In this Use Case we're going to showcase how you can create and manage External Tasks.
- How to set up your service (settings, workflows)
- How to create the task using our Microsoft Power Automate Connector
- How to manage existing tasks
PRECONDITIONS
You require tenant administrator or service owner rights to manage power automate flows and services.
- Contact Center Your service needs a Contact Center License in order to use the External Tasks modality. You can enable both options in your Service Settings.
- External Tasks require further configuration of Workflows and Power Automate actions. This will be described in the steps below.
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Prepare your Workflow
External Tasks are handled in separate Workflows. The first step therefore is to create one.
- Head to the Configuration > Workflows and create a new Workflow-
- Select the "External Task" workflow type.
- Define Name, Organization Unit for your worklow.
💡 We also recommend using the base "Queue Disconnect" template as a starting point.
- Finally, 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.
- Continue adding 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.
- Don't forget to "Save" and finish your new workflow.
Adjust your Service Settings
💡 We're starting at the point where your service is already licensed and the "External Task" modality is enabled. → See Preconditions.
- Head to your Service Settings and switch to the Modalities tab.
- Note the new "External Task" section therein.
- Activate "External Task" and assign the new workflow you created in the previous step.
- Don't forget to "Save & Apply" your settings
Prepare your Flow
💡 Next up we use the Microsoft Power Automate Connector to actually create the External Task.
- Head to Power Automate, 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. - Create a new empty Cloud Flow.
- The next step depends on Trigger you want to use to create a new task. 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
- 💡 Tip: You can also use Nimbus Trigger Events to follow up with an external task even between services. An example:
- A customer calls Service A, which is configured to handle only Audio/Video calls as a first response IVR.
- Via "Collect Information" Workflow Activities the customer can request an on-site repair → This is caught via "GetOnUpdated Task" trigger as a "ParameterUpdated" session event, with the trigger still listening to Service A.
- Service A can now ensure that Service B (e.g. consisting of field-service agents) gets external tasks scheduled, by following up with an "AddExternalTasks" Flow 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.
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.
- External Tasks visbility - External Tasks are currently visible in the Nimbus UI, including Assistant, but only My Sessions and Attendant Console allow to control External Tasks for now.
Handling external tasks in Nimbus
External Tasks are handled similar to any other tasks 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" .
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.
External Tasks within the Dashboard (can be cancelled by Service Owners and Supervisors)
EXTERNAL TASKS WITH ASSISTANT
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.