AUTOMATION CONFIGURATION: FLOW

The "Flow" feature will aid in increasing efficiency by allowing you to create workflow macros for commonly used tasks. In this guide we will walk through creating a Flow and give some examples of workflow automations you may find useful.

Getting Started
The first step to working with the Flow feature is to get permissions set up for users who will be able to configure the Flows.
In the Admin Console, you will first need to make sure that the role(s) you want to set up for creating Flows have the menu item available by checking the Menu Role Configuration page. Flow is listed under the Automation area of that configuration page.

The second permission you need to set up is in the Permissions Matrix of the User Management section of the Admin Console. You will see a new tab called Flow with permissions listed for Create, Edit, View, and Delete.

With these you can give different roles the ability to Create new flows, Edit existing flows, View already configured flows, and Delete existing flows. Like other permissions settings, All will allow the user to perform that action for ALL flows, Owned will allow the user to only perform that action for Flows they have created, and None will not allow the user to perform that action.

Creating a Flow

Once your permissions are set up to allow you to create a flow, you will be able to get to the configuration page from the Admin Console, under the Flow menu, which is listed in the Automation section of the Admin Console.

The Flow landing page will then load and you will see the list of any existing Flows that are already configured for your segment.

The Module dropdown at the top right of the page indicates which module your existing flows in this list originate from. To switch to a different module of origin select it from the dropdown. When you create a new flow, whatever Module you are in on the landing page is where the trigger point will be shown/operated from. Flows can overlap into updating fields from other modules, but the primary module is the one where the action will start from.

To create a new Flow click on the button at the top right of the landing page.

When the Flow create window opens the first step is to choose what kind of trigger you want to use to start the flow.

The configuration page will walk you through the steps of creating a flow, including the trigger type (button or background), the actions you want the Flow to perform, the permissions for what roles you want to be able to use the flow you create, and the flow name.

1. The first step after selecting the originating Module for your flow as described above is to decide on the type of trigger you want for the flow. Flows can be triggered by a button in the edit screen of the module you are setting up the flow in or can be a background sequence triggered by a certain parameter being activated. (Note: Background Flows are coming in phase 2). When you set the trigger as a Button you also need to then provide the short text you want to show in the button and drop down that will help your users know what the Flow is used for.

2. Next you need to set up the sequence of actions that will happen when the Flow is triggered. It's important to think through the correct order of these sequences since certain actions can also have their own events. One example of this is the Common Problem field. Because you can set defaults up to be set in other fields when a Common Problem is selected, you may need to adjust your Flow based on that selection. You can add multiple actions to a Flow and you are able to change the order by clicking on the 6 dot "handle" to the left of the action step and dragging into a different order position.

3. Flows can be set up to only be available to and triggered by certain roles. You are able to set it to all roles if you want the Flow accessible to all users or limit it to only one or two roles if desired. Users of each role will only see Flows that they are able to use in their Flow button and menu.

4. Finally, give your flow a name - this is the name that shows up in the list of Flows in the Admin Console. When your flow is created or edited, the system will automatically fill in a description that shows all the steps you have configured for the Flow.

5. Click the Save button and your configured flow will now show in the list on the Flow landing page.

Crossing Modules with a Flow
As part of the flow functionality we also allow users to change fields that are part of another, related module. For instance, you can create a work order flow that will also change the status for an attached asset as part of the flow actions.

To change a field for another module, select the Change (Module) Field as your Action. This then allows you to choose from available fields from that secondary module.

Keep in mind that this can only currently function for a single asset, if there are multiple assets on the work order the flow will return an error message that it can't run since there are more than one asset on the work order.

Calling another Flow from within a Flow
Another option can be a compound Flow where one of the steps of a configured flow calls another flow. Caution should be used to consider what the settings of each Flow are to make sure you aren't creating a circular flow or stepping on the desired results of one flow with another.

This ability can be useful if you build Flows in very structured, compartmentalized ways and you can use different Flow components in lots of ways.

To enable this functionality your secondary configured Flow needs to have the trigger type set as "Flow."

Button triggered Flows cannot be called up in the sequence of another Flow. You then set up your primary Flow with a step that uses the selection of Run Another Flow in the Action dropdown for one of its steps.

Flow Button in the Application

Once you have Flows configured users whose roles match those that were set up for a particular Flow will then see a button for the Flow(s) on their module edit pages. The example we will use here will be a Work Order based Flow.

