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This chapter explains the procedures necessary to administer message broadcasting and alerts for Siebel applications.
As an administrator, you can use message broadcasting and alerts to make sure that specific users get the necessary and time-critical information they need, displayed in a format that does not interfere with their work in progress.
About Message Broadcasting
Message broadcasting provides a platform for administrators and other users with access to the Message Broadcasts view to send important information directly to users' screens. Typically, this information is time-critical, such as a due date, or it is updated frequently, such as a call queue's status.
For example, to help agents manage their workflow and respond appropriately to calls, call centers may try to keep agents up-to-date on key statistics about call queues, such as the number of calls waiting, the average time in queue, and other important data. Traditionally, these statistics are displayed on a scrolling LED "ticker" on the wall. This approach presents several problems:
- Agents have to look away from their screens to view the information.
- Agents can miss important information, if they do not look at the right time.
- Agents often get information that is not relevant to them.
Message Broadcasting addresses these problems by allowing administrators to send relevant messages to individuals, groups, or an entire team. The messages can be displayed by one of the following two methods:
- Scroll messages in the message bar across the bottom of a user's screen, visible at all times.
- Display messages in a dialog box in the middle of the screen, in addition to scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
Message Broadcasts can be created through the administration view, automatically from Siebel Business Process Designer, or remotely from a third-party application through Siebel eAI.
Message Broadcast messages are retrieved from the Message table through the Siebel application server and sent to the message bars of the targeted Siebel Web client sessions. There is no set order for the messages to appear on the message bar, that is, the order cannot be controlled by the administrator or the end user.
Users can disable their scrolling message bar, but the administrator can override this setting for broadcast messages.
About Alerts
Alerts provide a platform for administrators and other users with access to the Alert Administration view to send long, complex, and customized messages directly to selected groups of recipients. Typically, these messages are time-critical, but also need to have associations with data in the company database (for instance, literature or products) and to be customized for the recipient.
For example, to communicate product pricing changes to a sales team with members around the world, a sales manager would want to be able to distribute new pricing structures and product information as soon as they are approved. Traditionally, this would be done with email messages, phone calls, or mailed literature. This approach presents some problems:
- To provide the necessary details, a large quantity of information may need to be distributed, with file attachments or links provided by the manager.
- Different team members may require different price list or product information, depending on their organization, division, or position.
- Distributing information to remote team members may produce a communication lag time.
As an administrator, you can use alerts to make sure that the specific users get the appropriate information that they need.
Features of alerts include the following:
- The abstract of alert messages are displayed in an applet on the recipients' home page, listed in order of the priority specified by the sender. Recipients can click on the abstract to read the entire message.
- Literature items and products can be associated with alerts.
- Access to price list and product information available to different team members may be controlled by organization, division, or position.
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Applications Administration Guide Published: 09 September 2004 |