To make Service Cloud coverage work, you enable entitlement management, then build the records that let a case find its entitlement and start the right SLA clocks. This is the configure-feature path an admin follows in Setup.
- Enable entitlement management
From Setup, open Entitlement Settings and turn on entitlements. Choose whether the Entitlement Name lookup appears on cases and whether agents can edit it, so the coverage link can be set during case creation.
- Build an entitlement process with milestones
In Setup under Entitlement Management, create an entitlement process, then add milestones such as first response and resolution time. Set the recurrence type per milestone and add milestone actions for warnings or escalations before you activate the process.
- Create service contracts and entitlements
Create a service contract on the account, then add entitlements that reflect its terms. Set Start Date, End Date, and the Entitlement Process lookup so each grant has valid dates and a timeline to run.
- Assign the entitlement to cases
Set the entitlement on the case, manually or through Flow or Apex on case create. Once the lookup is populated, the entitlement process activates and the milestone clocks begin counting against that customer.
Decide whether entitlements are granted by asset, product, or service contract. This shapes how a case matches the right coverage.
Choose independent or sequential recurrence per milestone so the timeline matches how your support steps actually repeat.
Standardize on one assignment method, Flow or Apex, rather than both, to avoid conflicting entitlement assignments.
- You cannot add milestones to a case without an entitlement process; the process is what applies them.
- After an entitlement process is activated you cannot delete its milestones or add milestone actions; create a new version instead.
- If no valid in-date entitlement matches, the case is uncovered and SLA clocks will not start, so build a triage path for those cases.