Preparing the Workflow

External Tasks are handled in separate Workflows. The first step therefore is to create a workflow.

1. Go to Configuration > Workflows and create a new workflow.
2. Select "External Task" as your workflow type.
3. Define name and Organization Unit for your workflow. 
   💡 Keep in mind that the workflow needs to be placed in an Organization Unit same or higher as your service in order to be visible later.
   💡 We also recommend using a base workflow template like “Queue Disconnect” as a solid starting point. 
   
4. Click “Create”.
   ⮑ You are now brought to the workflow editor. You can start adding Workflow Activities.
   💡 If you are used to editing workflows, you may note some differences. For example there is a new "Delay" activity which can be used to react to Trigger Events and give Flow Actions time to retrieve data in the background. This will come in useful later as you prepare your flow (see below) and test its runtime performance.
5. Add workflow activities as needed.
   💡 Our workflow below is an example. It uses a System Fields  "Customer Identifier" to react to specific words, prioritizing the task higher accordingly. 
   💡 The task itself would be created by the Microsoft Power Automate Connector, which we will address further below. 
   
6. Click Save to finish your new workflow.

Adjusting the Service Settings

1. Go to Service Settings and then to the Modalities tab.
   💡 Note the new "External Task" section therein.
2. Activate "External Task"  and assign the new workflow you created in the previous step. 
   
3. Click "Save & Apply" to save the changes.

Prepare your Flow

Go to Power Automate and log in with service owner or administrator rights. 
✅ Note that the selection of services within the Microsoft Power Automate Connector depends on bother user permissions and Contact Center licensed services.

1. Create a new empty Cloud Flow.
2. The next step depends on which Trigger you want to use to create a new External Task.
   1.  A very simple example – also useful to test External Tasks – is to use a manual flow trigger. 
      Using a manual trigger to test external task creation:
      
3. 💡 Tip: You can also use Nimbus Trigger Events to follow up with an external task even between services. 
   An example:
   1. A customer calls Service A, which is configured to handle only Audio/Video calls as a first response IVR.
   2. Via "Collect Information" Workflow Activities the customer can request an on-site repair → This is caught via "When a task changes state" trigger as a "Parameter Updated" session event, with the trigger still listening to Service A.
   3. Service A can now ensure that Service B (e.g. consisting of field-service agents) gets external tasks scheduled, by following up with an "Add a new external task" Flow Action. 

To add an external task you need to choose the service and we recommend filling the Customer Identifier which could be the unique ID of the task from the 3rd party system. This field helps to identify the task throughout the Nimbus events. 

INC External Task Limitations

External Task - KNOWN LIMITATIONS

Flow "RequestID" limitation - When a new External Task (ET) is created via Power Automate Flow Action, the "RequestId" value will not be returned. This means that you can't create and update an ET within the same flow. → You need configure an additional flow – based on one of the Nimbus Trigger Events – and update the ET via "UpdateTask" action.

 

LEARNINGS

• By using flows, External Tasks can come from one (or multiple) source services and "funneled" into one target Contact Center service.
• External Tasks are handled by the receiving service via their "External Task" workflow set in the Modality Service Settings. To ensure the external tasks will actually be handled, only Contact Center licensed services with the modality enabled are selectable within the Flow Actions.
• External Tasks are not limited to via Nimbus Trigger Events. You can use any kind of Flow event (e.g. a webhook, a button, an email, a MS Teams message) or a combination of events to gather the necessary inputs from multiple involved parties, then schedule the task.
• Past their creation via "AddExternalTasks" Flow Action, External Tasks are treated like any other task in Nimbus and can be updated via "UpdateTask" action accordingly, using the "RequestID" field as task identifier.

 

Handling External Tasks in Nimbus

External Tasks are handled similarly to any other task in Nimbus. They appear in the queue alongside with other (e.g. audio / video call tasks). Receiving users will get also a notification in their My Sessions view and can "Accept" or "Decline" the task.

External Tasks are also shown in Attendant Console and in Personal Dashboards within the "External Task Tabular" widget, where a service owner or supervisor can also remove the task if needed.

Personal Dashboards can showcase external task within the "External Task Tabular" widget.
💡 Via Dashboard Supervision, users with the corresponding permissions can cancel the task.

Good to know:

• By using the “Controls” column, External Tasks on Personal Dashboards can be cancelled by either Service Owners and Supervisors. 
• For your Assistant users you can open My Sessions automatically during incoming calls, making the handling of tasks easier.
  🔍 Refer to Use Case - External Task in Combination with Nimbus Assistant.