Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Oracle CRM Foundation Components - An Overview

Resource Manager is a single repository for defining business resources: people, equipment, venues, etc. Once an entity is defined as a resource, it becomes visible to the entire CRM Suite.

Territory Manager is used to automatically assign transactions like opportunities, leads and service requests to sales, service and collection teams. However, as opposed to being one-dimensional and basing transaction assignments on a single attribute like postal code, area code, country or product expertise, Oracle’s Territory Manager component can assign transactions according to multiple criteria.

Calendar serves two main purposes, to define resource availability and to advance productivity at an individual, group, or organization level.

Task Manager provides a single model for all tasks processed by the CRM suite. Tasks are created and assigned to groups or individuals, they may be recurring, associated to other business objects, or they may have dependencies defined. For instance, a sales methodology may be created that consists of a predefined set of tasks which need to be completed subsequently.

Assignment Manager is integrated with the resource availability calendar to weigh resource availability and skill sets to determine the assignment of resources to tasks and of tasks to individuals or groups of people. Assignment manager can be set to function automatically or it can be used manually to suggest possible assignments. It can also be used in conjunction with the Scheduler application to choose resources based on optimizing costs for that resource.

Interaction History provides a framework for capturing all interaction data associated with customer contacts, whether automatic or involving an agent. For example, when a customer visits an iStore, an interaction is logged in the repository. Then later, when that customer calls in to the call center, the call center agent can see that the prior interaction had occurred.

Notes facilitate creation, search, maintenance and sharing of notes related to customers, opportunities, campaigns, service requests, etc. Notes, when used in conjunction with Interaction History, can help provide a true 360-degree view of the customer. Notes are one of the places that best exemplifies the common look and feel provided by the Foundation components

1-to-1 Fulfillment engine supports both high-volume and one-off document fulfillment in electronic formats like email and fax. For example, the marketing and sales applications use 1-to-1 Fulfillment for email campaigns as well as to fulfill individual collateral requests.

Escalation Manager allows you to proactively and reactively respond to potential problem situations. With workflow capabilities that allow you to create business rules, monitor the completion of tasks, and escalate issues automatically when the business rules are violated, you can proactively stay on top of your game. By defining escalation territories, you have predefined resources responsible for handling reactive escalations that may occur.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Multi-Org Structure in Oracle 11i Applications – a compilation from Oracle Manual

Overview:
The Oracle Applications organization models define organizations and the relationships among them in arbitrarily complex enterprises.
It dictates how transactions flow through different organizations and how those organizations interact with each other.

Features:
•Use a single installation of any Oracle Applications product to support any number of organizations, even if those organizations use different sets of books.
•Define different organization models.
•Support any number of legal entities within a single installation of Oracle Applications.
•Secure access to data so that users can access only the information that is relevant to them.
•Purchase products through one legal entity and receive them in another legal entity.
•Sell products from a legal entity that uses one set of books and ship them from another legal entity using a different set of books, and automatically record the appropriate inter-company sales by posting inter-company accounts payable and accounts receivable invoices.
•Can sell products through one legal entity and ship them from another. The system automatically recognizes the inter-company sale between the shipping organization and the selling organization by generating inter-company invoices.

Levels of Organization:
•Set of Books
•Business Process
•Legal Entity
•Operating Units
•Inventory Units

