The Tasks module is where users can configure tasks, task groups, alerts, and other task system components.

Topics covered in this section are as listed below:

1. Introduction

2. Task Group

3. User Notification

4. Activity Code

5. Task Type

6. Task

7. Alert

8. My Tasks

9. All Tasks

10. Generating Tasks

11. Tasks in Targeted Marketing and Reports

12. User Statistics Report

13. User Audit Report

14. Overdue Tasks

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Setup menu.

Task types represent the different categories of tasks; for example, complaint follow-up or new account verification. Task types defined here are linked with event types (new start processing, complaint entry, etc.) in the Task option, discussed next.

To define a task type:

• Select Setup | Task Type to display the Task Types window.
• Click Add and define the task type by completing the following fields.

  Field

  Type

  What to enter

  TASK TYPE

  open (16)

  Enter an ID for this task type, such as “ComplaintF” for complaint follow-up.

  START DATE, END DATE

  date

  Enter the date range during which the task type will be in use. End Date can be blank.

  DESCRIPTION

  open (30)

  Enter a description of this task type, such as “Complaint Follow-up”.

  INSTRUCTIONS

  open (unlimited)

  Enter instructions for the user working the task, for example “Call subscriber and verify that the paper has been delivered.”

• Click OK to add the task type.

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Reports menu.

Tasks can be generated automatically by transaction entry in Customer Service, Transaction Processing, Targeted Marketing, or by one of several reports (End Grace, Expiring Credit Cards, Stopped Subscribers without Restart, or Subscriber Activity Export). In Customer Service and Transaction Processing, the task will be created when the transaction is accepted/processed. Targeted Marketing will create tasks when the address is selected. The reports will create tasks when the subscriber is selected.

In addition to subscribers, tasks can also be generated for addresses (in the case of Targeted Marketing and non-subscriber complaints), occupants, routes, and accounts. There are currently no automated processes that create tasks for occupants or accounts, but manual tasks can be entered for them.

In all cases except transaction entry, the tasks created by the process will be placed in a batch. This can be used for purging and reporting purposes.

If alerts are defined, they will also be generated by these processes, and update the appropriate task.

Use this option to set up the automated creation of tasks. Transaction entry (in Customer Service), Transaction Processing, certain reports and Targeted Marketing can all create tasks. This option also allows you to define the task types available for manual task entry. You should add one entry for each process that should create tasks.

To configure task creation:

1. Select Setup | Task to display the Tasks window.
2. Click Add and specify the event, task type, assign-to group, and other options for task creation. The fields are described below.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   EVENT

   predefined

   Indicate which process should generate the task: Account Payment Entry, Audit, Disputed Invoice, Manual Entry, Payment Processing, Process Log Alert, Process Log Detail, Report Processing, Returns Import, Security Threshold, Targeted Marketing, Transaction Entry, or Transaction Processing.

   Select Manual Entry if you are specifying which task types can be entered manually.

   EVENT SPECIFIC

   predefined

   Select the specific event or item that should create the task. For example, to create a task when a complaint is processed, select “Transaction Processing” in Event and “Complaint” here. The events specifics available for each process are listed in the table on step 3.

   START DATE, END DATE

   date

   Enter the date range during which tasks should be generated for this event.

   GENERATE WHEN

   yes/no

   If more than one task is generated by this event, indicate whether a task with the task type below should always be created, or only if it has the highest priority, based on the Event Priority field. For example, a “call subscriber” task might be defined for stop entry with a priority of 5. Another task, “call carrier”, might also be defined for stop entry with a reason code of “Service” and a priority of 3. If a stop with a reason code of “Service” was entered, the “call carrier” task would be created, while the “call subscriber” would not. If one task has this field set to “always”, it will be created and the other tasks will not, regardless of the priority. If both are set to “always”, both tasks will be created.

   EVENT PRIORITY

   integer (3)

   If Generate When is set to “highest priority”, assign a priority to this task. This determines if the task will be generated, if more than one task is defined for a specific event. The lower the number, the higher the priority.

   TASK TYPE

   setup

   ASSIGN TYPE

   setup

   When tasks are created for this task type and event, indicate whether they should be assigned to an individual user or a group.

