Case Updates – Public & Private Activities

Using the Public/Private Activities to store Case Updates

NOTE: We’d recommend that you setup a Portal test user to fully test this example.

Public and Private Activities are used to track the interactions that both a customer service team and a customer have against a given case. Private Activities are not visible to any Case Portal users and are designed for internal notes only, whereas Public Activities can generate Email Notifications and are visible to the customer from the Case Portal.

Firstly, create a new Case and set any required fields directly in Workbooks. Set the following fields:

• Set the Primary Contact to your Portal Test user
• Set the “Task Type” field to “Next Steps” 
• Set the “Activity Sub Type” to “Public”
• Set the “Task Description” field to some relevant text. For this example we’ll just use “A test update”.
• Set the “Next Steps Due” to TOMORROW
  • If the Next Steps Due date is set, then the Activity will not be marked as “Complete”. Instead it will be marked as “New” with a Due Date of the value set in the Next Steps Due field to allow you to drive Activity Reports & Dashboards and spot non-actioned Activities

When you save the record, an Activity will be created that is visible under the “Activities” tab. It should also show up in the Recent Activity grid that you created at the top of the list as it is the most recent activity. The “First Response At” field will be set to the current date & time. As a final step, the script clears the above fields so that you can log a new update next time. Try the same thing again with a “Private” Activity Sub Type.

Finally, login to the Case Portal as your test user. One update will be visible under the Notifications menu. Click the update in the notification pane, which will show you the relevant Case in the portal. Notice how the “Private” Activity is not shown here.