--- sourceDocument: Zurich Customer Service Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/customer-service-management Release : - zurich ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Zurich Customer Service Management ft:clusterId : - csm bundleId : - csm workflow : - Customer and Industry --- # Service Model Foundation overview # Service Model Foundation overview {#ariaid-title1} * Release version: Zurich * * Updated July 31, 2025 * * ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Service Model Foundation overview Service Model Foundation is a framework designed to help ServiceNow customers configure structured and adaptable data models that reflect their unique business requirements. It extends the Customer Service Management data model and the install base model, providing the flexibility and security needed to represent complex organizational structures including internal and external locations, households, customers, and consumers, along with their interrelationships. Show full answer Show less This framework enables customers to model their service organization structure comprehensively, facilitating effective support for end customers. ## Key Features * **Service Organization Structure:** Model both internal and external business locations, such as branches, stores, franchises, and dealerships, that participate in delivering goods and services. * **Agent and Customer Relationships:** Assign customer service agents to specific business locations and manage their access to cases and customer information within those hierarchies. * **Consumer and Household Management:** Establish relationships between consumers, including those within the same household, to support consumer-centric service models. * **Role and Responsibility Definitions:** Define roles such as location managers and agents, and assign responsibilities that govern interactions between agents and customers or between consumers. * **Relationship Management:** Create and manage relationships based on defined responsibilities to provide appropriate access to customer data and cases. ## Entities Included The framework includes a variety of entities to represent different aspects of the service model: * **Service Organizations:** Internal and external entities like financial institutions with branches or manufacturers with dealerships. * **Internal and External Business Locations:** Physical locations such as stores, branches, franchises, and dealerships. * **Customers:** Both business-to-business (accounts and contacts) and business-to-consumer (consumers and households) models. * **Employees and Staff Members:** Internal employees and external agents supporting customer service. * **Roles and Responsibilities:** Job functions and responsibilities assigned to users within the service organization. * **Relationships:** Connections between agents and customers or between consumers to enable data access and case management. ## Activation and Plugins To utilize the Service Model Foundation features, system administrators can activate specific plugins: * **Business Location Plugin:** Enables support for physical business interactions and automatically activates the Service Organization plugin. * **Customer Service Household Plugin:** Supports household management, defining members and relationships within households, and automatically activates the Customer Service Base Extension Entities plugin. ## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers By implementing the Service Model Foundation framework, customers can: * Accurately model complex organizational and customer structures to align with real-world business scenarios. * Enhance customer service by assigning agents to appropriate locations and managing their access rights effectively. * Manage households and consumer relationships to provide personalized service experiences. * Leverage defined roles and responsibilities to secure and streamline interactions across the service organization. Service Model Foundation provide a framework that customers can use to configure structured and flexible data models that represent their business needs. The Service Model Foundation framework expands the Customer Service Management data model, including the install base model. It provides the flexibility and security needed to support business organizations with internal and external locations, households, customers and consumers, and the relationships that exist between these entities. Use the Service Model Foundation framework to model the service organization structure that is involved in supporting your end customers. With this framework, you can: * Create a service organization structure that includes both internal and external business locations. * Assign customer service agents to business locations and provide access to the cases and customer information in their business location hierarchy. * Establish relationships between agents and specific customers that enable agents to manage cases and information for those customers. * Establish relationships between consumers, including consumers who are members of the same household. {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_lvm_j2p_dmb} ## Entities included with Service Model Foundation {#csm-industry-data-model__section_x5q_nzc_gmb} The Service Model Foundation feature includes the following entities.{#csm-industry-data-model__table_ky1_wy4_dmb__entry__3} | Entity | Definition | Examples | |-|-|-| | Service organizations | The internal and external entities that are involved in providing a service to customers. A service organization provides the base framework that supports the customer service value chain. This includes internal and external service organizations. You can extend the service organization to create new entities as needed. | * Financial service organizations with multiple branches * Automobile manufacturers with multiple dealerships * Government agencies with multiple office locations {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_zqg_xmq_gmb} | | Internal business locations | The internal entities that belong to a service organization and are involved in providing goods and services. | * Stores * Branches * Centers {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_rqw_r1p_dmb} | | External business locations | The external entities that belong to a service organization and are involved in providing goods and services. | * Franchises * Dealerships {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_jzg_v1p_dmb} | | Customers (B2B) | The external customers in the business-to-business model who use goods and services. | * Accounts * Contacts {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_nm4_h1p_dmb} | | [Configuring households](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/nHqFESJjYgw~KrVW6CUh0Q "The household entity represents a group of consumers that usually share a common address and use services as a group.") | The external customers in the business-to-consumer model who use goods and services. | * Consumers * Households {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_j1b_z4q_gmb} | | Employees and staff members | The people who work at internal and external service organizations and assist customers. | * Internal employees * External agents * External staff {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_pyd_m1p_dmb} | | [Roles](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/1UAAvJ3T6Mh6URgBZLw5Tw "Roles that are included with the plugins that enable the Service Model Foundation feature.") | Job functions that are performed by various users in the service organization. | * Location managers * Location agents * Location consumer agents * Location relationship managers * Location manager contributors {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_w31_wpr_2mb} | | [Responsibility definitions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/DKc3y69i9rgF7m1kRo~bTQ "A responsibility, or responsibility definition, describes a role or a function that supports a customer. Use responsibility definitions to create relationships between an agent and a customer or between two consumers.") | Definitions of the responsibilities that an agent can perform for a customer or that a consumer can perform for another consumer. Use these responsibilities to create relationships between agents and customers or between consumers. | * Location agents * Location consumer agents * Location contributors * Location manager contributors * Location manager fulfiller * Location relationship manager {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_yyc_brr_2mb} | | [Relationships](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/MB5RLH2EVzNn1neI7iR__w "Create relationships between an agent and a customer or between two consumers that provide additional access to customer data.") | Relationships that are created between agents and customers or between two consumers, are based on specific responsibilities. Use these relationships to provide additional access to data. | * Relationships between an employee or staff member and a customer * Relationships between two consumers {#csm-industry-data-model__ul_dys_hvr_2mb} | [Table 1. Industry data models entities] {#csm-industry-data-model__table_ky1_wy4_dmb} ## Plugins for Service Model Foundation {#csm-industry-data-model__section_fb4_zfv_kjb} Users with the system administrator role can activate the following plugins to enable Service Model Foundation features. Business Location : Activate the Business Location plugin (com.snc.business_location) to enable support for businesses that interact with customers through physical channels such as stores, branches, franchises, and dealerships. This plugin automatically activates the Service Organization plugin (com.snc.service_organization). Customer Service Household : Activate the Customer Service Household plugin (com.snc.household) to manage customer service for households. This plugin enables you to create households, define the members of a household, and identify relationships between household members. This plugin automatically activates the Customer Service Base Extension Entities plugin (com.snc.cs_base_extension). **Related tasks** * [Configure Service Model Foundation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/qywF5jDZFciSaYfK_ZMHSQ "Configure the Service Model Foundation feature to enable a foundational data model framework. You can use this framework to create structured and flexible data models that represent your business needs.")