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About Pre-Pick Compatibility

By default, compatibility rules are evaluated after the sales agent selects a product. This is called post-pick compatibility.

It is also possible to enable pre-pick compatibility, so the sales agent can see whether products are compatible before selecting them.

If pre-pick compatibility is enabled, products are displayed as follows:

• Catalog. If a product displayed in the catalog is incompatible with a product already added to the order, a compatibility message is displayed under the product name.

  For example, a customer orders satellite dish programming service. She tells the sales agent that she wants the high-resolution satellite dish. Then, in the same order, she wants to purchase a digital video recorder (DVR). Only three of the five DVRs that the company sells are compatible with the high-resolution satellite dish. When the sales agent displays the catalog page listing DVRs, the two DVRs that are not compatible have messages under them that say their compatibility status is N and that also display the compatibility reason explaining why they are incompatible. The sales agent is able to tell the customer about the DVRs that are compatible with the satellite dish, without wasting the customer's time by talking about DVRs that are incompatible.

• Siebel Configurator. If a component displayed in Siebel Configurator is incompatible with a component already selected, then it is displayed in red to indicate it is excluded. The sales agent can select the excluded components to display the compatibility message explaining why it is excluded.

  For example, a cable television customer orders a cable television subscription and selects the standard package of channels. The sales agent who is configuring the service that the customer is purchasing selects these two products in Siebel Configurator. Then the customer says that he also wants to subscribe to a special programming service that provides additional channels, which he saw in an advertisement. In Siebel Configurator, this special package is displayed in red, indicating that it is excluded. The sales agent selects the excluded product, and Siebel Configurator displays an error message. The sales agent clicks the explanation icon, and the explanation says that this special programming service is not available with the standard package of channels, only with the premium package.

When pre-pick compatibility is enabled, the application still does the post-pick compatibility check. For example, pre-pick compatibility is enabled and a product in Configurator is marked in red to show that it is incompatible with the current selections. The user adds this incompatible product. The application displays a post-pick compatibility error message saying that this product is incompatible.