Working with Interactions

This chapter provides an overview of interactions in PeopleSoft Customer Relationship Management (PeopleSoft CRM) and discusses how to:

Set up interaction status.
View interactions.

Understanding Interactions

This section discusses:

Interactions and subinteractions.
Contact methods and status.
Interaction creation.
Interaction display.
Interaction notes.

Interactions and Subinteractions

Interactions are communications between you and customers or partners. Tracking such communications provides valuable insight into customer-related activities.

Subinteractions are interactions that relate to a specific PeopleSoft CRM transaction, such as a lead, order, or case. Notes that are associated with an interaction are also subinteractions. A single interaction can have zero, one, or many subinteractions.

External Customers Versus Workers

You create different types of subinteractions depending on whether an interaction is for an external customer (or partner) or a worker. In most CRM applications, customers are external to an organization. Any person or organization whose data that you manage in one of the customer or partner components (Company, Partner Company, Person, or Site) is considered an external customer. However, in PeopleSoft HelpDesk and HelpDesk for Human Resources, customers are internal people whose data you manage in the Worker component.

The Worker component enables you to manage data for help desk internal customers and for CRM staff users such as salespeople, call center agents, and field service technicians. A worker can function as either a customer or as CRM staff; therefore, the creation of a worker interaction is context-dependent. Worker interactions are created only from the context of a help desk case, a human resources help desk case, or the Worker 360-Degree View page.

For example, if you open a help-desk case for Mark Anderson, any correspondence that you send to Mark from that case is logged as an interaction, and the case itself becomes a subinteraction. If Mark is also a customer service representative, he might receive notifications that are related to cases for other callers. These notifications are not logged as interactions because, in this context, Mark is a contact, not a customer.

Note. PeopleBooks normally reserves the term customer for external customers. However, in this chapter, the term includes partners as well as internal and external customers unless otherwise indicated.

Subinteraction Types

You can create the following PeopleSoft CRM transactions as subinteractions of external customer interactions:

PeopleSoft Support cases.
PeopleSoft Sales leads.
PeopleSoft Sales opportunities.
All types of PeopleSoft Order Capture (collectively known as order captures).
Installed products.
PeopleSoft Enterprise FieldService service orders.
Notes.

You can create the following PeopleSoft CRM transactions as subinteractions of worker interactions:

PeopleSoft HelpDesk cases.
PeopleSoft HelpDesk for Human Resources cases.
Notes.

Note. Additional types of interactions are available in PeopleSoft CRM industry-specific applications.

Contact Methods and Status

Every interaction has an associated contact method.An interaction's contact method categorizes the interaction. It indicates the direction (inbound or outbound) of the interaction and the communication channel. Inbound interactions occur when a customer initiates the contact; outbound interactions occur when you initiate the contact. Outbound interactions can be manual (for example, when a salesperson sends correspondence to a customer) or automatic (for example, when workflow notifies a customer that a case is closed).

Many communication channels are used for both inbound and outbound communications. For example, phone, email, and paper correspondence (whether mailed or faxed) can originate internally or externally. However, the customer always initiates web-based interactions. Therefore, the Inbound Chat and Inbound Web (for web self-service) contact methods do not have any outbound counterparts.

The Interaction Detail page contains the contents of the interaction (the text of the email, correspondence, or chat), and the interaction detail type identifies that detail type. For example, the phone interaction detail type is just one type, whereas the contact methods include Phone In and Phone Out. Contact methods include both the channel and the direction of the interaction (in or out), while the interaction detail type is used mainly to control different sets of interaction statuses. There are different sets of interaction statuses for different channels and directions.

Contact Method (INTERACTION_MTHD) and Interaction Detail Type (RB_MCF_DETAIL_TYPE) are translate fields.

Interaction Status

Every interaction has a status, which varies depending on the contact method. This table shows the valid statuses for each contact method.

Contact Method	Statuses
Chat	Accepted, Requested See PeopleSoft ERMS.
Email out (outbound email), including email replies, ad-hoc email, and email that is sent through a correspondence request.	Cancelled, Completed, Failed In Delivery, and In Progress. See Understanding ERMS.
Email in (inbound email)	Assigned, Cancelled, Completed, Processing, New, and Reassigned. See Understanding ERMS.
Phone	Busy, Callback, Child Answered, Completed, In Progress, No Answer, and Do Not Call Again. See Using the 360-Degree View.
Printer	None.
Self-Service	Completed See Working with Customer Self-Service Transactions.

An interaction's initial status depends on how the interaction is created. You can manually update status for interactions that you create using the 360-Degree View feature, but the system maintains status for other types of interactions.