   ASSIGN TO

   setup

   Select the group or user to whom tasks created by this event and task type should be assigned. Note that only users who are assigned to at least one task group may be selected. When entering a manual task for an individual assign type, in addition to defined users, you can select <create user>, <group member>, and <supervisor>. If you enter <create user>, the user creating the manual task will automatically be assigned to it; <group member> and <supervisor> will allow the user entering the task to assign a user or supervisor belonging to the group entered in Event Specific. However, you cannot use <create user>, <group member> or <supervisor> for tasks that are intended to be used with the Circulation API.

   ESCALATE TYPE ESCALATE TO

   setup

   These fields are similar to Assign Type and Assign To, but they determine the group or user to which the tasks will be escalated, if escalation occurs.

   TASK PRIORITY

   integer (1)

   Indicate the priority for this task, when created. The priority will display with the task detail information when viewing tasks in Customer Service.

   DEFERRED START DAYS

   integer (3)

   The date on which the task will become active will be the event date plus the number of days entered here. Manual entry and report processing use the current date as the event date, while transaction entry and processing use the transaction date, and Targeted Marketing uses the delivery date entered in processing. For example, if 1 is entered in this field, and a task is set up to be created for stop entry, a stop entered for 7/2 would cause a task to be created with an activation date of 7/3.

   DAYS TO COMPLETE

   integer (3)

   Specify the number of days users should be given to complete the task. This number will be added to the task activation date to determine the due date.

   Options fields

   PRODUCT

   setup

   If tasks should be created for this event only if a certain product is entered, specify the product here, or select “*” to multi-select products using the Ctrl key. Note that this field will not be available for Targeted Marketing-generated tasks (the TM product is already specified in Event Specific).

   SELECTION TYPE

   predefined

   If a product is entered above, you can specify a particular area, region, zone, or district for the task, or choose mail. Leave this field blank to include all subscribers. If a value is selected here, tasks will only be created when the event involves a subscriber in the area, region, zone or district(s) entered below, or a mail subscriber. Selection Type and Selection cannot be used with manual entry tasks or TM.

   SELECTION

   setup

   If a value other than “mail” is entered in Selection Type, specify the area, region, zone or district that should trigger task creation. For example you may wish to create a dispatching task for complaints, but only in certain districts. You can multi-select items by using the Ctrl key.

   SOURCE, REASON

   setup

   You can specify a source or reason code that should trigger task creation, or select “*” to multi-select using the Ctrl key. If specified, tasks will only be created if the transaction has the source or reason code entered. Leave these fields blank to include all source and reason codes. Note that a source and reason may only be defined for transaction entry and Transaction Processing events.

   LOG TYPE

   predefined

   If the event is “Process Log Alert” or “Process Log Detail”, select which log type (Error, Fatal, Warning) should generate a task, or select “*” if all log types should generate a task.

   CREATE ON SUSPENDED

   predefined

   If the event is a Start transaction, you can specify how to handle suspended starts. If you select: • Yes, tasks will be created for both suspended and unsuspended starts • No, tasks will be created only for unsuspended starts • Only, tasks will be created only for suspended starts

   SUSPEND REASON

   setup

   If Create on Suspend is set to “Yes” or “Only,” select a suspend reason here. This will allow, for example, unroutable suspended starts to be handled differently than starts suspended until a payment is received.

   SECURITY ID

   setup

   DUPLICATE TASK DAYS

   integer (3)

   If the event is a report or Targeted Marketing, you can specify a certain number of days that must pass before the event creates a duplicate task. For example, if a task was created for a subscriber by the End Grace report on 7/15, and the same subscriber is included again on the report when it is run on 7/18, a second task will not be created if this field is greater than 3.

   SEND EMAIL NOTIFICATION

   yes/no

   TASK MESSAGE

   open

   Enter a message to go with this task, if applicable. Messages entered here will display with other task information when viewing generated tasks.

3. Click OK to accept the task configuration. Once defined, you can link the task to alerts, and view and remove alerts currently linked. See Linking Alerts to Tasks for more information.

   Event Process

   Items that may be selected

   Account Payment Entry

   A bill source.

   Audit

   An audit process. Currently “Credit Status Change” (the occupant’s credit status changed due to a stop or other transaction in Customer Service) is the only audit process available.

   Disputed Invoice

   A bill source.