The first Flow in the list order that shows in the configuration landing page that is available to this user is what shows as the primary button, in this case "Assign To Me". Clicking on the arrow next to the primary button will drop down the remaining list that they are able to execute and they can click on the one they want to use. Hovering over the items in the list will give the user the description of what the Flow will do so they know before clicking on it.

Button Flows in Action
When a user clicks on the button to execute a particular Flow the configured steps for that Flow will run, in the order they were set up. Most actions will show up right in the edit page (unless they trigger something in another module or are a background-type flow step) and can then be edited after the Flow has been run before clicking the Save button. Keep in mind that some things, like Assignments, will be automatically saved since data in the portals saves independently of the Save button on the main edit screen.

Flow in Tech
The operation of Flows in Tech is similar to that of CMS, but the button is located at the bottom of the page to be out of the way of the primary Tech navigation. To use a Flow in Tech the user will click the Flows button shown below.

The list of available Flows will then be shown on the screen and the user can select which one they want.

The Flow selected will then perform the configured actions the same as it does in CMS.

Flow in conjunction with other CMS features

• Field Locking: you are able to use the field locking feature, where users can't edit certain fields depending on their role, alongside the Flow feature. Flow will change the fields whether they are locked or not, which means you can avoid mistakes in entry by utilizing both features together. The field will only be able to change to what you have configured it to change to in the Flow.

• Escalations: Keeping in mind existing and new escalations can really enhance the automation of CMS when used in conjunction with a Flow. Changing a status to something that will then start up a timed escalation can make for a very powerful combination!

• Zone Assignments: If you have Zone Assignments set up in your organization, this can also automate getting work orders to the right people based on the configuration you have set up for a Flow - keep this in mind when configuring any Flows that might trigger a zone assignment.

• Email Responses: When you make Flow changes to a work order or asset that might trigger an email response, your automation power gets even better!

Flow in Master Shared segments
If you utilize a master shared segment for standardizing and managing your roles and many of your field values, setting up Flow in the main shared segment can be a powerful tool for maintaining commonly used Flows in your organization. Users with a shared role that you have selected for the Flow can use Flows that are configured in the Shared segment. When configuring a shared segment flow, keep in mind that you will only be able to include steps that will function in all segments – if your individual segments use their own work order statuses, for example, you won’t be able to set those statuses from your shared flow configuration. Use caution when planning a flow configuration from a shared segment, since it has a wider reach.

Background Flows (Coming Soon!)
As we continue to enhance abilities for Flow we will also allow for running actions in the background based on certain trigger criteria, such as when a work order with a particular field selection is saved being able to then trigger an email response without a flow button being used by the end user. We will update this document once these are available in an upcoming release.

Example Flow Configurations

Claiming a Work Order
Our first example is to give technicians an easy way to "claim" a work order that is assigned to a whole team of people.

• The first step is to remove all assignments that are currently on the work order followed by a second step of adding the current user.
• Next you can add a step to change the status of the work order (perhaps from Pending to Active - In Progress).
• To make it even easier for your technician you may want to also change the Acknowledged Date field to have an offset of 0 days (which will fill in the current date when they activate the flow.)
• Maybe you also want to add a comment for them that says "This work order has been claimed and work will begin immediately."

Asset Unable to Locate
The next example is a cross-module workflow that can help when a work order generates for an asset but the asset can’t be located.

• Step 1 is to change the Work Order Status field to Closed – Could not locate
• Next, change the Asset Status field to Active – Unable to locate.
• You can then add a note to the Work Order that says “Couldn’t locate Asset, will look for during next cycle”

Work Order Approval
Another use case is Work Order Approvals for managers who really don’t need or want access to edit work orders, but need to approve work or labor as part of an organization’s workflow. This is also a good example of using other CMS automations in conjunction with a Flow. 

• Step 1 would be to change the Work Order Status to Pending – Approval needed. This may then trigger an Approval type Email Response that is configured for that status change.
• Next, the assignment of the approver would be added to the work order so that it can be easily tracked in their queue.
• A comment could be added that says “Before work can be performed this needs manager approval”

At this point, a second Flow can be configured that is for the approver’s role. We’ll call it Approve Work.

• The first step of this approver’s flow would be to remove the current user from the work order.
• Next, the work order status can be changed to Active – Approved.
• A comment can be added to say – Work approved, please proceed.
• Another step might be added to add a date with an offset of 0 days to the Available Date to indicate the work is ready to begin.

Copyright © FSI 2024