Overview

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Stateflow is a ServiceNow term describing a way to move a ticket's state by using buttons instead of a dropdown menu. 

Critical Concepts

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With stateflow we can:

• Streamline the lifecycle of a ticket
• Decrease guessing between ticket states
• Increase SLA accuracy by capturing 'thank you' emails from customer without reopening
• Increase customer engagement through the portal
• Decrease the time it takes to close a ticket

Stateflow is considered best practice and is out of box functionality from ServiceNow. 

Case Stateflow Process Diagram

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We have tried to make this workflow as simple as possible given the competing needs of our customers and agents. Cases that are set to 'Awaiting Customer Action' by the 'Request Info' button will automatically close in a total of 8 (5 + 3) business days if the customer does not reply. This is for two main reasons a) we don't want cases in limbo forever, and b) we believe no response reflects that the customer does not need help anymore or care about the resolution of the issue.

To prevent cases from automatically closing, we added a field called 'Follow Up By'. Before hitting 'Request Info', fill in a future date, when this date arrives, the case will pop back to 'In Progress' in your queue. This effectively gives the customer until the Follow Up By date to respond and stops the auto-close process. SLAs are paused while Awaiting Info. 

 

State Information

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Notable information about the states:

• New - Default state when a new case has been opened
  
  • Cannot choose this state manually
• Open - Work is being done on the ticket 
• Open (same state) - Customer has replied
• Awaiting Info - Pending information from customer. This will notify the customer immediately, send a reminder in 5 business days, and automatically close the case after another 3. 
• Solution Proposed - Work is done and customer should verify. Once you've gathered enough information, you can propose a solution
  
  • If the customer replies to this email notification, no action will occur. The only actions permitted are the following
    
    • Customer will be able to Accept or Reject Solution via the portal or by clicking a button on an email
    • If the customer accepts the solution proposed, the ticket will automatically close
    • If the customer rejects the solution proposed, the ticket will go into the 'Escalated' state (Rejections through the portal require a reason while rejections through email recommend a reason but do not enforce it)
    • If the customer does nothing, the solution will automatically be accepted after 3 business days

How it Works

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Depending on the state the ticket is currently in, you will have select buttons, also referred to as UI Actions, that will change the state and update the ticket.

Below are what state changes you can make depending on the current as well as any additional required fields we have set in place:

Current State	Next State	Required Fields
New	Open
	Awaiting Info	Additional Comments, Follow up by (Replacement for "Pending Customer No Autoclose")
	Solution Proposed	Additional Comments
Open	Awaiting Info	Additional Comments, Follow up by (Replacement for "Pending Customer No Autoclose")
	Solution Proposed	Additional Comments
Pending	Open	Additional Comments, Follow up by (Replacement for "Pending Customer No Autoclose"))
	Solution Proposed	Additional Comments
Solution Proposed	Open
	Awaiting Info	Additional Comments, Follow up by (Replacement for "Pending Customer No Autoclose")
	Closed (automatic on solution accepted or no response)