Running Interactive Assignment

Running Siebel Assignment Manager in interactive mode allows end users to make real-time assignments. End users can review a list of potential assignees generated by Assignment Manager, then select and confirm, or override the assignment from the generated potential candidate list. For example, a call center agent might review potential candidates for an activity, then based on the candidates' assignment scores, expertise, or workload, assign the best candidate for the job.

The Activity and Service Request assignment objects are predefined to use interactive assignment, which allows you to assign employees to activities and service requests in real time. However, you can configure other assignment objects to use interactive assignment.

For information about how to configure assignment objects to use interactive assignment, see "Configuring Assignment Objects for Interactive Assignment".

You can run interactive assignment using any of the following:

• Siebel Web Client (also known as zero-footprint client)

• Command-line Server Manager (srvrmgr) program

• Siebel Developer Web Client

Siebel Mobile Web Client users running Assignment Manager in interactive mode do not make real-time assignments, because any interactive assignments made by mobile users are not applied to the server until these users resynchronize.

Note: Before you run interactive assignment using the Siebel Developer Web Client, it is recommended that you verify that the correct parameter settings exist in your Siebel client configuration (.cfg) file. The parameters identified in this configuration file specify the location of the Siebel Server where Assignment Manager is running and are automatically created during installation of the Siebel client. For information about the Siebel client installation process and configuration file, see the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.

The requirements for interactive assignment are that the:

• Assignment Manager component is Online

• Server Request Broker component is Running

Running Interactive Assignment from the GUI

This topic is part of "Running Interactive Assignment".

The Activity and Service Request assignment objects are predefined to use interactive assignment, which allows you to assign employees to activities and service requests in real time.

To run interactive assignment from the GUI

1. Navigate to either of the following locations:

   • Activities screen, then Activity List, and then the All Activities view

   • Service Requests screen, and then the All Service Requests view

2. In the All Activities or All Service Requests list, select an open activity or service request for assignment.

3. In the form below the list, click the Menu button and select Assign to start interactive assignment.

   For an example, see Figure 6-3.

4. Choose an assignee from the list of best candidates provided by Assignment Manager.

   The Siebel application then:

   • Communicates with the Siebel Assignment Manager on the Siebel Server and creates a list of qualified employees for the activity or service request.

   • Displays the list of qualified employees to the Siebel user, sorted by the descending order of scores.

   • Sets the activity or service request owner to the employee that is chosen when clicking the Assign button.

Example of Running Interactive Assignment for Service Requests from the GUI

This topic is part of "Running Interactive Assignment".

This topic gives one example of running interactive assignment from the graphical user interface (GUI). The example is applicable for use with the Siebel Web Client or the Siebel Developer Web Client. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business model.

To run interactive assignment for a service request

1. Navigate to the Service Requests screen, and then the All Service Requests view.

2. In the All Service Requests list, select an open service request for assignment.

3. In the form, click the Menu button and select Assign to start interactive assignment.

   For an example, see Figure 6-3.

4. Choose an assignee from the list of best candidates provided by Assignment Manager.

   The Siebel application then:

   • Communicates with the Siebel Assignment Manager on the Siebel Server and creates a list of qualified employees for the service request.

   • Displays the list of qualified employees to the Siebel user, sorted by the descending order of scores.

   • Sets the service request owner to the employee that you choose.

About Running Interactive Assignment in Rule Group Mode

This topic is part of "Running Interactive Assignment".

By default, interactive assignment submits requests to a Siebel Assignment Manager component that is running in default mode. However, you can use the Assignment Manager component (AsgnSrvr) to run interactive assignment in rule group mode, with or without using server key mappings.

Running Interactive Assignment Using Server Key Mappings

Use server key mappings when you want to split your rules across different servers. You can explicitly define what rule groups to load on what server, and only rules from that particular rule group are executed. At the time of the assignment request, you can specify one of the rule groups as the Assignment Key parameter (AsgnKey) along with the request.

If you use server key mappings, then, when you click the Assign button, a request is sent to the Assignment Manager component to evaluate and return the qualified candidates. To submit requests to a server that has server key mappings, one of the rule group IDs must pass because the AsgnKey parameter must pass. To accomplish this, the SetAsgnKey method is called on the CSSBCBase business component base class. Using a script, a workflow process, or a business service, this method is called and the row ID of one of the rule groups is passed as the parameter.

After this is complete, interactive assignment uses this parameter value as the AsgnKey and ReqKey parameters when submitting requests to the Assignment Manager component. Note that, for one session, you only need to call this method once. Subsequent requests in the same session reuse the rule group row ID. However, when the session is logged out or the server is restarted, you must call this method again to set the AsgnKey parameter. Otherwise, the Assignment Manager reverts to running in default mode.

The following procedure summarizes the steps involved in running interactive assignment using server key mappings.

To run interactive assignment using server key mappings

1. Use the SetAsgnKey method to set the AsgnKey argument to the row ID of the rule group that you want to use.

2. Add the rule group record to the Server Key Mappings view.

3. Add the BusComp user property to the business component being assigned interactively, and set the value of Use Assignment Request Key to TRUE.

Running Interactive Assignment Without Using Server Key Mappings

Assignment Manager supports the use of rule group mode even if you do not want to split your rules across multiple servers. In this case, you do not create server key mappings. Instead, you submit the request by specifying the rule group in the AsgnKey parameter for Assignment Manager. Even if there are no server key mappings, each Assignment Manager process loads all active rules. Assignment Manager determines at request time whether to execute all rules or only rules from a particular group, based on whether or not the assignment key is passed.

The following procedure summarizes the steps involved in running interactive assignment without using server key mappings.

To run interactive assignment without using server key mappings

• Use the SetAsgnKey method to set the AsgnKey argument to the row ID of the rule group that you want to use.