Set of Books (SOB):
A financial reporting entity that uses a particular chart of accounts, functional currency, and accounting calendar.
Oracle General Ledger secures transaction information (such as journal entries and balances)by set of books. When we use Oracle General Ledger, we choose a responsibility that specifies a set of books. We then see information for that set of books only.
Business Group:
The business group represents the highest level in the organization structure, such as the consolidated enterprise, a major division, or an operation company. The business group secures human resources information.
For example, when we request a list of employees, we see all employees assigned to the business group of which our organization is a part.
Legal Entity:
A legal company for which we prepare fiscal or tax reports. We assign tax identifiers and other legal entity information to this type of organization.
Operating Unit:
An organization that uses Oracle Cash Management, Order Management and Shipping Execution, Oracle Payables, Oracle Purchasing, and Oracle Receivables.
It may be a sales office, a division, or a department. An operating unit is associated with a legal entity.
Information is secured by operating unit for these applications. Each user sees information only for their operating unit. To run any of these applications, we choose a responsibility associated with an organization classified as an operating unit.
Inventory Organization:
An organization for which we track inventory transactions and balances, and/or an organization that manufactures or distributes products. Examples include (but are not limited to) manufacturing plants, warehouses, distribution centers, and sales offices.
The following applications secure information by inventory organization:
Oracle Inventory, Bills of Material, Engineering, Work in Process, Master Scheduling/MRP, Capacity, and Purchasing receiving functions.
To run any of these applications, we must choose an organization that has been classified as an inventory organization.

Limitations on Multiple Operating Units per Set of Books:
•Multiple Organizations enabled products do not support viewing secured data across operating units.
•Multiple Organizations enabled products, process transactions within an operating unit. There is no additional support for centralization/decentralization of business functions.
•When the Multiple Organizations enabled products post to Oracle General Ledger, you need to run the posting process from each operating unit. You cannot run the posting process for all operating units in the set of books in a single process.
•In–transit shipments across organizations in different sets of books are not supported.
•Supplier and customer tables are shared across operating units. However, you must define supplier sites and customer addresses for each operating unit. For example, if multiple operating units buy from the same supplier site, the supplier site must be defined once for each operating unit.
•You should not specify any centralized statements site, centralized dunning site, customer–level order type, or customer–level salesperson because customer addresses, order types, and salespeople are not shared across operating units.
•You should specify the tax code at the customer level only if you have identical tax codes across operating units.
•The Customer Merge process allows you to merge only addresses and sites within the same operating unit, since transactions are secured by operating unit. If a customer has active addresses in other operating units, the Customer Merge process does not make the customer inactive.
•You can receive against purchase orders only in the operating unit to which your responsibility is connected.
•Legal entity reporting (such as tax reporting) that involves sub ledger products is done at the operating unit level. If all the operating units for a given set of books belong to the same tax reporting entity, you must sum the tax data manually.

For Oracle R12, the Multi-Org Structure differs from 11i. Features of R12 Multi-Org Structure will be published shortly.

Monday, May 16, 2011

API's in Oracle CRM Service

Few important API’s in Oracle CRM Service are as follows

Depot Repair:
CSD_REPAIRS_PUB
Create_Repair_Order
Update_Repair_Order

Field Service:
CSF_DEBRIEF_PUB
CREATE_DEBRIEF
CREATE_DEBRIEF_LINES
UPDATE_DEBRIEF_LINE
UPDATE_DEBRIEF

Install Base:
CSI_DATASTRUCTURES_PUB
CSI_ITEM_INSTANCE_PUB
Create_Item_instance
Update_Item_Instance
Expire_Item_Instance
Get_Item_Instance
Get_Item_Instance_Details
Copy_Item_Instance
CSI_INSTANCE_RELATIONSHIP_PUB
Create_Relationship
Update_Relationship
Expire_Relationship
Get_Relationships
CSI_SYSTEMS_PUB
Create_System
Update_System
Expire_System
Get_Systems

CRM Foundation:
Notes:
JTF_NOTES_PUB
Create_Notes
Update_Notes

Resource Manager:
JTF_RS_RESOURCE_PUB
Create_Resource
Update_Resource
JTF_RS_GROUPS_PUB
Create_Resource_Group
Update_Resource_Group
JTF_RS_SALESREPS_PUB
Create_SalesRep
Update_SalesRep

Task Manager:
JTF_TASKS_PUB
Create_Task
Update_Task
Delete_Task
JTF_TASK_ASSIGNMENTS_PUB
Create_Task_Assignment
Update_Task_Assignment
Delete_Task_Assignment
JTF_TASK_REFERENCES_PUB
Create_References
Update_References
Delete_References

