---
title: Configuring a user as a Unified Consumer
description: By creating a unified profile, you can integrate both internal and external personas or consumers in your organization. A user who has a unified profile has synchronized user's login interactions across the Customer Service Management \(CSM\) application.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/customer-service-management/configuring-employee-as-a-consumer.html
release: australia
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Configuring a Unified User, User management, Set up your environment, Configure, Customer Service Management]
---

# Configuring a user as a Unified Consumer

By creating a unified profile, you can integrate both internal and external personas or consumers in your organization. A user who has a unified profile has synchronized user's login interactions across the Customer Service Management \(CSM\) application.

## Overview of Unified Consumer

Before a unified profile was available, a platform user could only hold either an snc\_internal or an snc\_external role, but not both roles due to role collision issues. Modeling a user as both an employee and a consumer wasn't possible in the past because the sn\_customerservice.consumer role inherited the snc\_external role. Role inheritance was combined with the platform’s behavior to avoid role collisions, which could otherwise restrict users from performing internal duties while also acting as a consumer.

With this new unified user functionality, a single user who is an employee \(snc\_internal\) can also be a business-to-consumer \(B2C\) customer. With a unified profile, your user can switch between different user records and seamlessly transition between roles.

For example, in a financial institution, an individual could be both an employee and a personal account holder. Similarly, in the telecommunications industry, an internal employee might also use company voice services for personal use.

## Requirements for Unified Consumer

A functional Unified Consumer requires:

-   A record in the Consumers \[csm\_consumer\] table linked to the user.
-   The Unified Consumer \(sn\_customerservice.unified\_consumer\) role assigned to the user.

**Note:**

Create the consumer record before assigning the role. Missing either component prevents the user from accessing consumer functionality such as cases, sold products, or install base items.

You can initiate this functionality by enabling the Customer Service \(com.sn\_customerservice\) plugin.

## Using a query rules framework

You can use the Unified Consumer feature only within the query rules framework. For example, when you update a consumer record, the associated user records synchronize through a business rule **sync\_consumer** to **csm\_consumer\_user** through a business rule. This synchronization occurs only if the associated user class has the **csm\_consumer\_user** record and not any other user record. When you modify the following fields for the consumer user, the associated records also automatically update:

-   First name
-   Middle name
-   Last name
-   Email
-   Mobile phone
-   Business phone
-   Home phone

You can synchronize all types of user records by customizing the business rule. Apply it to the **sys\_user** record instead of the **csm\_consumer\_user** record.

**Related topics**  


[Roles installed with Employee as a Consumer](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/customer-service-management/roles-installed-with-employee-as-consumer.md)

[Supported and unsupported roles and features](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/customer-service-management/features-supp-and-unsupp-by-unified-consumer.md)

[Setting up a user as a Unified Consumer](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/customer-service-management/setting-up-a-user.md)