The latest release of Flowset introduces many new and enhanced features to further improve the experience of your agents as they are guided through the use of workflows to process your Zendesk tickets.
A full summary of the changes involved in the release can be found in this article: Flowset Release Notes 8th August 2023
This might lead to questions amongst existing customers and potentially some concerns regarding the possible impact upon existing workflows and the ability to continue use of previous features and capabilities.
We have therefore prepared this list of FAQ's to help answer these questions and provide reassurance to customers that have any concerns.
FAQ's
- How will I benefit from the new features in this release?
- What are the major differences between 'Standard' and 'Advanced' workflows?
- Will I need to take an action following the release?
- Will my existing workflows continue to run as now?
- Will it be possible to make use of the advanced features in my existing workflows?
- Will it be possible to continue building workflows in 'Standard' mode?
- Are there any 'Standard' features that aren't available when working in 'Advanced' mode?
- Can I convert my existing 'Standard' workflow into an equivalent 'Advanced' workflow?
- Are all Zendesk Ticket Fields supported as Task Fields in the Workflow Assistant?
- Can the workflow assistant completely replace the use of the ticket form when using 'Advanced' mode?
- Can an agent update ticket fields using the ticket form when using 'Advanced' mode?
How will I benefit from the new features in this release?
Most of the new features in this release have been introduced as part of the new 'Advanced' workflow mode.
Richer, more powerful design options
If you opt to use this mode when designing you workflows, your workflow designers will be provided with a much richer modelling capability in which your activities can be broken down into a task model. Tasks are used to specify which fields should be set by your agents to answer questions that determine which alternative path to take through the task flow.
A key advantage of this enhancement is a more powerful and yet simplified approach to the specification of the use of task fields during the workflow and conditions based on task fields that might be ticket fields or might only be used for the duration of the activity.
Improved Agent Experience
This significantly reduces the need to submit the ticket form by reducing the need for activities that were necessary to define transition conditions and also allows for the use of immediate starts to apply a workflow without having to submit the ticket.
The result is a much improved end user experience for your agents as they are guided through each of the tasks, invited to answer questions and set field values all within the workflow assistant and, If ticket fields are involved in your workflow, without the need to switch back and forth to the ticket form.
What are the major differences between 'Standard' and 'Advanced' workflows?
The primary difference between workflow modes, is that 'Advanced' mode provides support for the use of an Activity Task Model.
From a diagramming perspective, this allows an activity to be decomposed into a lower level task model, with each task able to set or use task fields, which might correspond to ticket fields or might be used only for the duration of the activity.
The use of the task model allows the agent to perform tasks in the workflow assistant, working through multiple tasks following a path depending on conditions based on the values set in the task fields, without having to submit the ticket.
If opting to work in 'Standard' mode, it will be possible to continue designing your workflows using all of the familiar features you have been using to date and the workflow assistant will continue to behave as it has prior to this release.
A full explanation can be found in the following articles:
- Task Model
- Task Sets
- Activity Task Modelling (Advanced Option Choice)
- Activity Tasks and Task Outcomes (Standard Option Choice)
Will I need to take an action following the release?
All existing workflows will continue to function and behave as they did prior to the release, so you need take no immediate action.
It will be possible to continue using and updating your existing workflows and adding new workflows using the 'Standard' features with which your admins and agents are already familiar.
However, it will also be possible to start adding new workflows using 'Advanced' mode, in which case you will need to familiarise your team with the use of the new advanced features.
We recommend you start with the following articles:
Will my existing workflows continue to run as now?
Once the new features have been deployed as part of this release, all existing workflows will be marked as working in 'Standard' mode.
This will ensure that they continue to behave exactly as they do now in the workflow assistant and ticket form.
Also, when making changes to your workflow diagrams, you will continue to be presented with all the same features and options available prior to the release.
Will it be possible to make use of the advanced features in my existing workflows?
Advanced features will only be available to a workflow that has been created using 'Advanced' mode.
Since all existing workflows prior to this release will be marked as running in 'Standard' mode , none of the advanced features will be available for use.
Will it be possible to continue building workflows in 'Standard' mode?
When a new workflow is added, you will be invited to select which operating mode should be used.
If your preference is to continue building workflows that behave in a familiar way when applied to your tickets, you simply need to choose 'Standard' mode.
Are there any 'Standard' features that aren't available when working in 'Advanced' mode?
The following list of 'Standard' features won't be available when modelling a workflow in 'Advanced' mode, because these features have been replaced by Task Fields, Decisions and Outcome Decisions in the Activity Task Model:
- Transition Conditions
- Activity Enactment Permissions
- Activity Completion Conditions
- Optional Activity Fields
- Read Only Fields
- Activity Tasks and Task Outcomes
Can I convert my existing 'Standard' workflow into an equivalent 'Advanced' workflow?
Many of new concepts developed for the 'Advanced' operating mode prevent a direct correlation to an equivalent feature in a workflow developed in 'Standard' mode.
For this reason, at this time it isn't possible to convert an exiting 'Standard' mode workflow into an equivalent 'Advanced' mode workflow.
Should you wish to upgrade an existing workflow to benefit from the new advanced features, it will be necessary to add a new workflow using 'Advanced' mode and then rebuild your workflow using the diagrammer.
Are all Zendesk Ticket Fields supported as Task Fields in the Workflow Assistant?
Although most ticket fields can be controlled using the workflow assistant, there are several types of Zendesk Ticket Field for which it hasn't yet been possible to provide support using the workflow assistant.
A full list of restrictions can be found in the following article: Activity Task Modelling (Advanced Option Choice).
For those types of ticket field that aren't yet supported it will be necessary for your agents to continue using the Zendesk Ticket Form to reference or update the fields during a workflow.
Can the workflow assistant completely replace the use of the ticket form when using 'Advanced' mode?
When using a Task Model for an activity it is possible to specify the use of ticket fields by each task.
During the task:
- The ticket field might be initialised automatically,
- The agent might be asked to enter or change the value,
- The field might be configured as read only so the value can be used for reference, or
- The ticket field might be configured as hidden so it can be used in conditions for decisions
If a ticket field is involved in a workflow as described above, then it will be disabled in the ticket form while it is under control of the workflow assistant.
In this way, provided that the use of all ticket fields involved in the processing of your tickets are controlled by the workflow assistant using tasks, the ticket form need not be used by your agents to set field values.
However, as outlined under Are all Zendesk Ticket Fields supported as Task Fields in the Workflow Assistant? above, there are some restrictions on the type of ticket field that can be controlled by the workflow assistant.
These restrictions might prevent replacing the use if ticket forms completely.
Can an agent update ticket fields using the ticket form when using 'Advanced' mode?
The workflow assistant can be used to set the value of ticket fields as an alternative to using the Zendesk ticket form (see Can the workflow assistant completely replace the use of the ticket form when using 'Advanced' mode? above).
However, any ticket fields in the ticket form that aren't involved in the workflow, will be available for update using standard Zendesk ticket form functionality.
An additional option can be chosen so that a ticket field is only placed under the control of the workflow assistant while it is being used by the current activity, but once the activity is complete, the ticket field is reenabled and available for use in the ticket form.
See the following article for a detailed explanation: Activity Task Modelling (Advanced Option Choice)
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