Using Workflow Version 11.2

Munis

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Using Workflow
Version 11.2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Using Workflow

Workflow User Attributes

Forwarding Changes

Web Services Password

Acknowledgement Notifications

Workflow Settings

Approval Aging Tab

Workflow Rejected Tab

Workflow Completed Tab

Approver Rejections Tab

On Hold Notices Tab

Notice Delivery Override Tab

Auto Approvals Tab

My Email Tab Messages Tab

Workflow Settings Options

Logon Hours (Workflow Assistant)

Approval Messages

Approval Time Limits

Change Delivery Method Option

Workflow Business Rules

Duplicate Rules

Transfer Business Rules to Other Users

Alternate Approver

Workflow in Munis Programs

Additional Workflow Programs

Pending Action Inquiry

Workflow Approval History

Workflow Assistant

Workflow Assistant (Client-side Version)

Workflow Assistant (Log-in Version)

Using Workflow with Tyler Dashboard

Approvals, Notifications, and Alerts

Workflow Manager

Using Workflow

Munis® Workflow is a system of checks and balances that works with Munis programs to provide a notification and approval process for organizations. When specified steps within a process are completed, Workflow notifies selected individuals so that they can take action on the item. Notifications are available for various steps, according to the program in which you are using Workflow, and are delivered using the Approvals, Notifications, Alerts, or Workflow Manager web parts, email, or the Workflow Assistant.

This document provides an overview of Munis Workflow, including setup, program settings, business rules, and the Workflow Assistant program. It is intended for all Munis users as a reference to help them understand the workflow process within Munis, but it also provides information to system administration personnel who are responsible for establishing Workflow permissions and parameters.

In order to use Workflow:

In User Attributes, you must have a defined Workflow Delivery method for your user account. If the value of this setting is E-mail, you must also have a valid email address entered in the E-mail Address box.
The Workflow Settings program, located on the System Administration > Workflow Administration menu, must be completed to define the workflow settings for your organization.
Business rules that direct programs how and when to use the workflow process must be defined in the Workflow Business Rules program.
Designated approvers, who are responsible for verifying process steps, must be identified in the Workflow User Attributes program.
In the Roles–Munis Systems program, the Workflow Process Access list grants users permissions to complete workflow processes.

If the value of the Workflow Process Access list is Full, users assigned to the role can complete all workflow processes. If the value of this list is None, users assigned to the role do not have access to the workflow process. If the value of this list is Limited, users can access the workflow processes defined on the Workflow Process Access screen, which is accessed by clicking the folder button for the Workflow Process Access list.

Workflow programs specifically for system administration personnel are available on the Munis System Administration menu.

Workflow programs for general Munis users (that is, not system administration personnel) are available from product menus. In these cases, only the Workflow User Attributes, Workflow Business Rules, Workflow Pending Action Inquiry, and Workflow Approval History programs are available.

Workflow User Attributes

The Workflow User Attributes program allows you to create workflow approvers and to establish workflow forwarding and web services access.

Click Update to define the user information and workflow details for a Munis Workflow user.

Field / Description
User Information
User ID / This box identifies the user ID for the approver.
Name / This box contains the approver’s full name.
Email Address / This box identifies the user’s email address. You can enter up to 50 characters of text in this box.
Workflow Delivery / This list determines the delivery method for workflow notifications. Options are All, Dashboard My Work, E-mail, and Workflow Assistant. If there are users for multiple delivery methods, you should assign the method that the majority of users use and update the remainder manually.
Note: When you upgrade from an earlier version of Munis, the User Attributes program displays the delivery method of Dashboard My Work for any users with the Workflow Assistant delivery method. In this case, the Workflow Assistant delivery method continues to work normally.
Workflow Detail
User is Workflow Approver / This check box, if selected, indicates that the user can approve workflow items. Use the Promote/Demote button to change the workflow approver status. The program selects or clears the check box to indicate the current status.
If you demote an approver and there are pending actions or business rules for the user, the program displays the Remove Approver Permission screen, which provides a summary of records and allows you to delete these items or assign an alternate approver.

