---
schema_version: "1"
id: 052bcfb8ea56858992a6ec37bbc5a0fec4915dc972e25dc9c61fcf59bf61ae2d
title: Set Up Escalation Rules
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/service/264-0-0/rules_escalation_create.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.rules_escalation_create.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: bfe6b38a20b89d7aac231b6909693e67a712b4d9c8e0c53910cae1e66acbec00
description: Escalation rules automatically escalate cases when the case meets the criteria defined in the rule entry. You can create rule entries, which define criteria for escalating a case, and escalation actions, which define what happens when a case escalates.
products:
  - Service Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Set Up Escalation Rules

Escalation rules automatically escalate cases when the case meets the criteria defined in the rule entry. You can create rule entries, which define criteria for escalating a case, and escalation actions, which define what happens when a case escalates.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;"><a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.service_editions_reference.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">View supported editions</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
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            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d107417e58">User Permissions Needed</th>
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            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d107417e58 ">To create or edit escalation rules:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d107417e58 ">Customize Application</td>

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Before you get started:

- If you want to assign cases to queues, create queues.
- If you want to send notification emails when a case escalates, create email templates.
- Create business hours on the Business Hours page in Setup to indicate when your support team is available. Escalation actions only run during the business hours with which they are associated.

Orgs typically use one escalation rule that consists of multiple rule entries. For example, your standard case escalation rule could have two entries: cases with Type set to Gold are escalated within two hours, and cases with Type set to Silver are escalated within eight hours.

1. From Setup, enter Escalation Rules in the Quick Find box, then select **Escalation Rules**.
2. Create the escalation rule.
    1. Click **New** and name the rule. Specify whether you want this rule to be the active escalation rule.
        
        You can have only one active escalation rule at a time.
    2. Click **Save**.
3. On the Case Escalation Rules page, select the rule that you want to work with.
    
    The rule detail page is displayed.
4. Create the rule entries. Rule entries define the criteria used to escalate the case. In the Rule Entries section, click **New**. For each rule entry, you can specify:
    - Order in which rule entries are evaluated
    - Criteria for escalating a case
    - How business hours affect when cases escalate
    - How escalation times are determined
5. Click **Save**.
    
    The Escalation Actions page is displayed.
6. Define the escalation actions. Escalation actions specify when the case escalates and what happens when the case escalates. You can add up to five actions for each rule entry to escalate the case over increasing periods of time. In the Escalation Actions section, click **New**. For each escalation action, you can:
    - Specify when the case escalates: In the Age Over field, enter the number of hours after which a case escalates if it hasn’t been closed. You can enter the number of hours and either 0 minutes or 30 minutes. For example, 1 hour and 0 minutes or 1 hour and 30 minutes.
    - Reassign the case to another user or queue, and select an email template that sends the new assignee (the new case owner) a notification email.
    - Send notification emails to other users, the current case owner, or other recipients.
7. Click **Save**.

Salesforce processes each rule entry in order until it finds a match between the case attributes and the rule entry criteria. When it finds the first match, it escalates the case.

- **[Planning for Escalation Rules](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.rules_escalation_best_practices.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Your organization may have a process for escalating cases that remain open beyond a specified period of time. To automate the process of escalating cases, create an escalation rule that specifies what actions to take when cases are not resolved within a designated length of time.
- **[Escalation Actions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.rules_escalation_actions.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Escalation actions specify when the case escalates and what happens when the case escalates. An escalation rule can reassign the case to another support rep (user) or support queue (queue). An escalation rule also can send notification emails to the new assignee, to the current case owner, and to other recipients.
- **[Escalation Rule Entries](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.rules_escalation_rule_entry.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Escalation criteria specify the conditions under which a case escalates. We store your criteria in a rule entry.

#### See Also

- [Monitoring the Case Escalation Rule Queue](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.rules_viewing_escrules_queue.htm&type=5&language=en_US)