Tech Tip: Workflow Notifications

Laserfiche business processes add a new layer to workflows that allows organizations to put instructions, deadlines and reporting histories for business processes right at employees’ fingertips.

Workflow notifications are a component of Laserfiche business processes that automatically e-mail individualized to-do lists to people involved in the processes.

The e-mail notifications include:

  • Instructions for each business process step waiting on the individual.
  • The due date for each step.
  • The status of each step.
  • The individual’s role in the process.

The schedule for when Workflow sends e-mail notifications is configurable to fit an organization’s needs. Workflow notifications can be configured in the Workflow Administration Console and the Workflow Designer.

In the Workflow Administration Console, use the Server Timers node to determine the interval at which e-mail notifications are sent, the format of the e-mails and what information the e-mails will contain.

In the Workflow Designer, notification settings for each role in the business process are defined in the Role Editor dialog box, which can be accessed from the Participants property box of the Business Process Step activity. All individuals assigned a role in a business process step will receive notifications based on the settings configured for their role. Because notifications are role-based, they are not dependent on a specific person or group participating in the business process. Rather, the individuals involved can change throughout the course of a business process step, or each time the process runs, and the notifications will be sent without interruption to whoever happens to be acting in the role.

This e-mail tells the participant that eight business processes tasks (four pending, four overdue) are waiting on him or her to take action. For each task listed in the e-mail, the participant can see the name of the process, their role, the due date and the instructions for what actions they must take to move the process on its way (only the first task is shown above). Notifications can also indicate if a step is at risk of being overdue to help participants prioritize their work for the day.