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    Suite 02 of 7

    Service Suite

    Make every service interaction count.

    Bring customer cases, service commitments, knowledge, self-service, contact-center interactions and field-service activities into a coordinated service experience.

    Help teams respond with context, manage commitments and strengthen customer relationships beyond the sale.

    See the Commitment Line
    The challenge

    What service leaders are up against

    The Service Suite is where a customer's promise is kept: it joins the case, the commitment behind it, the answer and the visit when one is needed — and hands work it does not own to the platform that does.

    • Promises nobody can see

      Contracts promise response and resolution times, but agents can't see which customer is entitled to what, so commitments are missed without anyone noticing.

    • Context that stops at the channel

      A customer's call, chat and email live in different tools, so every new contact starts from zero.

    • Answers that drift

      Knowledge is copied into personal notes and old replies, so the same question gets different answers, and nobody owns retiring the wrong ones.

    • Self-service that ends in a dead end

      Portals let customers search but not follow their case, so they call anyway.

    • The visit that undoes the call

      A technician arrives without the case history or the commitment behind it, and the customer explains everything again.

    Signature view

    The Commitment Line

    One customer commitment, followed from the moment it is made to the moment it is kept or missed. Every step answers one question: what did we promise, what are we doing about it, who decided, what went wrong, who else is involved — and did we keep it?

    • Commitment
    • Activity
    • Decision
    • At risk
    • Hand-off
    • Outcome

    1. 01 Commitment

      Service commitment

      The response and resolution the customer is entitled to, taken from their entitlement and the matching SLA policy.

      Who acts, record and exceptions
      Owned by
      Commercial owner (entitlement) · service manager (policy)
      Record
      Entitlement and SLA policy on the customer record
      If it goes wrong
      No entitlement found: the default policy applies and the case is flagged for review.
      Capability: SLA & Entitlements

    2. 02 Activity

      Contact opens a case

      Chat, the portal, email or a call where telephony is connected — each contact opens or joins one case, and the commitment's timers start.

      Who acts, record and exceptions
      Owned by
      Agent
      Record
      Case with channel history; response and resolution timers
      If it goes wrong
      A repeat contact on the same issue joins the open case.
      Capability: Case Management

    3. 03 Decision

      Who handles it?

      Routing rules match the case to a queue and to the skills it needs; a team lead can override.

      Who acts, record and exceptions
      Decided by
      Routing rules set by the head of customer service; team lead overrides
      Record
      Assignment history
      If it goes wrong
      Required skills unavailable: escalates to the team lead.
      Capability: Case Management

      04 At risk

      Response window closing

      A breach warning fires before the commitment is missed. The team lead reassigns or escalates, and the case returns to resolution.

      Who acts: Team lead; service manager on breach

    4. 05 Activity

      Resolve with knowledge

      The agent works the case with suggested answers from approved articles, and decides whether to use them.

      Who acts, record and exceptions
      Owned by
      Agent; knowledge manager owns the article
      Record
      Resolved case, or a knowledge request
      If it goes wrong
      No answer exists: a knowledge request is raised.
      Capability: Knowledge Base

    5. 06 Hand-off

      Engineering record

      to: iShield Nexus

      iShield Connect keeps the customer case. When engineering is needed, the case is linked to the engineering record in iShield Nexus so status can flow back to the customer. This hand-off depends on how the platforms are implemented and configured.

      Who acts, record
      Owned by
      Engineering lead in iShield Nexus decides the defect
      Record
      Link between the customer case and the engineering record
      Capability: Case Management

    6. 07 Activity

      Dispatch a technician

      When a visit is needed, a work order is created from the case and scheduled, so the technician arrives with the history and the commitment.

      Who acts, record and exceptions
      Owned by
      Field service manager
      Record
      Work order and visit record
      If it goes wrong
      Parts and stock movements stay in iShield One.
      Capability: Field Service

      08 At risk

      Visit can't go ahead

      A missing part or access problem: the field service manager reschedules with notice to the customer, then the case continues to closure.

      Who acts: Field service manager; customer notified by a person or an approved template

    7. 09 Decision

      Is it resolved?

      The agent proposes closure and the customer confirms — in conversation or in the portal. Complaint closure is never automatic.

      Who acts, record and exceptions
      Decided by
      Agent, with customer confirmation
      Record
      Closure; complaint closure record
      If it goes wrong
      Customer disagrees: the case reopens.
      Capability: Self-Service Portal

    8. 10 Outcome

      Kept or missed

      Whether the commitment was kept is recorded against the entitlement. A missed commitment goes to service review; customer feedback is gathered through Feedback & NPS.

