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OVERVIEW

Actionabl.ai is a platform that automates your business processes and alerts users whenever human intervention is needed. 

This guide covers Tasks reviewed and resolved by Business users, including:

• User Tasks - a task that must always be completed by a human, like reviewing a proof.
• Quality Control (QC) Tasks - a task whose output must be double-checked by a human, like issuing a payment to a vendor.

Error tasks may also be routed to a Business User when they involve business process errors, such as a missing document, a document that fails OCR because of poor scanning quality, or an invoice that fails content validation against business rules.

Related Documents:

• User Management covers all aspects of managing users, groups, and departments including setting access privileges to tasks and processes.
• Controller Guide covers the Controller dashboard, which is central to managing the flow of automated processes through the system and enables monitoring and reporting on the workflows being managed in Actionabl.
• Automation, Task, & Rule Administration covers the core of setting up and managing the tasks, automations, connectors, and rules that make up the process flows.

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PROCESSES AND TASKS

There are three accordions in this section:

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TAKING ACTION ON TASKS

Most people use Actionabl to respond to alerts and take action on a task. Now that you understand how the information is organized and displayed in the system, let’s examine how to take action.

There are three basic categories of actions:

• Assignments specify the user who owns (is responsible for) the task
  (Claim/Unclaim/Reassign/Assign/Unassign)
• Editing makes changes to the task or its data to move it forward in the process or resolve an error
  (Edit/Validate/Save/Complete/Resubmit/Discard)
• Annotating adds notes to help other task users or provide historic context to the task
  (Notes)

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Assignments: Claim/Unclaim/Reassign and Assign/Unassign

Assignment of a task to a user can either be through a user claiming a task or from someone else assigning it to them. 

• Users with the appropriate supervisory permissions can assign or reassign a task to a user.
• Users can claim tasks for themselves or, if they have permission, reassign a task they own to someone else. They can also unclaim a task they currently own.

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SLA - Service Level Agreements

Each process and task in the system has a service-level agreement – referred to as an SLA – associated with it. The SLA timer sets a due date/time for each task. When an item moves into a task step, the SLA’s timer starts; if the time runs out, the item on the task list will show a status of “OVERDUE” and its due date will be red. Completion time is logged for all tasks to provide reporting, as well.

When you claim a task, the SLA timer starts as soon as you click Claim. If you unclaim a task, the timer stops and is reset to zero for the next claimant of that task. The timer restarts when the item is Claimed by someone else.

If someone else assigns you a task, such as a supervisor using the Assign button or another assignee using the Reassign button, your timer on that task does not start until you click the Start button on the task detail page.

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Claiming a Task for Yourself

1. Click to open the task detail view from any task list.

2. Click Claim in the top menu bar.

3. The task detail screen opens for you to take action, and the item is now listed in your My Tasks module on the dashboard. You now own this task.

Claiming Multiple Tasks At Once

1. On the task list that shows the items you want to claim, click Bulk Actions.

2. Click the checkboxes next to each task you wish to claim, then click Actions.
   

3. Click Claim in the pop-up.
   

4. The items disappear from the list view displayed and are added to the count for your My Tasks list.

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Unclaiming Tasks You Own

When you own a task, you can either Unclaim it or, if you have permission, Reassign it to someone else.

• Unclaiming removes the assignment from your queue and leaves the task unassigned, ready for someone else to claim it.
• Reassigning places it into someone else’s My Tasks queue. They are not notified of the action, but they will see the task when they look at their queue.

You can do this either through the Task Detail view for a single task or by using Bulk Actions in your My Tasks list.

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Unclaim a single task

In the task detail view, click Unclaim in the top action bar to unassign the task.

Reassign a single task

1. Click << More in the top action bar to open the expanded action menu.
   

2. Click Reassign, select the user to receive the task from the dropdown list in the popup menu, then click Submit. You will only see the Reassign option if you have the appropriate permission level in this process.

Unclaim Multiple Tasks

1. On the My Tasks list, click Bulk Action and check the checkboxes next to the items you wish to unassign. Then click the blue Actions button at the top.
   
2. Confirm in the popup that you’ve selected the right tasks, then click Unclaim. The tasks disappear from your My Tasks listing and are added back to the appropriate task queue(s).

Reassign Multiple Tasks

1. On the My Tasks list, click Bulk Action and check the checkboxes next to the items you wish to unassign. Then click the blue Actions button at the top.
   

2. Confirm in the popup that you’ve selected the right tasks, click Reassign, then select the appropriate assignee in the popup’s dropdown list. Click Submit to save the reassignment.
   

3. Click Close to exit the popup, then Close again to exit the bulk actions popup.

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Assigning Tasks to Other Users

If you have supervisory rights in the system, you can assign tasks to other users. This works exactly like reassigning items that you own. 

