Configuring households

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configuring households

    The household entity in ServiceNow represents a group of consumers, typically sharing a common address, who use services collectively. It enables the creation and management of households and their members, allowing for case management, relationship establishment, and tracking of products, contracts, and entitlements associated with households and their members.

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    Key Features

    • Create households and add consumers: Consumers can be added as household members even if their individual addresses differ from the household address.
    • Case management: Cases can be created for entire households or individual household members.
    • Household member relationships: Establish authorized representative relationships where a member can manage cases for others within the household.
    • Staff relationships: Staff members can be linked to households or members as relationship managers, granting them permissions to manage cases on their behalf.
    • Tracking household information: View and manage sold products, contracts, and entitlements for households and their members.
    • Head of household designation: One member can be designated as the head of household, providing access to all household cases and information, including sold products and install base items.

    Membership Management

    • Households can have multiple members, and consumers may belong to multiple households.
    • Membership periods are tracked via Start Date and End Date fields, allowing consumers to leave and rejoin households with historical membership maintained.
    • Related lists on the Household form display current members, all members (current and past), cases, and sold products.

    Relationship Types

    • Member Relationships: Authorized Representative relationships between household members enable case management on behalf of others.
    • Household Team: Relationship Manager relationships between agents and households allow agents to manage all household cases.
    • Consumer Relationships: Authorized Representative relationships between two consumers, regardless of household, permit case management for one consumer by another.
    • Consumer Team: Relationship Manager relationships between agents and consumers grant agents access to manage consumer cases.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By configuring households and their relationships, customers can efficiently manage groups of consumers and streamline case handling. The ability to designate heads of household and authorized representatives ensures appropriate access controls and simplifies case interactions. Tracking sold products and membership history provides comprehensive insight into household service usage and entitlement management.

    The household entity represents a group of consumers that usually share a common address and use services as a group.

    A household is made up of consumers who have been added as members of that household.
    Note:
    A household has an address and consumers have their own addresses. These addresses do not need to be the same in order to add a consumer as a member to a household.
    With the household entity, you can:
    • Create households and add consumers as household members.
    • Create cases for households and household members.
    • Create relationships between household members. These relationships authorize one household member to manage cases on behalf of another member.
    • Create relationships between staff members and households or household members that enable the staff members to manage cases for those households and members.
    • Track information for households, including sold products, contracts, and entitlements.

    Head of household

    A household can have one member designated as the head of household. A consumer who is added as the head of household is automatically added as a member of the household.

    The head of household has access to all of the cases and information for the household and the other household members. The head of household can also see:
    • The sold products for the household.
    • The sold products and install base items for household members.

    Household information

    Households can have multiple members. These members can be either consumers or consumer users. Consumers can also belong to multiple households.

    Membership in a household is defined by the Start Date and End Date on the Household Member form. A household member is considered to be a current member if:
    • The Start Date field is empty or is filled in with today's date.
    • The Start Date field is filled in with a past date and the End Date field is empty or is filled in with today's date or a future date.
    Only one record with current membership dates is allowed for each consumer in a household. A consumer can leave and rejoin a household multiple times. This information is recorded using the start and end dates.
    As members are added or removed from a household, the member history is retained. You can find this information in the following related lists on the Household form.
    • Current Members: the consumers currently in the household.
    • All Members: current and past members of a household. This list provides a history of the household. Members can appear multiple times in this list.
    On the Household form, you can also find information about household cases and products in the following related lists:
    • Cases: the cases that have been created for all of the members within a household
    • Sold Products: the products owned by the household. These products can be owned or shared by multiple household members.

    Household member relationships

    The following types of relationships can be created for households and household members. These relationships are included in the following related lists on the Household form:

    • Member Relationships: relationships that have been established between household members. These relationships are created using the Authorized Representative responsibility. Household members that have an Authorized Representative relationship with another household member can act on behalf of that member and can manage cases and information for that member.
    • Household Team: relationships that have been established between an agent and a household. These relationships are created using the Relationship Manager responsibility. Agents that have a Relationship Manager relationship with a household can manage all of the cases for that household.

    Consumer relationships

    The following types of relationships can be created for consumers.
    • Consumer Relationships: relationships that have been established between two consumers, regardless of household. These relationships are created using the Authorized Representative responsibility. Consumers that have an Authorized Representative relationship with another consumer can manage cases for that consumer.
    • Consumer Team: relationships that have been established between an agent and a consumer. These relationships are created using the Relationship Manager responsibility. Agents that have a Relationship manager relationship with a consumer can access all of the cases for that consumer.