This chapter describes the process of renewing a contract automatically.
This chapter covers the following topics:
You can set up the application so that users can specify a period of time prior to expiration for renewing a contract. You can define actions that are related to a certain point in time, such as the date when contracts are about to expire, or a customer's anniversary date within the specified period.
Users can specify how a contract is renewed. For information on contract renewals, see Understanding Contract Renewals, Oracle Service Contracts User Guide.
To set up automatic renewals you must:
Create a process definition
Create an independent condition
Start Workflow Background Process
Run Date Assembler
If the contract is renewed successfully, the application notifies the resource attached to the contract, such as the sale representative when the Workflow Background Process next runs.
Note: Oracle Service Contracts customers can review and accept their renewal contracts from a self-service web page. The Electronic Renewal process in Oracle Service Contracts places renewed contracts in Entered status and sends a notification to both the sales representative and the customer. The customer receives an e-mail notification with a username and password, as well as a link to a web page. Customers can review the quote and accept, reject, or request changes to the contract renewal from this web page.
To support this process, the application uses the person id for the Quote-To contact in FND_USER and creates a randomly generated password. If there is no record for the contact in FND_USER, the application creates a new user with the customer's Quote-To Contact e-mail address. In addition, the application assigns the Service Contracts Electronic Renewals responsibility to the user. This is a required step to allow access to the external facing Customer Acceptance Java Server Pages. The user is associated with STANDARD security group and a profile option Self Service Personal Home Page mode is set to Personal Home Page for this user.
The following profile options must be set up in order to use the e-mail Quote functionality:
OKS SMTP Host
OKS: SMTP Port
You can set up Process Definitions to define the seeded or custom processes that should be used for certain situations. For Contract Renewals, the following stored PL/SQL procedure can be used to renew contracts: OKS_EVTREN_PUB.RENEW.
The following procedure provides an example of how you can create a process definition for the Outcomes LOV within the Condition form.
Note: You can also refer to the generic procedure, Defining a Process.
Select the Service Contracts Manager responsibility. Navigate to Setup: Service Contracts, and then select Process Definition.
Enter a name for your renewal process.
Select Outcome from the Purpose LOV.
Select PLSQL from the Type LOV.
Enter OKS_EVTREN_PUB in the Package field.
Enter RENEW in the Procedure field.
Enter the values in Parameter region.
| Name | Data Type | Default Value | Description |
| P_CONTRACT_ID | NUMBER | -- | Contract ID |
Select the Required check box for the P_CONTRACT_ID parameter.
Note: If the P_DURATION and P_UOM_CODE parameters are not specified they will come from the original contract.
Save.
You can set up independent conditions that must be met before an outcome is processed for an event.
The Last Occurrence field of the Independent Condition is updated when the Date Assembler successfully runs, which means that not only does Date Assembler find eligible contracts, but it also completes the event, such as a renewal. For example, if you define a condition specifying that a renewed contract should be created 90 days before contract expiration, then the Last Occurrence should be the current date + 90.
The following procedure provides an example of how you can set up an independent condition that you can use to autorenew contracts.
Select the Service Contracts Manager responsibility. Navigate to Contract Events, and then select Independent Condition.
Enter a name for the independent condition, such as Auto Renewal for Contracts.
Enter the effective dates.
In the Condition Type region:
Select the Date radio button
Enter a value in the Number of Days field, such as 90.
Select Before from the Before/After list.
Select a value from the Date LOV, such as Contract Expiration.
From the Expression tab enter the expressions.
For example:
10 (Contract Class = Service Agreement) AND
20 (Contract Status Code = Active) AND
30 (Contract Category = Service Agreement)
From the Outcomes tab, select the process definition for renewals from the Outcomes LOV.
Click the Enabled check box.
Select Parameters.
The Parameter window appears.
Enter an action for the P_CONTRACT_ID parameter:
Highlight the P_CONTRACT_ID.