User is Forwarding / This check box, if selected, indicates the user is forwarding workflow approval items to another approver. Click Forwarding Changes to manage the forwarding process.
User is Selectively Forwarding Some Work / This check box, if selected, indicates that the user if forwarding some of the approval items for which he or she is responsible. Click Forwarding Changes to manage the selective forwarding process.
Approvals Will Be Forwarded To Approver / This box contains the user ID and name of the user who is receiving the forwarded approval items.
Number of Business Rules Setup for this User / This field displays the number of business rules that are established for the selected user. To view the business rules, click the folder button. The program displays the Workflow Business Rules for the User screen. The folder button is only available if there are business rules established for the user.
Number of Pending Actions for this User / This field displays the number of workflow actions that are currently pending for the selected user. To view pending actions, click the folder button. The program displays the Workflow Pending Actions for the User screen. The folder button is only available if there are pending actions for the user.

Forwarding Changes

The Forwarding screen provides the option to establish specific start and stop times for workflow forwarding, and it allows you to enable Selective Forwarding for specific process codes.

The Workflow Automated Start/Stop Forwarding fields allow you to begin and end workflow forwarding for specified times. (Important! Munis Scheduler must be enabled to schedule start and end forwarding times.)

Using the Selective Forwarding feature, you can forward approval items for certain process codes, while retaining the no-forwarding status for other codes. For example, to forward only the General Billing approval items for a user, select only those process codes. You can also elect to forward all approvals items for an approver, or you can choose to forward all process codes.

Web Services Password

Click Change Password to create a new web services password for the selected user, who must change the password the first time he or she accesses the service. This option also resets passwords if users forget personal passwords for Workflow Assistant Users. This button is only available when the Delivery Method for the user is Workflow Assistant or All.

Acknowledgement Notifications

When there is at least one record in the active set and you are a workflow approver with pending notifications, click Mass Acknowledge Notifications to display the Mass Acknowledge Pending Notifications screen.

Click Select in the Menu group of the ribbon; the ribbon refreshes to include the Select All option. Manually select the pending notifications for which to complete notification or use the Select All option to select all the check boxes at one time. Once check boxes are selected, use the De-select All to the clear the selections all at one time.

Once you have selected the notifications, click Execute in the Menu group of the ribbon to complete the process.

When the process completes, records have been written to approval history.

Workflow Settings

The Workflow Settings program defines how and when workflow notifications are sent to originators. Using this program, you can also create approval aging reports, manage workflow processes, and maintain certain update settings.

The Workflow Settings screen includes several tabs, each of which allows you to manage different aspects of the workflow process.

Approval Aging Tab

The Approval Aging process scans all pending actions to identify any that have been idle for a specified number of days, and then it applies a specific action to all approval type pending actions that are overdue. Approval Aging is intended to keep approvers from waiting an indefinite amount of time before taking action on an item.

The Approval Aging tab defines the parameters for the approval aging process.

Field / Description
Approval Aging Tab
Workflow Aging Options
Execute Approval Aging / This list establishes when to create the Approval Aging report:

If you select Now to process the report immediately, use the buttons in the Output group on the ribbon to view, print, or save the report.
If you select In Background (now) to process the report a single time using the event log and email notification feature, or if you select At a Scheduled Time to establish a specific time when the report runs, the program uses Munis Scheduler.

