Customer Support Workflow

for Self-Solutions

The client wanted an automated SharePoint workflow to manage their customer support request process. They had outlined the business process, who should be notified and the reporting needs. What they had not done was consider that the system (not a person) had to perform the process.

The key difference between a manual process and an automated process is the human interactions. A person can easily compensate for any variations or last-minute changes. An automated system can’t.

For the solution, the steps were redefined in terms the system could understand with clear results. The decisions were restructured to allow for yes / no / else answers. The resulting workflow was coded using SharePoint Designer to include custom triggers and messaging.

One of the technical issues with using SPD for workflows was (2007) the need to set and then translate the variable so that it could be used to populate a status field. This explanation was provided to the client’s developer.

Skills:

SharePoint 2007, SharePoint Designer, Workflows, Process Analysis, Metrics