   Manual Entry

   Any task groups that have been defined.

   Payment Processing

   Payment-related transactions: auto renew, NSF payment, regular payment, payment cancel, payment decline.

   Process Log Alert, Process Log Detail

   Processes that generate process log entries: Account Billing Processing, End Publishing Run, Subscriber Payment Processing, Transaction Processing. The Alert option will create one task if one or more qualifying Process Log entries are written during a single process. The Detail option will generate one task for each qualifying Process Log entry. In both cases, a process must be selected in the Process field when defining the task.

   Report Processing

   The Account List, Change Credit Status, End Grace, Expiring Credit Cards, Office Pay Expirations, Past Due Letter, Route Type Change, Stopped Subscribers without Restart, Subscriber Activity Export, Summary Age Analysis, and Truck Check reports.

   Returns Import

   Returns import validation errors: Invalid publication, invalid edition, no draw, over supply, out of date.

   Security Threshold

   Transactions that can have security thresholds: complaint, expire change, extend grace, grace writeoff, refund variance, subscriber payment adjustment.

   Targeted Marketing

   Any Targeted Marketing product.

   Transaction Entry

   Most Customer Service transactions: billing change, complaint, complaints on route threshold, delivery schedule change, grace writeoff, move in, move out, note, delivery placement, rate change, refund, refund writeoff, reroute, restart, start, stop, temp address, temp address end, transfer in, and transfer out.

   Transaction Processing

   Most transactions that are processed by Transaction Processing: billing change, complaint, delivery schedule change, end grace, expire, renewal, move in, move out, delivery placement, rate change, reroute, restart, start, stop, temp address, temp address end, transfer in, and transfer out.

Tasks can be reassigned, escalated, completed, and changed in other ways. Whenever a user updates a task, an activity code must be specified. Activity codes function as reason codes. For example, you may have activity codes such as “vacation” and “no time” defined for task reassignment.

Activity codes are defined in the Tasks module as follows:

• Select Setup | Activity Code to display the Activity Code Setup window.
• Click Add and define the activity code by completing the following fields.

  Field

  Type

  What to enter

  ACTIVITY TYPE

  predefined

  Specify the type of activity that this activity code may be used with. Choices are complete, due date chg, escalate, note, priority chg, reassign, and start date chg.

  ACTIVITY CODE

  open (unlimited)

  Enter the activity code ID.

  START DATE, END DATE

  date

  Enter the date range during which the activity code may be used. END DATE can be blank.

  DESCRIPTION

  open (unlimited)

  Enter a description of this activity code.

• Click OK to add the activity code.

Event alerts are used to update active tasks based on subsequent events. For example, if a task is created when a new start is processed, an alert might be set up to add a note to the task if the subscriber then stops. Transaction entry and processing are the only two event types that can update tasks based on alerts. Alerts can do one or more of the following:

• Add a note

• Reprioritize the task

• Adjust the due date

• Reassign the task

• Escalate the task

• Complete the task

• Send an e-mail message

Once alerts are defined, they can be linked to specific tasks, as described below.

Adding Alerts

To add an alert:

• Select Setup | Alert to display the Current Alerts window.
• Click Add and complete the following fields.

  Field

  Type

  What to enter

  EVENT

  predefined

  TRANSACTION, BILL SOURCE, or DAYS OVERDUE [event specific]

  predefined

  Select the specific event that should update tasks.

  • For Payment Processing, Transaction Entry, and Transaction Processing, you can choose from a list of appropriate transactions.

  • For Account Payment Entry or Resolved Invoice, you select a bill source in this field.

  • For Overdue Task, you select the number of days that the task is overdue.

  START DATE, END DATE

  date

  Enter the date range during which the alert will be in use. End Date can be blank.

  ADD NOTE

  yes/no

  Indicate whether this alert should add a note to the task with details of the event selected above. Also, select a reason.

  CHANGE PRIORITY

  yes/no

  If the task should be assigned a different task priority, select a reason and enter a new priority.

  CHANGE DUE DATE

  yes/no

  If the task due date should be extended by the alert, enter a reason and the number of days to extend. Note that you cannot shorten the due date (negative numbers may not be entered).

  REASSIGN

  yes/no

  If the alert should reassign the task to a different group or user, enter a reason, set Reassign Type to individual or group, and enter the group or user in Reassign To.