      Who acts, record
      Owned by
      Service manager
      Record
      Commitment outcome against the entitlement
      Capability: SLA & Entitlements

    9. Feedback · closes the line

      breaches and knowledge gaps feed the next service review and the next knowledge update.

    Illustration of a service operating model — not a product screen. It shows how responsibilities are intended to divide; it does not state that any step runs automatically or that the platforms are integrated in every deployment.
    6 Capabilities

    Inside the Service Suite

    Each capability: its purpose, what it covers, who decides, the records it keeps and how exceptions are handled. Functions included in a deployment are agreed during solution design.

    Capability 1 of 6

    Case Management

    Keep one case per customer issue, whatever channel the customer uses.

    Previously listed as

    Omnichannel Case Management · Case Routing

    What it covers

    • Intake from the channels your organisation enables
    • Complaint handling with acknowledgement and closure steps
    • Routing by rules and skills
    • Functional and hierarchical escalation
    • Case rules configured by service administrators

    Who decides

    The head of customer service sets routing rules and complaint steps. Agents own their cases. Team leads approve reassignment and hierarchical escalation.

    Records it keeps

    • Case with its channel history
    • Complaint record
    • Escalation history

    Exceptions

    • A second contact on the same issue joins the existing case.
    • A suspected product defect is linked to engineering in iShield Nexus.

    Capability 2 of 6

    SLA & Entitlements

    Make the service each customer is entitled to visible on every case, and warn before it is missed.

    Service levels are configured by each organisation; this page states no response-time or availability figures.

    Previously listed as

    New capability in the Suite structure.

    What it covers

    • SLA policies
    • Response and resolution timers
    • Breach warnings
    • Service-credit recording, with any financial effect handled in iShield One

    Who decides

    Service management defines policies. Commercial owners define entitlements. Credits are approved by an accountable person, never by a rule alone.

    Records it keeps

    • Entitlement
    • SLA policy
    • Timer events
    • Breach and credit records

    Exceptions

    • A paused timer records its reason.
    • A breach opens an escalation to the team lead.

    Capability 3 of 6

    Knowledge Base

    Give agents and customers one owned, versioned answer.

    Previously listed as

    Knowledge Base · Agent Assist

    What it covers

    • Article lifecycle with versioning and approval
    • Answers suggested to agents from approved articles, which the agent decides whether to use

    Who decides

    The knowledge manager publishes and retires articles. The agent accepts or rejects a suggestion.

    Records it keeps

    • Article versions
    • Approval history
    • Knowledge requests raised from cases

    Exceptions

    • A missing answer becomes a knowledge request.
    • A retired article stops being suggested.

    Capability 4 of 6

    Self-Service Portal

    Let customers find an answer or follow their case without calling.

    Previously listed as

    Customer Portal · Self-service Community & Forum

    What it covers

    • A portal in your organisation's brand
    • Case submission and tracking
    • Reporting on questions resolved through self-service

    Who decides

    The service organisation decides what is published and what customers can do. Customers decide when to ask for a person.

    Records it keeps

    • Portal submissions joined to cases
    • Self-service outcome records

    Exceptions

    • "Talk to a person" stays available and opens or joins the case.

    Capability 5 of 6

    Contact Center

    Give agents one console for live conversations with the case already open.

    Previously listed as

    Agent Assist

    What it covers

    • Live chat
    • An agent console
    • Opening the right record when a contact arrives
    • Voice, where a supported telephony provider is connected

    Who decides

    Service management decides queues and channel hours. The agent owns the conversation.

    Records it keeps

    • Conversation and transcript attached to the case

    Exceptions

    • A virtual-agent conversation handed to a person arrives with its transcript.

    Capability 6 of 6

    Field Service

    Send the right technician to the customer with the case and the commitment behind it.

    Maintenance of your own assets and facilities stays in iShield One.

    Previously listed as

    Field Service (Dispatch, Mobile, Parts, Warranty)

    What it covers

    • Work orders created from cases
    • Scheduling and dispatch
    • Technician access on mobile

    Who decides

    The field service manager sets dispatch priority. The technician confirms completion. The customer confirms the visit outcome.

    Records it keeps

    • Work order
    • Visit record
    • Parts used, with stock and accounting kept in iShield One

    Exceptions

    • A missing part reschedules the visit with notice to the customer.
    Operating model

    Five layers of a customer-service operation

    Each layer answers one question and has one accountable role.

    1. Channels

      How does the customer reach us?

