Defining the processes and data for a Public Service case

Release version: Xanadu

Updated August 1, 2024

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Summary of Defining the processes and data for a Public Service case

A Public Service case extends the Customer Service case type in ServiceNow’s Customer Service Management application, tailored specifically for government service requests. It enables agencies to define data structures and processes to efficiently resolve constituent or business requests. The base Government Service case type, called a public service case, forms the foundation for additional specialized case types such as Service Request, Information Request, and License and Permit cases within the Public Sector Digital Services application. Administrators can extend and customize these case types to suit their agency’s specific government services.

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Configuring Case Types

Administrators create new case types by extending the base Government Service case table, then configuring related components such as roles, modules, workspaces, UI actions, policies, views, ACLs, notifications, business rules, and workflows. The Customer Service Case Types plugin activates this functionality and adds modules for managing case types. Guided Setup simplifies configuration by providing a step-by-step process to create tables, define UI elements, set up processes (including record producers and state flows), and configure case type visibility.

Government Service Case Type Applications

Several applications available from the ServiceNow Store leverage the Government Service case type and its extensions:

Social Benefits Playbook: Manages workflows for social benefit program applications.
License and Permit Playbook: Guides license and permit request cases through their lifecycle.
Information Request Playbook: Supports requests for public records outside defined exemptions.
Service Request Playbook: Handles community maintenance service requests.

Each playbook provides step-by-step guidance and uses specialized case types to capture relevant request details. Customers should review each playbook’s listing for dependencies, licensing, and compatibility.

Public Service Case Lifecycle

Public Service cases progress through defined stages and states to track their resolution process:

Stages: Intake (new case), Review (case assigned and accepted), Process (work in progress), and Decision (resolution stage).
States: Draft (initial), New (submitted), Open (assigned and accepted), Work in Progress (active work), Awaiting Info (requesting additional info), Resolved (solution proposed), Closed (requester accepts solution or closes case), and Cancelled (timeout or cancellation).

Understanding these stages and states helps agents manage and monitor case progress consistently.

You can use a public service case, which is based on the Government Service case type, to extend the customer service case from the Customer Service Management application. By using a case type, you can define the processes and data that are needed to resolve your public service requests.

Overview of a case type

A case type represents the data and the processes that are needed to resolve a specific type of constituent or business request. In addition to using service definitions, you can use the case types feature to create and configure the different types of government service cases that your agency handles. For more information on service definitions, see Service definitions for Public Sector Digital Services.

The base Government Service case type is called a public service case, and is an extension of the Customer Service case type from the Customer Service Management application. The Public Sector Digital Services application also has a Service Request case type, an Information Request case type, and a License and Permit case type, which are all extensions of the base Government Service case type.

As an administrator, you can extend this base case type to create additional case types for various government services that your agency offers .

Creating a case type involves creating a table that is an extension of an existing case, or creating an entirely new case type table. Typically, you must also create roles, modules, workspaces, and other required entities for the case type.

You can use both case types and service definitions to define the data and processes that are needed to resolve a government service request. For more information on service definitions in Public Sector Digital Services, see Service definitions for Public Sector Digital Services.

Case type tasks for administrators

You can configure a case type by creating a table for the new case type that extends the government service base case table. Then, you can set up a series of processes and components for that case type.

To get an overview of this process, see Government Service Case Types Guided Setup.
For more details on how to configure case types using Guided Setup, see Configuring customer service case types.

An agent can then use this custom case type to create a case to resolve a constituent or business request. .

Government Service Case Types plugin

The Customer Service Case Types plugin (com.snc.csm_case_types) is activated when you enable the Public Sector Digital Services Core plugin (sn_gsm).

Activating this plugin adds the Case Types module to the application navigator. You can use this module to create and manage case types, as well as extend the Government Service base case type.

For more information on the plugins that are installed with the Public Sector Digital Services Core application, see Components installed with Public Sector Digital Services Core.

Case Types Guided Setup

Activating the Customer Service Case Types plugin adds the Case Types section to the Public Sector Digital Services Core Guided Setup.

Navigate to All > Constituent Service > Administration > Guided Setup and use the tasks in this section to create and configure a case type.

You can configure several different processes and components for a Government Service case type by using guided setup, including the roles, access control lists (ACLs), notifications, actions, and record producers.

To create and configure a case type, do the following tasks.

Create a table for the new case type that extends the base Case table (sn_gsm_government_service_case).
Configure the UI actions, UI policies, and client scripts for the new case type.
Configure the views and view rules, roles and access controls (ACLs), business rules, and more for the new case type.
Set up the processes for the case type, including the record producers, state flows, and special handling notes.
Create a case type definition record for the new case type and add it to the Case Type table (sn_case_type).
Configure the Get Case Types flow and modify the conditions that determine the visibility for a case type.

For more information on using Guided Setup for Public Sector Digital Services, see Configure Public Sector Digital Services Core using guided setup.

Government Service case type applications

The following table lists the applications available from the ServiceNow Store that use the Government Service case type and its extensions.

Table 1. Government Service case type applications
Application	Description
Social Benefits Playbook (app-psds-social-benefits)	Provides an end-to-end workflow for handling applications for one or more social benefit programs submitted by public sector end users.
License and Permit Playbook (sn_gsm_license_permit)	Playbook that provides step-by-step guidance through the life cycle of license or permit request case. This playbook uses the license and permit request case type to capture the details of a request for new license.
Information Request Playbook (sn_gsm_info_req)	Playbook that provides step-by-step guidance through the life cycle of an information request case. This playbook uses the information request case type to capture the details of a requests for various types of federal, state, and local public records that fall outside of nine exemptions.
Service Request Playbook (sn_gsm_srvc_req)	Playbook that provides step-by-step guidance through the life cycle of a service request case. This playbook uses the service request case type to capture the details of the requests for the various types of community maintenance. For more information, see Life cycle of a Public Service case. The Service Request case table [sn_gsm_service_request_case] is installed with Service Request Playbook.

Review the Service Request Playbook, Information Request Playbook, License and Permit Playbook, or Social Benefits playbook application listing in the ServiceNow Store for information on dependencies, licensing or subscription requirements, and release compatibility.

Public Service case stages

The government service case type moves through the stages that are listed in the following table.

Table 2. Public service request case stages
Stage	Description
Intake	Default stage for a new case.
Review	Stage when the state is updated from Draft to Open because the case is assigned and has been accepted by the agent named in the Assigned to field.
Process	Stage when the state is updated from Open to Work In Progress.
Decision	Stage when the state is updated from Work In Progress to Resolved.

Public Service Case states

The government case type moves through the states that are listed in the following table. For more information, see Life cycle of a Public Service case.

Table 3. Public service request case states
State	Description
Draft	Default state for a new case.
New	Case that moves from Draft to New when the user selects Submit.
Open	Case that moves from New to Open when it’s assigned and has been accepted by the agent in the Assigned to field.
Work in Progress	Case that moves from Open to Work in Progress when the agent selects Start Work.
Awaiting Info	Case that moves from Work in Progress to Awaiting Info when the agent selects Request Info.
Resolved	Case that moves to the Resolved state when the agent selects Propose Solution.
Closed	Case that moves to the Closed state when the requester selects Accept Solution or Close Case.
Cancelled	Case that is moved to the Cancelled state. This can happen through automatic timeout, or if the requester selects Cancel.