Understanding Work Order Requests
This topic discusses:
Work order functionality.
Integration points with PeopleSoft Financials.
Work order descriptions and status changes.
Relationships between work orders and cases.
Work orders and the 360-degree view.
Installed product history.
Note: Work order requests pertain to PeopleSoft HelpDesk only; PeopleSoft Support and PeopleSoft HelpDesk for Human Resources do not incorporate work order functionality.
If an agent is working on a help desk case that he or she cannot resolve, the agent can create a work order from the case to assign a technician to troubleshoot and solve the problem.
The agent creates a work order when the solution search results recommend the creation of a work order or the agent determines that he cannot resolve the case in a reasonable amount of time.
To create a work order from a case, an agent must select Worker Order - New from the Actions field on either the Case page, the Case - Summary page, or the Case - Related Actions page, and then click the Go button. This action takes the user to the Create Work Order page. When the agent provides the required information on the Create Work Order page and clicks the Create Work Order button, the Add Work Order Transaction message is triggered.
Once an agent creates a work order, a help desk agent can:
Access the work order in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management from the Related Actions section on the Case - Summary page or the Case - Related Actions page.
Receive workflow events in his or her worklist when there is a status change or description change on the work order.
If an Active Analytics Framework (AAF) status change or description change policy is activated, both email and worklist notifications are sent.
Relate existing work orders to cases.
The integration between IT HelpDesk in PeopleSoft CRM and Maintenance Management in PeopleSoft Financials is accomplished with application messaging using the PeopleTools Integration Broker.
The following messages are used for this integration:
Main Messages
These are the main messages that the system uses to transfer information:
Add/Update Work Order Transaction (SYNC_WORK_ORDER_REQ)
Add/Update Transaction Acknowledgement (SYNC_WORK_ORDER_RSP)
Key Event Change Notification (SYNC_WM_WO_KEY_EVENT)
Setup Messages
These are the setup messages that the system uses to transfer information:
Problem Code Tree (COPY_PROBLEM_TREE)
Problem Location (COPY_SHOP_LOC)
Work Order Status COPY_WO_STATUS)
Work Order Priority (COPY_WM_PRIORITY)
When the work order description or status on the Work Order page changes, the system sends the Key Event Change Notification message to PeopleSoft HelpDesk.
To trigger changes to a case when its associated work order's status or description changes requires that you use AAF to create a case change policy triggered by work order status and description changes.
Use these terms to build a new policy within the Case Update Action Type:
Work Order ID
Work Order Summary
Work Order Description (Task Notes)
Work Order Status
For example, a policy can specify that when the work order status changes from Open to Closed, the system updates the case status to Closed and notifies the requester or sends the customer a satisfaction survey.
The Key Event Message is not, however, enabled by activating AAF policies. You must also subscribe to the Key Event message. When a user changes the status or description on a work order, the system triggers the AAF description and status changes and then publishes the Key Event message.
To create policies for work order changes:
Navigate to
.Access either the Work Order Status Change or Work Order Description Change policy.
Click the Activate button.
These policies represent a message display process that runs when the event type in the Key Event Change Notification message is set to a work order status change or a work order description change.
Once the message is activated, the agent can click the URL in the worklist or email notification to launch the Case Summary page for the case that is associated with the work order.
Cases can be related to one another to create cross-referencing in a help desk knowledge base. For the same reason, correlating similar work orders is often advantageous. However, the system does not allow a work order to be related to another work order. Instead, work orders are related to each other through a case. For example, when two cases pertain to the same problem and one case has a related work order, instead of creating another work order on the second case, relate the second case to the first case by searching on the work order ID or the description.
An agent can create as many work orders per case as necessary. Conversely, an agent can create multiple cases for the same problem and work order. In this situation, the work orders can be related to each other through a global case that represents the other cases with the common work order. The work order the agent can relate the cases to is then associated with the common work order.
All workflow is then driven off the global case. For example, when the status of the common work order changes, email notifications are sent to agents assigned to the related cases.
When an agent creates a help desk case for an employee and determines that a work order is needed, the agent can also determine if the issue is global (for example, a network or common area printer is down). The agent can check for the existence of a global case with a related work order. AAF policies, however, do not send workflow to all related cases.
If a work order is associated with a case, agents can view the work orders on the Worker 360-Degree View page. Work orders appear as a node on a tree. For each work order status, the system displays a link and the number of work orders at that status.
When an agent clicks one of the links, the system displays all work orders with that status in a dynamic grid in the right-hand column of the page. This display includes all work orders with a specific status that are associated to cases that have been reported by the employee.
The dynamic grid contains 4 columns:
Work Order ID
Work Order Description
Work Order Status
Case ID
Help desk agents can access the work order in PeopleSoft Financials by clicking the work order ID from the 360-Degree View page in PeopleSoft CRM. The agent does not have to log in to PeopleSoft Financials to access the work order because the system uses single signon technology for access to both databases. The work order tree node only appears on the Worker 360-Degree View page.
After an agent creates a work order, the Work Order ID field appears in the Associated Cases grid on the Installed Product History page. If a case has more than one work order associated with it, the case ID is repeated on additional rows; however, the work order ID is unique. The system turns the work order ID into a link, which enables the agent to access the work order in PeopleSoft Financials through a single sign on.