The August 2017 (17.8) release of Oracle Service Cloud (OSvC) is now generally available and it brings so many exciting new features and enhancements that, this time, I am braking my thoughts down in various posts. You can read the first one here.

Browser UI – Report Inline Editing

With the latest release this feature is now supported in the Browser UI (BUI) allowing you to edit data in reports without having to open the object/record. If this capability is enabled in the report, you can edit the data in a field on the report cell, including fields of type drop-down menu.

Browser UI – Report Cross Tab and Forward

For those who are not familiar with it, Cross Tab is a feature of OSvC reports that allows you to compile, into a few lines, data that could span through various pages. This functionality is now supported at runtime within the BUI, with the 17.8 release.

Additionally it is now also possible, from the BUI, to forward reports and dashboards to other users (via email) using HTML format.

Browser UI – Guided Assistance and OPA Integration

One other thing that was still missing on the BUI was the ability to use Guides and OPA interviews, within a workspace – capability that has been available in the console. The new 17.8 release supports this functionality, allowing you to provide these very useful aids to your agents, which sometimes are key when supporting customers on the phone or over a live web chat session.

Business Rules 2.0

Finally the best for last! As an OSvC expert and implementation specialist, this is probably one of my favourite enhancements for the last few releases. Oracle called it Business Rules 2.0 as it is a complete re-vamp of the Business Rules editor and capability.

But caveats first… this is not yet available for standard objects, only for custom objects. It will come for Organisations, Contacts, Incidents, Tasks, and Opportunities further down the line. And it is available in the BUI.

The new Business Rules editor not only has a much more modern and intuitive look and feel, but it supports business rules for custom objects. Which means that you will no longer need to write as much code as you used to (in custom scripts/processes) if you need to create automation in custom objects.

As an administrator or implementor you can view and manage all rules within a rule set (or object) at a glance.

And create new rules in a much more intuitive and easy to use interface.

Additionally, you can search for rules and values used within your rules.

Keep your eye on the next post – Aug 2017 release now available (Part III) – in which I will tell you a bit more about some of the most exciting enhancements in this Aug 2017 release.