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REQUEST FACILITY#

Requests provide a convenient form of communication between system users. They can be used to request a task to be performed by another employee, or simply as a note for a particular user. The functionality of requests in the professional product has been enhanced and it has been extended into Self Service.

The Request facility has an email-like look and feel.

The Manage All Requests for User (IERQ) screen works like an email client with an Inbox, Outbox, and Archived requests section; this provides a familiar interface for users and encourages them to use requests more often in their daily work. A menu has been added to the form toolbar to make it easier for users to create new requests for a subject, as well as provide the convenience of viewing all relevant requests. Embedded forms which show the context of each request will be visible on IERQ such that when a user is viewing outstanding requests; all information is available on IERQ and opening other screens to understand the source of the request is no longer necessary.

Although requests are similar to email, there is no similar way to respond to a request; requests should not be replied to with another request. Instead, a user can add an activity to the current request and as long as the request remains open, the sender can see it and all activities in the Outbox of their IERQ screen

A user can complete or deny requests assigned to them. If a request is not assigned to them, then at most they can add an activity to the request for others to see.

These features are designed to encourage using KnowledgeBase to communicate between system users.

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When to Use Requests#

The request facility is quite versatile and can be used for a variety of purposes:

• To involve other participants in an approval process.
• To reduce emails and phone calls.
• For changes that users cannot make directly in the product.
• To document additional information that can be attached to a record for future reference.

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Features of the Request Facility in KnowledgeBase#

Manage all Requests for User#

The Manage All Requests for User (IERQ) screen has been redesigned to make it function more like an email client.

There are three tabs in IERQ: Inbox tab where incoming requests are received, Outbox tab where new requests can be created and sent to an employee, and the Archived tab where all completed or canceled requests are stored.

Inbox tab

• Contains all requests received by the user which are still ‘open’.
• Provides the ability to complete or deny requests, as well as the ability to change the status from New to In Progress.
• Users can respond to a request by adding activities, they would not respond by sending another request.
• If the request type was defined as requiring action the Action Required toggle will be checked.
• The bottom portion of the screen contains two tabs; Context and Activities.
  • The Context tab will display an embedded form for the request if one has been defined in IMRT.
  • The Activities tab is a view of all activities for the request. The date the activity was added, by whom, the type of activity and the text of the activity can all be seen in this tab.

The example below depicts a request added from IPTS from an employee’s manager requesting additional OT to be added. The context tab displays the embedded form, EPTS, which shows important details of the time sheet.

Outbox tab

• Contains all requests sent by the user which are still ‘open’.
• Similar to Inbox features, except not allowed to cancel or complete request.
• If a request was created with a status of ‘Draft’, the creator of the request can change the status to New and send the request to the directed individual.
• Activities can also be added here and the details of the activity are listed in a table below the request.
  

Archived tab

• Contains all requests sent or received by the user which have been completed or denied.
• This tab is a view only of the historical requests, therefore the user does not have the ability to modify the request or its activities.

View All Requests#

The View All Requests (VERQ) screen is a view of all requests which shows all open requests for a particular request type for all users in the system, not just the user currently signed in. This form would be used by the administrator.

Form Toolbar Menu#

Requests can be created, viewed, and activities can be added from a Requests menu attached to specific forms in the system. The toolbar menu will display on any form that is associated to a table that has a request type defined for it.

• A menu labeled ‘Requests’ will appear on the form toolbar.
• This menu will appear on a form toolbar when there is at least one table defined in the form definition which also has a Request Type defined for it on IMRT, otherwise the menu will not appear
• The menu items will have the basic request functions; ‘create new’, ‘view subject requests’ which open dialogs, and ‘view all’ which will open the IERQ screen
• The menu item will dynamically change based on which field (and parent table) has cursor focus; the menu will contain menu items for each request record that is tied to the current table and subject
• The number of relevant requests will display in the toolbar menu (e.g. if a subject has 6 open requests, and the user clicks on a field in that table, the menu will display ‘Requests (6)’. If there are 0 requests, then the menu will simply display ‘Requests’.)
• If cursor focus is on a field/table that does not have Request types, the ‘Create New’ request will not display in the menu drop down
• Roll up feature: The menu may show more requests than are on the current subject, for example, it will try to show all requests for the current subject and its parent. (e.g. if there are 2 requests on PTS and 3 requests on PTSE, then when cursor focus is on the PTS record, the menu will show ‘Requests (2)’, but when focus is on the PTSE record, the menu will show ‘Requests (5)’)

