Using Playbooks for Customer Service Management

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read

    • Customer service agents can use playbooks to complete the tasks and activities that are needed to resolve specific types of cases.

    A playbook provides step-by-step guidance through the lifecycle of a customer service case.

    A playbook includes multiple stages and each stage includes one or more activities for an agent to complete. When using a playbook, agents can:
    • View the playbook stages and activities.
    • Select an activity and perform the work necessary to complete that activity.
    • Mark an activity as complete and move to the next activity or stage.
    • Complete the stages and activities necessary to resolve the case.

    Several features are available to agents when using a playbook, depending on the playbook configuration.

    Table 1. Playbooks for CSM tasks
    Create a record using a playbook If a playbook is configured to use the record generator feature, customer service agents can create a record using a playbook activity.
    Filter playbook activities Filter the activities in playbook stages by the selected user or activity state.
    Using the activity stream in the contextual side panel Customer service agents can access the activity stream in the contextual side panel to communicate with requesters and make internal notes about the work done on a record.
    Viewing dynamic related records in the contextual side panel Customer service agents can view dynamic related records that dynamically change based on the context of the current record or playbook activity.
    Viewing ribbon information in the contextual side panel Customer service agents can view ribbon information in the contextual side panel, including the case overview and timeline, Customer 360, and SLAs.
    Add an optional activity Add optional activities to different stages in a playbook as needed. For example, a customer may want to schedule an appointment to visit a location.
    Summarize a case Use the Now Assist for CSM case summarization skill to summarize the case details and display this information on the case record.