Contract Templates

In the Microsoft CRM Service area, companies can track and manage data related to customer service
requests such as Cases, the Service Calendar, and the Knowledge Base. When a customer contacts your
company with a problem or a service request, you create a Case and link it to that customer. Most companies
require their customers to maintain a valid service agreement before they can open new Cases. Microsoft
CRM uses the Contract entity to save data related to these types of customer service agreements.

Warning By default, the Contract field on the Case form has a requirement level of No Constraint.
Therefore, users can create a Case even if a customer does not have a valid service contract.
You can require a Contract for all Cases by modifying the Contract attribute of the Case entity.
Chapter 4, "Entity Customization: Concepts and Attributes," explains in detail how to modify
entity attributes.

Microsoft CRM offers three types of Contract allotments:

Number of Cases Allows you to specify a specific number of Cases that a customer can create. Each
new Case request counts against a customer's Contract allotment.

Time Allows you to specify a specific amount of time for which a customer can receive service. For
example, you might create a Contract for 1,000 minutes; the time required to resolve each Case
accumulates and counts against the customer's Contract allotment.

Coverage Dates Allows you to specify a start and end date for the customer's Contract. You can create
new Cases for customers, as long as they're within their Contract coverage dates.

Of course, each customer (Account or Contact) can have multiple valid Contracts open at any given time,
depending on the structure of your agreements. Users can create a new Contract for a customer by clicking
the New button on the toolbar of the Contract grid. Microsoft CRM prompts users to select which Contracttemplate they want to use to create the new Contract.

Therefore, you must create Contract templates if you want to use the Contract entity to track your customer
service agreements. You can create a Contract template by browsing to the Templates section of the Settings
area and then clicking Contract Templates. Then click the New button on the Contract Template grid toolbar.Microsoft CRM launches the window.

In addition to the allotment type that we discussed, you can also specify the Contract template service
calendar by clicking the boxes in the Calendar section to indicate the time and days of the week supported by
the Contract.

Important When users select a Contract for a Case, they can choose only Contracts with a status of
Invoiced. New Contracts default to a Draft status until you invoice them. To invoice a
Contract, select Invoice Contract from the Actions menu on the Contract's menu bar.