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Parsing Message Workflow Steps

The following are two features used when Siebel Email Response processes email:

  • Threading. Maintaining an association with related messages that are sent between a customer and an organization.
  • Parsing. Analyzing an email message to look for predefined, structured fields that are typically used to process Web-form email messages.

The Parse Message step in the eMail Response - Process Message workflow provides both of these capabilities.

By default, this step parses an email message for the text [THREAD ID:. When that text is found, the workflow copies all the characters until it reaches the ] character. These characters are stored in the Thread ID process property. The eMail Response - Process Message workflow uses the thread ID to perform the following tasks:

  • On an agent's Communications views, the thread ID allows all messages with the same thread ID to appear in the History tab.
  • Messages that have a thread ID are handled as follow-up messages. Automatic responses are never sent in response to follow-up messages.

NOTE:  Misspelled words that appear after the [THREAD ID: tag do not get caught in the spell check.

The following are examples of message threading:

  • Customer sends a new incoming email message.

    From: customer@customer.com

    To: support@yourcompany.com

    Subject: Help

    Please help.

    - Customer

    NOTE:  There is no thread ID at the bottom of the response.

  • Company sends response to customer.

    From: support@yourcompany.com

    To: customer@customer.com

    Subject: RE: Help

    Attached is the answer to your question.

    - Support

    [THREAD ID:1234]

    NOTE:  A thread ID appears at the bottom of the response.

  • Customer replies to the response with a follow-up question.

    From: customer@customer.com

    To: support@yourcompany.com

    Subject: RE: Help

    I already tried that. Any other ideas?

    - Customer

    -----Original Message-----

    From: support@yourcompany.com

    To: customer@customer.com

    Subject: RE: Help

    Attached is the answer to your question.

    - Support

    [THREAD ID:1234]

    NOTE:  A thread ID appears at the bottom of the response.

In this example, each message is associated with the same thread ID (1234). The Parse Message step identifies messages as part of the same thread by looking for the text [THREAD ID:1234]. Each of these messages appear on the History tab on the Communications screen views.

Parsing for New Fields

In addition to the preconfigured capabilities of the Parse Message step, the step can be modified so that additional fields can be identified in an email message. Once these fields are extracted from a message, other steps in the workflow can be modified to use these values. One example would be to parse an email message for a campaign code. In email marketing campaigns, a code is often included in the bottom of the email message, so that marketing analysis can be performed. For a description of the Parse Text method and its input arguments, see ParseText.

See the following example of an outgoing marketing message:

From: marketing@yourcompany.com

To: customer@customer.com

Subject: Important marketing message

Please visit our Website www.yourcompany.com for more information on Siebel Email Response.

- Siebel Marketing

[CID:1234]

NOTE:  A campaign ID appears at the bottom of the email.

See the following example of a response to the marketing message that might be sent by a customer:

From: customer@customer.com

To: marketing@yourcompany.com

Subject: RE: Important marketing message

Please have a sales representative contact me. Thanks.

- Customer

-----Original Message-----

From: marketing@yourcompany.com

To: customer@customer.com

Subject: Important marketing message

Please visit our Web site www.yourcompany.com for more information on Siebel Email Response.

- Siebel Marketing

[CID:1234]

NOTE:  The campaign ID still appears at the bottom of the customer's inquiry.

Parsing Message Text for the Campaign ID

Using information in Siebel Business Process Designer Administration Guide and the following list of tasks, you can modify the eMail Response - Process Message workflow to look for a CampaignID field in the message body or subject.

To parse text for the campaign ID

  1. In Siebel Tools Object Explorer, select the Workflow Processes object.
  2. In the Workflow Processes list, perform a query for eMail Response - Process Message.
  3. In the Workflow Processes list, select eMail Response - Process Message and then click Revise.

    NOTE:  Confirm that you have clicked Revise for the workflow record that you want to modify. You can modify a record only if it has a status of In Progress.

  4. In the Workflow Processes list, right-click eMail Response - Process Message and choose Edit Workflow Process.

    The Business Process Designer appears.

