Defining Action Type Codes

To access the Action Definitions screen:

In Administration, select Company Setup > Workflow / Process Automation > Action Definitions and Rules > Action Type Codes.

The fields at the top of the screen are the standard Code Definition fields.

The following fields are part of an action definition found on the Action tab:

Field	Description
Action Type Code	This is the name of the action. It is used on all reports and menus. It is assigned when the action is created and cannot be changed afterward.
Active	This box must be selected before this action can be used.
Description	A descriptive title for the action. This description can be up to 40 characters in length.
Base Action Type	This determines the general behavior for this action. The following types are available: Transfer: This type of action can be used to transfer a case or issue to another Emplifi Agent user, or to an Emplifi Agent queue. Accept Transfer: Use this to complete a Transfer action type. For more information on completing actions, refer to Action Pairs section below. Schedule: Use this type to create an action that can be applied to the associated case or issue at some specified future date and time. Complete: Use this to complete a Scheduled action type. For more information on completing actions, refer to Action Pairs section below. Log: This is used to log the fact that a specific activity took place not related to any other action. This may be something such as logging a call to a customer, adding notes to a case, etc. Refer to Site: This allows an issue to be transferred (or "referred") to a store or site. The agent performing the transfer does not need to know the name of the recipient. Instead, the system looks at the store/site on the issue and transfers it to the person assigned as the responsible user for that site. Other: The actual usage of this type is at your discretion, and it simply allows you to categorize an action as something other than one of the pre-defined types. It behaves in the same manner as a Log action.
Applies To	This determines what the action applies to. The available options are as follows: Other Single Issue Only Case Only Case and Issues Case and Open Issues Case and Closed Issues All Open Issues
Allow Closed	This determines whether an action can be posted only against an open case or issue, or whether it can also be posted against closed cases/issues.
Queue Count	This setting determines how the action affects the count of items in a queue. It is intended to be used with actions of type Transfer and Accept Transfer that are used for adding and pulling items in a queue. The available options are as follows: No: This action does not affect the count of items in a queue. Increment New: Use this for actions that transfer items into a queue. It will increment the queue count by 1. Decrement Completed: Use this for actions that are used when picking items from a queue. It will reduce the queue count by 1. Increment and Decrement: Use this for actions that are used to transfer items from one queue to another in support of a workflow process. It will decrease the count of items in the source queue and increment the count in the destination queue.
Completes Existing	Use this setting on the second action in an action pair (for more information, refer to the Action Pair section bellow) to determine whether or not this action can be used independent of the first action in the pair. Optional–Create New Action: The action can be used whether or not a pending action exists. When posted, a new action will be added to the case. Optional–No New Action: The action can be used whether or not a pending action exists. When posted, no record of the action will be created on the case. Required–Create New Action: The action must be used to complete a pending action. When posted, a new action will be added to the case. Required–No New Action: The action must be used to complete a pending action. When posted, no record of the action will be created on the case. In either case, it is highly recommended that you use the "Create New Action" settings. The "No New Action" settings are older settings, and the use of these is now discouraged. When using the "No New Action" value any notification or copy migrations defined for the action will execute.
Update Completed	This setting determines how the second action in an action pair (for more information, refer to the Action Pair section bellow) will affect the first action. The two options are as follows: Update and Set Complete: Sets status of the first action to complete. Do Not Update Old Action: Does not make any changes to the status of the first action.
Completed by Action	This is used for the first action in an action pair (for more information, refer to the Action Pair section bellow). Select the Action Type Code of the action that will be used to complete this action.
Completes Action	This is used for the second action in an action pair (for more information, refer to the Action Pair section bellow). Select the Action Type Code of the action that is to be completed by this action.
Action Post Layout	Define a specific window layout to be used when a user posts an action of this type. This is useful for adding specific codes and migrations for the action or for making certain fields read-only or unavailable. You have three options: Use the standard system-defined window for posting actions of this type by leaving this field blank. Create a Custom Layout. For more information, see Custom Layouts for Actions. Use one of the following pre-defined window layouts: LOGACTIONH, SCHEDULEACTIONH, or TRANSFERACTIONH. When entering the layout name in this field, do not include the trailing "H", as it is auto-populated by the system. For example, if you want to use LOGACTIONH, enter "LOGACTION".
Prompt if Suggested	When this check box is selected, an agent who attempts to dismiss a case with a suggested action is prompted with a Post Action dialog. The user must select whether to post the action or not before the case is dismissed.
Action Priority	The Action Priority displays as a column in a user's pending actions list. It can be used to give the user an idea of which actions are more important and need to be completed first. The actual use and assignment of priorities is at the customer's discretion.
Action Status	Determines how the status of the action is set when posted. For most actions other than transfers, you would set the status to complete. For the leading pair of a transfer action, you would set the status to pending. There may be instances when you want to deviate from this pattern. For example, you may choose to set a log action to pending when you know additional follow-up activity is needed.
Response Due (days)	Sets the "Response Due Date" on the action by adding the specified number of days to the date on which the action is posted. The resulting value displays in a user's pending actions list.
Referred to User Code	Fill in this value to force a transfer action to go to a specific user or queue. When the action is posted, the "Transfer to user" will default to this value. If you do not want users to be able to change the value, you will need to provide a custom Action Post Layout (see above).
Text Type Code	If the user enters text comments when posting the action, the comments are added to the case as a text entry. The text entry will use the text type code specified in this field.
Case Status Code	This is used to automatically set the Special Case Status (B03) code on a case when this action is posted. In practice, this is generally used to support a workflow process. The B03 code would be either read-only or hidden on the Case Window, and it can only be changed by posting appropriate actions.
Case Status	Determines if any changes are made to the case status when this action is posted. The options are as follows: Do Not Set: No change is made to the case status. Set Open: The case status is set to Open. Set Closed: The case status is set to Closed. Set Closed if All Issues Are: If all of the issues on the case are marked closed, the case status will also be set to Closed. Otherwise, no change is made to the case status.
Issue Status Code	This is used to automatically set the Special Issue Status (C03) code on a case when this action is posted. In practice, this is generally used to support a workflow process. The C03 code would be either read-only or hidden on the issue window, and it can only be changed by posting appropriate actions.
Issue Status	Determines if any changes are made to the issue status when this action is posted against a specific issue. The options are as follows: Do Not Set: No change is made to the issue status. Set Open: The issue status is set to Open. Set Closed: The issue status is set to Closed.
Run Prep Tags	Determines if posting this action will cause the prep tags functionality to be initiated, which will parse an Import Form for information to be placed on the case. For details about Import Form, see Import Forms Overview. Best Practice: Only select this option on actions with a type of "Accept Transfer." Although it will work on the "Transfer" action that is posted by the Email Service, the system will have to make some decisions that are better performed by an agent, such as deciding between two matching addresses or fixing mistyped information. If the prep tags is performed on the Accept Transfer action, these decisions will be presented to the user when they post the action. For information on Inbound Email Processing, refer to Texts: Inbound Email Processing.
Requires Electronic Signature	When this option is selected, any user who attempts to post this action will be prompted to re-enter their username and password. This ensures that the user who is recorded as performing the action is valid. The w_case_esignature role function is required to enter an electronic signature.

