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Case Handling Time Updates in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Track case handling time in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to improve efficiency and productivity.

Case management in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service is designed to track and resolve customer service issues across various channels and representatives. The system integrates components to provide an end-to-end solution for managing customer service cases, improving productivity and customer satisfaction.

An integral component of Dynamics 365 Customer Service is case management, with a key aspect being case handling time. Case handling time refers to the total duration spent actively managing a case. This includes reviewing case details, examining past cases and customer interactions, conducting research, collaborating with colleagues, and documenting case notes. Tracking case handling time can help organizations assess productivity and plan staffing needs.

One of the latest features in Microsoft’s 2024 release wave 2 for Dynamics 365 Customer Service is the ability to view handling time for each case. This feature measures the actual time customer service representatives, or agents, spend actively working on a case, with automation built in.

The ability to view handling time for a case is now generally available in Dynamics 365. In fact, the feature can automatically capture time as customer service agents collaborate internally, review case details and interaction history, and communicate with customers. This new feature enhances accuracy and reduces manual entry, allowing agents to focus on tasks that add value to customer interactions.

Agents can see the total time automatically calculated for handling a case. If additional time periods are not included in this calculation, such as breaks or unexpected delays, agents can then manually add these as buffer time logs. This process helps the recorded time spent on the case be accurate and complete. It also helps supervisors calculate average case handling time to forecast staffing needs and improve efficiency. This enables better workforce planning, meeting customer demands, and fine-tuning operational costs.

Feature Details

Agents and supervisors can now view case handling time for each case. Feature updates include:

  • Automatic Time Capture: The time spent is automatically captured while the case form is in focus.
  • Manual Time Entry: System administrators can enable manual time entry if desired.
  • Case Handling Time Widget: The widget must be added to the form to view the time spent.
  • Time Tracking: The widget tracks Total Time, Automatic Time, and Manual Time. Administrators can configure the widget to allow users to manually add time, view only their contributed time, and/or edit their automatically tracked time.

Figure 1: Example of Dynamics 365 Customer Service case handling time updates in action.Figure 1: Example of Dynamics 365 Customer Service case handling time updates in action.

Single Session vs. Multi-Session

Single Session AppMulti-Session App
  • Does not use the Time Interval that is set in Customer Service Settings.
    • This means that the widget automatically tracks the time and is, therefore, required on the case form.
  • The Time Tracker starts as soon as an action occurs, e.g., Case Opened, Case Closed, Field Updated.
  • Uses Time Interval that is set in Customer Service Settings.
  • Time tracking data is initially stored in the browser.
  • After the first 10-minute interval has occurred, the Time Tracker row is created.
  • The widget is not required in this app since the browser stores the data before saving it to Dataverse. The widget is only required for automatic time tracking.
ExampleExamples
User A opens a case for the first time, works on the case for five minutes, and then closes the case window. As soon as the case was opened and in focus, the system immediately started the Time Tracker to reflect the five minutes spent working on the case.
  • User A uses Customer Service Workspace, works on a case for eight minutes, and then closes the case window. The time interval is 10 minutes, so the time tracking record has not been created. Four minutes later, a new Time Tracker is created with the data stored in the browser to capture the user’s additional six minutes spent on the case.
  • User A worked on a case in the Customer Service Workspace for 14 minutes before closing the browser completely. The Time Tracker was created after 10 minutes, but the browser was then closed. So, the remaining four minutes were not tracked as that data is gone.

Timer Behavior in Common Scenarios

The timer will stop in the following scenarios:

  • An agent closes a case that’s opened as a session or app tab.
  • An agent switches, minimizes, refreshes, or closes the browser.
  • The same case is open, but the agent switches to another case form.
  • The agent’s screen is locked while the case is in focus.

The timer will continue to run in the following scenarios:

  • The case is open in a session tab and a related record (such as an Activity) is opened in a new tab.
  • The case form is in the background, while a dialog, such as Case Resolution, is open and in focus.

The total time on the case will start at zero seconds and will be updated after the first update interval set by the system administrator in the following scenarios (users can select Refresh to manually update the time):

  • A user creates a new case, logs no manual time, adds no time to Activities, and the My Time toggle is turned off.
  • A user creates a new case, logs no manual time, adds no time to Activities, and the My Time toggle is turned on.

How Forvis Mazars Can Help

For assistance with case handling time updates in Dynamics 365 Customer Service and any other matters impacting your Microsoft business applications, connect with us today. Business Technology Services at Forvis Mazars is a certified Microsoft Partner and recipient of the Microsoft Inner Circle Award. We assist clients by providing analysis, design, implementation, upgrades, training, support services for Microsoft Dynamics business applications, and more.

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