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Siebel Life Sciences Guide > Planning Calls > End-User Procedures >

Defining a Route Plan

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End users can create routes to schedule regular calls to groups of accounts. By defining a route, a user can plan the order in which to visit accounts and determine a starting time for each account call. For more information, see Understanding Routes and the business scenario Users Define Route Plans.

When creating a route, users must complete the following tasks in the order lists:

Create a route. Users must specify the person for whom they are creating the route. Although each user can be assigned multiple routes, each route can only be assigned to one user. For more information, see To create a route.
Add accounts to a route. Once users have established a route, they can add accounts to it. There is no limit to the number of accounts that can be assigned to one route.
Optional: Assign a target list to a route. If a user is using the Account Targeting features to create target lists, they can assign them to a route. For more information, see To assign a target list to a route.
Schedule calls. When a route has been created, users can use it to schedule calls to every account in the route. For more information, see To schedule calls from the My Routes view and To schedule calls from the Target Accounts view.

NOTE:  When creating and scheduling a route with a limited duration, such as in support of a promotion, users can perform all the proceeding steps in the Targeting screen.

Creating a Route

When creating a route, users must specify the person for whom they are creating the route (generally a field sales manager or sales representative). When creating a route remember that:

Each user can be assigned many routes
A route can have any number of accounts
A route can only be assigned to one user
A route name can only be used once for each user
The same route name can be used for routes assigned to different users

To create a route

Navigate to the Routes screen.
From the Show drop-down list, select My Routes.
In the Routes form, add a record and complete the necessary fields.

NOTE:  In the My Routes view, the Sales Person field is automatically filled with the current user name. If you are assigning a route to someone other than yourself, enter that person's name in the Sales Person field.

Some of the fields in a Routes record are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Active	Select this field if the route is active and available for use in scheduling calls.
Description	A description of the route.
Last Updated	The application automatically populates this field with the time and date the route was last changed.
Route Name	A user-defined name for the route, such as Northeast Richmond. A route name must be unique to the end user to which it is assigned.
Sales Person	The sales person to whom the route is assigned. A route can be assigned only to one person.
Start Day	The day of the week on which the route is designated to begin. This is used as reference information only and does not prevent you from using the route to schedule calls starting on some other day of the week.
Updated By	The application automatically populates this field with the name of the user who last changed the route.

Adding Accounts to a Route

Once users have established a route, they can add accounts to it. There is no limit to the number of accounts that can be assigned to one route. Two views are available for adding accounts to routes:

Accounts view tab. Shows accounts associated with the selected routes. For more information, see To add accounts to a route using the Accounts view tab.
Explorer view tab. Shows routes and accounts in a hierarchical format. For more information, see To add accounts to a route using the Explorer view tab.

NOTE:  When associating an account with a route, only select accounts where the owner of the route is represented on the sales team. It is possible to pick any existing account in the database when associating an account with a route. There is no check to determine whether you or the owner of the route has access to the account. This is standard behavior; dialog boxes for Accounts are always unconstrained. When drilling into an account which is not accessible to you, an error message will appear, stating that you do not have the required access to view that account. This is especially relevant for Siebel Mobile Web Client users who can only view their own accounts on their local database.

To add accounts to a route using the Accounts view tab

Navigate to the Routes screen.
From the Show drop-down list, select My Routes.
In the Routes list, select a route.
Click the Accounts view tab.
In the Accounts list, add a record and then click the Select button in the Account field.

The Pick Account dialog box appears.

In the Pick Account dialog box, select an account and click OK.
For each new account, complete the necessary fields.

Some of the fields in an Account record are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Call Duration	The scheduled duration of the account call.
Call Time	The application automatically enters the current time in this field. Edit the value to reflect the time at which the account is to be visited.
Last Call	Identifies the date and time of the most recent call to this account.
Offset Day	Allows you to create routes that span more than one day. Indicates the number of days after the beginning of the route that an account should be visited. For example, if an account is to be visited on the first day of a route, this field should be set to 0. If the account is to be visited on the second day of a route, this field should be set to 1.

Repeat Step 5 through Step 7 until all accounts have been added to the Accounts list.

To add accounts to a route using the Explorer view tab

Navigate to the Routes screen.
From the Show drop-down list, select My Routes.
In the Routes list, select a route
Click the Explorer view tab.
In the Routes explorer tree, click the plus sign next to the route to which you want to add an account.
Click the plus sign next to the Accounts folder displayed under the route.

A list of all the accounts assigned to the route appears.

In the Accounts list, add a record and then click the Select button in the Account field.

The Pick Account dialog box appears.

In the Pick Account dialog box, select an account and click OK.
For each new account, complete the necessary fields.

Some of the fields in an Account record are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Call Duration	The scheduled duration of the account call.
Call Time	The application automatically enters the current time in this field. Edit the value to reflect the time at which the account is to be visited.
Last Call	Identifies the date and time of the most recent call to this account.
Offset Day	Allows you to create routes that span more than one day. Indicates the number of days after the beginning of the route that an account should be visited. For example, if an account is to be visited on the first day of a route, this field should be set to 0. If the account is to be visited on the second day of a route, this field should be set to 1.

