The Nimbus Task Distribution algorithm can also distribute external tasks to users. Such tasks can be created using the Microsoft Power Automate Connector and added to the service queue along any regular task. By the use of Workflows an external task is fed into the queue of any service and can also be transferred or reprioritized. Supervisors can abort a task early by using Dashboard Supervision features
PRECONDITIONS
Contact Center External Tasks are an additionally enabled modality, alongside your Contact Center services.
- External Tasks are created via the Microsoft Power Automate Connector > "AddExternalTask" Flow Action. The user creating this flow must have the corresponding Power Automate Permissions.
- External Tasks are distributed via specific Workflows and configured via Modality Service Settings.
- In order to handle External Tasks, users need the modality enabled in their General User Settings.
🔍 FAIR USE POLICY: As External Tasks can be created in bulk via external flow loop, they underly a fair-use policy. The maximum allowed limit of concurrent tasks is controlled by Luware on Tenant Administration level. This limit is also in place to ensure that potential erroneous loop conditions don't create a large amount of "stuck" tasks, blocking up service queues.
🔍 Initial Setup: Learn how to create external tasks by reading Use Case - Creating an External Task.
External Tasks can start their lifetime outside any regular Nimbus session. They are also not limited to "classic" call modalities in MS Teams, as they can help coordinate and communicate activities such as:
- Booking a hotel room or flights
- Daily maintenance routines in the office
- Reminding people of activities outside the typical call center routine
External Task Creation
Any user that meets trigger conditions can create an external task. An example could be a customer scheduling an external task via MS flow, e.g. to create a meeting to discuss requirements. The triggered Flow Actions can contain fields like "customer name, contact details, product in question, requirements, etc.", each to be configured and stored as Context Parameters.
Once created, this external task also has inherent system parameters such as:
- A target service on which the task should be queued.
- A task Task Priority for the service's queue.
- One or several preferred users, which are considered via the target service's Distribution Policy.
- A task lifetime which defines when the task should expire at (or be prolonged to) a certain date.
- A customer identifier System Parameters which can help the receiving user to understand where the task is coming from.
External Task Distribution
Eternal tasks are distributed according to dedicated "External Task Workflow" definitions, allowing to:
- Introduce artificial delays in the workflow itself, in order to allow background Flow Actions to run and retrieve the necessary details. 🔍 See our Power Automate Use Cases for inspiration.
- Support simple "Queue" task distribution or to check on task positions and act accordingly, e.g. by
- transferring the task to another service, ...
- increasing priority or ...
- ... cancelling the task.
External Task Handling
🔎External tasks are primarily handled via Attendant Console and My Sessions. Refer to External Task Handling for more details.