Collaborating on cases

Collaboration on a case means bringing the right people to it and keeping one clean record of the issue: collaborators and followers are colleagues who are emailed when the case changes, and the Duplicates tab finds cases that report the same problem so you can merge them into one.

A case usually has one working owner, the person in Assigned To. Some cases need more people: a specialist who works alongside the owner, a manager who wants to hear about every change, or a second agent who logged the same customer call. This page covers the tools for that, from adding people in the case header to merging duplicates on the Duplicates tab. It also explains the Duplicate button, which copies a case, and side conversations, which are stored on a case but not sent anywhere. The case itself is covered in The case lifecycle.

Overview

When to use it

• Add a collaborator when someone besides the assignee is doing part of the work, such as a product specialist or a field engineer.
• Add a follower when someone only needs to know what happens, such as an account manager or a team lead.
• Merge when two or more cases describe the same problem from the same customer, so that the history, files and people sit on one case.
• Duplicate when one case turns out to hold two separate issues and you want a second case that starts with the same customer and classification.

How xMatix handles it

Collaborators and followers are people, not permissions. Both lists hold colleagues, picked from your organisation's resources. Being on either list does not let anyone open a case they could not open before. Record access still comes from security profiles and record security. See Security model.

Change emails. When a case is updated or deleted, xMatix emails every follower and every collaborator on it. The email names the case, says who made the change, lists each changed field with its old and new value, and links to the case. A few rules apply:

• The person who made the change is never emailed about it.
• Only users whose account is active and has an email address receive it.
• Creating a case sends nothing, because a new case has no followers yet.
• A save that changes only system bookkeeping fields, such as the last-modified stamp, sends nothing.
• At most 100 people are emailed about one change.

The emails go out through the platform's messaging service, so each one is recorded in the Message Log.

Duplicate detection. When the Duplicates tab opens, xMatix searches for likely duplicates of the case. If your administrator has written active deduplication rules for cases, the rules decide the matches. If not, the built-in matcher lists cases that share this case's contact, account or contact number. Either way, the list leaves out this case, cases with status Closed, cases already merged into another case and deleted cases. It shows at most 25 candidates, newest first.

Merging. A merge has one surviving case and one or more duplicates. Everything recorded on each duplicate moves to the survivor: timeline activities, attachments, collaborators, followers and side conversations. Each duplicate is kept but closed: its status becomes Closed, its close reason Duplicate and its close time the moment of the merge. It is linked to the survivor and keeps its own case number. The survivor lists it under Merged records.

Prerequisites

• To add or remove collaborators and followers, your security profile needs access to the Collaborator and Follower records. See Permissions.
• The people you add must be active resources linked to a user account. A resource with no user, or an inactive one, is not offered in the picker.
• To use the Duplicates tab, your profile needs the Find Duplicates and Merged Records case actions. To merge, it also needs Merge.

Procedure

Step 1 — Add a collaborator

1. Open the case.
2. In the record header, next to the people who are viewing the case, click the Collaborators icon (a group of people). The badge on it shows how many collaborators the case has.
3. In Select a resource, pick the colleague. People already on the list are not offered.
4. In the role box, pick Owner, Specialist, Collaborator or Observer. The default is Collaborator.
5. Click Add collaborator.

You see Collaborator added, and the colleague appears in the list with their role underneath. The case itself does not change, so nobody is emailed about the addition. From now on the colleague is emailed whenever someone else changes the case.

Step 2 — Add a follower

1. In the record header, click the Followers icon (an eye).
2. In Select a resource, pick the colleague. You can pick yourself or anyone else.
3. Click Add follower.

You see Follower added. The follower is emailed about each later change to the case.

Step 3 — Remove a collaborator or follower

1. Click the Collaborators or Followers icon.
2. Click the × next to the person.
3. When asked to confirm the removal, click Remove.

You see Removed, and the person stops receiving change emails for this case. Removing yourself from Followers is how you stop following a case.

Step 4 — Check for duplicates

1. Open the case and click the Duplicates tab.
2. The Possible duplicates panel searches straight away. While it runs, the line under the title says Searching….
3. Read the result:
   • With no matches, the panel says No likely duplicates.
   • With matches, the title shows a count. The line under it says what matched, such as Same phone or Same account with the shared value. When your administrator's rules found the matches, it shows the name of the rule instead. When several rules matched, it shows each rule with its count.
   • Each row shows the other case's number, when it was created, its account (or contact, or subject), and its status.
4. Click a case number to open that case and read it before you decide.
5. The panel shows five rows at first. Click View all N to see the rest. Click the Refresh icon to search again after you change the case.

Step 5 — Merge duplicates into this case

Use this when the case you have open is the one to keep and its own field values are the right ones.

1. On the Duplicates tab, tick each row that is the same issue.
2. Click Merge N into this case.
3. Read Merge the selected duplicates? It tells you how many cases will be folded into this one and closed as duplicates. Click Merge.

You see Merged N duplicates into this case. The merged cases leave the candidate list and appear under Merged records. Their activities, attachments, collaborators, followers and side conversations are now on this case. This case's own field values do not change.

