Responding to Customer Cases

When a case is created and assigned, you'll want to respond to the customer as quickly as possible.

If you handle the support case by phone, you can take notes in the Reply field to document your advice to the customer. Then, set the status to Closed, and save the case. To email the customer information from the case, enter it in the Reply field of the case record and check the Send to Customer box.

Note:

Communication sent from the Reply field uses the email address set in the Profile. This email address is intended to be used across all standard case communication to increase consistency of communication. To send an email using the email address of the person replying to the case, click Email in the Messages subtab. Then, select the required address from the Message subtab.

Cases created by customers through an online case form or external case record can be answered by entering a message in the Reply field. Check the Send to Customer box to email your response when the case is saved.

For example, Lina from Lina's Dance Studio clicks Contact Support on Wolfe Electronics' website to submit a case about her new Creativo computer. As soon as she submits it, a case record is created in Wolfe Electronics with her message. When Tom Taylor, a support rep, grabs the case, he reads her question, investigates, and replies to her by email using the case record. When he clicks Save, his message is emailed to Lina, and the case is closed.

To reply to a customer support case:

Go to Cases > Customer Service > Cases.
To reply to a case, click Grab next to the name of the case you want to answer.

The case is automatically assigned to you, and you can make changes to the case record.

You can't grab a case that's already been assigned to someone else.
In the Email(s) field, you can add any extra email addresses, separated by commas or semicolons.

If you email the response, it is sent to all addresses in this field.
In the Status field, select the status of this case.

If you are working on the case, select In Progress.

If you are replying with a solution, select Closed.
If the case's Priority has changed, select a new priority.
To copy other employees, select their names in the Copy Employees field.

Email is sent when you save the case record.
On the Communication subtab, enter any new messages received from a customer in the Message field.

Your name appears as the author of this message.

The last message from a customer appears in the Message field. If you change the company or customer on this case, the last message remains from the previous company or customer.
In the Reply field, enter your solution for the case.

This solution is logged on both the case and customer records.

Note:
To copy other recipients or add attachments to your message, email your message by clicking the Email button on the Messages subtab.
To email your reply to the addresses in the Email(s) field, check the Send to Customer box.
If you don't want the customer to see your reply, check the Internal Only box.

If you check this box, the message is sent only to employees in the Copy Employees field. The customer is not emailed copies of your message, and only employees can see your comments in the Reply field.

You can also mark previous case messages as Internal Only. On the Messages subtab under the Communication subtab, click the link in the Internal Only column to toggle this setting for any case message.
To associate tasks, calls, or events with this case, click the Activities subtab on the Communication subtab.

For more information, see Attaching Events, Tasks, and Calls to Records and Transactions.
If you use the Knowledge Base feature and want to attach a solution to this case, select it in the Insert Solution field, or click Search to find the one you want to attach. You can also click New Solution to create a new solution to add.

The text of the attached solution appears below the text in the Reply field and is emailed with the reply.

For more information, see Attaching Knowledge Base Solutions to Cases.
If you use Time Tracking for CRM, see Tracking Time on Cases for steps on filling out the information about the Time Tracking subtab.
On the Communications subtab, click the Files subtab to attach files from the File Cabinet. Click New File to add an external file.
If you use the Issue Management feature, click the Issues subtab to create or attach an issue for this case. For more information, see Linking Issues with Cases.
To escalate a case to another employee, partner, or vendor, click the Escalate subtab. For more information, see Escalating Cases.
Click Save.

Your response is added to the Messages subtab on the case record. If you checked the Send to Customer box, the case details are emailed to the customer with your latest message at the top. Any prior information appears at the end of the message in Message History.

Note:

When employees creating or updating case records appear in the Company field, the notification email doesn't show new information from the Reply field. This information is tracked on the Messages subtab of the case record.

Most field changes are automatically logged on the Notes subtab, except for changes to Case Number, Date, Time, Phone, and Escalation Message fields.

Tracking this information helps your employees know what kinds of questions, concerns, and problems your customers have.

For information about customizing templates for NetSuite generated email, see Customizing Templates for System-Automated Email.

To reply to a customer support case:

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