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Scenarios for Collaborative Customer Service

This section describes two scenarios that let the partner work on service requests in collaboration with the brand owner:

Partner Logs Service Requests and Works on Them with the Brand Owner

In this scenario, the partner acts as the primary service provider but collaborates with the brand owner to get service issues resolved when the partner receives service requests that require expertise from the brand owner.

For example, you might use this scenario if your partner is a value-added reseller of your company's complex manufacturing equipment. Your partner's field service technicians are on site installing new equipment, and have a problem with the machine's software that require a software patch. The field service technician would log a service request in the Siebel Partner Portal's Self-Service screen to get help from the brand owner and to request the patch.

This scenario consists of the following steps:

Step 1: Partners log service requests

In this scenario, your partners enter service requests using the Siebel Partner Portal. The partner might get these service requests through its call center or through other customer contacts.

To enter a new service request through the Siebel Partner Portal

  1. In the Siebel Partner Portal, the partner navigates to the Service screen.
  2. In the Service Requests list, the partner clicks New to add a new record to that list.
  3. The partner enters information about the service request in the new record.
Step 2: Partners use self-service to get help

To get help in solving the problem that they logged, the partners can enter a service request in the Self-Service screen of the Siebel Partner Portal.

To enter a new self-service request through the Partner Portal

  1. In the Siebel Partner Portal, the partner navigates to the Self-Service screen.
  2. In the Service Requests list, the partner clicks New to add a new record to that list.
  3. The partner enters information about the service request in the new record.
Step 3: The brand owner responds to the partner's self-service request

The partner's self-service request will be in the same queue as the other service requests that come to your company, and it will be assigned to a service agent in your company in the same way as other service requests are assigned. For example, you can configure Assignment Manager to assign the service request to a service agent based on your service agents' expertise, availability, or other factors.

Because your Siebel applications share a single database, this service request will appear in the Siebel Partner Manager, in Siebel Service, or in any other Siebel application that your service agents use to track service requests.

After your service agent responds to the self-service request, your service agent and the partner can continue to work together on the service request, if necessary, by logging updates to the service request.

To respond to a service request

  1. Navigate to the Service screen.

    2. The Service Request list appears, with the service requests that have you as owner.

  2. After researching the service request, you as service agent can enter an activity, which will appear as an update on the Siebel Partner Portal. Further updates logged by the Partner through the Self-Service screen will be visible to you in the Activities list in the Service screen of the Siebel Partner Manager.
  3. You as a service agent can also add Attachments and Solutions to the Service Request record. The partner can view these through the Siebel Partner Portal as attachments to the service request in the Self-Service screen.

Partner Logs Service Requests and Transfers Them to the Brand Owner

In this scenario, service requests are created by the partner companies and assigned to employees of the brand owner company. This scenario is appropriate for you if your partners receive customer service requests, and your company is responsible for fulfilling the service requests.

You might use this scenario in many different businesses. To give just one example, you could use it if your partners are resellers of satellite TV services, who take the orders for the service in the store, while the brand owner handles the actual installation of the satellite dish and the decoder. Whenever the reseller receives an order, the reseller logs a service request and assigns it to the brand owner, so the brand owner can dispatch a field service technician to perform the installation.

This scenario consists of the following steps:

Step 1: Partners enter service requests

In this scenario, your partners receive new service requests and enter them into the Siebel application using the Siebel Partner Portal.

You must set up Siebel Assignment Manager to assign service requests to the appropriate employee or organization in your company when partners enter service requests. Assignment Manager can assign service request based on employees' skills, product expertise, geography, or other criteria.

For more information about Siebel Assignment Manager, see Siebel Assignment Manager Administration Guide.

To enter a new service request through the Siebel Partner Portal

  1. In the Siebel Partner Portal, the partner navigates to the Service screen.
  2. In the Service Requests list, the partner clicks New to add a new record to that list.
  3. The partner enters information about the service request in the new record.

    4. Assignment Manager has been set up to assign the service request to the appropriate organization or employee in your company.

Step 2: The brand owner assigns service requests to its employees

If Assignment Manager has assigned the service request to an organization in your company, you must assign service requests to the appropriate service agent or field service technician in your company.

You can assign service requests manually. An employee at your company with access to the All Service Requests view can assign the service request to the appropriate employee, by choosing the employee name in the service request's Owner field.

Alternatively, you may have set up Assignment Manager to assign service requests to the appropriate employee automatically when they were entered by the partner.

In either case, the service agent responsible for the request will see it in the My Service Requests view.

For more information about Siebel Assignment Manager, see Siebel Assignment Manager Administration Guide.

Step 3: Brand owner employees view and work on service request

When the service request has been assigned to your service agent, the agent can view it in Siebel Partner Manager, Siebel Service, Siebel Call Center, or another Siebel application by displaying the My Service Requests view of the Service screen. Because Siebel applications use the same database, you do not have to export this record from Siebel PRM to other Siebel applications.

To view a new service request

  1. Navigate to the Service screen.
  2. In the Service Requests list, select the new service request.
  3. Click the appropriate view tabs to view more details about the service request.
  4. After researching the service request and solving the customer's problem, the service agent chooses Closed in the Status field of the service request.
Step 4: The brand owner tracks the service request

As your employees work on these service requests, you can track their progress using the Siebel Partner Manager, or their managers can track their progress using Siebel Service. Again, because Siebel applications use the same database, you do not have to worry about exchanging data among different Siebel applications.

You can track your employees' progress as they work on their service requests by displaying the service requests, viewing the activities attached to it, and checking the status field to see if the service request has been closed.

Your service agents' managers can track their reports' service requests by displaying the My Team's Service Requests view.

To track employee's service requests

  1. Navigate to the Service screen.
  2. From the Show drop-down list, choose My Team's Service Requests.
  3. In the My Teams Service Requests list, select a service request you want to track.
  4. Click the Activities view tab.

    5. The activities attached to that service request appear.


 Siebel Partner Relationship Management Administration Guide 
 Published: 18 April 2003