Step 6 — Compare two cases and choose the values to keep

Use this when some details on the duplicate are better than on this case, or when the other case should survive instead.

1. On the Duplicates tab, click the compare icon on a row (tooltip Compare with number).
2. The Compare with number dialog lists only the fields where the two cases differ. The column marked This case · kept is the survivor.
3. For each row, click the value you want to keep. Where the survivor has no value, the other case's value is chosen for you. The first eight differences are shown. Click Show N more differences for the rest. Document numbers and dates are not offered for picking.
4. To keep the other case instead, click its column heading. It becomes the one marked kept.
5. Read the sentence at the bottom. It says how many values come from each case, which case closes as a duplicate and where its activities move.
6. Click Merge into this case, or Merge into number if you reversed the direction.

xMatix first saves the chosen values onto the surviving case, then merges the other case into it. If the two cases have no differing fields, the dialog says so, and the merge only moves the related items. When the panel listed several candidates, use the arrows at the top of the dialog (1 of N) to step through them.

Step 7 — See what was merged into a case

On the Duplicates tab of the surviving case, Merged records (N) lists each case merged into it. Each row shows when it was merged, the label Merged into this case, a Merged here tag and the case's status. Click Open to read the merged case.

Step 8 — Copy a case into a new one

1. On the case, open the header's overflow menu and click Duplicate.
2. xMatix creates a new case with status New and its own case number. It copies the subject, description, classification, priority and severity, customer, contact details, assignment and queue, and the linked asset, product, service order, entitlement and contract from the original.
3. The new case records the original in Origin Case.

Open the case list to find the new case, then edit it to describe the second issue. SLA dates, resolution details and the timeline are not copied.

Fields

The case form has no collaboration fields of its own. These are the values you choose or read in the header lists and on the merge result.

Business rules

• Who is emailed. Followers and collaborators of the case, minus the person who made the change, limited to active users with an email address, and at most 100 per change. Emails are sent after the save is committed, so a save that fails sends nothing. A failed email never undoes a save.
• Deletes notify too. When a case is deleted, its followers and collaborators are emailed that it is gone, with no link.
• Merging is final. There is no unmerge. To undo a merge by hand, reopen the closed case and move items back individually.
• The survivor's values win in a bulk merge. Only the compare dialog writes the duplicate's values onto the survivor.
• Activities move with the merge. After a merge the closed duplicate's timeline and attachments are empty, because everything moved to the survivor.
• Merged and closed cases are never offered again. A case that was merged away, or has status Closed, is left out of every duplicate search, including searches driven by rules. A case in another end state, such as a resolved status your administrator added, is still offered.
• Rules replace the built-in matcher. As soon as one deduplication rule for cases is active, contact, account and contact-number matching no longer runs. Only the rules decide.
• Numbering. A merged case keeps its number. A copied case gets a new number from the case numbering setting.

Example

A customer of a garden-equipment dealer reports a mower that will not start. One agent logs case CS-1041 from the phone call. An hour later, another agent logs CS-1047 from the customer's email, with a photo attached.

1. The second agent opens CS-1047 and clicks Duplicates. The panel shows Same contact with the customer's name and one row: CS-1041, created today, status In Progress.
2. The agent clicks the compare icon. The dialog shows three differences. CS-1041 has the better description and the right priority, and CS-1047 has the asset filled in.
3. The agent clicks the CS-1041 column heading so that CS-1041 is kept, picks the asset value from CS-1047 and leaves the rest. The footer says Keeps 2 values from CS-1041, takes 1 from the other and that this case closes as a duplicate.
4. The agent clicks Merge into CS-1041. CS-1047 closes with reason Duplicate. Its email, photo and history move to CS-1041.
5. On CS-1041, the assignee adds the workshop's technician as a collaborator with role Specialist, and adds the dealer's account manager as a follower.
6. When the technician later changes the status to On Hold, the assignee and the account manager each get an email listing Status with its old and new values. The technician, who made the change, gets none.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, create two cases for the same contact with different subjects and priorities. Then:

1. Open the newer case and add yourself and a colleague as followers.
2. Open the Duplicates tab and check that the older case is listed as Same contact.
3. Use the compare icon, keep the older case, take the newer case's priority, and merge.

Expected result: the older case shows the newer case under Merged records and has the priority you picked. The newer case has status Closed and close reason Duplicate, and its followers, including you, are now followers of the older case. Ask your colleague to change the older case. You should receive an email listing the field they changed.

Quick reference

• Team icon = Collaborators, eye icon = Followers. Both are emailed about every change made by someone else.
• Neither list grants access to the case.
• Remove yourself from Followers to stop the emails.
• Duplicates tab: tick rows and Merge N into this case to keep this case's values.
• Use the compare icon to pick values field by field or to keep the other case.
• Merged cases close with reason Duplicate, keep their numbers and are listed under Merged records.
• Duplicate in the header copies a case. It does not merge anything.
• Side conversations are not on the case page and nothing in them is sent.

