Work with workitem flows

Use a dedicated workitem flow in Architect to manage workitems without depending on data actions. You can use a workitem flow, for example, to adjust the assignee, due date, expiry date, priority, or status of a workitem. You can also disconnect, terminate, or transfer a workitem with a workitem flow.

Workitem flows enable you to perform such tasks as:

• Invite various stakeholders to work collaboratively in Architect to define the business logic for the desired work automation.
• Process workitems during their entire life cycle.
• Read and update built-in and custom workitem attributes.
• Reassign the workitem by transferring it to a different queue or agent.
• Retract the workitem from the assigned agent.
• Configure the workitem flow to execute automatically on workitem creation and status change without the need to set up a trigger.

Use case examples

• Automate repetitive tasks such as data validation or requests for missing information.
  Example 1: Preprocess bookings in a contact center.
  Benefits: enhanced efficiency, reduced response time, and greater data accuracy.
  Work automation tasks:
  
  • Validate the customer data: when the customer submits a booking, work automation can launch a pre-configured workitem flow that starts by validating the received customer data. For example, the workitem flow can check if mandatory data fields are complete and in the correct format. The workitem flow can also cross-reference the customer data with CRM databases to ensure accuracy.
  • Identify missing information: Work automation recognizes missing or incorrect data and fetches the missing information from business systems, for example, a CRM system.
  • Update the booking workitem: when the customer provides the missing data, work automation can update their booking with the new information.
• Automate task assignment.
  Example 2: Preprocess insurance claims for task assignment.
  Benefits: faster resolution, greater operational efficiency.
  Work automation tasks:
  • Determine the insurance category for proper routing: when a customer makes an insurance claim, work automation can launch a pre-configured workitem flow that starts by checking the customer profile and determines the insurance category (automobile, home, life, and so on).
  • Assign the work automation task to the appropriate queue on task status change: When the workitem’s status changes to ‘Waiting to assign’, based on the determined insurance category, work automation can assign the workitem to the appropriate queue.
  • Collect data for claim handling: When the workitem’s status changes to ‘Assigned’, work automation can automatically collect the custom attributes of the associated worktype. For example, the insurance limit of the customer, or any previous claim history.

Create a workitem flow

Keep the following key points in mind:

• Every workitem flow is based on and associated with a specific worktype. A workitem flow can only be associated with a single worktype.
• A worktype can only be associated with a single workitem flow. In other words, you can only create one workitem flow per worktype.
• If you want to create another workitem flow for a worktype, you must delete the existing workitem flow that is associated with that worktype.
• After a workitem flow is created, you cannot change which worktype the workitem flow is associated with.
• Set up the worktype before you create the workitem flow. You can only create a workitem flow with a worktype.
• The worktype, its statuses, and its collection of custom attributes (schema) are all dependencies of the workitem flow. In other words, flow authors can reference them within the workitem flow.
• Architect notifies flow authors about worktype schema changes or if the worktype no longer has a custom schema associated with it. 
• If the associated worktype is deleted after a workitem flow is created or generated, Architect displays a validation error that indicates that the associated worktype is no longer valid. You cannot publish your workitem flow because you cannot change the associated worktype after you create a workitem flow. 
• Search for flows by worktype in the Dependency Search tab in the Architect home page.
• Find the associated worktype in the Dependencies pane under Resources and in Workitem Flow Settings.
• To set rule conditions for workitem flow execution when a workitem is created or its status changes, navigate to the Rules tab of the associated worktype under Admin > Task Management > Worktypes. For more information, see Define a worktype (add new rules tab).

Complete the following configuration steps before you create your workitem flow:

1. (Optional) Create custom attributes.
2. Create a workbin.
3. Create a worktype.

To create a workitem flow, follow these steps:

1. From the Architect home page, click or hover over the Flows menu and select Workitem flow.
2. Click Add. The Create Workitem Flow dialog box opens.
3. In the Name field, enter a unique name for the flow.
4. (Optional) In the Description field, add a short sentence or phrase to describe this flow.
5. Click the Worktype list and select the worktype based on which you want Architect to generate the workitem flow.
   