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Assigning a single task to a user

1. From the detail screen of any unassigned task, click << More to expand the action menu.
   
2. Click Assign.
   
3. Select the assignee from the dropdown in the popup, then click Submit.
   

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Assigning multiple tasks to a user

You can assign tasks to other users from the general task lists or you can reassign them from the tasks that you have claimed. 

1. On the Task List, click Bulk Action and click the checkboxes next to the items you wish to assign. Then, click the blue Actions button at the top.
   
2. Confirm in the popup that you’ve selected the right tasks, click Assign (or Reassign if you’ve previously claimed them), then select the appropriate assignee in the popup’s dropdown list. Click Submit to save the assignment.
   
3. Click Close to exit the popup, then Close again to exit the bulk actions popup.

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Editing Task Data

You may need to edit the data of an item that you own to resolve an error or move it forward through the process. 

1. Open the task detail for the item you own. (If you do not already own the item, you must first Claim it.)
2. If you claimed this task for yourself, you go directly into an editable view. If you were assigned this task by someone else, you must click Start in the top menu to begin working on it. 

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Side By Side Edit View

For Error tasks, you will see a side-by-side editing view that looks something like this:

The two sides of the screen start with identical copies of the record’s data. They show the data as it entered the process and up to the point where the error was encountered.

The error to be corrected is at the top (in this case, “Invalid PAN”).

At any point while editing, click Save (found under the << More menu) to save the changes you have made without attempting any validation or processing of those changes. This does not update the item’s status in any way; it simply preserves the work you’ve done so far.

You have two choices in providing the input to resolve the error. 

 

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Direct Editing View

User and QC tasks do not present their data in a side-by-side view. In this case, the data is organized into groupings and can be directly edited wherever it is found on the screen. Not all fields may be editable, depending on the type of data you’re viewing and how the form’s creator defined its fields. For example, an email’s sender, received date, and message body would typically not be editable.

At any point while you are working on the item, click Save (found under the << More menu) to save the changes you have made without attempting any validation or processing of those changes. This does not update the item’s status in any way; it simply preserves the work you’ve done so far.

Click Validate at the top of the screen to check your changes. This ensures that no additional issue is identified before sending this record to the next step.

1. When you click Validate, if an error is generated, it will appear in red at the bottom center of the screen.
2. If the task runs successfully with the new data you will see the message “Validations successful” in green at the bottom center of the screen.

After validating the work, click Complete to save the task and move it along to its next processing step.

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Summary

The Summary gives you an at-a-glance view of the data involved in the task. This can be useful when investigating or resolving an issue and may also be the primary screen involved in some QC tasks.

From the task detail, click << MORE in the top menu bar, then click Summary.

The Summary screen shows all data fields for this task and their contents. Once you have reviewed the data, click Close to return to the task detail view.

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Locate

The Locate view orients you to where in the overall flow this item currently resides. It brings you to a Progress Map to see the item’s progress.

In the top menu bar, click << MORE then click Locate.

The progress map highlights the current task for this item in gold for QC and User tasks or red for Error tasks. Tasks that have been completed successfully are green. Future tasks are in pale yellow.

Handling Tasks

The exact steps to resolve any QC or User task will depend on your business processes and instructions for that task.

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QC Tasks

QC tasks usually involve some type of inspection of the data, including attachments and notes, or even a physical artifact such as a proof or prototype. 

When you click on a QC task that you own: 

1. Review the item data you see and make any appropriate updates. 
2. Click Validate after making updates. This simply performs field-level validation to ensure that all data is in the correct format and that no required fields are left blank.
3. You can then click << MORE and Save to save your changes until you are ready to finish your work on this item.
4. Click << MORE and Add Label to label the item. Labels can then be used in searches and filters.
5. Click on Content & History at the bottom of the screen to review any Notes, Attachments, and Emails related to the item.
6. Complete any offline processes your business requires you to do as part of this task.
7. When you are finished:
   • Resolve the item and move it to the next process task by clicking Complete.
   • If appropriate, you can Discard the item, which removes it from the process. The item is still found by Active Search with a status of “discarded.” (Click << MORE and then Discard)

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Business Exception (User) Tasks

In most cases, User tasks are business exceptions that require a person to manually resolve an issue. For example, if an OCR task can’t fully read the data from a scanned document due to poor scanning quality, a User Task may be generated to re-scan the item. 

User tasks can also be manual steps like reviewing results and issuing a payment or shipping out a sample.

When you click on a User Task that you own:

1. Review the item data you see and any information at the top of the screen. 
2. Click on Content & History at the bottom of the screen to review any Notes, Attachments, and Emails related to the item.
3. Make whatever updates are required to resolve the item. Click Validate after making updates to ensure the data is correct. Also, Save your work (under << MORE) if you have other steps to do or are otherwise not quite ready to finish this task.
4. Add any labels to the task under <<MORE then Add Label. Labels can then be used in searches and filters.
5. Complete any offline processes your business requires you to do as part of this task.
6. When you are finished:
   • Resolve the item and move it to the next process task by clicking Complete.
   • If more appropriate, you can Discard the item, which removes it from any further processing steps. (Click << MORE and then Discard)

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Error Tasks

Business users may be assigned certain types of Error Tasks. These are usually data-related errors, such as missing or invalid data. They can also be problems like duplicate invoices or missing document attachments. 