Repeat Step 7 through Step 9 for each account you want to add.

Assigning Target Lists to a Route

After creating and saving a target list, end users can optimize a target list by merging (intersecting, excluding, or combining) it with other target lists. Once target lists have been merged, users can assign the results to a route. Users can also add or delete accounts after assigning the list of accounts to a route.

NOTE:  End users must create and save a target list using the Account Targeting feature before they can merge it with other target lists and assign the results to a route. For information on creating and saving target lists, see Creating and Applying Target Lists.

To merge a target list

Navigate to the Routes screen.
From the Show drop-down list, select My Routes.
In the Routes list, select a route.
Click the Target Accounts view tab.
Click the Target Accounts list to activate it.

A blue line appears around the Target Accounts list.

Click the apply target list button.

NOTE:  The save target list button is located in the row of buttons next to the history button.

The Apply Target List dialog box appears.

In the Target Name field, select one or more target lists, click one of the following, and then click OK:
Intersection. Click Intersection to retrieve only those records common to all the selected target lists. For example, if List 1 contains A, B, and C, and List 2 contains B, C, and D, the resulting list will contain only B and C, which are common to both target lists.
Union. Click Union to retrieve all records from all the selected lists. For example, if List 1 contains A, B, and C, and List 2 contains B, C, and D, the resulting list will contain A, B, C, and D, the combination of both target lists.

NOTE:  If only one target list is selected, the radio buttons are ignored.

Optional: To apply additional logic to the target list, click the save target list button, located in the row of buttons next to the history button.

The Targeting dialog box appears.

In the Target Name field, enter a unique name for the target list.

CAUTION:  If you enter a name already in use, the previously saved target list will be overwritten without warning.

Click Save.

The target list is saved. You can merge this list with other target lists to optimize your list of accounts.

Repeat Step 6 through Step 10 until you have optimized your target list. You are now ready to assign the target list to a route.

To assign a target list to a route

Navigate to the Routes screen.
From the Show drop-down list, select My Routes.
In the Routes list, select a route.
Click the Target Accounts view tab.
In the Target Accounts list, merge target lists until you have an optimized list of accounts.

NOTE:  For information on merging target lists, see To merge a target list.

In the Target Accounts list, select the accounts that you want to add to a route.
Click the Double Arrow button.

The selected accounts are added to a route and appear in the Accounts list. When you are adding target accounts to an existing route, the target accounts will be added without duplicating accounts. If necessary, you can add or delete accounts from the Accounts list.

Fill in the fields in the Accounts list for each account you added.

Some of the fields in the Accounts record in are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Call Duration	The scheduled duration of the account call.
Call Time	The current time is automatically entered in this field. You should edit this field to reflect the time at which the account is to be visited.
Last Call	Identifies the date and time of the most recent call to this account.
Offset Day	Allows you to create routes that span more than one day. It indicates the number of days after the beginning of the route that an account should be visited. For instance, if an account is to be visited on the first day of a route, this field should be set to 0. If the account is to be visited on the second day of a route, this field should be set to 1.

Using a Route to Schedule Calls

After a route has been created, end users can use it to schedule calls to all the listed accounts. Users can schedule route calls from a number of views. The following procedures demonstrate how to schedule routes from the My Routes view, the Target Accounts view, and the Daily Calendar view.

To schedule calls from the My Routes view

Navigate to the Routes screen.
From the Show drop-down list, select My Routes.
In the Routes list, select the route you want to schedule.
In the More Info form, click Schedule.

The Auto Schedule dialog box appears.

In the Start Date field, enter a date, and then click OK.

Appointments for each account in the route are added to the calendar of the end user to whom the route is assigned.

CAUTION:  It is possible to schedule multiple appointments for the same time period when using the Routes views to schedule calls. Such scheduling conflicts do not trigger any sort of automatic notification. Sales representatives should check the Daily Calendar view for possible conflicts after routes have been added to their schedules. If scheduling conflicts exist, they should adjust the starting times of appointments or delete them as necessary to resolve the conflicts.

To schedule calls from the Target Accounts view

Navigate to the Routes screen.
From the Show drop-down list, select My Routes.
In the Routes list, select a route.
Click the Target Accounts view tab.
Assign a target list of accounts to the route.

For information on assigning a target list of accounts to a route, see To assign a target list to a route.

In the Target Accounts form, click Schedule.

The Auto Schedule dialog box appears.

In the Start Date field, enter a date, and then click OK.

Appointments for each account in the route are added to the calendar of the end user to whom the route is assigned.

CAUTION:  It is possible to schedule multiple appointments for the same time period when using the Routes views to schedule calls. Such scheduling conflicts do not trigger any sort of automatic notification. Sales representatives should check the Daily Calendar view for possible conflicts after routes have been added to their schedules. If scheduling conflicts exist, they should adjust the starting times of appointments or delete them as necessary to resolve the conflicts.

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