Case
A Case in Salesforce represents a customer issue, question, or request for support.
Definition
A Case in Salesforce represents a customer issue, question, or request for support. Cases track the entire lifecycle of a service interaction from creation through resolution, with fields for Status, Priority, Origin, and Subject. They can be created manually, via email-to-case, web-to-case, or by AI agents.
In plain English
“Here's a simple way to think about it: a Case is the canonical record for any customer issue, question, or request. Created manually, by email, by web form, by API, or by an AI agent - the case is what your service team works.”
Worked example
A customer emails support@brightnova.com about a billing discrepancy. Email-to-Case automatically creates a Case record with the email body as the description. Omni-Channel routes it to a billing specialist, who investigates, applies a credit, updates the Case status to "Resolved," and sends a response. The customer receives a satisfaction survey 24 hours later.
Why the Case is the unit of customer support every Service team rotates around
A Case is the canonical record for any customer issue, question, or request your team is working - created manually, automatically by email-to-case, programmatically by API, or by an Agentforce agent. Every escalation milestone, every entitlement timer, every routing decision, every CSAT survey ultimately ties back to a Case. For Service Cloud orgs, the Case is to support what the Opportunity is to sales: the unit work is measured in.
The reason its design earns continuous attention is that the Case schema directly shapes how the team operates. Required fields drive what every agent must capture; record types separate technical tickets from billing inquiries from product feedback; status values define what open and resolved mean for reporting. Get these right at setup, audit them whenever the support team's process changes, and treat any complaint about the Case having the wrong fields as a signal worth investigating rather than working around.
How to create Case
Cases are how the Service Cloud tracks a customer issue from "raised" to "resolved." Most production cases are created automatically (Email-to-Case, Web-to-Case, channels) — the manual flow is for phone-in calls and admin testing.
- Open the Cases tab
App Launcher → Cases. Service agents usually live on the Service Console, where Case creation is one click from any Contact.
- Click New
Top-right of the list view.
- Choose a Case Record Type if prompted
Orgs frequently split Case record types by team (Support, Billing, Returns) — pick the one that matches the channel and team that owns the issue.
- Set Status and Origin
Status defaults to "New" but is required. Origin (Phone, Email, Web, Chat) tells the routing engine where this came from.
- Link Account and Contact
Not platform-required, but always required by org policy. Customer self-service Cases auto-link via the portal user; manual Cases require you to look them up.
- Add Subject and Description
Subject is the one-line summary; Description is the body. Both are highly recommended by every standard layout.
- Save
Save commits the record. Assignment rules, escalation rules, and auto-response rules fire here if they're active.
Required by the platform. Defaults to the first picklist value (typically "New").
Required by the platform. Drives most routing logic — pick the correct channel.
- Case assignment rules only fire if the "Assign using active assignment rule" checkbox is ticked on the New Case page — it's off by default in some layouts.
- Case ownership defaults to the creating user unless an assignment rule overrides it. Verify the Owner before walking away.
- Cases under an Account inherit the Account's sharing — private Accounts produce hidden Cases. Service teams typically need broader Account visibility.
How organizations use Case
Deployed Case across their global support organization to standardize how cases are handled regardless of region. Agents in three time zones now follow the same escalation procedures, use the same knowledge articles, and report on the same KPIs.
Used Case to build a self-service portal that deflects 35% of incoming support requests. Customers can search knowledge articles, track existing cases, and find answers without waiting in a queue-freeing agents to focus on complex issues.
Implemented Case to meet strict SLA requirements from their enterprise customers. Automated escalation paths, milestone tracking, and real-time alerts ensure that no case breaches its commitment, and monthly compliance reports are generated automatically.
Trust & references
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Case.
- Set Up and Manage Cases in Service CloudSalesforce Help
Test your knowledge
Q1. Which Salesforce Cloud includes Case as a key feature?
Q2. What customer experience metric would Case help improve?
Q3. What business function does Case primarily support?
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