Case Management - Explain the use cases, capabilities and limitations of Service Cloud Automation (Visual Workflow, Process Builder, Quick Actions, Macros, quick Text)

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Overview

Lightning Flow (called earlier as Visual Workflow)

Overview

  • A flow is an application that automates a business process by collecting data and doing something in Salesforce org or an external system
  • Flow can be of two types
    • Interactive - a wizard or guided UI for data entry
    • Non-Interactive - runs in the background on its own like transferring records when user role is changed
  • Cloud Flow Designer is a point-and-click tool that helps to build flows and automate a business process.
  • Cloud Flow Designer provides different types of elements including User Interface, Logic, Data, Operations on Data and Quick Actions to help building flows.

Terminology

  • Cloud Flow Designer - lets administrators create a flow
  • Connector - determine the available paths that a flow can take at run time.
  • Element - Each element represents an action that a flow can execute.
  • Flow - a flow is an application that can execute logic, interact with the Salesforce database, call Apex class, and collect data from users.
  • FLow Interview - is running instace of flow
  • Master Flow - a flow that contains a subflow element.
  • Resource - a value that can be referenced throughout the flow/
  • Subflow - a subflow element references another flow which it calls at runtime.

Use Cases

Flow Capabilities

Flow Limitations

  • There can be 50 Versions per Flow
  • There can be 2000 elements that can execute at runtime per flow.
  • There can be 2000 active flows per flow type (5 in essential and professional editions)
  • There can be a total of 4000 flows per flow type (5 in essential and professional editions)
  • 1000 flow interviews that can be resumed or groups of scheduled actions per hour.
  • 20000 total relative time alerts or schedules based on a field value.
  • Apex Governor Limits related to SOQL queries, DML Operations apply for flows too.
  • Flows are subject to per transaction governor limits and if exceeded entire transaction is rolled back.
  • Running user permissions are applied and transactions respect the running user permissions.

FLOW Best practices/CONSIDERATIONS

  • Follow Best Practices
    • Plan flow before building it
    • Build flows in test environment
    • Never hard-code Salesforce Ids
    • Wait until the end of flow to make changes to database
    • Control when running users can navigate backward
    • Provide an error handler
    • Save early and often
    • Test as many permutations as possible
  • Design Considerations
    • If an sObject variable or sObject collection variable is deleted, variable assignments that use the deleted variable are set to null
    • Be careful when manipulating percentage values. For example, an opportunity’s Probability field is set to 100. If you assign that value to the {!Opportunity.Probability} sObject variable, the value is still 100. But if you create a formula whose expression is {!Opportunity.Probability}, the value is 1.
    • If you leave any field or resource value blank, that value is null at run time. To treat a text value as an empty string instead of null, set it to {!$GlobalConstant.EmptyString}.
    • Boolean Types Treat null Differently than false
    • To set the record type for a record, use the ID of the record type. Look up the record type by its name and then store its ID in the flow.
    • If your org uses person accounts, reference Contact.Salutation instead of Account.Salutation.
    • Encrypted fields aren’t supported for filtering or sorting records.
    • External objects are not supported in flows
  • Cloud Flow Designer
    • At runtime timezones for date/time values can differ. They reflect the timezones set on the system.
    • Does not support UTL-8 encoding in user input fields.
    • Cannot open flows that are installed from Managed Packages
    • Uses the permissions and locale assigned to current user.
    • Do not enter String null as value of a text field
    • Any metadata changes to the entities used may need re-opening of the flow for referring these changes.
    • If you open a flow that was last opened in Winter ’12 or earlier, each Boolean decision is converted to a multi-outcome Decision element
    • Windows® Internet Explorer® versions 8 through 11, Google® Chrome™, or Mozilla® Firefox®. Internet Explorer 6 and 7 are not supported.
    • Adobe® Flash® Player version 10.1 and later. The minimum version required to run the Cloud Flow Designer is 10.0.
    • A minimum browser resolution of 1024x768.
    • The Cloud Flow Designer offers tools for quickly finding flow elements and resources. Search in the Palette to quickly find the right element for your flow.

