Modifying the lifecycle of cases, tasks, and knowledge articles

The default lifecycle of cases, tasks, and knowledge articles are applicable to all the companies in a tenant. However, as a case business analyst, you might want to modify the lifecycle to make it more specific to the business processes of your company. You can modify the default lifecycle of a record in the following ways:

• Change the label of a status or status reason
  After you modify the label of a status, the rules of that status are retained. For example, you change the label of the task status Staged to Queued. In the default task lifecycle, sequence of only Staged tasks can be changed. After the label change, sequence of only Queued tasks can be changed.
• Add or delete a status
  You cannot delete a default status, but, you can add a new status and delete it. After you delete a status, the status reasons associated with it are automatically deleted.
• Add or delete a status reason
• Add or delete a status transition

How does the custom lifecycle apply

When you modify the default lifecycle of a record, the updated lifecycle is applied when you create a record, such as case, task, and knowledge article. Also, any status label changes made in your custom lifecycle are available for selection when you perform configurations related to the status of a record. For example, case template, task template, approval mapping, and so on.

You can make these changes for your company or Flowsets in your company, and the changes are applied in the following scenarios:

• If you make the changes for a Flowset, while creating a record or performing a configuration, the changes displayed belong to that Flowset.

• If you make the changes for your company and not for a Flowset, while creating a record or performing a configuration, the changes displayed belong to your company.

Example of modifying a lifecycle

Consider the following example that explains a scenario of modifying a lifecycle:

Scenario

Hannah is a case business analyst in Calbro Services. Hannah wants to modify the case lifecycle for the HR line of business in Calbro Services. The HR co-ordinator must review the HR-related cases before the case agents can close them.

The following figure shows the ideal status transition of HR cases:

Hannah also wants to create the Valid resolution status reason for the Reviewed status. HR co-ordinators can set cases to Reviewed with Valid resolution as a reason to move the case in its lifecycle.

Actions

To modify the lifecycle, Hannah makes the following changes:

• Changes the label of the status from New to Queued
• Adds the In Review status between In Progress and Resolved
• Changes the label of the status from Resolved to Reviewed
• Changes the label of the status from Closed to Done
• Adds a status reason Valid resolution for the Reviewed status as shown in the following figure:
  

The following figure shows the default lifecycle of cases:

The following figure shows the case lifecycle that Hannah creates:

To modify the default lifecycle statuses, reasons, and transitions

1. Log in to BMC Helix Business Workflows.
2. Click Settings.

3. Navigate to the lifecycle configuration that you want to modify as described in the following table:

   To modify	Navigate to
   a case lifecycle,	Case Management > Case Status Configuration The Status Configuration page is displayed.
   a task lifecycle,	Task Management > Task Status Configuration The Task Status Configuration page is displayed. Notes: If you make label changes to the default task lifecycle, the changes are applied to all the types of tasks. If you add or delete a status, or status reason, the changes are applied only to manual and external types of tasks.
   a knowledge article lifecycle,	Knowledge Management > Status Configuration The Knowledge Status Configuration page is displayed.

4. On the status configuration page, select a company, and/or Flowset for which you want to modify the lifecycle.

5. To modify the lifecycle, click Edit Lifecycle, and perform the steps as described in the following table:

   Action	Steps
   Add or remove a status	To add a status, perform the following steps: Hover over the arrow in-between the two statuses where you want to add a new status. Note: You can add a status only on the vertical transition path that is displayed (in between New, Assigned, In Progress, Resolved, and Closed). Click . To enter the status name, in the Status Settings pane, click Localize. In the Localize Status Name dialog box, perform the following steps: Enter the status name in Localized Value for Default Locale (English). (Optional) Enter the status name in Localized Value for any other locale. Click Save. To delete a status, click the required status, and click . Notes: You cannot delete the default statuses. After you delete a status, the associated reasons and transitions are also deleted. After you delete a status in-between two statuses, there is no automatic transition established between the two statuses. You can add a transition if required.
   Add or remove a status reason	To add a status reason for a status, perform the following steps: Click the status for which you want to add a status reason. In the Status Settings pane, click Manage. In the Manage Status Reason dialog box, click Add Status Reason, and then, click Localize. The Localize Status Reason dialog box is displayed. Enter the status reason name in Localized Value for Default Locale (English). (Optional) Enter the status reason name in Localized Value for any other locale. In the Localize Status Reason dialog box, click Save. In the Manage Status Reason dialog box, click Save. (Optional) If you want the agents to provide a status reason while changing the status of a record, select the Status Reason Mandatory check box. To delete a status reason, perform the following steps: Click the required status. In the Status Settings pane, click Manage. In the Manage Status Reason dialog box, click . Click Save.
   Add or remove a status transition	To add a transition, perform the following steps: Hover over a status from which you want a transition until the icon appears. Drag to the status to which you want to transition. In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes. The transition is saved. To remove a transition, perform the following steps: Hover over a transition that you want to remove. Note: You can delete only the vertical transitions (New > Assigned > In Progress > Resolved > Done). Click . In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes. The transition is removed.  Tips for modifying a transition Tips While modifying a transition, consider the following tips: Hover over a status to see the associated transitions. Drag a status to increase the transition line. Arrange the statuses properly. If you add multiple statuses in between two statuses, the newly added statuses overlap each other as shown in the following figure: After you make any changes in the transition flow, click .

6. Click Save.

Related topics

Case lifecycle

Task lifecycle

Changing knowledge article statuses