This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates are logged below, with the most recent updates at the top.
| Date |
What's Changed |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 07 AUG 2017 |
Initial Document Creation |
This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in this release.
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Oracle Field Service Cloud August Release
This latest release of Oracle Field Service Cloud provides significant new features and capabilities across the solution including improved usability, configuration options and seamless integrations.
The August 2017 release announces the addition of Access Hours and Property Validation and Default Value capabilities. Included in this release, you will also find other enhancements related to Routing, Mapping (including the addition of Baidu Maps and Map Layer management), and a series of integration-related additions.
Access Hours Functionality
Oracle Field Service Cloud currently supports SLA, Service Window and Time-slot configuration options. The August 2017 release extends these capabilities with the addition of Access Hours. Access Hours define the time periods when a field resource could arrive to perform work at the customer location based on their preferences and/or contract. You can define up to two time intervals per day of the week (e.g., Monday from 08:00-10:00 or 13:00-16:00, Tuesday from 11:00-13:00 or 16:00-20:00) and set exception days when the customer is not available. Oracle Field Service Cloud Routing will optimize work within the defined Access Hours and exception days providing full support for complex customer contracts and SLA-related arrival periods.
The August 2017 release adds new functionality to the mobile activity and inventory screen configurations. Field and properties can be configured with default values and validation rules allowing companies to build screen configurations that ensure field resources are capturing the information to meet specific business needs. A variety of expressions are available including: variables/values, special operators (contains, in, between), arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /), comparison operators (=, <>, <, >, <=, >=), logical operators (or, and) and functions (if, now, empty, concat, …). The configuration also allows validation error messages to be configured so users can see a specific message if the validation fails.
Mapping – BAIDU Maps & Map Layer Management
Prior to this release Google Maps and Oracle Maps were the only mapping services available. Baidu Maps is added with the August 2017 release. When provisioned, Baidu services will be used for address geocoding and map tile presentation.
Map Layer functionality receives a significant update with this release. Map Layers are now configurable by User Type to ensure users have access to the right information based on their functional area. Other additions include the ability to manage and upload shapes directly in the Core Manage interface without the need for an API, a “dashboard” providing insight into the existing layer configuration and status of shapes uploads.
The August 2017 release includes several updates to Oracle Field Service Cloud’s Routing module. Urgent routing plans have been enhanced, offering a new activity assignment option that will allow work to be assigned to the field resource regardless of their assigned work zones. Additional enhancements include allowing activities to be assigned to field resources that are located in a different part of the resource tree and providing new routing configuration parameters from the Routing Screen, including the ability to view, add, edit and manage routing profiles and plans.
Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud and Messaging Enhancements
This release includes multiple integrations enhancements. The first enables Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud reports, visualizations, and dashboards to be embedded into Oracle Field Service Cloud. With this capability a user does not have to navigate between applications to access data. Instead Oracle Field Service Cloud can be the single location to view complex reports used to achieve additional insight into the operation.
Delivery Channels were enhanced to allow basic HTTP authentication for Outbound Messages. This provides greater flexibility when integrating to external systems that require "authorization" in the HTTP header.
Message Scenarios now include the ability to delivery notifications using Collaboration. Messages can automatically be delivered to defined users, user groups and help desks based on message scenario-conditions.
All applications within Oracle’s Cloud portfolio should have a consistent look and feel so that users are presented with a similar user experience. Any Core Manage or Mobility user using the “Vanilla” theme will experience this new look and feel. The header will include a navigation panel, depending on the screen size, and new graphical elements, icons, have been added to represent functional areas of the system.
Also, the login screen that requires three fields – the instance name in addition to the standard login and password fields – has been updated to match the two-field login screen.
Integration Cloud Service (ICS) and Restful API Expansion
This release offers an expansion of Oracle Field Service Cloud’s ICS integration capabilities and APIs, allowing customers to more easily integrate with backend systems. In the ICS integration expansion, the integration layer will now support capacity (activityBookingOptions) in addition to adding Search Activities, User Events and Resource Inventory Events operations.
The Event API, part of Oracle Service Cloud’s Core API, allows customers to subscribe to events and receive notifications in near real-time. This release expands the subscription capability to allow users to:
- Specify a list of fields to monitor for changes so that only the events with a matching updated field are published.
- Define a filter expression so that events that do not match the filter are not published.
- Define the fields to be returned in each published event.
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