Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action

This chapter covers how to set up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action. It includes the following topics:

Process of Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action

To set up Siebel Business Applications to use Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action, perform the following tasks:

Configuring the Oracle Real-Time Decisions Server for Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action.

The first task in this process requires that you perform configurations within Oracle Real-Time Decision Center and that you have already set up Oracle Real-Time Decisions and the Decision Studio. For information about configuring Oracle Decision Center and Oracle Real-Time Decisions, see the Oracle® Real-Time Decisions Installation and Administration Guide and the Oracle® Real-Time Decisions Decision Center User’s Guide on Oracle Technology Network (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html).

Integrating the Oracle Real-Time Decisions Server with the Siebel Application

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action. Use the following procedure to integrate the Oracle Real-Time Decisions Server with the Siebel application.

To integrate the Oracle Real-Time Decisions Server with the Siebel application

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Web Services screen, then the Outbound Web Services view.
Within the Outbound Web Services list applet, query for *sigma* in the Namespace field.
For the ExternalChoiceService, update the Address field in the Service Port applet (the middle applet) to point to the appropriate RTD server (for example, http://<server name>:<port number>/soap/services/ExternalChoice), and click the Clear Cache button.
Navigate to the Administration - Integration screen, WI Symbolic URL List, and then the Host Administration view.
Within the Host Administration list, query for RTD_SERVER in the Virtual Name field.
Specify the host name of the RTD Server in the Name field: <server name>:<port number>.
Navigate to the Administration - Integration screen, WI Symbolic URL List, and then the Symbolic URL Administration view.
Within the Symbolic URL Administration list applet, query for *RTD* in the URL field.

The query should return seven symbolic URL records.
For each of these symbolic URL records, update the app argument value with the Inline Service name that you plan to use, such as SiebelB2C or SiebelB2B.
Change the user name and password for all of the records.
Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, Servers, and then the Parameters view.
Within the Server Parameters list applet, query for RTD* in the Parameter field.
The query should return four RTD parameter records.
Specify the following values for the four parameters:
- RTD Application Name: Enter the RTD Application Name, such as B2C.
- RTD SOAP URL: Enter the RTD Server URL and port, such as http://<machine name>:<port number>/rtis/sdwp.
- RTD Session Cookie Name: JSESSIONID (the default value).
- RTD Web Service Timeout: 3000 (this is the default value, but it can be changed)
  
  Note: Follow Step 14 to Step 17 only if you want to enable the default runtime events.
Navigate to the Administration - Runtime Events screen, then the Action Sets view.
Within the Action Sets view, query for RTD* in the Name field.
The query should return four RTD parameter records.
Set the Active field to TRUE to make the Action Set records active. Do this only for the Inline Services that you are using. For example, only set the B2C records as active when you are using the SiebelB2C Inline Service.

Note: Do not activate any of the RTD Informant: Offer Event Interested or RTD Informant: Offer Event Not Interested runtime events. These runtime events are no longer supported.
Select Reload Runtime Events from the menu to clear the cache.

Configuring Choice Groups in the Siebel Application

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action.

This topic contains the following subtopic:

Adding the Custom Choice Group List of Values

Adding the Custom Choice Group List of Values

The NBA_CHOICE_GROUP TYPE list of values is prepopulated in the Siebel application by default. However, if you have added custom choice groups on the Oracle Real-Time Decisions Server, you must add them to the Siebel application.

Use the following procedure to add a custom choice group list of values to the Siebel application.

To add a custom choice group list of values to the Siebel application

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Data view, then List of Values screen.
Within the List of Values screen, add the Choice Group Type LOV with the following values:
1. Enter NBA_CHOICE_GROUP_TYPE in the Type field.
2. Enter the choice group name in the Display Value field.
3. Enter the choice group name defined in Oracle Real-Time Decisions Studio in the Language-Independent Code field.

Defining Choice Group Events, Response Actions, and Parameters

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action.

This topic contains the following subtopics:

Adding Choice Groups

Use the following procedure to add choice groups.