Interaction Creation

You can create interactions manually, or the system can create them automatically. This table lists the situations in which the system creates interactions:

Condition	Subinteraction	Contact Method and Status Management
A user accesses a customer, partner, or worker 360-Degree View.	Created based on the user's actions in the 360-Degree View.	In the 360-Degree View, the user can see the contact method and can change it manually. The multichannel framework type is not user-selectable. In the 360-Degree View, the multichannel framework type is always Phone.
The PeopleSoft CRM Computer Telephony Interface (CTI) application uses a delivered CTI transaction to access a page in the PeopleSoft CRM system. Note. Additional CTI transactions that you create do not automatically create interactions or subinteractions.	Created by the system if the transaction's target page is a subinteraction-enabled object,	Contact method: Phone Status default: In Progress
A user sends email or print correspondence using the PeopleSoft CRM correspondence management features.	The object from which the correspondence was sent.	Contact method: Outbound mail Status default: In Progress
A user sends a manual email to a customer (or, from the context of a help-desk case, to a worker.) User-initiated email can be either an email response (if you use the PeopleSoft email response management system [ERMS]) or an ad-hoc email.	Multiple PeopleSoft CRM transactions can be related to both inbound and outbound email. Each of the related transactions to the outbound email has a subinteraction that the system created.	Contact method: Outbound email Status default: In Progress
The PeopleSoft ERMS processes an inbound email.	Created when a user manually associates related objects to the inbound email. If a newly received email is part of a thread, it automatically inherits its parent email's related objects and subinteractions.	Contact method: Inbound email Status default: New
The system sends an automated email to a customer, partner, or worker from the context of a help-desk case, to a worker. Automated email is sent by component event processing, by business project workflow, or by the ERMS system autoresponse to structured email. Note. Autoacknowledgement email sent by the ERMS system or in response to a customer's Contact Us submission does not create an interaction.	Component event processing creates an interaction; a business project does not. No subinteractions are created. A subinteraction is created by the ERMS autoresponse process if the subinteraction is associated with transactions.	Contact method: Outbound email Status default: In Progress
A self-service customer or partner submits a Contact Us message. The Contact Us page is available only to external customers or partners, not to workers.	The text of the message becomes the interaction note.	Contact method: Phone Status default: In Progress
A customer or partner requests a chat session from the self-service Contact Us page.	None.	Contact method: Chat Status: Requested
A self-service user creates a new case or updates an existing case in PeopleSoft Support, HelpDesk, or HelpDesk for Human Resources.	The case that was created or updated.	Contact method: Phone Status default: In Progress

To record communications that occur outside of the PeopleSoft CRM system, users can manually create interactions using the appropriate 360-Degree View. Users might manually create interactions if:

A phone call is placed or received without the use of the CTI system.
A letter or fax is received.
Email is sent from outside of the PeopleSoft CRM system.
Email is received by a mailbox that the ERMS system is not monitoring.

Interaction Display

There are various interfaces for viewing interaction information.

Interactions in the 360-Degree View Pages

PeopleSoft CRM provides 360-Degree View pages for customers, partners, and workers. There are two separate 360-Degree View pages for workers: one for PeopleSoft HelpDesk and one for HelpDesk for Human Resources. As delivered, all of the 360-Degree View pages are configured to show interactions in the action tree. In the action tree, expanding an interaction displays all of that interaction's subinteractions.

The 360-Degree View page for an external customer or partner shows all of the interactions for that customer. The 360-Degree View pages for workers filter interactions as follows:

The PeopleSoft HelpDesk for Human Resources 360-Degree View page shows interactions that have human resources help-desk cases as subinteractions.
The PeopleSoft HelpDesk 360-Degree View page shows interactions that have (non-human-resources) help-desk cases as subinteractions.
Both of these worker-oriented 360-Degree View pages show interactions that have no case subinteractions.

Other Interaction Lists

In addition to the 360-Degree View pages, you can view lists of interactions using:

Interaction history grids within transactional components.

The components that you use to manage subinteraction-enabled components (including Cases, Leads, and Orders) include a grid that shows all interactions for the specific transaction.
The Interaction List page.

This page enables you to search for and access interactions directly from a menu (rather than from the context of a specific customer, partner, or transaction).
The Recent Interactions pagelet.

This pagelet displays recent interactions for a selected customer or partner. The Recent Interactions pagelet is available with PeopleSoft CRM Portal Pack.

Interaction Details

From any interaction list, you can drill into the Interaction page, where you can see the details of a specific interaction. The page that appears depends on the interaction type:

If the interaction was created on the 360-Degree View page, the details appear on the Interaction Detail page.
If a correspondence request created the interaction, the details appear on the Interactions - View Correspondence page.
If the interaction is an inbound or outbound email (other than email sent through a correspondence request), drilling into the interaction displays the appropriate email component.
If the interaction is a chat session, the detail page shows the full chat transcript.