Copy Migrations (Copy From and Copy To)

These fields allow you to set up copy code migrations for data that is entered on the Post Action window. You can migrate from any D-code to any A-code, B-code, or C-code. If you enter other values in the From and To fields, an error may occur when the action is posted.

You will need to create a custom Action Post Layout to allow the user to set the necessary D-code values.

If a D-code value is assigned a default value on the definition, that value will be used as the default on the action layout. If you do not place the D-code value on the layout the system will still copy the default value to the corresponding Case code (A, B, or C).
Code migrations, suggested migrations, suggested letters, and suggested enclosures that are based on Case based codes (B or C) do not execute when the B or C code is set by a D-code migration.
Case-based codes that become mandatory based on another Case-based code that was set by a D-code migration will enforce the mandatory value to be entered on the Case.
Suggested Actions will execute on Case dismiss if the Case-based code is set from a D-code migration.
Case-based codes that are limited by other Case-based codes or are dependent on other Case-based codes will enforce the rule on browsing. However, existing values will not be updated, which may cause an invalid value in the code that is dependent on a code that was set from a D-code migration.

The action processor utility handles the D-code migrations slightly differently. For more information, see Action Processor.

Action Date and Case Received Copy Migrations

The DF3 (Action Date) code can be entered in the Copy From field. This will copy the DateTime the action was posted into the chosen Copy To category.

The BF3 (Case Received) code can be entered in the Copy To field.

If you want inbound email cases to have their Case Received date set to when the case was picked from the queue (not when they were received in the email inbox), use a DF3 to BF3 migration.

The DF3/BF3 values do not display in the Drop-Down and cannot be entered by name, only the code value, since they are not standard Category Codes.

Action Pairs

Some actions should be defined as a pair of actions: one that initiates the action and one that completes it. The two most common types of action pairs are:

Transfer / Accept Transfer: One user posts a Transfer action to transfer the case or issue to another user, and the receiving user posts the Accept Transfer action upon receiving the case or issue.
Schedule / Complete: A user posts a Schedule action to denote an activity that needs to be done at some point in the future. Then a Complete action is posted after the scheduled activity takes place.

Action Definition Migration

An Action Definition Migration allows you to define a value that is assigned to a designated B or C category upon posting the action.

The following fields are part of an Action Definition Migration:

Field	Description
ID	A sequence number that uniquely identifies a migration of the action.
Category	Needs to be updated after an action is posted. It can only be a B or C category.
Code	Value that will be inserted into the category.
Override	If the override flag is set, then update the category value. Do not update if the case and issue category already have a value in it.