Permissions

The shipped Service profile grants none of the case actions above. If your agents use it, add the actions they need on the profile's Actions tab, and add the Collaborator and Follower entities on its Entity Permissions tab (Setup → Access Control → Profiles). Without the entity access, the header lists stay empty and adding someone fails with an error. Without Find Duplicates, the Duplicates tab shows an error instead of candidates. See Security profiles.

Configuration

Side conversations

A side conversation is a stored sub-thread on a case. It has its own subject, a channel label (Email by default, or Internal) and a status (Open or Closed). Each message has a direction (Outbound by default, or Inbound), a recipient, and a sent-on time for outbound messages. The case actions Start Side Conversation, Reply Side Conversation and Close Side Conversation manage them. Know the limits:

• Not on the case page. The shipped case header leaves these actions out, and no tab lists conversations or messages.
• They need values passed in. Start needs a subject, body and recipient. Reply and Close need the conversation's id and fail without it with A sideConversationId is required. In practice side conversations are written through the data API or an integration.
• Nothing is sent. Messages are only stored, whatever the channel or direction says. The Messaging Template field on a message is not read.
• No privacy of their own. Anyone who can read side conversations can read all of them.
• A closed conversation still accepts replies and is not reopened.

For a focused exchange with a vendor or another team, use email or chat, then record the outcome in the case timeline.

Actions for integrations

Follow, Unfollow, Add Team Member and Remove Team Member are also case actions for the data API and automation. Each needs the user's id as userId, and fails without it with A userId is required. Add Team Member takes an optional role (default Collaborator), an access level (default Read) and a primary flag. It adds a new row each time it runs, even for someone already on the list. Remove Team Member removes every row for that user. Follow on someone already following switches their emails back on. Unfollow removes them from the list.

Common problems

The colleague I want is not in the picker

The picker offers only active resources linked to a user account, and leaves out anyone already on that list. Ask your administrator to link the person's resource to their user, or to reactivate it.

Adding a collaborator or follower fails with an error

Your security profile has no access to the Collaborator or Follower entity. The shipped Sales Manager and Service profiles have none. Ask your administrator to grant it.

A follower says they get no emails

Check that their user account is active and has an email address, and that the change was made by someone else. Changes to system fields alone, and creating the case, send nothing. Look for the send in Setup → Platform → Monitoring → Message Log.

The Duplicates tab says it could not search

The search failed or was refused, usually because your profile lacks the Find Duplicates action. The panel shows the error instead of claiming there are no duplicates. Click Refresh to try again after your administrator grants the action.

A case I know is a duplicate is not listed

The other case has status Closed or was already merged, or it shares none of the matching fields. Without rules, the matcher looks only at contact, account and contact number. With rules, it looks only at the rules' fields. Ask your administrator to adjust the deduplication rules for cases.

I merged the wrong case

A merge cannot be undone in one step. Open the closed case, change its status back, and move what you need from the survivor by hand: re-attach files and re-add people. Activities that moved stay on the survivor.

Common questions

What's the difference between a follower and a collaborator?

Both receive the same change emails. A collaborator is someone working on the case and carries a role, such as Specialist, which tells others what they do. A follower only watches. Use collaborators for people with a task and followers for people who need to stay informed. Neither list grants access to the case, and neither changes Assigned To, which remains the single working owner. Both lists move to the surviving case when cases are merged, so nobody falls off a case because of a merge.

Does merging delete the duplicate cases?

No. Each duplicate stays as a case with status Closed and close reason Duplicate, keeps its own case number and is linked to the surviving case through Master Case. A customer quoting the old number still finds a record. Its activities, attachments, collaborators, followers and side conversations move to the survivor, so the duplicate itself ends up with an empty timeline. The survivor lists it under Merged records, with the time of the merge and an Open link.

Can I stop following a case without removing myself?

From the case page, removing yourself from Followers is the way to stop. The header list has no mute switch. If you are a collaborator, you are emailed as long as you stay on the list, so ask the assignee to remove you when your part is done. Your administrator can also hide the Followers and Collaborators icons on a layout, but that only hides them. People already on the lists are still emailed.

Why can't I find Start Side Conversation on a case?

The shipped case page does not offer it. The side-conversation actions need values such as a subject, body and conversation id, which a plain header button does not send, and no tab lists the conversations. They are written through the data API or an integration, and their messages are stored, not sent. For a private exchange with a vendor, use email or chat, then record the outcome in the case timeline.

Can I follow records other than cases?

Yes. The Followers and Collaborators icons appear in the header of record pages generally, not only on cases, unless your administrator has turned them off for that layout with Show Followers or Show Collaborators. Change emails work the same way on any record: when someone else updates or deletes it, its followers and collaborators are emailed with the changed fields. The same limits apply everywhere. You need access to the Follower or Collaborator entity, the person must be an active resource linked to a user account, and following a record does not give anyone access to it.

Related topics

• The case lifecycle
• Escalating a case
• Deduplication rules
• Support configuration reference
• Security model
• Case reference
• Follower reference