Optional Actions
As a case progresses through its life cycle, specific tasks may need to be completed depending on the situation. You can define actions that users optionally perform during case processing. These actions are called optional actions. Optional actions may depend on the specifics of the case.
For example, while reporting a car accident to an insurance company, the customer mentions having a new phone number. The customer representative uses an optional action to update the customer's contact information.
Optional actions may also be common case processing actions that may be invoked at varying times during the case. For example, Pega Platform™ provides an optional Change Stage action that may be called at any time during case processing.
Depending on the business need, the optional action can be a process if a series of steps are required or a user action if exactly one step is required. Optional actions are accessible at runtime from the Actions menu in the case.
Use an optional action to configure a single action that users can invoke at any time during a particular stage, or at any time during the case, such as updating information in a single screen or transferring the case to another user.
Consider a loan application that a customer service agent in a call center fills out. If the customer phone number has changed, the agent can update the customer contact data. Updating the address can be done on a single screen, so you configure an optional user action.
In the following image, click the + icons to learn more about the optional update customer info user action.
Use an optional process to configure a series of steps that users can invoke at any time during a particular stage or at any time during the case. Consider an online shopping case type. You want customers to be able to cancel their order as long as their items have not yet shipped. You determine that order cancellation is a multi-step process, so you configure an optional process.
In the following image, click the + icons to learn more about the Cancel Order optional process.
Case wide and stage-only actions
You can add optional actions as case-wide or stage-only actions. If your action or process is only relevant in the context of a specific stage, configure the work as a stage-only action. Pega Platform provides some built-in case wide actions, for example, Change Stage and Transfer Assignment.
Tip: In the upper-right of the Workflow tab of the case life cycle, click
to display existing optional actions, or add new case-wide and stage-only optional actions.Stage-only example
In the previous online shopping case type example, the Cancel Order optional process can launch from the Confirm Billing Details stage only. During the Shopping stage, there is no order for you to cancel, so the Cancel Order optional process is not applicable. Since an order can not be cancelled online after the order has shipped, the cancellation cannot be made online during the Complete Order stage, so the optional process is not applicable.
Case-wide example
In the previous loan application case type example, you configure the Update Contact optional action to launch from anywhere in the case life cycle so that agents can update customer contact information at any time during the case.
Check your knowledge with the following interaction:
This Topic is available in the following Module:
If you are having problems with your training, please review the Pega Academy Support FAQs.
Want to help us improve this content?