About Assignment Policies

Siebel Business Applications include predefined assignment policies for each of the predefined assignment objects. In general, it is recommended to use these predefined assignment policies. However, you can also create new assignment policies for dynamic assignment. If you plan to use the predefined assignment policies, then you must first activate them.

An instance of Workflow Monitor Agent detects when a user changes data related to objects, and each Workflow Monitor Agent can monitor one or more assignment policies. You can use a single Workflow Monitor Agent to monitor all assignment policies by placing all assignment policies in the same workflow group (the predefined assignment policies are defined this way). You can also place the assignment policies in separate workflow groups and dedicate Workflow Monitor Agents for each workflow group.

The Assignment Manager workflow policy actions that you can use for an assignment policy are:

• Assignment Request (In Process). This action assigns rows in its own process and does not use the Assignment Manager (AsgnSrvr) server component.

• Assignment Request. This action routes the requests to an AsgnSrvr process running in default mode.

If you want to use the rule group feature in dynamic assignment, then create a workflow process that submits requests to the AsgnSrvr server component using a business service.

For more information about Workflow Monitor Agent, see "Running Dynamic Assignment" and Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.

Process of Defining Assignment Policies for Dynamic Assignment

This topic is part of "About Assignment Policies".

To create new assignment policies for dynamic assignment, perform the following tasks:

1. "Creating Assignment Policies for Dynamic Assignment"

2. "Activating Assignment Policies to Enable Dynamic Assignment"

Creating Assignment Policies for Dynamic Assignment

Assignment policies are specialized workflow policies used for dynamic assignment. Siebel Business Applications include predefined assignment policies for each of the predefined assignment objects. In general, it is recommended to use these predefined policies for setting up dynamic assignment. However, you can create new assignment policies.

Note: If you create a new assignment object for dynamic assignment, then you must also create a new assignment policy for that object.

The following tasks are one step in "Process of Defining Assignment Rules".

Use the following procedures to create new assignment policies for dynamic assignment.

To create an assignment policy for dynamic assignment

1. Navigate to the Administration - Assignment screen, and then the Assignment Policies view.

2. In the Assignment Policies list, click New.

3. In the new assignment policy record, enter the relevant information.

Table 5-24 shows the predefined assignment policy fields.

Table 5-24 Assignment Policy Fields

Field	Description
Name	The name of the assignment policy.
Workflow Object	The assignment object to which the assignment policy belongs.
Policy Group	The workflow group for the assignment policy. The default for the predefined assignment policies is Assignment Group. For new policies that you create for use with Assignment Manager, use the Assignment Group policy group. It is recommended that you do not change the policy group for assignment policies. However, if you find a need to do so, then regenerate triggers after making the change. For more information about regenerating triggers, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide. Caution: Assign a policy group to only one Workflow Monitor Agent. Multiple Workflow Monitor Agent components running the same policy group cause unpredictable completion times and possible multiple actions created for one trigger. For more information about Workflow Monitor Agents, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.
Activation	The start date of the assignment policy.
Expiration	The end date of the assignment policy.

Note: By default, every assignment policy has an action. Use the following procedure only if you accidentally remove an action or create a new assignment policy. In addition, do not associate customized workflow actions with assignment policies. For more information about workflow actions, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.

To create an action for an assignment policy for dynamic assignment

1. With the newly created assignment policy still selected, in the Actions list, click New.

2. In the Assignment Action field, click the drop-down arrow and select Assignment Request (In Process).

   
   

   Note: It is recommended that you use the Assignment Request (In Process) workflow policy action because the Assignment Request action might cause performance problems. If you do choose to use the Assignment Request action, then make sure that the Assignment Manager (AsgnSrvr) process is available and online.

   
   

3. In the Assignment Mode field, click the down arrow button and select MatchAssign.

4. (Optional) Add a sequence number, if so desired.

Activating Assignment Policies to Enable Dynamic Assignment

To enable dynamic assignment for an assignment object, activate the assignment policy for that object.

This task is a step in "Process of Defining Assignment Rules".

To activate an assignment policy to enable dynamic assignment

1. Navigate to the Administration - Assignment screen, and then the Assignment Policies view.

2. In the Assignment Policies list, select the assignment policy that you want to activate.

3. In the Expiration field, click to either null the existing value or set the value to a later date.

   Workflow components process only active assignment policies that have not expired.

Note: After activating an assignment policy, you must generate triggers again for the changes to take effect.

Deactivating Assignment Policies to Disable Dynamic Assignment

This topic is part of "About Assignment Policies".

You might find at some point that you no longer need certain assignment rules. When this occurs, you can deactivate those assignment rules. To disable dynamic assignment for an assignment object, deactivate the assignment policy for that object.

Note: Siebel Assignment Manager uses the database time to determine whether a rule is active or not.

To deactivate an assignment policy to disable dynamic assignment

1. Navigate to the Administration - Assignment screen, and then the Assignment Policies view.

2. In the Assignment Policies list, select the assignment policy you want to deactivate.

3. In the Expiration field, set the value to a date that has already passed.

Workflow components process only active assignment policies that have not expired; therefore, you can deactivate an assignment policy by expiring it.

Note: After deactivating an assignment policy, you must generate triggers again for the changes to take effect.