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A Usage Example for Siebel Collaboration

A first-level support engineer at a large software company opens a service request on behalf of a customer. One of the customer's critical workflows, which routes quote requests, is running slowly.

The support engineer asks the customer the standard questions about server processing power and system memory and then reviews the knowledge base for a solution. Unfortunately, he is unable to find a solution, so he escalates the service request to the second-level support engineer who is the call center's expert on workflow.

The second-level engineer reviews the service request and determines that a resolution requires more workflow expertise than is available within the call center. She creates a team space area for this service request by clicking the Create Team Space button on the Service Requests screen.

All users of the Siebel application who have visibility to the service request record can view the team space. The support engineer clicks the Add Member button in the team space to invite other employees in the company who she believes can help resolve the customer's problem. The employees she invites are the product manager and engineering manager for workflow, the customer's account manager, and the consultant who implemented the workflow.

The support engineer posts the problematic workflow in the documents area of the team space. Then, she sees that the online presence indicators in the team space show both the product manager and engineering manager are online. She initiates a chat session with them, and they review the problem together.

The engineering manager takes an action item to create an alterative workflow for the customer. This action item is posted in the action-item list in the team space so that other members can monitor his progress on this item.

The support engineer captures the text from the chat session and posts it in the team space for the benefit of others. She also starts a discussion thread to solicit solution ideas from other team-space members.

When the customer's account manager views the team space, he is immediately brought up-to-date about the service request. He downloads the new workflow posted by the engineering manager and incorporates some ideas from the discussion thread. He takes an action item to work with the customer to try the new workflow.

Meanwhile, the customer's sales representative has heard about the service request and is concerned that the current problem could cause the deal that she is working on with this customer to fall through. However, she is reassured when she reviews the information in the team space and sees the progress being made. She likes being able to access all this information without having to contact each person involved.

The new workflow implemented by the account manager solves the problem. The account managers and the support engineer document the solution. The document check out and revision features in SharePoint allow them to work jointly on the report.

When the product manager and engineering manager next look at the team space, the report is flagged as new. They are happy to learn that proposed workflow solved the problem and that all the information about the problem is stored in the team space for future reference.

NOTE:  This case describes the use of Siebel Collaboration in resolving a service request. For an example of using Siebel Collaboration with opportunities, see Scenario for Using Siebel Collaboration.