Workflow vs Flow

  • Workflow always run behind the scenes. Flows can provide screens to guide users through business process.
  • Flows are not tied to any one object unlike Workflows which are tied to one object
  • Flows can be used to create, update, lookup and delete records unlike workflows which can only update fields within the object that they are tied to and on the parent object if related through Master Detail relationship.
  • Workflows can send outbound messages where as flows cannot do that.

References

Process Builder

Overview

Use Cases

Capabilities

Limitations

References

Quick Actions

Overview

Use Cases

Capabilities

Limitations

References

Macros

Overview

  • A macro is a set of instructions that tells the system how to complete a task.
  • When a user runs a macro, the system performs each instruction.
  • Macros help your team save time and add consistency.
  • Macros can perform multiple actions
  • Users can run macros to complete repetitive tasks—selecting an email template, sending an email to a customer, updating the case status—all in a single click
  • There are three types of Macros
Regular macros These macros perform actions that can be undone, meaning nothing is submitted, sent, or saved. For example, a macro that inserts an email template but doesn’t send the email is a regular macro.
Irreversible macros These macros perform actions that can’t be undone, such as sending emails to customers or updating a case’s status. These macros contain a Submit Action instruction that’s irreversible. There’s also a special permission that allows users to work with them. To create, edit, or run macros that contain irreversible actions, the user must have the Manage Macros Users Can’t Undo permission.
Users without the Manage Macros Users Can’t Undo permission can still create and edit macros that don’t contain instructions for performing irreversible actions. Just make sure they have create and edit permission on the macro object itself.
Bulk macros These macros can run on multiple records at a time. Bulk macros aren’t supported in Lightning Experience yet.

Prerequisites

  • Include publishers like Chatter Component and the actions like Email or Log a Call on the record page where Macros needs to be used
  • Add Macros widget in Classic from apps page in setup under choose custom console components, or Utility in Lightning from app manager.
  • Enable required access to users for creating and running Macros preferably using Permission Sets. To create and manage Macros provide CRED permission on the Macros object and to run irreversible macros provide Manage Macros Users Can’t Undo permission from Administrative Permissions section.
  • Within Classic to run Macros on an object enable feed tracking and use feed based page layout.

Bulk Macros

  • Bulk macros are supported in:
    • Email Publisher in Case Feed on the Salesforce Console for Service
    • All Quick Actions except for Social Quick Actions
  • Bulk macros are not supported in:
    • Lightning Experience
    • Salesforce Knowledge actions
    • Community actions
    • Social post actions
    • “Add” and “Insert” instructions (such as the Add to Subject instruction or the Insert into HTML Body instruction for the Email Publisher)
  • If the bulk macro interacts with the Email Publisher, it can contain only one Email Publisher action.
  • A bulk macro must contain at least one Submit Action instruction.
  • To run bulk macros, the Enable Enhanced Lists setting must be enabled.
  • Bulk macros can be run on records from the Accounts, Cases, Contacts, and Leads objects. However, the bulk macro can be run on records in one object list view at a time
  • Bulk macros are processed in increments of 10 macros at a time. More than 10 cases are also supported but the system processes the macro in groups of 10 at a time.

Use Cases

  • Insertion of an email template into an email in the case feed.
  • Attaching a knowledge article related to common issue without performing manual search.
  • Generic auto response through an email.
  • Auto Case creation from an account by setting certain case fields
  • Work order creation and assignment under an existing case.
  • Alerting multiple customers about the status of a common issue.

