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Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Post Author: Joe D365 |

Whenever we are working with cases in Microsoft Dynamics CRM there is always a need to automatically create cases based on defined business rules and from multiple channels like email, chat, etc. Many of us have already achieved this in earlier versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM by creating Custom Workflows. There are many articles available on the web you can find that shows you how to do it. With the Spring '14 Wave Update this can now be achieved with no knowledge of workflows and in less time. In the next section I will describe you on how to create automatic case creation rules.

1.    Pre-Requisites

To create automatic creation rules you will need to make sure that you have the correct permissions set within Microsoft Dynamics CRM and email routing or Service Side Sync is setup properly. Make sure your user profile contains either System Administrator, System Customizer or Customer Service Manager roles. A new tab called Service Management has been added which allows you to set specific permissions required to manage automatic creation rules for cases.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

2.    Create a Rule

Once you have taken care of pre-requisites then go to Settings [Microsoft Dynamics CRM => Settings] and under Settings you will see a new tab called Service Management especially to manage service related functions within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

You will see many functions that are now available within Service Management including Automatic Case Creation Rules. Click on Automatic Creation Rules which will show you the list of existing rules. If you would like to edit existing rule then simply select the desired rule and click Edit on the command bar. To create a new rule click on the + New button on the command bar.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRMSpring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Now, it is time to fill in the information that is necessary to make the rule work. Let's look at each of the attributes or fields on this rule form.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Name – Represents a unique name for the rule. In my example, I named it as Vehicle Claim by Email a combination of queue & channel.

Source Type – Either email or social monitoring which indicates the case to be created automatically from email or social messages. I have selected my source type to email.

Queue – Select the queue that is applicable to this rule. For my rule, I have selected Vehicle Claims Queue. Please note that if your source type is email then make sure the email address that we are using for this rule is specified in the selected queue otherwise a case will not be automatically created.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Owner – Default to who is creating the rule.

Specify Conditions for Case Creation – These are pre-defined conditions that are available within Microsoft Dynamics CRM. These conditions change based on selected Source Type in this rule. You can select 0 or more conditions.

For Source Type of email you will see the following conditions:

  • Create cases for email from unknown senders -

Use this option if you want to convert email messages from an unknown senders into cases. If you don't select this option then cases are created only from senders who have either CRM contact or account record.

  • Create case if a valid entitlement exists for the customer –

Use this option if you want to create cases only if a valid entitlement exists for the customer who is sending the email. This will only work if the contact parent account has a valid entitlement.

  • Create cases for activities associated with a resolved case –

Use this option if you want to create a case if the email is related to a resolved case. If the email is related to an active case a new case won't be created. If you select this option then you can also select duration. A case will be created only if the case is resolved earlier than the duration specified.

For source type of social monitoring you will see the following conditions:

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Create cases for blocked social profiles – Use this option if you want to create cases from social posts from blocked social profiles.

Create cases for private messages only – Use this option if you want to create cases from social posts that are sent as direct or private messages to the queue specified in the case conversion rule. Otherwise, cases will be created for all social posts including public messages (timeline).

Specify Auto Responses for Case – Use this option if you want to automatically send email responses to the sender of the email after a case for the email is created. You can also select the email template to use for the email.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Now, you can save the rule by clicking on Save on top. By default, the title field of the new case is set to the subject of the email and the customer field is set to the sender of the email. If the sender of the email is a contact with a parent account, the customer field is set to the parent account, and the contact field is set to the sender of the email. To change case properties you can add case details as shown in step three below.

3.    Specify Case Details

To define the conditions for creating a case and specify the case properties click on + in the Specify Case Details section.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Like the one I have defined for my rule. I want to create a case every time an email from customer "GK-Company" comes into the claims queue. I also want to set the case priority to High.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

This will make sure that the sender is from "GK-Company" and will automatically set the priority to High. The final rule will look something like this below. Note the message that shows up. Rule will not be effective until it has been activated.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

To activate the rule click Activate on top.

Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM

That's it! Create automatic creation rules in combination with routing rules to automatically create cases and route them to appropriate users or queues. If there are any other questions head over to our blog for the latest news and educational materials. Happy CRM'ing!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

7 comments on “Spring ’14 Wave Update: Setting Up Automatic Case Creation Rules in Dynamics CRM”

  1. Does anyone know if you need the email router or Server side sync enabled for the cases to be created? I have set up the Case creation rules and wanted to try it without setting up either of the two mentioned above. So instead I import about 80 test emails with the Queue as the receiver and various Contacts and Accounts as the senders. The import of emails works just fine but no cases are created? The Rules are activated and the Systems settings is set to ignore if the mailbox of the queue is approved or not.

    1. By the way the final Rule Item/Condition does not contain any criteria's so regardless of email content it should catch any email and create a case out of it.

    2. Hi Martin - From what we have read server side sync or an email router is required. however, if you imported the emails and they were created OK and with the queue, in theory this should have worked, but we never tested this or heard of any of our clients doing so.....

  2. How does the case creation rule handle the auto-response in a looping scenario? In other words, the person submitting the case turns on their out-of-office reply. I believe I've read there's a built-in mechanism to detect this but haven't been able to find details.

    1. Hi - it does seem to handle some of it.....but there is room for improvement. We are leaning towards writing our own custom plugin instead of the out of the box.....

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