How Salesforce Entitlement Process Determines Case Milestone Start Time

The following scenarios illustrate how the Milestone Start Time and the Entitlement Process settings interact to determine when a milestone's timer begins. In all examples, the case is created on 8/8/2015 at 1:00 PM.

Scenario 1: Milestone Start Time = Entitlement Process

When the Milestone Start Time picklist is set to Entitlement Process, the milestone start time is determined by the Case enters the process picklist on the Entitlement Process record.
Example:

• Case created: 8/8/2015 1:00 PM
• Milestone Start Time picklist: Entitlement Process
• Entitlement Process "Case enters the process": Based on case created date
• Result: Milestone Start Time = 8/8/2015 1:00 PM

In this scenario, the milestone timer starts at the moment the case is created, since the Entitlement Process is configured to use the case created date as the entry point.

Scenario 2: Milestone Start Time = Milestone Criteria

When the Milestone Start Time picklist is set to Milestone Criteria, the milestone timer starts only when the specific condition defined in the Milestone Criteria becomes true on the case.
Example:

• Case created: 8/8/2015 1:00 PM
• Milestone Start Time picklist: Milestone Criteria
• Milestone Criteria: Status = Working
• The Status field on the case is changed to "Working" at 8/8/2015 2:58 PM
• Result: Milestone Start Time = 8/8/2015 2:58 PM

In this scenario, the milestone timer does not start when the case is created. Instead, it starts at the exact moment the configured criteria (Status = Working) first becomes true on the case.