IPK Groups

You can define IPK Groups and add analysts to these groups so that calls can be forwarded to an entire group of people instead of only to an individual. Any member of the group can then pick up the call and action it.

You may define as many groups as you wish. When a group is updated, all analysts linked to this group will remain linked to the new group, that is, only the group name is changed.

IPK Groups can be assigned to individual analysts from the IPK Groups tab in their Person Details, or to IPK Security Roles which are in turn assigned to analysts from the tab in their Person Details.

Creating an IPK Group

Before you start

You must have Security Setup selected in the Admin tab of your General Access security role to access the Security options within the System window.

  1. ClosedDisplay the IPK Groups window if it is not already on screen.

    Select the Menu button , then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed, with a menu of options available . In the Explorer pane, expand the Security group , scrolling up if necessary.

    Select the IPK Groups option from the Explorer pane. The IPK Groups window is displayed, listing the existing IPK groups.

  2. Select .
  3. Complete the details as follows, scrolling across the window if necessary:
Name

The name for the IPK group you want to create. This should be unique.
Email ID

The email address to be used as the group’s email address.

You can specify multiple email addresses for a group, separating them with semicolons.

If no email ID is given and Email Analysts is selected, individual Analysts will be emailed.

MMA URLs are not displayed in email messages sent to the group email address.
Email Analysts

Select this to automatically email individual Analysts when a call, request or task is forwarded to the group. If a group email address is given, the group and the Analysts within it will receive an email. MMA URLs will not be displayed in email messages sent to a group email address.

Analysts will only receive an email if email addresses are stored in their Person Details.

If Email ID is left blank and this option is not selected, or the Analysts do not have valid email addresses held, no email is sent.
Pager ID

The pager number for the group. Only one number can be entered into this field. If text messages are being used, enter the mobile cellphone number.
Page Analysts

Select to send a pager message to the Analysts in the group when a call, request or task is forwarded to the group
Time Zone

Select a time zone for the group from the drop down list. By default, this is the time zone specified on the vFire Core server. This is useful if you want vFire Core to apply an Underpinning Contract (UC) to a call based on the time zone of the group associated with the Underpinning Contract.
  1. Below the table, there are further options relating to partitioning and recipients. Complete as follows:
Allocate Partition(s) to Group

This is only enabled if the system is partitioned. Only partitions you have permissions to are displayed.

Allocate the group to as many partitions as necessary by selecting the tick box beside the appropriate partition(s) listed.

This enables:

  • the group(s) to be assigned to analysts in matching partitions through their Person Details
  • the group(s) to appear in the Forward window of partitioned calls

    If call details are not partitioned, all groups appear
Escalation Recipients for Group (forward)

Identify the SLM notification recipients for calls, requests and tasks forwarded to the group. Different recipients can be selected for First call back, response, resolve (up to 3 levels of escalation) and action.

This option is only enabled if Assigned to Group is selected in Service Level Management Settings
Escalation Recipients for Group (current)

Identify the SLM notification recipients for calls, requests and tasks that are currently owned by the group. Different recipients can be selected for First call back, response, resolve (up to 3 levels of escalation) and action.

This option is only enabled if Current Group is selected in the Service Level Management Settings
  1. Select to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.
  2. Once the group is defined, Analysts can then be allocated to it in their Person Details.

Identifying SLM Notification Recipients

You can configure analysts or groups to automatically receive notification of agreement escalation and breach events. The people receiving these notifications are known as recipients.

When creating an IPK or Workflow Group and selecting an agreement escalation or breach event, you can set up the recipients based on:

  • Whether the group is the current owner of the call, request, or task at Escalation Recipients for Group (current), or
  • Whether the call, request, or task has been forwarded to the group, at Escalation Recipients for Group (forward)

For IPK groups, you can define recipients for the following events:

  • First Call Back
  • Response
  • Resolve (includes up to 3 levels of escalation)
  • Action

For Workflow groups, you can define recipients for the following events:

  • Resolve (includes up to 3 levels of escalation)
  • Action

Recipients are defined on the Recipients dialog box. This window can be accessed from many windows, including IPK Groups, IPK Thresholds, Workflow Thresholds, or Send Email.

To identify recipients for SLM notifications, take the following steps:

  1. Select the event for which you want to specify a recipient.
  2. In the Recipients dialog box, use the search options to define the search criteria. For example, to display Analysts belonging to a specific Organization, select the People radio button and specify the organization in the Organization Q/D search field.
  3. Select .
  4. In the Results table, select the recipient(s) you want notified, using the Ctrl or Shift keys to select more than one.
  5. Select to add the recipient(s) to the Selected Recipients table.
  6. Select the Email and/or Pager tick boxes next to the recipient(s) name(s) to indicate the method of notification.
  7. Select to save the details and return to the IPK Groups window.
  8. Repeat for each SLM event for which you want to identify notification recipients.
  9. You can remove recipients from the Selected Recipients table by selecting .

Viewing IPK Groups

Before you start

You must have Security Setup selected in the Admin tab of your General Access security role to access the Security options within the System window.

  1. Select the Menu button , then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed, with a menu of options available . In the Explorer pane, expand the Security group , scrolling up if necessary.
  2. Select the IPK Groups option from the Explorer pane. The IPK Groups window is displayed, listing the existing IPK groups in a browse table.

Updating an IPK Group

You can update the details held on an IPK group to reflect changes to the company. When a group is updated, all Analysts linked to this group will remain linked to the new group; that is, only the group name or settings are changed.

Before you start

You must have Security Setup selected in the Admin tab of your General Access security role to access the Security options within the System window.

  1. ClosedDisplay the IPK Groups window if it is not already on screen.

    Select the Menu button , then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed, with a menu of options available . In the Explorer pane, expand the Security group , scrolling up if necessary.

    Select the IPK Groups option from the Explorer pane. The IPK Groups window is displayed, listing the existing IPK groups.

  2. Update the details as necessary.
  3. Select to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.

Deleting an IPK Group

If you no longer need an IPK group, you can delete it.

You cannot restore deleted IPK groups, you must create them again. Entities linked to the deleted group will remain linked until a new group is selected, and will display the deleted group with an asterisk beside the name to indicate it is a deleted value.

Before you start

You must have Security Setup selected in the Admin tab of your General Access security role to access the Security options within the System window.

Before deleting the group, all linked entities, such as person records, calls, security roles, should be updated to a new group.

You cannot delete the default IPK group. You will receive an error message if you attempt to do so.

  1. ClosedDisplay the IPK Groups window if it is not already on screen.

    Select the Menu button , then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed, with a menu of options available . In the Explorer pane, expand the Security group , scrolling up if necessary.

    Select the IPK Groups option from the Explorer pane. The IPK Groups window is displayed, listing the existing IPK groups.

  2. Select the group you want to delete.
  3. Select . The group disappears from the browse table. However, it is not deleted from the database until you save the changes.

    If it is the default group for any analysts, you will receive a warning message asking if you wish to continue.

  4. Select to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.