|
Siebel Applications Administration Guide > Administering and Using Inbox >
About the Inbox
The goals of the Inbox are to provide users with:
- A single screen that shows all approval and notification items assigned to them regardless of the screen where the item originated.
- Enough detailed information about the item so that users can act on the item from the Inbox and not need to navigate to other screens for more information.
Table 15 lists some terminology used in this chapter.
Table 15. Inbox Terminology
|
|
Inbox item |
Requests for approval and notification that are delivered to in Inboxes of users. Inbox items refer to other records, or to feature objects in the Siebel database, which require review or approval. The term Inbox item is shortened to item in some text in this guide. |
Inbox screen |
A screen in which users can perform the following tasks:
- Take action on their current Inbox items.
- View their completed items.
- View their submitted items.
|
Inbox Items List |
A view that displays Inbox items on which the user must act. |
Submitted Items List |
A view that displays deactivated Inbox items that have been submitted by the user. |
Completed Items List |
A view that displays deactivated Inbox items. Typically, the approval process is complete for these items. |
Inbox action |
The action that the user takes on the Inbox item. Typically, this action is approval, rejection, or acknowledgement. |
Inbox type |
A value that determines some characteristics of the Inbox item, such as the actions that can be taken on the item, and the expiration date for the item. |
Destination view |
A view that displays data from the feature object and that you access by drilling down on the Name field. |
Feature object |
The underlying entity that the Inbox record points to; for example, a service request record or, for ESS, a row in the SmartScript session table. When you drill down on the Name field of an item in the Inbox, you see the feature object. |
ESS |
The Siebel Employee Self-Service application. The Inbox is an important feature for this application. When this guide provides ESS-specific information, the information is noted as ESS-specific. |
Universal Inbox |
A term that is an alternative name for the Inbox. |
How the Inbox Interacts with the Feature Objects
Inbox items contain references to the feature objects. Feature objects interact with Inbox items through the methods of the Universal Inbox business service. These methods can be invoked using various mechanisms, for example, run-time events can monitor the business component operations of the feature object. The Inbox interacts with feature objects through Inbox actions, which are defined as part of the Inbox type. Integration business service methods are invoked when the users take action on Inbox items. Figure 5 illustrates interaction between feature objects and the Inbox.
Figure 5. How Inbox Interacts with Feature Objects
|
About the Universal Inbox Business Service
The Universal Inbox business service is the interface between the underlying feature object and the Inbox items. Universal Inbox business service methods handle creation, update, deactivation, and deletion of Inbox items. For information about the methods in Universal Inbox business service, see Universal Inbox Business Service Methods. CAUTION: Do not interact with the Inbox through any channel other than the Universal Inbox Business Service.
|
