How are Rules Processed?
The rules engine is the software that processes the rules in a rule base.
The rules engine begins processing when:
- Staff members add or edit answers, contacts, incidents, opportunities, organizations, or tasks.
- Customers submit questions on the Ask a Question page.
- Customers update their contact records or incidents.
- Customers request chat sessions.
The rules engine looks at every new or updated object and checks to see if the conditions of any rules are met. If rule conditions are met, the action associated with that rule occurs.
Let's say, for example, that you add a contact. Adding the contact triggers the rules engine to begin processing rules in the contact rule base. The rules engine applies rules to the contact, checking to see if the contact matches the conditions of any of the rules. If the contact matches the conditions of a rule, the rules engine executes the action in that rule. The action might apply an SLA to the contact or set the state. The action might also send a marketing email, or perform any other action in the contact rule base. If the contact matches conditions in multiple rules, the actions of all those rules occur.
The next time the customer or a staff member updates the contact record, the rules engine processes the contact again.