Right click and choose Populate selected rows in PARAMETERS from the menu.
In the Parameters window enter the following values:
| Parameter | Data Type | Account Attribute | Value |
| P_CONTRACT_ID | NUMBER | CONTRACT_ID | -- |
Important: The list of parameters in the Independent Condition must be the same as the parameters set to Required within the Process Definition. If not, the renewal will fail.
Click OK.
From the Notifications tab:
Select a name from the Success Notifier LOV.
Select a name from the Failure Notification LOV.
Save.
Renewal and pricing attributes are maintained in the individual contracts and apply to the contract categories Warranties and Extended Warranties, Service Agreements and Subscriptions. Renewal Defaults for Warranties and Extended Warranties contracts are set at the contract level in the Contract Details form within Order Management. See Specifying Renewal and Other Details for a New Contract Created for Your Order, Oracle Service Contracts User Guide. If renewal options are not specified in contract, the renewal and pricing attributes are retrieved from the renewal event or from the global defaults. Attributes are retrieved from the renewal event or from the global defaults in the following order of precedence:
Event: Events can be used for Contract Renewal. By entering values for the parameters in either the Outcome or the Independent Condition window you can default contract information when using Events to automatically renew contracts.
Party: Defaults can be set for a Party in the Renewal Rule Defaults window.
Organization: Defaults can be set for organizations in your company. Organizations defined as Operating Units are eligible to be selected for renewal defaults.
Global: Global Defaults are located at the top of the Renewal Rule Defaults window. If default values have not been specified in earlier checks (Contract, Event, Party or Organization), the defaults defined here are used.
You can set up contracts to renew using different renewal types. For an understanding of renewal types, see Understanding Contract Renewals, Oracle Service Contracts User Guide.
The following procedures explain how to specify renewal rules:
Default Renewal Rules using Global Contract Defaults
You can specify default renewal rules using the Global Contracts Default window. See Entering Default Renewal Rules, Oracle Service Contracts User Guide.
Default Renewal Rules at the Contract Header Level
You can set up automatic defaults for contract renewals from the Renewals subtab of the header. See Specifying How a Contract Will Be Renewed., Oracle Service Contracts User Guide
Default Renewal Rules at the Line and Subline Level
You can also set renewal defaults at the line and subline level. See Specifying How a Contract Line is to Be Renewed, Oracle Service Contracts User Guide.
This procedure is covered in the Events group of topics.
See Starting the Workflow Background Process.
This procedure is covered in the Events group of topics.
See Running the Date Assembler.
To find out if the contracts were renewed successfully you can check for renewed contracts in Contract Navigator.
You can also check the date in the Last Occurrence field of the Independent Condition window. This date should be updated whenever the Date Assembler runs and is successful in picking up and renewing contracts. For example, if you defined an independent condition specifying that a contract should be picked up and renewed if its expiration date is 45 days before contract expiration and this is successful, then the Last Occurrence is the current date + 45.
This topic is covered in About Templates for E-Mails to Customers, Oracle Service Contracts User Guide
Verify that you have confirmed the procedures covered in the preceding group of procedures. If you are still experiencing problems, the following may help you to troubleshoot issues with the automatic renewal of contracts.
Validate that Date Assembler Found Eligible Contracts
The Date Assembler evaluates each Independent Condition. Contracts that satisfy the criteria defined in the condition appear in the output log file.
From the following sample log, we the CREATE RENEWAL EVENT condition was executed. Two contracts met the conditions defined in this condition.
Contracts Nominated for Expiry Date Action Assembler
Condition -CREATE RENEWAL EVENT is processed
Contract -10096 is processed
Contract -10097 is processed
Possible causes for the Date Assembler to fail to find eligible contracts include:
Independent Condition has an end-date prior to the current date
Independent Condition is invalid (verify that the Condition Valid check box is enabled)
Desired contract does not meet defined condition