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, an insurance company may have a case type for handling property damage from car accidents. While reporting the accident, 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. When you add optional actions, you can make them available at any time during a designated stage, or at any time in the entire case.

An optional action requiring a series of steps is configured as an optional process. An optional action of exactly one step is configured as an optional user action. Optional actions are accessible at runtime from the Actions menu in the case.

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. 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.

Use an optional user 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's address has changed, the agent should be able to update the customer contact data. Updating can be done in 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.

You can add both optional processes and optional user 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.

Stage-only example

In an online shopping case type, the Cancel Order optional process can only be launched from the Confirm Billing Details stage. During the Shopping stage, there is no order for you to cancel, so the Cancel Order optional process is not applicable. Due to details of the application, the cancellation cannot be made online during the Complete Order stage, so the optional process is not applicable.

Case wide example

In a loan application, you configure the Update Contact optional user action to be launched from anywhere in the case life cycle so that agents can update customer contact information at any time during the case.