Take Action After Approval Sits Idle For How Many Days? / This box indicates the number of days that an approval can remain in the system with no approval action. When this time expires, the program takes action on the item.
Print a Report of Idle Approvals / This check box, when selected, directs the program to print a report of all approvals that are idle beyond the days specified.
Notify the Originator / This check box, when selected, directs the program to send a notice to the originator when time expires for an approval.
Notify This Administrative Email Address / This check box, when selected, directs the program to notify the email address specified in the box when idle time has expired.
If you select this check box, you must enter a valid email in the box.
Forward Approval to Another Approver / This check box, when selected, directs the program to forward the expired item to a new approver.
Approver / This list identifies the approver to whom the system forwards an item when idle time has expired. If you select the Forward Approval to Another Approver check box, you must select an alternate approver from this list.
Workflow Parameters
Clear WF Comment on Target Record When Forwarding a Single Pending Action? / This check box, if selected, clears existing workflow comments included with a target record when you forward a single pending action.
Include Links for Common Workflow Actions in Email Approval Notices? / This check box, if selected, causes workflow emails sent to approvers to include links that allow the approver to perform basic workflow actions, such as Approve, Forward, or Hold. When the approver clicks one of these links, a Munis Self Service page opens, allowing the approver to complete the action.
Disable Workflow Generation and Processing by the System / When this check box is selected, workflow generation and processing is disabled for the entire Munis system. Using this option allows your organization to disable workflow for one or more of the individual databases.
In Workflow Settings, when you select the Disable Workflow Generation and Processing by the System check box, the program displays a warning message. When the disable is confirmed, the following changes are evident in Workflow programs and processing:

In Workflow Business Rules, the program remains accessible but on the Mass Change Approvals screen, the program displays a disabled message and disables the Move Business Rules and Pending Actions to a New Approver option. You are still able to copy business rules.
For workflow processing, when you disable workflow, the workflow generate process does not create workflow pending actions. In addition, the workflow routine that processes approver actions provides an error message when an approver attempts to complete an action. The error message indicates that workflow processing is disabled by the administrator.
When generation and processing is disabled, a user’s pending actions allow inquiries but not processing.

In the Workflow Assistant (Log-in Version), the program displays an inquiry-only view for previously generated workflow items and displays a disable message.
When Workflow is disabled, the User Attributes program disables the Approver Promote/Demote, Approver Forwarding On/Off and Mass Notification Acknowledgement options.
Workflow web parts and the Workflow Command Center abide by the disable settings, and associated options in Munis programs are disabled.
Make Document Attachments Directly Available to Workflow Front Ends Without Drilling into Munis / When this check box is selected, the My Work web part indicates if attachments are available for the Munis record that created a workflow action. If attachments are available, the Attachments tab displays in the web part.
Note: This option supports future functionality in Munis Workflow web parts. It does not apply to using Munis with Tyler Dashboard V6.2.

To create an approval aging report, with the Approval Aging tab selected:

Click Define.
Complete the fields, as required, to define the report.
If you select Notify This Administrative Email Address, you must enter an email address in the box.
If you select Forward Approval to Another Approver, you must select an approver from the list.
Click Accept.
If the value of the Execute Approval Aging list is In Background (now) or At a Scheduled Time, complete the Munis Scheduler screen to define the processing time; if the value of the Execute Approval Aging list is Now, click Execute.

If you selected Print a Report of Idle Approvals, the program displays the Output screen. After you print the report, the Workflow Settings program closes.
If you selected Notify the Originator, Notify This Administrative Email Address, or Forward Approval to Another Approver, the program displays a confirmation message. When you click Continue, the Workflow Settings program closes.

Workflow Rejected Tab

The Workflow Rejected tab identifies the originators to whom to send workflow rejection emails. An email notification is not sent to originators of workflow items for the selected process codes when those workflow items are rejected.

Click Send on All to enable email notification of rejections for all of the process codes, or click Skip on All to suppress email notification of rejections for all of the process codes. To manually select the process codes for which to send or suppress email notifications, click Update, select only those check boxes for the process codes to enable or suppress email notifications, and then click Accept.

Workflow Completed Tab

The Workflow Completed tab identifies the originators to whom to send originators completion emails. Email notifications are sent to originators of workflow items for the selected process codes when those workflow items are completed.

Click Send on All to enable email notification of completions for all of the process codes, or click Skip on All to suppress email notification of completions for all of the process codes. To manually select the process codes for which to send or suppress email notifications, click Update, select only those check boxes for the process codes to enable or suppress email notifications, and then click Accept.

Approver Rejections Tab

The Approver Rejections tab determines the items for which to send rejection notices to prior approvers. Email notifications are sent to prior approvers of workflow items for the selected process codes when those workflow items are rejected by another approver.