Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Installed base information is useful internally to the customer to keep track of their equipment
and to determine when any particular equipment was last updated or serviced; it is also useful for
a service technician who needs to locate a specific piece of equipment that requires specific repair.
Installed base information also makes it very easy to manage customer service requests.
8.3.2.2 Warranty Management
Warranties play an important role in service; usually, warranties are the starting point of service
work. Warranties can be assigned flexibly to the individual components of the installed base; it is
also possible to assign more than one warranty to each component.
A warranty is a guarantee from a manufacturer or supplier or vendor that a product is free from
defects and will remain operational for a specified period of time. For instance, a warranty will
specify the length of time during which the product will be serviced or repaired by the manufac-
turer or supplier or vendor free of cost; warranties define the terms and conditions of how repairs,
replacement, and exchange of defective products are handled.
SAP CRM Service also supports the warranty claim process, including the generation of
return materials authorization as well as receipt and inspection. A warranty claim is a request
from the warranty holder for service, replacement, or exchange of a defective product as specified
in the terms and conditions of the warranty.
8.3.2.3 Knowledge Management
SAP CRM provides users like interaction center agents, service engineers, and E-Service cus-
tomers, with access to solutions and other knowledge gained from various interactions with all
customers in the past. For instance, when a new, previously undetected issue is reported by a cus-
tomer, the company's engineers will come up with a solution or fix and then register the solution
in the company's knowledge base called the Solution Database.
All known problem descriptions are saved in the Solution Database; they are entered as free
text or by using defined codes that describe a problem or damage that occurred. The Solution
Database uses a variety of information sources to document, save, and map solution options to
known problems that are weighted by statistical data preparation (which is based on success-case
user reports). This kind of support enables the content of the Solution Database and the search
quality to be continuously refined and improved. The list of FAQs and answers is a collection
point for the organizational knowledge bank saved in the database and represents an important
source of information for both the customer and company employees alike.
SAP provides a search engine tool known as the Text Retrieval and Extraction (TREX) engine,
which works in conjunction with Software Agent Framework (SAF) that is responsible for con-
tinually updating, indexing, and compiling the knowledge base.
SAP case management provides a central repository for consolidating and keeping track of all
of the different documents and information related to a single issue or case. Case management
gives everyone involved in the case access to the most updated information.
8.3.2.4 Contract and Entitlement Management
Service contracts are long-term agreements between companies and their customers in which the
company offers to provide a certain level of service in exchange for a fixed fee. Service contracts
are extremely profitable with profit margins as high as 50%-60% depending on the industry,
