Boost PC performance: How more available memory can improve productivity
Flows in the Service Console, Gotta Go with the Flow! by Duncan Stewart
1. Flows in the Service Console,
Gotta Go with the Flow
Use case, configuration and concerns for using Flow in the Service Console
Duncan Stewart
Principal Application Business Analyst, NxStage Medical, Inc.
dstewart@nxstage.com
@fduncan
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3. The problem(s):
• Tech Support wants to simplify their process
• Logistics, on the other hand, wants more detail
• They both want to reduce the back & forth
Cases have evolved ‘organically’, as product portfolios grow
and business requirements for each department change over time.
4. The solution:
A combination of the Service Console, Custom Objects and Visual Workflow can help increase the
amount of information available to all teams, and minimize the disruption to the existing Case
processes. A little Apex, even less Visualforce, and some quality time in the Flow Designer can
guide your users through the process.
8. Flow / custom component, ‘partial state’
Flow has been submitted; Case.Id is unavailable pending a refresh.
9. Flow / custom component, refreshed
Related list is populated, ‘Ready’ message displayed in interview component.
10. Why didn’t the Case update?
In your own scenarios, you may not need to update any Case fields. For all intents and purposes,
you’re free to go. In this one, the rep is in the process of editing the Case, whether it’s capturing
the details of the call the first time, or editing an existing record (they should be adding notes, at
least). What happens if the flow generates a Case update before the rep has finished her edits?
It’s easy to create, modify or delete from within the flow, but timing is key with this one.
• Create a separate flow or trigger driven off the Case save(); wait for the User to finish.
• What if they didn’t make any Case edits? Perhaps a different, time-based mechanism can be associated to
the child records, firing the Case update an hour after the flow completes. Separating this one out provides
greater flexibility, as it’s easier to make edits to a small workflow or trigger.
The flow finished processing, and the related list shows that the child records
were created; why didn’t we update the Case at the same time?
11. Review:
How did we work the magic to easily (for the User, at least) create child records and/or update the
Case while still allowing the standard Case edits to go through?
• Custom Case launch (Salesforce Console Integration Toolkit, Javascript)
• Custom Object to generate the requisite level of detail
• Visual Workflow to guide the process
• Visualforce page with Flow Interview component to launch it *
• Flow / trigger for Case updates
• Flow / trigger for child record deletions..?
• * Using links to launch the flow(s) in console subtabs would take up less room. Tune in next time…
Key Takeaway:We are a publicly traded company. Please make your buying decisions only on the products commercially available from Salesforce.
Talk Track:
Before I begin, just a quick note that when considering future developments, whether by us or with any other solution provider, you should always base your purchasing decisions on what is currently available.
Swaps involve equipment, and allow Reps an ‘Enter once, process twice’ form of entry. Our logistics team has a standard way of handling these, with the shipment method of the outbound shipment being the principal difference. One swap handles both sides. Or your flow can create separate outbound shipment / return pairs.
A shipment type refers to generally to disposables or ancillary items. These may ship at a reduced rate, or in bundles, and don’t typically come back.
A return might refer to a single item that is not being replaced, or for quality analysis.
When the flow interview is complete, I display a summary screen listing the shipments; clicking [Finish] reloads the side bar but does not refresh the Case. Although the flow appears ready to roll, the Case.id is no longer available as only the side bar component has refreshed. The warning is part of a formula that looks to the Case.id, letting the rep know that they shouldn’t retry yet (if they step away, for instance).
On the Case detail, the related list (Returns Objects .. I didn’t pick the name!) still shows 0 records.
If we refresh the Case detail, the related list updates and the flow interview displays the ‘Ready’ message instead of the warning.
Although the return-related fields are not displayed, there’s no change there; no Case update has gone through as of yet.
Why? (Discussion..?)
Of course, all this talk about shipments and swaps naturally brought to mind beer swaps, and there are plenty of great beers brewed right here in Greater Boston (at Night Shift, for instance), and you might get a request from someone ‘from away’ looking to try some. But of course, that’s just the outbound, shipment part. This flow handles the return automatically – a 6 of Pliny, but of course!