Associating cases to related items and users

A case agent creates cases for various employee requests such as, PTO request, request for spot bonus, request for benefits policy, need access to OneDrive, need to replace laptop, and so on. In certain cases, such as request for benefits policy, a case agent might need some reference information to find the policies that are applicable to an employee. 

BMC Helix Business Workflows provides case agents the flexibility to refer to information that is related to a case by associating the information with the case. While working on the case, case agents can associate related cases, BMC Helix ITSM tickets, reference knowledge article, similar cases, related users, and related assets to the case. 

A case business analyst can configure the Modified Date and Modified By fields of a case to be updated for certain activities. For example, when a requester adds a comment, the Modified Date and Modified By fields of the case are updated.

To associate cases to a case

1. Log in to BMC Helix Business Workflows. 
2. Navigate to Workspace > Case.
3. From the Line of Business list, select the line of business for which you want to update a case.
   If you have access to a single line of business, the line of business is selected by default.
4. On the Cases console, open a case by clicking the required case ID.
5. On the case details page, on the Related Tickets tab, click Relate > Case.
   A list of cases that you have access to is displayed.
6. In the Add Related Cases panel, select the cases that you want to relate to the case. 
   You can use Filter to refine the listed cases, based on different criteria.
7. (Optional) To preview a case, click the Case ID of the case from the list.
8. Select a Relationship Type from the list. The following relationships are provided out-of-the-box:
   • Child
   • Duplicate
   • Related to
   If you have selected multiple cases, the selected relationship type is applied to all the cases. 
9. Click Relate.
   The Modified Date and Modified By fields of the case are updated if a case business analyst has enabled the configuration.
   
10. (Optional) To remove associated case, select it and click Delete.

To relate BMC Helix ITSM tickets to a case

You can relate BMC Helix ITSM tickets to cases so that case assignees have easy access to details of the related BMC Helix ITSM tickets. They can quickly refer to details in the related BMC Helix ITSM tickets and provide effective case resolution.

To relate BMC Helix ITSM tickets to a case:

1. On the Related Tickets tab, click Relate and select the BMC Helix ITSM ticket type.
   The following BMC Helix ITSM ticket types are available out of the box: 
   • Change
   • Incident
   • Problem
   • Work order
     A list of tickets that are enabled for your line of business is displayed.
     
2. In the panel displayed, select the tickets that you want to relate to the case.
   You can use Filter to refine the listed tickets based on different criteria.
3. (Optional) To preview a ticket, click the ticket ID of the ticket from the list.
   The Relationship Type is automatically set to Related to by default.  

4. Click Relate.
   The tickets associated with the case are displayed on the Related Tickets tab of the case.
   

   Important

   If you relate the same ticket to a case from a desktop and a mobile device at the same time, there might be duplicate entries of the ticket on the Related tickets tab.

    

5. (Optional) To view a related ticket, click the ticket ID on the Related Tickets tab.
   The preview panel provides a quick preview of the ticket. To view complete details of the ticket, login to BMC Helix ITSM and view the ticket details in BMC Helix ITSM if your support group has access to the related ticket.

6. (Optional) To remove a related BMC Helix ITSM ticket, select it and click Delete.
   

To relate users to a case

1. On the Related Persons tab, click Persons. 
   A list of users belonging to your company is displayed.
2. In the Add Person panel, in the Select Person section, select the users you want to associate with the case, and click Next.
   You can use Filter to refine the listed person records, based on different criteria. 
3. (Optional) To preview a user's profile, click the user's name. 
   You can also navigate to the profile from the preview page.
4. In the Add Relationship section, select a Relationship Type for the users. The following relationships are provided out-of-the-box :
   • Related to
   • Manager 
     If you have selected multiple users, the selected relationship type is applied to all the users.
5. Click Save.
   The users are displayed on the Related Persons tab of the case with the relationship type you selected. 
   The case is added to the Related Cases tab of the selected users' Person Profile.
   The Modified Date and Modified By fields of the case are updated if a case business analyst has enabled the configuration.
6. To view the updates to the related user's profile, click the user's name on the Related Persons tab.
7. To remove a related user, click for the listed user and in the pop-up window, click Yes.

To relate assets to a case

1. On the Related Assets tab, click + Assets.
2. In the Search assets pane, provide the following search qualifications:
   • Select the CI type from the list.
   • Select the Product category tier 1 from the list.
   • (Optional) To search a specific product, select a value from the Product category tier 2, Product category tier 3, Product name, and Manufacturer name drop-down list.
   • (Optional) To search for assets based on location, select a value from the Region, Site group, and Site drop-down list.
   • Select the Status of assets from the drop-down list. The default option is Deployed.
3. Click Search.
   A list of assets based on your search parameters is displayed.
4. In the Search assets section, select the assets that you want to associate with the case.
5. Click Relate.
   The assets associated with the case are displayed on the Related Assets tab of the case.
6. (Optional) To view the details of an asset, click the asset name on the Related Assets tab.
7. (Optional) To remove a related asset from the case, select the asset that you want to remove and click Delete. 

To associate similar cases or relevant knowledge articles to a case

The Resources tab enables you to view and access relevant articles and similar cases in one location. While working on the case, you can refer to the cases or articles to resolve the case.

1. On the case details page, click the Resources tab.

2. To associate similar cases:

   1. Under Similar cases, a list of cases with similar summary information is displayed. Click a case to preview it.

   2. (Optional) To view a case on a separate tab, right-click the case and click Open link in new tab.

   3. If the case is relevant to your current case, associate  it to the case.
      The pinned cases are displayed on top of this list.

3. To associate related knowledge articles:

   1. Under Knowledge Articles, a list of relevant knowledge articles that contain phrases similar to a case summary is displayed. Click an article to preview it.

   2. (Optional) To view a knowledge article on a separate tab, right-click the knowledge article and click Open link in new tab.

   3. To narrow down the search results by using filters, click Advanced search option, then click , and use any of the filters that are displayed. 

      Important

      If you are using BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround as the knowledge base, the Advanced search options will only allow a text search and does not include any filters.

   4. To revert to the default list of knowledge articles, click Back.

      For details, see Knowledge article search.

   5. If the information provided in a Knowledge Article is relevant to the case, associate it to the case.
      When you open the case again, the pinned articles are displayed on top of this list.

      The Modified Date and Modified By fields of the case are updated if a case business analyst has enabled the configuration.
      

      For a list of possible actions on knowledge articles, see Providing feedback for improving the quality of knowledge articles.