Modifying Interaction Status

This section discusses how to modify interaction status descriptions.

Page Used to Set Up Interaction Status

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Interaction Status	RI_STATUS_SETUP	Set Up CRM, Common Definitions, Correspondence, Interaction Status Setup, Interaction Status	Modify interaction status descriptions.

Modifying Interaction Status Descriptions

Access the Interaction Status page.

Warning! If you or change interaction statuses, you must make appropriate code changes in PeopleSoft Application Designer.

Status Code

Displays the statuses that PeopleSoft CRM delivers for the interaction detail type.

Viewing Interactions

This section discusses how to:

Search for interactions.
View interaction details.
View interaction correspondence details.

Pages Used to View Interactions

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Interaction List	RI_INTERACT_HOME	Customers CRM, Interaction List, Interaction List	Search for interactions.
Interaction	RI_INTERACTION	Click the link for an interaction that has no associated contact method on the Interaction List page. Click the link for an interaction that has no associated contact method on any 360-Degree View page. Click the link for an interaction that has no associated contact method on the Recent Interactions pagelet.	View interaction details, including a list of related subinteractions and the complete text of any interaction note.
Interactions - View Correspondence	RBC_RECPIENT_INQ	Click the link for an interaction that represents correspondence on the Interaction List page. Click the link for an interaction that represents correspondence on any 360-Degree View page. Click the link for an interaction that represents correspondence on the Recent Interactions pagelet.	View interaction details for the correspondence request.
Inbound Email	RB_EM_IB	Click the link for an interaction that represents inbound email on the Interaction List page. Click the link for an interaction that represents inbound email on any 360-Degree View page. Click the link for an interaction that represents inbound email on the Recent Interactions pagelet.	View interaction details of inbound email.
Outbound Email	RB_EM_OB	Click the link for an interaction that represents outbound email on the Interaction List page. Click the link for an interaction that represents outbound email on any 360-Degree View page. Click the link for an interaction that represents outbound email on the Recent Interactions pagelet.	View interaction details of inbound email.
Chat	RB_CHAT_LOG	Click the link for an interaction that represents chat on the Interaction List page. Click the link for an interaction that represents chat on any 360-Degree View page. Click the link for an interaction that represents chat on the Recent Interactions pagelet.	View interaction details of a chat.

Searching for Interactions

Access the Interaction List page.

Use this page region to define search criteria and perform searches. You can control the appearance and behavior of the interaction search by using the PeopleSoft CRM search configuration utility.

See Configuring Search Pages.

As delivered, the system searches for all interactions when you first access the page. You cannot use this page to add interactions or edit interaction data.

The search criteria fields and the search results fields are the same as the identically-named fields on the interaction detail pages. Not all fields apply to all types of interactions. For example, only interactions that are created from a 360-Degree View page have a value in the Call Back date field.

Type

Select a subinteraction type. The search locates interactions that have the type of subinteraction that you select. Available values depend on which PeopleSoft CRM products you have licensed.

Interactions

This grid displays search results and lists all subinteractions, along with their interactions. Interactions that do not have subinteractions are not listed.

	Click the Edit This Interaction button to access the Interaction page and view detailed information about the interaction. A different interaction detail page appears for each type of interaction.
Type	Displays links to associated subinteractions. An interaction can have more than one link. The link text is the subinteraction type—for example, Case or Order.

Viewing Interaction Details

Access the Interaction page.

Customer Information

Contact

Displays the name of the person (company contact, partner contact, consumer, or worker) for whom you created the interaction.

Interaction Information

The fields in this group box are identical to the fields in the Log Interaction group box on the 360-Degree View page.

See Using the 360-Degree View.

Related Transactions

This grid lists any subinteractions (including notes) that are associated with the interaction.

Note. Your internal business processes determine whether users enter notes in the interaction itself or in another transaction (such as a case or lead) that was the subject of the phone call.

Type	Displays the type of subinteraction. Available values depend on which PeopleSoft CRM products you have licensed.
Start Date & Time	Displays the date and time that the subinteraction was created.
Comments	Displays the full text of the note if the type is Note. For other types of related transactions, this field is blank. For other types of related transactions, this field contains comments such as Added New Case or Multi-channel related transaction.

Other Page Elements

Return to 360-Degree View	Click this link to return to the 360-Degree View page. This link appears only if you originally accessed the Interaction page from the 360-Degree View page.
Return to Interaction List	Click this link to return to the Interaction List page. This link appears only if you originally accessed the Interaction page from the Interaction List page.

Viewing Correspondence Interaction Details

Access the Interactions - View Correspondence page.

The fields on this page are identical to the similarly-named fields in the Correspondence Request page.

See Understanding Correspondence.