Use Case notes, Internal Notes and Customer Notes for the right purpose

Supportbench has three different kinds of note, and choosing the right one keeps important information easy to find. The short Case note is a current internal reminder on one case. An Internal Note activity records a timestamped part of the case history. Customer Notes hold separate Company or Contact context. Use the short note to orient the next agent, and the activity history to preserve evidence, decisions and handoffs.

Add or update the short Case note  ·  Edit the same note from Case List Peek  ·  Choose the right kind of note  ·  Record a detailed Internal Note activity  ·  Find the note later  ·  Understand Customer Notes shown during case work  ·  Keep a short reminder useful  ·  Troubleshoot note behavior

Add or update the short Case note

1. Open the intended case and confirm its ID and customer context. In Case View, find Case note when the case policy displays it. You need permission to edit the case.
2. Enter a concise reminder, up to 1,000 characters. For example: “Waiting for the customer’s approved maintenance window; review the latest internal handoff before requesting another restart.”
3. Allow the field’s automatic save to finish and check the displayed save result. There is no need to create an activity merely to save this short field.
4. Reopen or inspect the case to confirm the intended text persisted before relying on it during a handoff. Put the supporting evidence, responsible person and detailed decision in an Internal Note activity when a historical record is needed.

If Case note is not shown, the case policy may hide it. Do not confuse that with a missing Internal Note activity control. Ask the administrator to check the intended policy and your case-edit access.

Edit the same note from Case List Peek

1. In the Case list, open the intended case’s Peek drawer and find Private note. It edits the same short Case note field.
2. Type the reminder. The status can show that changes are unsaved and will save when you leave the field.
3. Move focus out of the field to save. Watch for Saving…, then Saved. Opening another case also attempts to save the current note first.
4. If the save fails, the text is retained and the control offers Retry save. Keep the retained text available, resolve the error and retry. Do not assume that merely closing a drawer proves the change was saved.

The two surfaces save differently: Case View automatically saves after a short typing pause; Peek saves when focus leaves the field. Neither is a customer reply. If the outcome is uncertain, inspect the saved note before overwriting it or re-entering an older version.

Choose the right kind of note

These names do not mean that a note is sent to the customer. Use the normal customer-reply action when communication is required, and check its activity type, audience and recipients. Do not use Customer Notes as a substitute for sensitive case-specific internal investigation.

Record a detailed Internal Note activity

1. Open the case’s Activities area and choose Add activity. In the composer, select or confirm the Internal Note activity type; an account policy can require an explicit type choice.
2. Write the verified facts, what was tried, the result, remaining uncertainty and the next responsible action. Link relevant evidence through the supported case workflow.
3. Choose Add internal note to commit the note. Save draft is separate and does not establish that a posted timeline entry exists.
4. Verify the Internal Note in the case’s Activity timeline. If the note assigns follow-up work, create or update the appropriate task and owner rather than relying only on a sentence in the note.

A useful handoff for a recurring equipment issue might say: “Alarm recurred after the approved restart. Model and redacted logs are attached to the case. Cause remains unconfirmed. Specialist to compare the last successful cycle; current case owner will update the customer at the agreed time.” Replace every example detail with the actual evidence and commitment.

Find the note later

General Case-list search is labeled for Case ID or subject. Do not assume it searches the short Case note, and do not expect Activity timeline search to find a separate Case.note or Customer Note record. The older blanket statement that all notes are unsearchable was inaccurate; the correct search depends on the kind of note.

Understand Customer Notes shown during case work

Case View obtains active Customer Notes from the case’s authorized Company/Contact relationships. Notes may appear as subject/priority entries, in the customer-notes control or as an unseen-note prompt after the case loads. The detail dialog is read-only in Case View and includes the associated customer record.

Dismissing a prompt is not editing or retiring the underlying note. Use the linked Company or Contact record and its authorized management workflow when a relationship note needs maintenance. Do not claim that a short Case note or an Internal Note activity changes this separate customer-note lifecycle.

Keep a short reminder useful

• Write the current operational fact or caution, not the entire investigation.
• Refresh or remove a stale reminder through the normal edit action when circumstances change. A warning that remains after the issue is resolved can mislead the next agent.
• Keep detailed evidence and decisions in activities so the case history explains why the reminder exists.
• Use tasks and ownership for commitments. A note is context, not a reliable substitute for due work or an accepted handoff.

Troubleshoot note behavior

Continue learning

• Work a case from first response to resolution
• Use mentions and discussions for collaboration
• Create accountable follow-up in Task Center
• Manage company and contact relationships