Business users will usually not see Error Tasks related to system processes or technical problems.

When you click on an Error Task that you own:

1. Review the error message at the top of the screen, then the item data you see. 
2. Click on Content & History at the bottom of the screen to review any Notes, Attachments, and Emails related to the item.
3. Make the updates required to resolve the problem. Save your work if you have other steps to do or are otherwise not quite ready to finish this task. 
4. Add any needed labels by clicking << MORE and then Add Label. Labels can then be used in searches and filters.
5. Click Validate after making updates to ensure the data is correct if you plan to resubmit the item to run back through this process. 
6. Complete any offline processes your business requires you to do as part of this task.
7. Resolve the item when you are finished:
   • Resubmit it to send it back through this automated step with the corrections you’ve made. This will revalidate and reprocess the step completely.
   • Bypass automated re-processing and move it to the next process task by clicking Complete. This indicates that you have verified that all of the processes within this step have been successfully completed, manually or otherwise. 

If more appropriate, you can Discard the item, which removes it from any further processing steps. (Click << MORE and then Discard)

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Making Notes on Tasks

Annotations on tasks may be key to resolving issues or answering future questions. They are an important tool to use whenever something unusual occurs in handling an item.

About Notes:

• Notes can be rich-text documents and contain text, images, links, tables, and a broad array of formatting. 
• Each note should be specific to a topic and audience, as multiple notes can be attached to an item as it moves through the workflow. For example, you could have one for the accounting team and another for logistics.
• You set an “access level” on a per-note basis, so you can have notes that are private, group, or public access.

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Creating a Note

1. Open the task detail view for a task that you own.

2. At the bottom of the screen, click Content & History to expand the section, then click the Notes tab.
   

   NOTE: For some tasks, the window opens with a document window in the front. You’ll need to close that window to see the Notes tab:
   

3. To add a note, click the green plus icon on the right of the screen. The note editor will appear as a pop-up.
   

4. Use the note editor like any text editor, such as Word or Docs. 

   • Shortcuts like Copy (Ctrl/Cmd C) and Paste (Ctrl/Cmd V) work here.
   • The Insert menu lets you easily add images, links, horizontal lines, and tables.
   • The formatting options across the top of the screen include bold, italic, font color, background color, alignment, and list/indent styles.
   • The Edit menu provides Undo / Redo and Select All options, in addition to the usual cut, copy, and paste.

5. After composing your document, click Save to save and close the pop-up.  You can also click Close without saving to discard your work.

6. The note you created is saved as an unnamed Public note on this item.
   

7. Now, adjust the note’s name and access level and make any other changes by clicking the expand icon on the far right of the item.
   

   1. If you need to make changes to the content you just saved, click Edit Note.
   2. To update the note’s name, access level, and task note status, click Edit.
      
   3. Type a descriptive name for the note. 
   4. Click the down arrow under Access Level and select the appropriate security level. 
      • User restricts the note and its content to be visible to only you.
      • Group allows anyone in the same user group as you to see the note and its content.
      • Public lets anyone who can see this item see the note and its content.
   5. Click the checkbox to indicate if this is a Local note. Local notes are only seen on this item during this processing step; when the task is resolved, the note disappears. If you leave this unclicked, the note will remain on the item throughout its life, regardless of its step or status.

   Click Save to retain the changes you’ve just made or Cancel to exit editing without saving your changes.

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Discard an Item

Occasionally, an item flowing through the process may no longer be needed. Examples could include duplicate items or offline tasks that don’t apply to the specific circumstance. When this is the case, Discard the item.

1. Claim the item and access its task details page.
2. Click << MORE and then Discard.
3. You’ll be asked to confirm the deletion of the item and warned that the process will end. This indicates that the item will not flow through any subsequent process steps.
   
4. Click OK to discard it or Cancel to return to the task details page.

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Bulk actions

You can perform several actions simultaneously on a group of selected items. This is called a Bulk Action.

Examples:

• Claim / Unclaim 
• Assign / Reassign
• Download attachments
• Complete or Discard

You can only act on tasks that are all in the same process.

1. On any task list, toggle Bulk Actions in the top center of the page.
2. Click the checkbox to the left of each item that you want to take this action on.
   
3. Click the blue Actions button to open the bulk actions pop-up. The pop-up contains only the items you selected.
   
4. The actions available on this group of items are at the top right of the popup. Your options for bulk action are determined by the types of items you’ve selected and the status of those items.

Click the action you would like to take or click Close to cancel and return to the list of all items.