Life cycle of a Public Service case

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of Life cycle of a Public Service case

    The life cycle of a public service request case within the Public Sector Digital Services applications consists of four main stages—Intake, Review, Process, and Decision. As the case advances through these stages, its status changes to reflect progress and guide both agents and constituents on available actions. Understanding these stages and statuses helps ServiceNow customers efficiently manage public service requests from submission through resolution or cancellation.

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    Public Service Request Case Stages and Statuses

    • Intake Stage: Focuses on collecting necessary information to create the case. A case starts as a Draft (not yet submitted) and moves to New once submitted via the portal or playbooks. Agents can assign, accept, update, close, or delete cases. Constituents can update or close the case.
    • Review Stage: Agents troubleshoot, check for duplicates, and determine needed services. Statuses include Open, Inspection in Progress (if a site inspection is required), and Awaiting Info (if more information is requested). Constituents respond by updating information or closing the case.
    • Process Stage: Represents active work to fulfill the request. Statuses include Work in Progress (agent starts work), Work Assignment in Progress (work orders underway), and Awaiting Info (agent requests further info during processing). Agents update or close cases, and constituents provide requested details or close the case.
    • Decision Stage: Enables constituents to review and respond to the agent’s proposed resolution. Statuses include Ready for Decision, Resolved (agent proposes solution with mandatory resolution code and notes), Closed (constituent accepts solution), or case reopens if solution is rejected. Closing by agents requires resolution notes, while constituents can close without additional comments.

    Key Points for Managing Cases

    • Cases cannot be edited once Closed or Cancelled.
    • Agents have specific actions available depending on the case status, such as requesting info, proposing solutions, or closing the case.
    • Constituents participate by providing updates, accepting or rejecting solutions, or closing cases.
    • Clear status transitions ensure transparent tracking of case progress and facilitate communication between agents and constituents.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This structured life cycle enables government service agents to efficiently manage public service requests, maintain clear communication with constituents, and ensure timely resolution. By following the defined statuses and stages, customers can streamline case handling, reduce duplication, and improve constituent satisfaction through transparent and actionable case workflows.

    A public service request case within one of the three Public Sector Digital Services playbook applications can be in one of several states as it progresses through the fulfillment cycle.

    Public Service request case stages

    A public service request case has four stages:
    • Intake
    • Review
    • Process
    • Decision

    As a public service request case moves through the stages listed above and toward a resolution, the case status is updated. Stage and status are related to each other as described in the following table.

    Table 1. Public service request case stages and status
    Case Stage Case Status Description
    Draft The case has not yet been submitted, and the public service request case record has not yet been created.
    Intake

    Guides the agent to collect the information needed to create the public service request case.

    		 New The initial status for a new public service case created through the Government Service Portal or one of the Public Sector Digital Services playbooks.
    In this state, a government service agent can do one of the following:
    • Assign to me: Assign themselves the case. The state changes to Open.
    • Accept: If the case was assigned to the agent by a government service manager, the can agent accept or re-assign the case. If accepted, the state changes to Open.
    • Update: Update the case.
    • Close Case: Close the case.
    • Delete: Delete the case.
    In this state, a constituent can do either of the following:
    • Update: Update the case with additional information.
    • Close Case: Close the case.
    Open A case changes from New to Open when a government service agent assigns the case to themselves (Assign to me), or accepts a case assigned to them by a government service manager.
    In this state, the agent can do one of the following:
    • Update: Update the case.
    • Request Info: Request additional information from the constituent. The case state changes to Awaiting Info.
    • Propose Solution: Propose a solution for the case. The case state changes to Resolved.
    • Close Case: Close the case.
    • Delete: Delete the case.
    Awaiting Info Additional information has been requested from the constituent. In this state, the constituent can do one of the following:
    • Update: Add the requested information to the case. Once that information has been received, the case moves back to Open.
    • Close Case: Close the case.
    Review

    Enables the agent to do initial troubleshooting on the case, check for similar or duplicate case requests, and determine what services need to be rendered.

    		 Open In this state, the agent can do one of the following:
    • Check to see if there are similar or duplicate requests. If so, the case can be moved to progress directly.
    • Request an Inspection: If an inspection is requested, the case status moves to Inspection in Progress
    Inspection in Progress Inspection of the service location by a field service agent is in progress. Once complete, the case is moved to Process.
    Awaiting Info If an agent requests more information at any time during the Review stage, the status of the case changes to Awaiting Info.
    In this state, the agent can do one of the following:
    • Open Case: Change the case state back to Open.
    • Update: Update the case.
    • Close Case: Close the case.
    • Delete: Delete the case.
    In this state, the constituent can do one of the following:
    • Update: Add the requested information to the case. Once the constituent updates the case, the state changes to Open.
    • Close Case: Close the case.
    Process Work in Progress The case status changes to Work in Progresswhen the agent selects Start Work. A work order is now in progress to solve the public service request.
    Work Assignment in Progress A work order is in progress, and the government service agent resolves any open case tasks associated with the case.
    Awaiting Info The case moves to the Awaiting Info state when an agent selects Request Info to request more information from the requester. The agent has requested more information during or after work has been done to resolve the case.
    Decision

    Allows the requester to review the agent's decision and either accept or reject.

    		 Ready for Decision The case is ready for an agent decision.
    Resolved Once an agent provides a resolution code, enters resolution notes in the Resolution Information tab, and selects Propose Solution, the case state changes from Awaiting Info to Resolved.

    The Resolution code and Resolution notes fields are mandatory for an agent to propose a solution to the case.

    In this state, the agent can do one of the following:
    • Update: Update the case
    • Close Case: Close the case.
    A case cannot be closed by an agent or agent manager when it is in this state.
    In this state, the constituent can do one of the following:
    • Accept Solution: Accept the solution proposed by the agent. The case state changes to Closed and a survey is displayed.
    • Reject Solution: Reject the solution proposed by the agent. The case state changes to Open.
    • Delete: Delete the case.
    Closed After proposing a solution, the agent waits for a constituent response.
    • If the constituent clicks Accept Solution, the case state changes from Resolved to Closed.
    • If the constituent clicks Reject Solution, the state changes from Resolved to Open, and the agent must propose another solution.

    Closing a case as an agent or agent manager requires comments to be added to the Resolution notes field. This is not required when a customer closes a case.

    A case cannot be updated once it is closed.
    Cancelled The public service request is cancelled.
    Note:
    You can't edit a public service request case when the state of the case is set to Closed complete or Canceled.