What Is Case Flags?

Case Flags is a 100% Salesforce-native AppExchange App for Salesforce Service Cloud that improves the responsiveness of your Customer Service team. 

Case Flags is a dynamic visual prioritization and decision automation system for Service Cloud users that delivers improved Response Time metrics by minimizing Case handle time associated with agents deciding which Case to work on next. 

Flags indicate which Cases need agents’ attention most urgently, without an agent spending time assessing and deciding on their own. This standardizes prioritization, eliminates decision fatigue and labor waste, and prevents agents from cherry-picking Cases.

Custom Aging Speeds allow for the setup of criteria-based rules for aging, such as Cases aging faster for a high-priority client or urgent issue. For guidance on designing Custom Aging Speeds, please review the following Knowledge Article: Common Custom Aging Speed Criteria Requirements for Case Flags

Full lists of Best Practice recommendations are below, including how to use Case Flags, and how not to use Case Flags.

This short video explains the basics: Vicasso Case Flags (2:16)

Implementation Best Practice Recommendations

• Default and Custom Aging Speeds should be modeled on Average Response Time expectations. For example, “Every Case needs a response within 2 days for each reply”.
  • In the absence of an “Each Response” type of SLA or response time expectation in your business, Vicasso recommends a baseline minimum of 2 business days for all responses for every Case.
• Most customers will need no more than 8-12 Custom Aging Speeds. Complex requirements across a large environment supporting multiple business units may require more Custom Aging Speeds, typically 15-25 in quantity at most. Please reach out to Vicasso for guidance on setting up Custom Aging Speeds. 
• Case Flags includes packaged Event Rules to easily automate the setting and clearing of flags. If local automation must be used to set and clear flags, this automation should mirror the primary purpose of Case Flags:
  • A flag is set on Case Record creation, or when a customer responds to a Case. Your agent needs to take action / it’s their turn to reply to the customer.
  • A flag is cleared when your agent replies and stays cleared until your customer replies or it’s time for your agent to follow up (see Case Flags Follow-up process).
  • Setting, resetting, or clearing flags for other reasons may add significant inaccuracy to your metrics. 
• Add the Case Flags Utility Bar to your Service Console App. The ‘My Unified Cases’ view in Switchboard must be visible to agents for Case Flags to deliver the maximum efficiency improvements possible.
• Managers can configure Case Flags Switchboard with multiple views to best suit their use case. Switchboard View can help Managers screen for SLA violation risk, load balance and improve agent utilization across their team. Switchboard also allows for triage/assigning new and existing Cases based on capacity, skill, tier, team, etc.
• Enable Case Flags History Tracking. Case Flags will not be able to measure metrics if Case Flags History Tracking is disabled.
• Enable ‘Use Jobs to Set Case Hours’ feature in Setup. Enable this setting if Cases will move between different business hours via local automation throughout their lifecycle.
• DO NOT reset flags automatically when agents respond to customers.
  • Flags don’t need to be set to measure the time waiting on customers.
  • This configuration will cause confusion and ambiguity for agents

 

How should Case Flags be used?

• Improve leading indicator KPIs by guiding and automating agent behavior
• Ease cognitive load for agents by automating which Case should be worked on next when an agent finishes working on the previous Case 
• Improve agent efficiency by eliminating transit time from overall handle time
• Show agents when a customer has replied to a Case, avoid missed customer communication
• Configurable prioritization of Cases inclusive of Priority/Severity, varied Service Level Agreement (SLA) expectations, Record Type, business process, etc.
• Standardize and automate follow-up on Cases when customers don’t reply
• Mitigate SLA violations and associated costs
• Calculate SLAs inclusive of day-over-day Business Hours calculations
• Measure lagging indicator KPIs typically tracked with Salesforce Milestones 

 

How should Case Flags NOT be used?

• Visualize remaining time for total Time-to-Resolution (TTR) KPIs
• Case Flags Default or Custom Aging Speeds should NOT mirror TTR targets
• Aging Speeds should not be assigned based on Salesforce Business Hours or Time Zones
• Flags should be set when a Case is created, when a customer replies to a Case, or a Case Flags Follow-up process is triggered so an agent can revisit a Case
• Flags should not be set or cleared based on Milestones or other timing automation
• History tracking should not be used for punitive tracking of Agent performance or exceptions
• Flags should not be reset immediately after an agent replies to a Case.
  • Case Flags can track metrics on customer response times without a Flag set.