      Accountable: Head of customer service

    2. Case

      What is the issue and its history?

      Accountable: Agent · team lead

    3. Commitment

      What did we promise, and by when?

      Accountable: Service manager · commercial owner

    4. Resolution

      Answer, person or visit?

      Accountable: Agent · knowledge manager · field service manager

    5. Learning

      What should change so it doesn't recur?

      Accountable: Service manager

    Accountability

    Escalation, exceptions and the people who decide

    “People decide; the platform records who decided and why.”

    • Functional

      Trigger: Skills or knowledge missing

      Who acts: Team lead reassigns

      A person confirms reassignment of complaint cases.

    • Time-based

      Trigger: Breach warning on a timer

      Who acts: Team lead; service manager on breach

      Breach acknowledgement is recorded with a name.

    • Complaint

      Trigger: Customer asks to escalate, or a complaint is unresolved

      Who acts: Service manager

      Complaint closure is never automatic.

    • Engineering

      Trigger: Suspected product defect

      Who acts: Engineering lead in iShield Nexus

      The defect decision belongs to engineering; the case stays in Connect.

    • Commercial

      Trigger: Service credit due

      Who acts: Commercial owner approves; the financial document is raised in iShield One

      No credit is issued by AI or by a rule alone.

    • Field

      Trigger: Visit cannot proceed

      Who acts: Field service manager reschedules

      The customer is notified by a person or an approved template.

    AI and automation, by mode

    • Rules and automation

      Deterministic behaviour configured by administrators; changes to rules are logged.

      • — Routing rules
      • — Timers and breach warnings
      • — Notifications

    • AI assistance

      Suggestions a person accepts or rejects; the suggestion and the decision are recorded.

      • — Suggested knowledge answers
      • — Conversation summaries
      • — Suggested classification

    • Not offered

      Stated as a boundary: decisions that stay with people.

      • — Closing a case without a person
      • — Issuing service credits
      • — Deciding a complaint
    Performance

    What teams can follow

    Measures teams can follow where configured. Names only: targets and results belong to each organisation.

    • First response time

      From SLA & Entitlements

    • Time to resolution

      From SLA & Entitlements

    • Commitment attainment

      From SLA & Entitlements

    • Backlog by age

      From Case Management

    • Reopened cases

      From Case Management

    • Questions resolved through self-service

      From Self-Service Portal

    • Knowledge use and gaps

      From Knowledge Base

    • Visits completed on first attempt

      From Field Service

    Standards and frameworks

    Context, not certification

    How the Suite relates to recognised standards. This describes alignment of practice; conformity and certification belong to each organisation.

    • ISO 10002 — complaints handling

      Case Management is designed to support complaint-handling processes informed by ISO 10002: acknowledgement, investigation and recorded closure.

    • ISO 18295-1 / -2 — customer contact centres

      Contact Center and SLA & Entitlements support practices informed by ISO 18295. Conformity is assessed for the operator, not the software.

    • ITIL 4 — service desk, service level and knowledge management

      The operating model above is informed by ITIL 4 practices for customer-facing service.

    • ISO 10004 — customer satisfaction monitoring

      Context only: satisfaction measurement lives in Feedback & NPS in the Revenue & Customer Success Suite.

    • ISO/IEC 20000-1 — service management system

      Boundary only: enterprise service management belongs to iShield Nexus and is not claimed for Connect.

    Boundaries

    Where the Suite ends, and who takes over

    iShield Connect owns CRM and customer engagement. Each other platform keeps its own responsibility.

    • iShield Connect

      The Service Suite owns

      The customer case, the entitlement behind it, the approved answer, the portal, the conversation and the field visit with the customer.

    • iShield NexusExplore iShield Nexus

      Owns

      Engineering and enterprise service management. A customer case can be linked to an engineering record so status flows back to the customer; cross-service service-level and satisfaction measurement belongs to Nexus Service Excellence.

    • iShield OneExplore iShield One

      Owns

      iShield One remains the appropriate ERP context for authoritative financial and operational accounting processes where integrated — including the financial effect of service credits, parts and stock movements, and maintenance of your own assets and facilities.

    • iShield LinkExplore iShield Link

      Owns

      Channels and enterprise systems are connected through iShield Link where implemented and configured.

    These boundaries describe how responsibilities are intended to divide between the platforms. Integration depth depends on how they are implemented and configured.

    The seven iShield Connect Suites

    See the Service Suite with your own customer journeys.

    Request a demo and we will walk through the Suite against your processes, roles and boundaries.

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