A “case” can be defined as any project, transaction, service or response that can be “opened” and then “closed” over a period of time. A case generally is utilized to achieve a resolution to a problem, claim, request, development or any other complex activity.

Usually, multiple people inside & outside organization would have access to a case, with varying relationships to each other.

Additionally, cases can contain multiple documents and messages. Thus, a case is a reliable tool for sharing documentation while constantly communicating with colleagues and customers.

A case can be created within a channel. This case can be monitored by channel members upon selection. When a new case is created, the case awaits in its “Open” state in the channel. Moreover, channel members can take action to resolve this case by assigning it to the relevant people within the channel members. Any action taken is recorded as an activity in the case history.

When the procedures are completed, the case is closed and archieved. A closed case can be reopened when needed.

Every case has the following properties;

Number
Tracking number of the case. Incremented by each new case automatically.

Subject
The subject of a case.

Description
Details of a case.

Deadline Date
The deadline date of the case to be resolved.

Priority
Priority level of a case. One of the following can be selected: None (Not specified), Low, Normal, High, Very High, Critical.

Created At
Creation date of the case.

Created By
Creator of the case.

Updated At
The last update date of the case.

Updated By
The user who last updated the case.

Assigned To
The user that case is assigned to.

Assigned At
Assigning date to that user.

Closed At
Closing date of the case.

Case List

When case management is enabled on the channel, existing cases' list is visible on the left side to show the case list with filter options.

Open

Case list.

The case list includes 3 pages to show Open, Closed and All cases.

The search box allows to filter more details about cases.

Critical Priority
List of cases with critical priority

High Priority

List of cases with high priority.

Filter
This part provides filtering options for the listed cases. Different filter options can be used together. Filter options are assigned to, assigned at, created by, created at, updated by, updated at, resolved at and closed at. 

Case List Export
Allows the listed cases to be transferred to Excel.

Select All
Provides to select cases for editing.

When the user clicks on the case avatar or clicks on the select all button, the edit page is opened.

Edit

This feature helps to manage cases list with different options.

• Assign, used for assigning the selected cases to a person. When the user clicks this option, the channel members list opens and the related case is assigned to the chosen member. 

• Move to Another Channel, used for moving selected cases to another channel. When the user clicks this option, the channel list opens and the related case is moved to the chosen channel. 

• Merge Cases, used for merging cases. When the user clicks this option, a warning screen opens and if the user proceeds, the case number remains the same and the other cases are closed.

• Close Case, used for closing the selected cases. When the user clicks this option, a warning screen opens and if the user proceeds, the case is closed.

• Delete, used for deleting selected cases.

Case List Filtering

The search box by default includes the following filters;

Assigned To Me
Lists the cases that are assigned to the current user.

Unassigned
Lists the cases to that no one has been assigned.

Created By Me
Lists the cases that the current user has created.

Updated By Me
Lists the cases that the current user has updated.

The search box also used with the custom keywords to be searched on the subject or body like any search engine.

Additionally ordering box can be used to control the ordering of the list.

Edit
Use for editing the subject, description and the type. When choosing the type, the profile feature will be active.

Open

Case’s menu.

Profiling

The basic functionality of a case may not be enough for more complex cases such as CRM, Service Desk, Customer Complaint etc. In this case, the profiling feature allows the users to define custom fields to use on their cases. Please see the Content Types for how to define them.

To profile a case please follow these steps;

• Open the case menu and select "Profile"

• The type field will be listing the related content types.

• Select a type and the profile form will be displayed. Fill out the profile form and click Ok.

Delete
Use for deletion of case.

Add Related Cases
Use for adding to related cases. When the user clicks on it, open cases will be listed to be chosen from. The chosen cases are added to the main case as a related case. The user can follow up the case from the "related cases" section.

Add Child Cases
Use for adding to child cases. When the user clicks on it, open cases will be listed to be chosen from. The chosen cases are added to the main case as child cases. The user can follow up the case from the "related cases" section.

Close as Duplicate
Use for closing the duplicate cases. When the user clicks on it, open cases will be listed to be chosen from. All the selected cases will be marked as duplicates and closed.

Move to Another Channel
Use for moving of selected cases. When the user clicks on it, the channel list will be listed and the case will be moved to the selected channel.

Assign
Use to assign a case. When the user clicks on it, the channel member list will be listed and the related case is will be assigned to the chosen channel member. 

• Identity: The channel member to be assigned is selected from here.

• Notes: Explanation for the assignment are entered in the note field.

Close Case
Use for closing the case.

Send Update

For open cases, the channel manager or assigned case handler can send updates about the case's current status to related people by e-mail.

To send an update please follow these steps;

• Click on the "Send Update" command from the toolbar.

• From: There are two options for sending mail. The first is using the channel e-mail address, and the second is using the user e-mail address.

• To: The address to be sent is entered.

• Cc: The address to be sent is entered.

• Subject: Enter the subject of the e-mail.

• Attachments: Add any e-mail attachments such as documents etc.

• Select: Case documents are listed in this section. Choose the attachment that you want to add to the e-mail.

• Message composer dialogue will be shown. Recipients are automatically filled from the case people but you can add additional recipients if needed.

• Fill out the message and click Ok. Message content can contain rich elements like font styling, tables or links etc.

Activity Stream

All activities are listed in this section, like e-mail, notes etc.

Notes and documents related to the case can be added.

Add a comment to the message field.

Import Options
You can import files into the message box using different options.

• My computer, you can use to import files from your computer into Emakin.

• Camera, you can take a photo using your computer camera and attach the photo to the message box.

• Google Drive, you can use to import files from your google drive account into Emakin.

• One Drive, you can use to import files from your one drive account into Emakin.

• Office 365, you can use to import files from your office 365 account into Emakin.

Incoming mails can be answered. Mail information is listed in the activity stream.

Files

Incoming and outgoing e-mails and all the files added to the activity stream are listed in this section.

Time Tracking

This section allows members to enter their spent time on a specific case. They can start the timer when they start working on and can stop the timer when their work ends. An entry for past works is also possible. 

Set Estimation
This section allows managers to enter an estimation duration for the case.

Add Time or Tracking

Enter the duration of the work in minutes, hours or days.

Type
Specifies the type of time.

Date
Specifies the date of time.

Milestones

The milestones are used to determine the significant stages in the case.  Users can set the milestone durations manually or automatically.  The completed milestones and the overdue milestones in the specified time are shown in different colours.

Milestone Name

Enter the duration of the milestone by minute, hour or day.

Duration Type
Specifies the type of milestone duration.

• Within a duration,  specifies of duration day, hour or minute.

• Specific date-time.

Case Links

Case links allow linking other cases as a child, related or duplicate. To link a case, please follow these steps;

• Open the case menu and select "Add Related Cases" or "Add Child Cases"

• Case picker dialogue will be shown to select cases as links. You can use the filter field to search cases.

• Click “Ok” to save changes.

Also, a case can be marked as a duplicate of a previous ongoing case. When a case is marked as a duplicate, the system automatically links these cases and closes the duplicate. Please follow these steps to mark the case as duplicate.

• Open the case menu and select "Close as Duplicate"

• Case picker dialogue will be shown to list the previously ongoing cases. You can select one or more cases if needed.

• Click Ok to save changes.

The current case will automatically be closed and the selected cases will be listed in Case Links as duplicates.