Dynamic Agent Desktop: Workspace Rules

The efficiency provided by custom workspaces can be extended even further using workspace rules. Workspace rules are an automation layer used to set properties for different workspace items based on actions and conditions occurring in the workspace. Workspace rules are not available for multi-edit workspaces.

Workspace rules can save your agents a lot of time by simplifying or completely automating routine tasks. For example:

If your workspace contains a lot of fields and controls, you can use rules to show only the information that is relevant based on the type of interaction, the data being entered, or the identity of the contact or agent.
If a specific tab on the workspace correlates to a specific incident category, you could add a rule that focuses a specific tab based on the category value when the editor loads.
If agents are required to select from a certain subset of dispositions when solving incidents, you could create a workspace rule to make the Disposition field required and hide several of its items when incidents are set to Solved.
If incidents are escalated among groups based on product and profile, you could add a rule that sets the Assigned field to a specific group based on the product value selected and the profile of the logged-in staff member when a certain button control is clicked.

With workspace rules, you can dynamically adjust the display, behaviour, and values of fields and controls on a workspace based on staff member actions.

Each rule is triggered by one or more events and conditions you define, and can result in one or more actions, including the following:

Set the value of a field
Set the required status of a field
Make a field or control read-only
Show or hide a field or control
Show only a select group of menu items
Open a guided assistance guide
Open a specific script
Create a named event to trigger another workspace rule or a script rule

At a basic level, each rule defines a triggering event and a resulting action that will occur after the event is triggered.

There are two types of actions: Then and Else. Every rule has at least one Then action, which is the result of the triggering event and conditions. However, once conditions are specified for a rule, you can also add one or more Else actions. An Else action is triggered in cases where the rule’s conditions are not met.

Since business rules are checked after workspace rules, changes made to a record by workspace rules can be overridden by business rules if the rules have similar actions.

Rules are created using the Rule Wizard. The rule wizard is opened by clicking the Rules button on the ribbon.

Once you add rules, you can easily edit them, reorder them, or delete them once they are no longer needed. Rules are fired in the sequence in which they are listed. Adjusting them can impact how other rules affect the workspace.

Dynamic Agent Desktop: Workspaces

The dynamic agent desktop in RightNow CX is your staff members’ portal to your knowledge base. It is comprised of a set of complementary features. One of them is the Workspace, a configuration of the content pane, including the fields, controls, and ribbon that display when working with answers, contacts, incidents, opportunities, organizations, tasks, chat, etc.

Workspaces define the appearance of the agent desktop when staff members add, view, and edit records in RightNow CX. When you open a record the workspace determines the layout of fields, controls, and tabs on the content pane as well as the arrangement of buttons on the ribbon and the Quick Access toolbar.

The workspaces used by staff members are defined in their staff profile, with one workspace associated for each type of record the profile can access. Different profiles can use different workspaces. However, each editor within a profile must be set to use a specific workspace, so all staff who shares a profile will use the same set of workspaces.

Listed next to each workspace’s name is its workspace type, based on the type of record it opens. The workspace type determines which fields and controls can be added to the workspace.

Some workspace types are multi-edit, meaning they are used when staff members open multiple records of the same record type at the same time (up to 250 records can be edited at once).

Custom workspaces are used to provide your team with access to records stored in custom objects. Custom workspaces are created on a workspace designer consisting of a ribbon and a design space. You define a workspace by dragging and dropping fields and controls from the ribbon to the design space.

You can create a custom workspace from scratch by starting with a blank workspace. You can also copy an existing workspace or import a workspace from an exported workspace file to use as the basis for a new workspace. Then you can tailor the design by adding and removing fields and controls, adjusting properties, and arranging the layout to suit your business needs.

To create a custom workspace click new on the ribbon and in the Start With a Blank Workspace section, select a workspace type.

If you delete a workspace that is selected for a standard object editor in a profile, the profile will revert to the standard workspace for the editor type. If you delete a workspace that is selected for a custom object editor in a profile, the profile will revert to no workspace selection.

By default, most workspace types are blank on top with a single tab on the bottom. You can adjust the location of the tabbed area on the workspace. You can also adjust the space allotted to the two main areas of the workspace.

If you save changes to a workspace that staff members are using at the time, they will need to log out and then log back in to see the changes you have applied.

To save time when creating workspaces in multiple interfaces, RightNow CX lets you export a workspace as an XML file containing descriptions of all the workspace elements, including fields, controls, layout, and rules. The XML file can then be used by the import wizard to import the workspace to another interface.

Workspace notes are not included when exporting a workspace to an XML file. When a workspace is exported as an XML file, the file includes a hash value that will be used when the file is imported to determine if the file has been modified externally. If the file has been modified, it will not be available for importing, and an error message notifies you that the file is invalid.

If items from the workspace you are importing are not used by the workspace type you are converting it to, the next window lists these invalid items and informs you that they will be replaced by spacers, field placeholders, or removed from the imported workspace.

Creating new users: Workspaces

The configuration tasks required when starting to use RightNow CX are:

Create Navigation Set
Create Workspace (optional)
Create Profile (associate Navigation Set and Workspace with the Profile)
Create Staff Account (associate Profile with the Staff Account)

Defines the way fields, tabs, buttons and reports are displayed on the content pane when working with records and when working with Chat.

The workspace determines the layout of fields, controls, and tabs on the content pane as well as the arrangement of buttons on the ribbon and the Quick Access toolbar.

Workspaces define the appearance of the agent desktop when staff members add, view, and edit records in RightNow CX.

RightNow CX provides a set of standard workspaces suitable for most common record maintenance, but also gives you complete flexibility to create custom workspaces to help your staff work more efficiently.

Custom workspaces are also used to provide your team with access to records stored in custom objects, which by definition have no standard workspaces of their own.

Custom workspaces are created on a workspace designer consisting of a ribbon and a design space.

The designer ribbon provides access only to fields, controls, and properties that apply to the workspace type. Controls specific to answers, for example, cannot be added to opportunity workspaces.

In addition, you can create workspace rules to dynamically change the behaviour of fields and controls based on certain triggering events.

The workspaces used by staff members are defined in their staff profile, with one workspace associated for each type of record the profile can access.

Listed next to each workspace’s name is its workspace type, based on the type of record it opens. The workspace type determines which fields and controls can be added to the workspace.