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About Implementing Routing and Queueing Processes

Siebel Email Response workflows record incoming email messages in your Siebel database, except for messages identified as junk email. The eMail Response - Process Message workflow creates an activity record and the eMail Response - Process Service Request workflow creates a service request record.

The Process Message and Process Service Request workflows can use the routing and queueing features in Siebel Assignment Manager to further automate your email interactions. Routing and queueing choices include Siebel Assignment Manager and custom routing and queueing solutions. For information about determining the routing and queueing method to implement, see Business Analysis for Deployment of Siebel Email Response.

Siebel Assignment Manager can assign ownership of email activities and service requests. Your organization can use the preconfigured routing and queueing rules that Siebel Email Response provides, revise these preconfigured rules, or create new rules. Before you start Siebel Email Response and process your incoming email messages, you must activate the Siebel Email Response workflows, make changes to the routing and queueing method that you choose to implement, and start the server tasks that are associated with that routing and queueing method.

You can route email using one of the following methods:

• Manual assignment. A user who is dedicated to the routing process manually assigns each incoming email to an agent as it arrives, or agents select a message from a message queue.
• Siebel Assignment Manager. Use Siebel Assignment Manager to create new assignment rules that route email to an agent who has the appropriate skills. For more information about Siebel Assignment Manager, see Siebel Assignment Manager Administration Guide.

  Use Assignment Manager to assign email messages by setting the Enable Assignment Manager process property in the Email Response - Process Message workflow:

  • If you set the process property to True, then Assignment Manager assigns email messages for all response groups.
  • If you set the process property to True for a response group, then Assignment Manager assigns email messages for that response group.

    NOTE:  When you create or update assignment rules, you must stop the Communications Inbound Receiver component to suspend the processing of new inbound email. After you stop this component, you can create or update the assignment rules, release the assignment rules, and then restart this component.

    After enabling Assignment Manager, complete the following tasks:

  • Verify that you assigned each employee in your Siebel database the appropriate skills to respond to incoming email. For example, you might assign each employee an email recipient address and define competencies, expertise level, and exception hours.
  • Set up the service regions and associate each employee with a service region.
  • Create new assignment rules, assign criteria, define employees, and release the rules.
  • Activate Assignment Manager.
  • Test your Assignment Manager setup.
• Custom routing and queueing solution. You can use a custom routing and queueing solution, such as a third-party product. Consult the documentation for that product for implementation instructions.