Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 User's Guide - MAEIL, Information ...

Providing Customer Service with Contracts and CasesCreating ContractsContracts record service level agreements (SLAs) and entitlements. You can create contracts for existing customers thatspecify the type of service and terms that apply to each customer. This information includes the duration of thecontract, how many case incidents or minutes of service purchased, what hours and days of the week coverage isavailable, and the service entitlements. The contracts can also include the notes for that entitlement, to recordadditional details such as the response time; preventive maintenance plans; which products or parts of the product arecovered; and service details such as the type of service and billing for labor, parts, and other expenses.Creating a ContractNew contracts are created based on contract templates, which pre-define some information, such as allotment types.You can create contracts only for existing accounts and contacts. A contract has the status of draft until it is invoiced.You can change the contract template until the contract status changes. Each new contract is assigned a unique ID thatcannot be used for another contract unless it is being renewed. When you renew a contract, it is saved as a draft withan ID that corresponds to the original contract. If a contract with a status of Invoiced or Active is modified, theamended contract remains associated with the original account.More information: Work with Contract Templates and Work with ContractsYou can record specific service level agreements, such as pricing and how the support is allocated, as contract lines. Forexample, you can note whether the service agreement is limited by the number of cases opened, or by the totalnumber of minutes of customer service allowed. You cannot invoice a contract unless it has at least one contract line.Contract lines also let you track how much of a service allotment has been used.You can add notes and attachments to contracts, and set rules to run based on the contract status, contract start date,or contract end date. For example, you could set a workflow rule to create a task to review the contract when thecontract end date is reached.Invoicing and Activating a ContractAfter a contract has at least one contract line and a billable address, you can mark the contract as invoiced. When youchange the status, it implies that you have accepted the contract. Microsoft Dynamics CRM does not automaticallyinvoice the customer or create an invoice record unless your business has integrated Microsoft Dynamics CRM with aMicrosoft BackOffice product. The contract status is Invoiced until the start date has passed, and then the statuschanges to Active. You cannot delete a contract with the Invoiced or Active status.Viewing ContractsBy default, the Customer Service Representative (CSR) security role grants all CSRs the permissions required to retrievecontracts and view their details.Verifying Entitlements for a Case by Viewing a ContractWhen a CSR opens a case, he or she can look up a customer's contract and determine the appropriate level of support.The CSR can associate a case to a specific contract and contract line. The amount of support allotment used is recordedautomatically in the contract, however, the CSR can manually change it.Putting a Contract on Hold or Canceling a ContractA contract is Active and CSRs can open cases against it until the date the contract ends unless the contract is put onhold or canceled.If you want to suspend or deactivate a contract for an indefinite period of time, you can put it on hold. You cannotopen cases or log an activity against a contract. If the contract end date passes while the contract is set on hold andthen the contract is reactivated, the contract status changes to Expired.Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 User’s Guide 385