To add choice groups

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Marketing screen, and then the Response Management (RTD) view.
Add a new choice group as follows:
1. Enter the name of the choice group in the Name field.
2. Enter the application name in the RTD Application Name field. This value must match the application name that has been defined in Oracle Real-Time Decisions Studio.
3. Enter the recommendation type that was defined on the Oracle Real-Time Decisions Server in the RTD Recommendation Type field, such as Marketing Offer.
4. Repeat Step a through Step c for each choice group.

Adding Choice Group Events

Use the following procedure to add choice group events.

To add choice group events

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Marketing screen, Response Management (RTD), and then the RTD Response Choice Group Events screen.
For each choice group that you created, select the record.
Click New in the Choice Group Events applet, and do the following:
1. Add the name of the action in the Name field.
2. Add the choice event name in the RTD Choice Event Name field, such as Accept and Reject. This value must match the choice group event name that was set on the Oracle Real-Time Decisions Server.
  
  Note: The values in the Sequence field are generated automatically.

Defining Response Actions for Choice Group Events and Response Action Workflow Parameters

Use the following procedures to define RTD response actions for choice group events and to define response action workflow parameters.

To define RTD response actions for choice group events

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Marketing screen, Response Management (RTD), and then the Response Actions view.
Scroll down to the RTD Response Actions screen, and select each choice group event for which you want to define an action.
For each choice group event, click New, and do the following:
1. Enter Run Process in the Action Type field.
2. Enter Workflow in the Action Code field.
3. Select the name of the workflow from the Workflow Name drop-down list, such as Marketing Create Lead.

Use the following procedure to define response action workflow parameters. Note that there are two types of workflow parameters: Named Parameters and Workflow Parameters.

To define response action workflow parameters

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Marketing screen, then the Response Management (RTD) view, select each action that you want to define, and click New to add new records.
Enter the parameter type in the Parameter Type field:
1. Specify the value of the Named Parameter type using the following formatting:
  
  Note: When you define the Named Parameters type, the value defined in the corresponding business component field is retrieved and passed to the workflow as a parameter value.
  where:
  - Name is the name of the parameter as specified in the workflow
  - Value is BO Name.First Level BC|Second Level BC|Field Name
    For example:
    Contact.Contact|Id
    Contact.Contact|Campaign List Contact|Campaign Id
    
    Note: Up to two business component levels are supported. The business object, business component, and field names must match the values in Siebel Tools.
2. Specify the value of the Workflow Parameter workflow parameter using the following formatting:
  Note: When you define the Workflow Parameters workflow parameter, the value defined with this parameter type will be passed to the workflow as it is.
  where:
  - Name is the name of the parameter as specified in the workflow
  - Value is the value of the parameter

Creating Customized Views for RTD Recommendations

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action.

The RTD Recommendations views are populated in the Accounts and Contacts views by default. However, if you want to implement Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action within other Siebel Business Applications, you must create RTD Recommendations views. Use the following procedure to create views for RTD Recommendations.

To create views for RTD Recommendations

Within Siebel Tools, navigate to Business Component and query for the RTD Intelligent Offers (B2C) business component.
Copy the business component and rename it.

Note: You must set the business component class to CSSBCVRTDOffers in order to fetch the recommendations.

Enter the values for the business component user properties as listed in the following table.

User Property Name	Value
Application	RTD Application Name
Informant Integration Point	The default RTD Informant inline service name to be called during Informant calls
Integration Point	The default RTD Advisor inline service name to be called during Advisor calls
RTD Account Id Field	The field in the business component to be used for Account ID
RTD Contact Id Field	The field in the business component to be used for Contact ID
RTD Offer Id Field	The field in the business component to be used for Offer ID
RespAction Integration Point	The default RTD Informant inline service name to be called when processing responses
Session Key	The field in the business component to be used as the default session key
Syspref Application	The corresponding RTD inline service name defined in the System Preferences view
TrackRecommendations	This user property must be set to Y or N to indicate whether or not recommendations should be tracked

Using Object Explorer, navigate to Applets, copy the RTD Intelligent Offers List Applet (B2C) applet, and rename it.