  ESCALATE

  yes/no

  If the alert should escalate the task, rather than just reassigning it, enter a reason, set escalate Type to individual or group, and enter the group or user in escalate To.

  COMPLETE

  yes/no

  Select this checkbox if the alert should mark the task as complete, and enter a reason. This field will be open only if no other updates are entered for the task in the fields above.

  SEND EMAIL

  yes/no

  Select this checkbox if the alert should generate an e-mail message to be sent to the recipient in the To field. Only users who have an e-mail address set up in User Notification will be available for selection in this field. Note: This checkbox is currently available only for the “Overdue Task” event.

  The remaining fields are optional

  PRODUCT

  setup

  If the task should only be updated for this event if a certain product is entered, specify the product here, or select “*” to multi-select products using the Ctrl key.

  SELECTION TYPE

  predefined

  If a product is entered above, you can specify a particular area, region, zone, or district for the alert, or choose mail. If a value is selected here, tasks will only be updated when the event involves a subscriber in the area, region, zone or district(s) entered below, or a mail subscriber.

  SELECTION

  setup

  If a value other than “mail” is entered in SELECTION TYPE, specify the area, region, zone or district that should trigger the alert.

  SOURCE, REASON

  setup

  You can specify a source or reason code that should trigger the alert, or select “*” to multi-select using the Ctrl key. If specified, tasks will be updated only if the transaction has the source or reason code entered.

• Click OK to add the alert.

Linking Alerts to Tasks

Once alerts are defined, you can link them to the relevant task(s). For example, a task may be created if a subscriber perm stops, so that a Customer Service associate can follow up with the subscriber (this is done with the Task option). However, if the subscriber then starts again, this would not be necessary. Therefore, you could define an alert that completes a task if a start is processed, and link it to the perm stop task configuration. An alert may be linked to several tasks, and several alerts may be linked to the same task.

To link an alert to a task:

• On the Current Alerts window, select the alert that should be linked.

• Click the Link button in the lower-right part of the window. The Alert Task Link window will open.

• Select the appropriate task from the Other Active Tasks list (the tasks in the Currently Linked Tasks list are already linked to this alert and so cannot be selected).

• Click the Link button to link the task and alert.

Once an alert is linked to a task, it can be removed by clicking Remove. Tasks currently linked to an alert may be displayed by clicking the View button.

An e-mail message (i.e., notification) can be generated and sent to a user whenever that user is assigned a task. E-mail notifications will be sent only when a task is created for an individual. Tasks created for groups will not cause an e-mail notification to be produced.

To set up user notifications:

• Select Setup | User Notification to display the User Notification Setup window. Users who belong to at least one task group will appear in the list.

• Select a user and click Modify.

• Enter the user’s e-mail address in the Email Address column.

• In Always Notify, select “yes” if this user should receive an e-mail notification each time a task is assigned to him/her.

The Task system assists Circulation users in organizing and prioritizing work to be completed. Tasks can be generated automatically by entering or processing Customer Service transactions, processing a Targeted Marketing product, or running certain reports. They can also be added manually. Tasks can be assigned to either individual users or task groups.

Tasks are viewed, completed, reassigned, escalated, and annotated in the My Task or All Tasks module (see My Tasks and All Tasks), and also in Customer and Route Services (see Tasks). In the My Tasks and All Tasks modules, task status is displayed in real-time; new tasks and updates to existing tasks are broadcast instantly.

Task setup is done in the Tasks module. This includes:

• Defining task groups

• Defining task types

• Defining reason codes for updating tasks (activity codes)

• Specifying which automated processes create tasks

• Defining alerts, which are events that automatically modify tasks

Tasks that have been assigned to you or one of your assigned task groups are displayed in the My Tasks module. This is a “management center” where tasks can be annotated, reassigned, completed, etc.

Using the tabs in the upper-left corner of the window, you can view active, pending, and completed tasks (pending tasks are those with a start date greater than the current system date). The task’s type, subscriber account, name, phone, due date and last activity are displayed, while the column at the far right indicates the task priority. If the last activity was generated by an alert, exclamation points will appear around the activity (e.g. “!Reassign!”).

