Salesforce Knowledge Article

What is knowledge base

In the dynamic world of business, it's undeniable that no individual can possess all-encompassing knowledge. We all encounter situations where we feel stuck, unsure of how to proceed and resolve various challenges. This is precisely where Salesforce Knowledge Articles step in to save the day.

Let's take Ram, for example, who recently embarked on his journey as the founder of a laptop selling company. As his business gains momentum, a plethora of service-related issues and customer inquiries flood in, overwhelming both him and his agents. Despite Ram's comprehensive knowledge, it becomes increasingly challenging for him to personally address every query or adequately train his agents in such a short period.

Thankfully, Salesforce Knowledge Articles come to the rescue. With this invaluable tool, Ram can effectively consolidate his vast knowledge and expertise into a centralized repository. This repository becomes a treasure trove of valuable information accessible to both his agents and customers alike.

By utilizing Salesforce Knowledge Articles, Ram's agents can quickly and accurately find solutions to customer issues, enhancing their ability to deliver top-notch customer support. Moreover, this tool empowers customers to become self-sufficient, enabling them to seek answers to their questions independently.

The implementation of Salesforce Knowledge Articles not only streamlines the resolution of customer inquiries but also instills a sense of trust and loyalty among clients. As Ram's laptop selling company continues to flourish, the availability of relevant knowledge through this platform ensures that all stakeholders remain well-informed, creating a positive and enriching customer experience.

"For Ram knowledge base would be the best solution because knowledge base is like a library in salesforce."

Ram can create comprehensive documentation for all computer-related issues and questions that commonly arise from customers. These documents can be in the form of Salesforce Knowledge Articles, which he can upload to the Salesforce org.

These Knowledge Articles will serve as a centralized repository of information, easily accessible to his agents whenever they encounter customer inquiries or service-related challenges. By having this reference material readily available, Ram's agents can quickly find the relevant solutions and confidently resolve customer issues.

The beauty of Salesforce Knowledge Articles lies in their organization and accessibility. Agents can use search functionalities and filters to locate specific articles, making the process of finding solutions efficient and effective. This self-service approach empowers agents to become more self-reliant, as they no longer solely rely on Ram's expertise to handle customer queries.

As Ram continues to update and expand the Knowledge Articles based on customer interactions and new insights, the repository will become even more robust over time. This iterative process ensures that the knowledge base stays current and aligns with the evolving needs of the customers and the business.

Before using knowledge base we have to do some setup and after that we can simply customize and use it as we use the other standard or custom objects. This is one of very useful feature of service cloud.

To set up knowledge base in your org below are the steps:-

1. Login to your salesforce org
2. Switch to service console
3. click on knowledge setup
4. Complete the required steps.

Important Considerations for Enabling Lightning Knowledge

• To delete archived articles in a Lightning Knowledge–enabled org, you must have the Modify All permission.
• After you enable Lightning Knowledge, the Article Type field is no longer accessible via SOQL or the API, which affects custom code that queries for the ArticleType.
• Delete any installed packages that contain article types before enabling Lightning Knowledge.
• Lookup searches in Classic find Knowledge records (articles) of any Publish status: Draft, Published, or Archive. But in Lightning, Lookup searches find only published Knowledge records.
• If your org currently has a Visualforce tab named Knowledge, you get an Insufficient Privileges error when trying to access the Knowledge tab in Lightning Knowledge. To avoid this error, rename or delete your existing Visualforce tab or rename your Knowledge object.
• URL formats for articles differ between Classic and Lightning Knowledge. In Lightning Knowledge, the URL contains the Knowledge Article Version ID and other parameters. In Classic Knowledge, the URL contains the Knowledge Article ID.
• You can’t use the Public Knowledge Base package (PKB) in Lightning Knowledge. You can share Lightning Knowledge articles in?Experience Cloud?and Salesforce Sites. Use Help Center to share articles with unauthenticated users.
• You can have up to 100 links to different Salesforce Knowledge articles in one rich text field.

General Usage Limitations for Lightning Knowledge

• The Printable View action isn't available in Lightning Knowledge.
• For articles with more than 30 versions, the versions above 30 show in Salesforce Classic but not in Lightning Experience.
• Data categories don't show in Knowledge list views in Lightning Experience or Salesforce Classic. As a workaround, you can create reports that filter articles by data category.
• You can’t remove a published article while editing it. Instead, the article remains published while you edit the new version as a draft. You can archive the article to remove it, then restore and edit a draft.

Life cycle of knowledge article

To support the Knowledge Lifecycle, Lightning Knowledge has version control, which is a new feature from the Classic model. Now, each article will have a version number and when you need to make changes to a published article, you edit it as a new version and then publish it fresh. This lets you work on new content without impacting the published version that users see.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Knowledge Articles are an invaluable asset for any organization seeking to streamline customer support, empower its workforce, and enhance overall efficiency. By consolidating essential knowledge into a centralized repository, such as Salesforce Knowledge Articles, businesses can ensure that accurate and up-to-date information is readily accessible to both employees and customers. This results in quicker issue resolution, improved agent training, and greater self-service opportunities for customers. Embracing the power of Knowledge Articles not only fosters a culture of continuous learning but also reinforces trust and loyalty among clients, ultimately contributing to the success and growth of the organization.