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Configuring Assignment Objects for Availability-Based Assignment

Configuring assignment objects for availability-based assignment allows Assignment Manager to review an employee's calendar as a criterion for assignment. If the employee's calendar has no activities booked at the time required by the object, and has a sufficient time period available for the object's duration, the employee qualifies for assignment. For more information on availability-based assignment, see About Availability-Based Assignment and Assigning Employees to Assignment Rules Based on Availability.

Before configuring the assignment object, make sure the following information is satisfied:

• The Field Service component group is enabled.

  For more information, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

• A mapping of the server to the Field Service components and region exists.

  For more information, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

• Employees are associated with service regions.

  For more information, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

• The object that you are configuring for assignment availability has the necessary columns in its database table (information and procedure follow).

By default, the Activity assignment object has the required columns in its database table for Start Time and Duration; however, one column must be extended if the Early Start Time field is desired. All other assignment objects must have their base tables extended. To extend an object's base table for availability-based assignment, use the following procedure. As an example, the Service Request Assignment object is considered.

CAUTION:  You must review the sections on extension tables and columns in Configuring Siebel eBusiness Applications before completing this procedure.

To extend the Service Request's base table for availability-based assignment

1. Start Siebel Tools.
2. In the Object Explorer, expand the Table object, and then select Column.
3. In the Tables window, query for the S_SRV_REQ table.
4. With the S_SRV_REQ table selected, choose Tools > Lock Project to lock the project.

   The project associated with the S_SRV_REQ table is newtable.

5. In the Columns list, choose Edit > Add New Record to add the records in the following table (only Record 1 and 2 are required):

   	Record 1	Record 2	Record 3 (Optional)
   Name	X_DURN_MIN	X_START_TIME	X_EARLY_START_TIME
   Physical Type	Number	UTC Date Time	UTC Date Time
   Length	22	7	7
   Precision	22
   Scale	7
   LOV Type	APPOINTMENT_DURATION
   Cascade Mode	Ignore	Ignore	Ignore
   TxnLog Code	TRUE	TRUE	TRUE

6. In the Table column window and after you have created the new records you need, click Apply.

   This sends the new columns to the appropriate tables in the database.

7. Complete the fields in the Apply Schema dialog box.
   1. In the Tables field, click the select button, and choose one of the following:
      • All
      • Current Query
      • Current Row
   2. In the Table owner password field, enter the appropriate value.
   3. Click Apply.

      The S_SRV_REQ table is now extended with the following three columns: X_DURN_MIN, X_EARLY_START_TIME, and X_START_TIME.

With the appropriate columns in place, use the following procedure to configure availability criteria for the assignment object.

To configure Availability-based Assignment for an assignment object

1. Start Siebel Tools.
2. Lock the assignment object's project.
   1. In the Object Explorer, click the Types tab, and then select Project.
   2. In the Projects window, select the appropriate project.
   3. Check the Locked field.
3. In the Object Explorer, expand Workflow Policy Object and select the assignment object.
4. In the Assignment Objects list, select the object you want to configure, and set the column values, as shown in the following table:

   Column	Required	Value
   Calendar Start Time Column	Yes	The table column that references the start time of the object. For example, X_START_TIME.
   Calendar Duration Column	Yes	The table column that references the duration of the object. For example, X_DURATION.
   Calendar Early Start Time Column	No	The table column that references the early start time of the object. For example, X_EARLY_START_TIME.
   Calendar Create Activity	No	Check this column if you want an activity created for the assigned employee. TRUE = Activity is created in employee's calendar FALSE =Activity is not created in employee's calendar Note: You must check this field if you plan to use the Appointment Booking System to detect conflicts. For more information about the Appointment Booking System, see About Availability-Based Assignment in this guide and Siebel Field Service Guide.
   Calendar Activity Additional Fields	No	When this field is specified, Assignment Manager sets the field value to the row ID of the assignment object when it creates the activity. Assignment Manager also sets the additional fields to the specified field values. For example, for the Service Request object, you can specify the following fields: Activity SR Id, Type, To Do.

   NOTE:  The fields in the preceding table are specified as one value string for that property.

If a value is not specified for the field specified in the Calendar Start Time Column column for an assignment object, Assignment Manager does not check calendars when assigning that object, even if the assignment rule has the Check Employee Calendar flag checked. Instead, Assignment Manager assigns all candidates who meet the criteria for the rule. For example, if you don't specify the Start Date or Due Date for an activity, Assignment Manager does not check calendars when assigning this activity, even if the assignment rule has the Check Employee Calendar flag checked. Instead, Assignment Manager assigns all candidates who meet the criteria for the rule.

After these fields are configured for the assignment object, they must be made visible to the end user by adding them to the appropriate business component and applets. For these procedures, see Using Siebel Tools.

You can now configure the following user property values to come from either the object row itself or through constants:

• Activity Type
• Activity Priority
• Breakable Flag

For more information about assignment user properties, see Configuring Assignment Object User Properties.