   Notes:

   • Architect displays the worktypes that have been created under Admin > Task Management > Worktypes.
   • You can only create one workitem flow per worktype.
   • You cannot select a worktype that is already in use by another workitem flow.
6. Click the Default Language list and select the flow's default supported language.
7. Click the Divisions list and select the division in which to place the flow.
8. Use the Generate Flow Logic toggle to auto-generate the default flow logic for event handling and statuses based on their configuration in the selected worktype.
9. Click Create Flow. The flow's configuration page opens.

Design logic behind workitem flows

Architect automatically generates your initial workitem flow based on the worktype that you select. When the rule condition in the worktype configuration is set to Creation, the respective Event Type in the workitem flow is set to workitemCreated. Similarly, when the rule condition is Status Transition or Dates, Architect sets the Event Type in the workitem flow to workitemStatusChange or workitemDateBasedEvent respectively.

Architect applies the following design logic depending on the worktype configuration:

• Architect generates a Reusable Task for the workitemCreated event type and all the worktype statuses that have been configured in the associated worktype. Flow authors can configure the required business logic for handling workitems when they are created and the various workitem status changes in the respective Reusable Tasks.
  Show meClick to expand

  
• A workitem can launch a workitem flow or it can be sent to a queue for assignment at creation time. Architect adds a Decision action below Start in the Initial state to determine whether the workitemCreated event type triggered the execution of the workitem flow.
  Show meClick to expand

  
• If the flow was launched on workitem creation, Architect calls the EventType – workitemCreated Reusable Task with a Call Task action to execute the business logic that the flow author specified for handling workitems on creation.
• If the flow was not launched because of a workitemCreated event, Architect checks whether the flow was triggered by a workitemStatusChanged event with another Decision action.
  Show meClick to expand

  
  
  
• If the flow is running because of a status change, Architect checks what the name of the new status is. Then, it calls the corresponding Reusable Task with a Switch action to execute the configured business logic for handling the specific status update.
  Show meClick to expand

  
• If the flow was not launched because of a workitemCreated event or a workitemStatusChanged event, Architect checks whether the flow was triggered by a workitemDateBasedEvent with another Decision action.
• If the flow is running because of a workitemDateBasedEvent, Architect checks the name of the date rule. Then, it calls the corresponding Reusable Task with a Switch action to execute the configured business logic for handling the workitem based on the date rule. The date rules allow you to set conditions based on the due date, expiration date, or life span of a workitem. When these conditions are met, the workitem triggers the associated workitem flow instance.
  Show meClick to expand

  
• Architect adds an Exit Workitem Flow action at the end of the workitem flow.

Customize your workitem flow

You can customize the generated workitem flow in the following ways:

• You can add custom business logic to handle workitems during the event types such as workitem creation, status change, or date-based event.
• You can use the following workitem-related Architect actions to handle workitem updates:
  • Update Workitem
  • Disconnect Workitem
  • Terminate Workitem
• You can use built-in and custom variables to reference, update, make decisions, or take other actions based on various aspects of your workitem:
  • For example, you can use the Workitem.Workitem.customFields variable to reference items that have been defined as part of the custom schema associated with the worktype.
    Show meClick to expand

    Imagine the following scenario. You want to check what tier of a customer or loyalty program a customer belongs to and update the workitem’s custom label or priority accordingly. You can use, for example, a Switch action to check the tier level, and define Boolean expressions in the Case configuration boxes for each tier level via Workitem.Workitem.customFields.<attribute for the tier levels in your custom schema in each expression (Workitem.Workitem.customFields.customer_level_enum == "gold"). Then, you can add an Update Workitem action for each Case that updates the custom label field or add a Set Priority action to update the priority of the workitem.
    Click the images to enlarge.
• You can add alerts for transferring a workitem to a user with a Transfer to User action.
  Show meClick to expand

  
• You can use workitem-related functions (FindWorktypeStatus, FindWorktypeStatusById) to update the status of a workitem in an Update Workitem action.
  Show meClick to expand

  

Limitations

Built-in variables

Available Architect actions

Show meClick to expand

This table describes the available Architect actions that you can implement into your workitem flows.