Under the Active and Pending tabs, you can toggle the View field to display tasks assigned to you (an individual user) or your task group. Only tasks for groups set up for full access are displayed; if the group is set up for random access, the tasks will not appear here (see for more information). Task modifications and new tasks assigned to the user or group are displayed in real time.

The following sections describe the options that can be used to update and display task information.

Annotating Tasks

You can add notes to tasks when pertinent; for example “left voice mail with subscriber”. This is useful for review purposes, or when more than one person is working on a task.

To add a note:

• Double-click on a task from the My Tasks list, so that task details appear in the lower part of the window.

• Click OK to add the note to the task.

Owning Tasks

Retrieving Random Tasks

Reassigning Tasks

Tasks belonging to individual users can be reassigned to a group using the Reassign option. Note that the tasks may be assigned only to a task group to which the user belongs, not another user; only supervisors can assign tasks to users.

To reassign tasks:

• Click OK to reassign the task.

Escalating Tasks

To escalate tasks:

• Click OK to escalate the task.

Completing Tasks

When a task has been resolved, it can be flagged as completed. Completed tasks will be displayed only on the Completed tab in the My Tasks module.

To complete a task:

• Click OK to complete the task.

Other My Task Options

The My Task module contains some handy options related to task viewing and navigation.

Task groups are similar to user groups, but they pertain only to the task system. Users may belong to multiple task groups. Supervisors may also be assigned to the task group; these are users who have access to additional task options, such as deleting tasks and changing task due dates.

To define a task group:

• Select Setup | Task Group to display the Task Group Setup window.

• Click Add and enter a task group ID and a description of the task group. In the User Access field, indicate whether this is a “random” task group (group tasks may only be selected by group users at random) or “full” task group (group tasks will be listed in the My Tasks module and can be specifically selected).

• Click OK to add the task group.

• Now you are ready to assign users to the group. Click the Users button to display the Task Group User Setup window.

• Click Add and enter a task group (the group being currently defined will default) and a user belonging to the group. Also indicate whether this is the user’s primary group. Users may belong to many groups, but only one can be designated as primary. If a task group is already flagged as primary for the user, the flag will be removed if another task group is subsequently flagged as primary. The primary group determines the user’s supervisor(s), and the task group under which they can manually add tasks.

• Click OK to add the user to the group. Note that you can also click Show All to display all users for each task group. Once all users are added, click Cancel to return to the Task Group Setup window.

• Assign supervisors to the task group, if applicable. This is similar to assigning users, only there is no Primary field.

Tasks may be generated by processing a TM product or running certain reports. The reports are:

• End Grace (Reports | Subscriber menu)

• Stopped Subscribers (Reports | Subscriber menu)

• Credit Cards Expires (Accounting | Subscriber menu)

• Subscriber Activity Export (Utilities | Export menu)

In order to create tasks, a task type and event must be defined for the TM product or the report in setup. In addition, a task creation flag must be set when running the options. This is Create Tasks in TM Processing and Generate Tasks in reports (see the following examples).

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Tasks menu.

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Utilities menu.

An event type of “Overdue Task” can be used to generate alerts. This option, Overdue Tasks, must be run in order to trigger the event. Typically, this would be set up as an automated process.

To generate these alerts:

1. In the Tasks module, select Utilities | Overdue Tasks to display the Overdue Task Alerts window.
2. Click Add and enter the run date (defaults to today’s date).

3. Click OK and then Continue to create the overdue task alerts.

The User Audit report lists task-related activity for groups and users.

To run the report:

• Select Reports | User Audit to display the User Audit window.

• Click Add and complete the following fields.

• Click OK and then Continue to run the report.

The User Statistics report provides details about user task-related activities.

To run the report:

• Select Reports | User Statistics to display the User Statistics window.

• Click Add and complete the following fields.

• Click OK and then Continue to run the report.

Example—User Statistics Report

The All Tasks module is designed for supervisors, allowing them to reassign tasks to users, change priorities and due dates, and delete tasks. This is similar to the My Tasks module discussed above. All tasks assigned to the group(s) you supervise will be displayed.

Many of the My Tasks options are available in All Tasks. The Reassign Task option is the same, except that the supervisor can assign the task to a specific user as well as a group. Other options are available only in All Tasks, as described below.

Change Start Date

Change Due Date

Change Priority

Deleting Tasks