  5. Right-click the Parse Message step and choose Show Process Properties.
  6. In the Workflow Process Props list, add a new record with Name = CampaignID.
  7. Right-click the Parse Message step and choose Show Input Arguments.
  8. In the Input Arguments list, add the CampaignID input argument with the values outlined in the following table.
    Input Argument
    Type
    Value

    CampaignID

    Literal

    [CID:%s]
  9. Right-click the Parse Message step and choose Show Output Arguments.
  10. In the Output Arguments list, add a CampaignID output argument with the values contained in the following table.
    Property Name
    Type
    Output Argument

    CampaignID

    Output Argument

    CampaignID

    NOTE:  This output argument must match the input argument name you created in Step 8.

  11. IN the History Toolbar, click Back to return to Siebel Tools.
  12. In the Workflow Processes list, right-click eMail Response - Process Message and choose Validate...

    NOTE:  You can also make sure the workflow works correctly by starting up the Communications Inbound Processor and sending test messages. For more information on validating workflow processes, see Setting Up a Workflow Process to be Test Mode Enabled (Workflow Decision Point).

  13. In the Workflow Processes list, click Deploy.

You have modified the eMail Response - Process Message workflow to parse for an additional field in an email message. When the workflow receives a message with the specified field, the text will be copied into the new process property (CampaignID).

Using this same approach, you could modify the eMail Response - Create Activity Process workflow and associate the Activity record with the appropriate campaign.

Other potential uses of the Parse Message step include the following:

  • Parsing an email message generated from a Web form. This step can look for first name, last name, and telephone number and use this data to create a contact record.
  • The workflow can look for the text in the subject line instead of the message body. For example, if the CampaignID field is in the subject of the email message, you can modify the eMail Response - Process Message workflow to look for it.

Parsing Message Subjects for the Campaign ID

Using information in Siebel Business Process Designer Administration Guide and the following list of tasks, you can modify the eMail Response - Process Message workflow to look for a Campaign ID field in the subject line of email messages.

To parse message subject for the campaign ID

  1. In Siebel Tools Object Explorer , select the Workflow Processes object.
  2. In the Workflow Processes list, perform a query for eMail Response - Process Message.
  3. In the Workflow Processes list, select eMail Response - Process Message and click Revise.

    The status of eMail Response - Process Message changes to In Progress.

    NOTE:  This example uses the version of the workflow that has a status of Completed.

  4. In the Workflow Processes list, right-click on eMail Response - Process Message and choose Edit Workflow Process.

    The Business Designer appears.

  5. In the Workflow Process Props list, add a new record with Name = CampaignID.
  6. Navigate to the Process Designer view and add a new business service step.

    For information on adding business service steps, see Siebel Business Process Designer Administration Guide.

  7. Right-click the new business service step and complete the fields in the following table.
    Name
    Business Service
    Method

    Parse Subject for Campaign

    Inbound Email Manager

    Parse Text
  8. Right-click the Parse Subject for Campaign business service step and choose Show Input Arguments.
  9. In the Input Arguments list, add a Text input argument with the values contained in the following table.
    Input Argument
    Type
    Property Name
    Property Data Type

    Text

    Process Property

    MsgSubject

    String
  10. In the Input Arguments list, add a CampaignID input argument with the values contained in the following table.
    Input Argument
    Type
    Value
    Property Name
    Property Data Type

    CampaignID

    Literal

    [CID:%s]

    MsgSubject

    String
  11. Right-click the Parse Subject for Campaign business step and choose Show Output Arguments.
  12. In the Output Argument list, add a new output argument with the values contained in the following table.
    Property Name
    Type
    Output Argument

    CampaignID

    Output Argument

    CampaignID

    NOTE:  The value you create for the Output Argument must match the input argument you created in Step 10.

  13. Use the Connector tool to connect the new step (Parse Subject for Campaign) you created in Step 7 to the eMail Response - Process Message workflow.
  14. In the History Toolbar, click Back to return to Siebel Tools.
  15. In the Workflow Processes list, right-click eMail Response - Process Message and choose Validate...
  16. In the Workflow Processes list, select eMail Response - Process Message and click Deploy.
    
Siebel Email Response Administration Guide Copyright © 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.