in person that don't require case filing. Occasionally, they report operational issues or request support for their branch. These team members are service organization contributors. |
| Radiology operations associate | Location agent | A location agent works within a service organization to report issues and manage cases for both B2B and B2C customers at their business organization . | Healthcare: The operations associate in the radiology department submits requests for patients and the department overall. They also fulfill requests assigned to radiology. |
| In-store customer care associate | Location consumer agent | A location consumer agent focuses specifically on B2C customers, reporting issues and managing cases assigned to their business organization. Their role is similar to a location agent, but they're more centered on consumer interactions. | Retail: Solana Grocery has an in-store customer care department to assist shoppers. These customer care agents primarily interact with customers rather than working on the shop floor and are modeled as location consumer agents. |
| Hotel manager at a franchise location | Location manager contributor | A location manager contributor manages their business organization teams while also submitting requests for issues that arise. | Hospitality: The front desk manager oversees daily operations and submits requests for support on behalf of the front desk and guests when needed. |
| College supervisor | Location manager | A location manager can contribute to their business organizations , manage the team, and fulfill cases assigned to the location. This role combines the responsibilities of a location manager contributor with active case resolution. | Higher Education: The registrar manages a team that assists students with registration. They occasionally request help from other departments and temporarily add student workers to their team. The registrar also fulfills requests from students, professors, and other departments such as financial aid. |
| Inter-departmental support agent | Location support agent | A location support agent is assigned to a specific service organization and focuses on helping other business organizations with their requests. They can view details about the organizations requesting support. | Public Sector: The Solana City government's shared services department fulfills requests from other departments, such as IT or purchasing. Staff serving other departments are modeled as location support agents. |
| Regional dealership liaison | Location relationship manager | A location relationship manager is responsible for managing relationships with external organizations. This role is dedicated to supporting third-party locations through a primary internal contact. | Manufacturing: Dealerships may be managed by external teams while representing the manufacturer. Solana Cars manufactures vehicles and sells them through a network of dealerships, some company-owned and others managed via dealer groups. |
| Platform configuration admin | Administrator | An administrator doesn't use the application directly, but supports configuration of the service organization, hierarchy management, and assignment of member roles and responsibilities, including related-party configurations. |   |
[Table 1. Service Model Foundation user personas]

{#smf-persona__table_idr_2r2_1hc}