Tele Service:
CS_SERVICEREQUEST_PUB
Create_ServiceRequest
Update_ServiceRequest
Update_Status
Update_Serverity
Update_Urgency
Update_Owner
Update_Problem Code
Link_KB_Statement
Link_KB_Solution
CS_INCIDENTLINKS_PUB
Create_Incident_Link
Delete_Incident_Link
Update_Incident_Link

Charges:
CS_Charge_Details_PUB
Create_Charge_Details
Update_Charge_Details
Delete_Charge_Details
CS_CHARGE_CREATE_ORDER_PUB
SUBMIT_ORDER
CS_MULTIORG_PUB
GET_ORGID

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Business Flows in Oracle CRM Service

Business Flows in Oracle CRM Service are as follows:

1. Request to Resolution - Tele Service Module
a) Dispatch to Debrief (Request to Dispatch)- Field Service Module
b) Request to Repair (Request to Depot)- Depot Repair Module
2. Contract to Renewal - Service Contract Module
a) Author to Sign Service Contract Flow - Oracle Service Contracts Module
b) Quote to Warranty / Extended Warranty Flow - Oracle Quoting & Order Management Modules
c) Expiring Contract to Renewal - Oracle Service Contracts Module

Request to Resolution Flow:
1.Receive Customer Contact (iSupport, Call, Email)
2.Capture Service Request Information (like Product Serial No. , Problem Description)
3.Verify the entitlements (like Service Contract, SLA’s)
4.Create Service Request
5.Identify the Solution (Knowledge Base, Depot Repair, and Field Service)
6.Resolve Service Request
7.Maintain Knowledge Base
8.Create Charge Order

Dispatch to Debrief Flow: (Request to Dispatch)
1.Receive Customer Contact (iSupport, Call, Email)
2.Capture Service Request Information (like Product Serial No. , Problem Description)
3.Verify the entitlements (like Service Contract, SLA’s)
4.Create Service Request
5.Create Field Service Task
6.Schedule Field Service Task
7.Execute Field Service Task
8.Debrief Field Service Task
9.Close Task and Service Request

Request to Repair Flow: (Request to Depot)
1.Receive Customer Contact (iSupport, Call, Email)
2.Capture Service Request Information (like Product Serial No. , Problem Description)
3.Verify the entitlements (like Service Contract, SLA’s)
4.Create Service Request
5.Create Repair Order
6.Issue RMA
7.Receive RMA
8.Manage Repair Jobs
9.Record WIP Charges
10.Create Sales Order
11.Ship the Sales Order
12.Invoice the Customer
13.Close the Repair Order
14.Close the Service Request

Contract to Renewal Business Flow

Author to Sign Service Contract Flow (Oracle Service Contracts)
1.Enter Service Contract
2.Define Contract Renewal Triggers
3.Apply Customer Payment Information
4.Review Contract for QA compliance
5.Approve Contract
6.Sign Contract

Quote to Warranty / Extended Warranty Flow (Oracle Quoting & Order Management)
1.Determine Service Interest
2.Negotiate Price, Discounts and Terms
3.Convert Opportunity to Quote
4.Determine Order Details
5.Convert Quote to Order
6.Create Extended Warranty
7.Maintain Customer Install Base
8.Verify Entitlement

Expiring Contract to Renewal (Oracle Service Contracts)
1.Identify Contracts for Renewal
2.Automatic Renewal
3.Renew Contract Automatically
(Or)
1.Identify Contracts for Renewal
2.Manage Contract Changes
3.Review Contract for QA Compliance
4.Approve Contract Renewal
5.Notify Parties of Customer Change
6.Sign Contract

In addition to the above mentioned modules, iSupport, Oracle Common Application Components like Task Manager, Territory Manager, Assignment Manager, Resource Manager, Calender, Notes, Knowledge Management will also be taking part in the execution of business flows.