Capabilities

  • A macro can be created by specifying the instructions for actions that the macro performs.
  • Macros can be created in both Classic and Lightning Experience
  • Macros Widget or utility can be added in Classic or Lightning.
  • Macros can be cloned. Cloning a macro is useful when you want to create a macro that is a variant of the source macro.
  • Macros can be shared with users, public groups, and more. The way you share macros in Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience is different. In Salesforce Classic, you can share individual macros. In Lightning Experience, you share macros using folders.
  • The scope of macros search can be expanded so that agents can quickly find macros by searching for keywords contained in a macro’s text fields. Enable Search all macro text fields in Macro Settings.
  • Keyboard shortcuts can be used to work more efficiently with Macros.

Limitations

  • Bulk Macros and email message object are not supported in Lightning Experience
  • Bulk macros are processed in increments of 10 macros at a time.
  • Sharing settings on folders override sharing settings on individual items. If you shared macros in Salesforce Classic, those settings are ignored after the Share and organize macros in folders setting is enabled. If you decide to disable this setting later, folder sharing is ignored, and individual sharing settings apply.
  • If folders are enabled for macros, folder list views are not optimized for split view in LEX
  • Salesforce classic templates using Visualforce cannot be used in macros for LEX
  • Most text fields support inserting only up to 4000 characters. Fields like Text Area have even smaller character limits.

Screenshots

Macros Utility Bar in Lightning Macro Creation Screen Add Instructions in Lightning Macros in Classic Bulk Macros in Classic Adding Instructions in Classic

References

Quick Text

Overview

  • Quick text saves users time and increases standardization.
  • With quick text predefined messages can be created and inserted, like greetings, answers to common questions, and short notes.
  • Quick text can be inserted in emails, chats, events, tasks, Knowledge articles, and more.
  • Standardized messages allow support agents to streamline their work.
  • In Classic, Quick text is typically enabled in orgs that have enabled Live Agent. In Lightning, it is enabled by default.
  • In Lightning,
    • Share and organize quick text in folders can be enabled to create folders with one at the root level and up to 3 levels underneath. Subfolders inherit permissions from the root folder. Quick text within these folders can be shared.
    • By default, buttons are displayed to help users discover and work with quick text. In rich-text fields, a button is displayed in the toolbar. In plain text fields, a popup button is displayed. Hide quick text button and pop-up can be enabled to hide these buttons.
  • Quick text can be stored in Folders and the folders can be shared in LEX if Share and organize quick text in folders perm is enabled
  • In Classic, sharing of quick text can be done using sharing rules in Private sharing model.

Use Cases

  • While chatting with the customer in the Live agent, service agent wants to add a common greeting message.
  • Support agent wants to quickly send record aware content (like shipping or billing address) in the body of an email to a customer
  • For creating a Knowledge article with some generic content after closing case.
  • For drafting a log a call action with predefined content.

Capabilities

  • Quick text can be used on all standard and custom objects in the following supported quick actions or channels or places: emails, events, Knowledge articles, Live Agent chats, portal, Log a call actions, social posts, and tasks.
  • Only quick text messages assigned to the channel for the action are available in that action.
  • The quick text browsers in Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience look a bit different, but they do the same thing.
  • Keyboard shortcuts can be used to launch Quick Text, for example Cmd+. can be used to launch Quick Text in Macbook.
  • Quick text messages can include line breaks, lists, special characters, merge fields and up to 4000 characters.
  • Merge fields can be used within quick text messages
  • Preview of the resolved merge fields can be seen before using it.
  • CRED permission on Quick Text can be given through permission set or profile.
  • Quick text can be shared with groups, roles, and users manually in Classic or through API.
  • Quick text messages can be organized in folders in LEX and users can be given access to folders with org-wide standardized Quick text messages.

Limitations

  • Not supported for Salesforce Platform Licenses
  • Quick text once enabled cannot be disabled once enabled in Salesforce Classic.
  • Folders for quick text aren’t supported in Essentials Edition orgs.
  • Only Individual Quick Text records can be shared with other users and groups in Classic.
  • Quick text Keyboard shortcuts in LEX work only on US and UK keyboards.

Screenshots

Quick Text in Lightning

New Quick Text in Lightning Quick Text Preview Using Quick Text in Console

References

References

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