Note: To display recommendations, the applet class should be CSSSWEFrameNBARA so that the Response dialog box displays.
Create a new view and add the applet that you just created to the new view.
Add the view to the corresponding screen.
Deploy the changes to the Siebel runtime repository.

Enabling or Disabling Recommendation Renderer Functionality

In the Open UI application, the Recommendation Renderer files allow the interface to display images for the recommended items. It can be used for both accounts and for contacts, but it is only prepopulated for contacts. You must create a new record to be able to implement Recommendation Renderer functionality for accounts.

Use the following procedure to enable Recommendation Renderer functionality for accounts.

To enable Recommendation Renderer functionality for accounts

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Application screen, then the Manifest Administration view.
Within the UI Objects applet, create a new record for the RTD Intelligent Offers List Applet (B2B) applet, and enter recommendationrenderer.js as the file name.

Note: Use the RTD Intelligent Offers List Applet (B2C) applet that was provided by default for contacts as a reference.

You can disable the Recommendation Renderer files if you do not want to use the Recommendation Renderer feature. Use the following procedure to disable the Recommendation Renderer functionality.

To disable the Recommendation Renderer functionality

Within the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - Application screen, then the Manifest Administration view.
Perform the following actions:
1. To disable the functionality for accounts, query for the RTD Intelligent Offers List Applet (B2B), and inactivate the manifest.
2. To disable the functionality for contacts, query for the RTD Intelligent Offers List Applet (B2C), and inactivate the manifest.
Log out of the Siebel application and then log back in.

Configuring Recommendation Names to Display in the Recommendations History Screen

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Siebel In-Memory Next Best Action.

If you have created a new recommendation type other than the default recommendation types, you must populate the names of the recommendations in the Recommendation History screen. This allows users to drill down on the Name field for each recommendation to see further details about the recommendation.

Use the following procedure to configure the NBA Track Recommendation Response business component to display recommendations in the Recommendations History screen.

To configure the Recommendations History screen to display recommendations

Within Siebel Tools, using Object Explorer, navigate to the NBA Track Recommendation Response business component, and lock the project.
Create new joins to the table that contains the Name field. For example, to populate the Marketing Offer recommendation in the Recommendation History screen, you create new joins to the S_MKTG_OFFR table.
Add a join specification to join with the Recommendation Id field:
1. Get the Name field from the join that you created in Configuring Recommendation Names to Display in the Recommendations History screen.
2. Enter a value in the Name field that returns the Name value according to the recommendation type, as shown in the following example:
  IIF([Recomm Type Code]='Marketing Offers',[Offer Name],IIF([Recomm Type Code]='Life Sciences', [Life Science Name], [Product Name])))
3. Create a new user property with the following values:
  where:
  - Name is the exact value of the RTD Recommendation Type
  - Value is View Name|BO Name|BC Name|Field Name on which the Recommendation Id must be applied>
  For example: Parent Offer Details View|Parent Offer|Parent Offer|Id
4. (Optional). If you have added a new applet, add the Name field created in Configuring Recommendation Names to Display in the Recommendations History screen to the applet to show in the UI, and create a drilldown object in the applet for the Name field.
Deploy the changes to the Siebel runtime repository.

Disabling Transaction Tracking

By default, all recommendations that were generated through transactions in the user interface (such as by a call center agent who receives a call from a customer) are stored in the Recommendation History view.

If you want to disable this functionality, then use the following procedure.

To disable the Track Recommendations functionality

Within Siebel Tools, using Object Explorer, navigate to Business Component, and query for the RTD Intelligent Offers (B2C) and RTD Intelligent Offers (B2B) business components.
Within Business Component User Properties, change the value of the TrackRecommendations user property from Y to N.
Deploy the changes to the Siebel runtime repository.