The Requests menu toolbar:

Create a New Request Dialog:

View Requests for this Subject Dialog: Context Requests Dialog:

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Features of the Request Facility in Self Service#

The Request functionality in Self Service is very similar to that in KnowledgeBase. Users in Self Service will use the WERQ screen instead of the IERQ screen to review their outstanding requests or to create new requests. The only difference between these two forms is that the WERQ does not have the Context tab or Activities tab as Self Service at this time does not support the use of tabs within tabs. Other than that one difference, both forms have the same functionality.

Inbox Tab

Outbox Tab

Archived Tab

Self Service Splash Menu#

The Splash menu in Self Service displays the ‘Internal Requests I Need to Respond to’ menu item. This menu item will display on all of the roles associated to the user signed in. This menu item is the VERQ_SPLASH function which will display 5 new requests at a time, once the status changes from new it will be removed from this window.

The ‘Click Here To Access Your Requests’ link will direct the user signed in to their WERQ screen where they can manage all of their outstanding and historical requests.

Self Service Form Toolbar Menu#

Similar to the menu in KnowledgeBase, the ‘View All My Requests’ menu item in the Self Service menu calls the WERQ screen (where as in KnowledgeBase it calls IERQ). The other difference is that the shortcut keys do not appear in the Self Service menu as these are not supported in Self Service. The dialogs are the same as those called from the menu in KnowledgeBase.

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Setting up the Request Facility#

Users can make use of the Request facility in its shipped capacity, however clients also have the ability to tailor the requests to meet their business needs. Clients can tailor the requests by the following:

• Creating new request types.
• Creating new embedded forms.
• Defining which request types require action and those that do not.

Request Types#

Requests are created using a pre-defined type defined in the Define Request Types (IMRT) screen. These types are defined for a specific base table in the database, meaning the requests can only be used in a form that calls that table. For example, the ADD_PREMIUM request type has been defined for the table, P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS. A few example forms that call that particular table and that could use this request type are IPTS, IPMTS, WAPTS, and WEPTS.

New request types can be created for the same tables or different tables; however these must be created as User Defined. It is up to the administrator to decide which base tables should allow requests and then determine what types of requests are allowed for that table.

Below is a list of pre-defined request types.

Request Type	Table	Embedded Form
ADD_EXPENSE	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
ADD_PREMIUM	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
ADD_TIME	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
ADJUST_TIME	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
CHANGE_LUNCH	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
CURRENT_SPA	P2K_SA_PERSONNEL_ACTIONS	ESPA
CURRENT_TS	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
JOB_CHANGE	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
LEAVE_REQUEST	P2K_AT_LEAVE_LINES	EALR
OE EE QUESTIONS	P2K_BE_OPEN_ENROLLMENT_EES	EBOEE
OE SUBMISSION	P2K_BE_OPEN_ENROLLMENT_EES	EBOEE
PAST_TS	P2K_PR_TIME_SHEETS	EPTS
REVIEW INFO	P2K_SA_REVIEWS	ESRV

Embedded Forms#

Embedded forms are typically developed to provide a visual of the subject matter. These embedded forms can be linked to request types and approval processes. They provide a means of seeing crucial information without having the user jump back and forth between screens to see the details of the subject of the request or approval. Embedded forms can be created by clients as well; these should be created as User Defined.

• Embedded forms will be displayed in the Context tab in IERQ if they have been associated to a request type in IMRT.
• The embedded forms will also display in IDVAR if they have been associated to an approval process via the Function Name field in IDAP.
• Below is a list of provided embedded forms:
  • EPTS – displays crucial time sheet information
  • EALR – displays details of the requested leave and the employee’s current bank balance
  • EBOEE – displays the employee’s open enrollment and their elections
  • ESPA – displays personnel actions for an employee
  • ESRV – displays an employee’s performance review

This is an example of the EALR embedded form:

Requires Action #

The client has the ability to determine which requests require action and which do not. If a request has been defined as requiring action it is up to the receiver to do something with the request.

If a request has been defined as not requiring action, the request is used more as a notation on a record for historical purposes.

It is up to the administrator to determine which of their request types would require action.