Start Service Block

Use this block to communicate the creation or start of a service in the Universal Contact Server (UCS) Database. The service may or may not be immediately associated with a customer. For example, an application, such as a routing workflow, may not know the customer's identity when the service is started so the service may be started anonymously.  Once the customer is known and identified, the workflow may associate the anonymous service with the customer.

Service Definition

Data residing in the UCS Database includes service data. A service may be seen as a communication or series of communications between a customer and an enterprise, and possibly also between various parts of the enterprise. A service has a temporal beginning and end.  It may span multiple interactions and include interactions of various media types (voice, e-mail, and so on).

The scope of a given service is completely defined by your enterprise and the way its customer service applications are written (for example, an IVR or Agent application).  

States and Tasks

As described in the Context Services User's Guide, services are composed of any number of states, and states in turn can be composed of any number of tasks.  Services, states, and tasks are each different types of Service Elements, which exist over an application-defined lifecycle, and have business context attached to them in the form of a disposition. Within the database, data for Service Elements is constructed based on a sequence of one or more Service Events received from an application, such as a routing workflow.

Tip

If using Context Services 8.5, the database for service/state information is the Genesys Mobile Services database. If using Context Services 8.1, the database for service/state information is the Universal Contact Server database. For more information, see General Guidelines for Context Services Preferences.

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The Start Service block has the following properties. The behavior of some properties will vary depending on whether you are in offline or online mode.

Name Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties for Callflow Blocks or Common Properties for Workflow Blocks.

Block Notes Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties for Callflow Blocks or Common Properties for Workflow Blocks.

Extensions Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Exceptions Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties for Callflow Blocks or Common Properties for Workflow Blocks.

You can also define custom events.

Service ID Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Application ID Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Application Type Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Estimated Duration Property

Use this property to specify the estimated service duration (in seconds).

1. Click under Value to display the button.
2. Click the button to open the Estimated dialog box.
3. Select Literal or Variable from the Type dropdown menu.

• If you select Literal, enter the estimated service duration in seconds.
• If you select Variable, select the name of the variable.

Identifier Property

Use this property to identify the customer. Choose the Customer ID (for associated services) or the Contact Key (for unassociated services).

1. Click under Value to display the button.
2. Click the button to open the Identifier dialog box.
3. Click one of the following buttons:

• Customer Identifier (for associated services)
• Contact Key (for anonymous services)

4. Click the down arrow opposite Type and select the source: Literal or Variable.

• If you select Literal, enter an attribute for Value, such as CustomerID.
• If you select Variable, select the variable for Value that contains either the Contact Key or the Customer ID.

Media Type Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Resource ID Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Resource Type Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Service Type Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Use Server Timestamp Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties Context Services.

Condition Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties.

Logging Details Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties.

Log Level Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties.

Enable Status Property

Find this property's details under Common Properties.

ORS Extensions Property

Starting with 8.1.4, Composer blocks used to build routing applications (with the exception of the Disconnect and EndParallel blocks) add a new ORS Extensions property.