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Example of Creating Field Service Assignment Rules Using Availability

This topic gives one example of creating an assignment rule that evaluates a service request object and assigns the object to the highest scoring employee based on the employee's skill level and availability. You may use this feature differently, depending on your business model.

The service request object—which is often associated with a job, a finite time period, and a specific owner—is an example of an object that can be assigned using Assignment Manager's availability-based assignment feature.

To use the availability assignment feature, certain setup procedures must be performed in the Field Service application before creating the assignment rule. For more information about this feature and its requirements, see About Availability-Based Assignment. Several configurations must also be made to the assignment object before using the availability feature. See Configuring Assignment Objects for Availability-Based Assignment.

NOTE:  The following procedure assumes that a service region (California Service Region), employees (West Coast Service Representative and West Coast Service Manager), and a product (Pentium III Desktop) are already defined. For information about defining service regions, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

To set up the Field Service application for availability assignment

1. Verify a schedule exists with valid hours.

   Navigate to the All Schedules view (Administration - Service > Schedules). For this example, select the 12x5 Support schedule in the Schedules List and click the Schedule Hours view tab. Make sure the hours listed are valid. The following figure shows this view.
2. Set up a Service Region.

   Navigate to the Administration - Scheduling screen Service Regions view. For this example, select the California Service Region. In the Schedule field, select 12x5 Support.

3. Set up the parameter set for the Service Region.

   With California Service Region selected, navigate to the Parameters Sets view (in the Scheduling Administration screen). For this example, select the West Coast Parameters used by the California Service Region and click the Parameters tab. Update the following parameter records:

   • ABS Days to Start=0
   • ABS Days to End=20
   • ABS Logging Level=4
4. Set up server key mappings.

   Navigate to the Server Key Mappings view in the Scheduling Administration screen. For this example, create a new record and save it with the following field values:

   • Server=Siebel Server
   • Process #=0
   • Service Region=California Service Region
   • Component=ApptBook
5. Associate employees to the service region.

   Navigate to Administration - User > Employees. For this example, select the West Coast Service Representative and the West Coast Service Manager and click the Field Service Details tab. Edit the Schedule and Service Region fields with 12x5 Support and California Service Region, respectively.

NOTE:  If service regions are modified or deleted, you must release assignment rules to update the rulecache.dat file.

After the Field Service application is configured, create the assignment rule that uses the assignment availability feature.

To create a field service assignment rule

1. Create the assignment rule.

   Navigate to Assignment Rules List view of the Administration - Assignment screen, and create the assignment rule. For this example, name the rule West Coast Service. Define the assignment object as Service Request and the assignee filter as One, Best Fit. The Check Employee Calendar box is the field that activates the assignment availability feature. Check this box once to make this feature operational.
   

2. Determine assignment criteria.

   Navigate to the Criteria view tab and create Product criteria for the assignment rule. For this example, service representatives are evaluated with the Compare Object to Person based on an employee's product knowledge.

3. Determine assignment criteria values.

   Navigate to the Values view and create a new record with Pentium III desktop.

4. Define employees for the assignment rule.

   Navigate to the Assignment Employee view and add the West Coast Service Representative and the West Coast Service Manager to the assignment rule.

5. Release the assignment rule.

Now, when a service request is created with attributes that match both West Coast service representatives, Siebel Assignment Manager, through the Field Service Appointment Booking System (ABS), assigns the employee who has available time in his or her calendar and work schedule. Optionally, the ABS can create an activity in the assigned employee's calendar. For more information, see Configuring Assignment Objects for Availability-Based Assignment. For more information about ABS, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

Figure 10 shows the assignment rule described in the preceding procedure.

Figure 10.  A Field Service Assignment Rule with the Check Employee Calendar Field Activated