Icon	Category	Action	Description
	Common	Call Common Module	Reuse previously created logic stored in a common module flow.
	Conversation	Set Priority	Set the appropriate priority of the current interaction while it waits in a queue
		Set Skills	Set or assign the appropriate ACD and language skills to associate with an interaction while it waits in a queue
	Customer Secured Data	Get Secured Data	Set a secured data attribute that you retrieve from an interaction or workflow participant.
		Set Secured Data	Set a secured data attribute value on a call participant.
		Decrypt Data	Decrypt data in Architect flows by using your own encryption key.
		Encrypt Data	Encrypt data in Architect flows by using your own encryption key
	Data	Call Data	Retrieve information about a customer from default or custom data actions integration in Genesys Cloud.
		Call Decision Table	Execute a rule-based decision table configured previously by an administrator in Genesys Cloud.
		Data Table Lookup	Retrieve data stored in a Genesys Cloud data table.
		Get Response	Use with the Send Auto Reply action to send an automated reply to a customer.
		Get Conversation Data	Use the Get Conversation Data action in a task to set up an attribute to retrieve from a workflow participant.
		Set Conversation Data	Use the Set Conversation Data action in a task to assign an attribute value on an interaction participant.
		Set External Tag	Associate interactions in Genesys Cloud with records in your organization’s customer relationship management (CRM) system or system of records (SOR).
		Update Data	Assign values to flow or task level variables.
		Update Workitem	Update both built-in and custom attributes of a workitem.
	Disconnect	Disconnect Workitem	Disconnect an agent from a workitem.
		Exit Workitem Flow	Exit the workitem flow.
		Terminate Workitem	End a workitem.
	Find	Find Emergency Group	Dynamically find an emergency group based on its name at IVR runtime. For more information, see Emergencies.
		Find Language Skill	Source language skill data from a data dip such as a Call Data action or a data table. Then, use that information with a Transfer to ACD action that sends the interaction to the appropriate queue.
		Find Queue	Find a queue based on its string name at IVR runtime. Use this action to source data from a data action or data lookup tables.
		Find Queue by ID	Reference a queue dynamically and find that queue based on an ID at IVR runtime.
		Find Schedule	Dynamically find a schedule based on its name at IVR runtime. For more information about schedule creation in Genesys Cloud, see Schedules.
		Find Schedule Group	Dynamically find a schedule group based on its name at IVR runtime. For more information, see Schedule Groups.
		Find Skill	Find an ACD skill based on its string name at IVR runtime. Use this action to source skill data from a data dip such as a Call Data action or a data table. Then, use that information with a Transfer to ACD action that sends the interaction to the appropriate queue.
		Find User	Search for a Genesys Cloud user based on an email address at IVR runtime.
		Find User by ID	Reference a user dynamically and find that user based on a string name at IVR runtime.
		Find Users by ID	Reference Genesys Cloud users dynamically and find them based on a string at IVR runtime.
		Find Utilization Label	Dynamically find a utilization label based on its name at IVR runtime.
	External Contacts	Get External Contact	Retrieve information about an existing external contact.
		Get External Organization	Use the Get External Organization action to find a specific organization, or with the Get External Contact action to find a specific person.
		Search External Contacts	Find one or more external contacts based on your search terms.
	Flow	Clear Utilization Label	Remove a utilization label from an interaction.
		Set Language	Allow callers to select the appropriate language in which to hear prompts.
		Set Utilization Label	Dynamically apply a utilization label to an interaction.
	Logical	Decision	Direct the process branch, depending on whether a condition is true.
		Switch	This action is similar to a Decision action, and is easy to set when to evaluate multiple cases. Configure a switch action to specify what Architect does, when to do it, and under which circumstances.
		Evaluate Schedule	Use this action with the Evaluate Schedule Group action to make routing decisions based on previously defined schedules and schedule groups.
		Evaluate Schedule Group	Use this action with the Evaluate Schedule action to make routing decisions based on previously defined schedules and schedule groups.
	Loop	Loop	Direct your process repeat a series of actions before it goes on to the next action in your design.
		Next Loop	Use the Next Loop action when, during the loop iteration, the flow encounters a false outcome and you want it to continue to the next iteration.
		Exit Loop	Use this action inside a Loop action. Use it to end and exit the current loop, and to continue flow execution by moving to the following action.
	State	State	Use a state to group tasks together into logical units.
		Change State	Jump the process directly to the beginning of a different state without any intervening steps.
	Task	Call Task	Call another task. When the called task completes, the configured output path determines how flow execution continues.
		End Task	End a task in a process.
	Transfer	Transfer to ACD	Use the Transfer to ACD action to transfer a caller into a queuing system.
		Transfer to User	Transfer a caller directly to a Genesys Cloud user.