Does this article apply to you? This article covers Enhanced Automated Workflow features. To check if your account has access, go to Automated Workflow in AMS+. If you see a "Welcome to the New Automated Workflow" banner at the top of the page, you're all set.
This article walks you through building an Enhanced Automated Workflow in AMS+. You'll learn how to define a trigger, set conditions, add an action, and save your workflow, so you can start automating follow-ups, notifications, and other routine tasks based on changes in your data.
Requirements
- Automated Workflow must be activated in your agency's AMS+ account.
- Only the Account Owner can activate it. Learn more.
- You must be logged into AMS+ as an Agency User.
- You must be assigned to a Security Group with the Manage Automated Workflow permission.
In this article
- Start a new workflow
- Step 1: Define the trigger
- Step 2: Set conditions
- Step 3: Add an action
- Review and save
Start a new workflow
To get started, head to Automated Workflow and open the workflow builder. If you'd rather start from a template, see How to use a recipe to build an Enhanced Automated Workflow in AMS+, which covers the prebuilt recipes and what you may still need to configure.
- Go to Automated Workflow.
- Select Start Building under Build From Scratch.
- Enter a name for your workflow at the top of the page.
The workflow builder has three sections, When, And If, and Then, which you'll work through in order.
Step 1: Define the trigger
This is where you choose what event starts the workflow. Select + Add a trigger to open the trigger panel.
Your first choice is the record type, such as Individual, Group, or Policy. Then you choose when the workflow should run: when a record is created, when it's updated, or when a date approaches (like a birthday or renewal date).
If you choose is updated or is created, you'll also decide which update methods can trigger the workflow. You can allow it to run from any combination of manual updates, imports, lead form submissions, API updates, and partner integrations.
If you choose is updated, you'll also set how often the workflow can run for the same record.
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Once per record means the associated actions will only trigger once, even if the conditions match again later.
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Once a year per record means the actions will only trigger once per calendar year, even if the conditions match again within that same year.
If you choose date approaches, you'll pick the date the workflow should count from, such as a birthday, a policy renewal date, or an activity due date. You won't see update methods or how often the workflow can run for the same record, because the date decides when it runs. Birthdays and policy effective anniversaries repeat every year. Other dates happen once. See Date-based triggers in How Enhanced Automated Workflows trigger in AMS+.
Select Update when you're done. The When block on the builder canvas will update to confirm your trigger selection.
Step 2: Set conditions
This is where you narrow down which records should qualify.
- In And if the update caused the [trigger's record type] to match these conditions, begin adding conditions.
- Select a condition type from the list on the left, then choose the values that should match on the right.
- Repeat this process to add as many conditions as needed.
You can build a very specific set of criteria. For example, you might only want the workflow to run when the Individual is updated and:
- the Individual Type is Client
- the Status is Active
- the Servicing Agent is one of a specific group
- the Individual is Tagged With or Not Tagged With certain tags
- the Individual came from a specific Lead Form or Lead Source
- a Project Code matches
- group Individuals are excluded
- certain fields, like DOD, are not populated
All conditions must be true for the workflow to continue. For a deeper look at how conditions affect when a workflow runs, including how date-based triggers work, see How Enhanced Automated Workflows trigger in AMS+.
Use a custom field as a condition
If your agency has custom fields set up for the record type you're building the workflow on, you can use your Checkbox and Dropdown custom fields as conditions. You add them the same way as any other condition, whether you're building from scratch, customizing a recipe, or editing an existing workflow.
Your custom fields appear in their own section of the condition list, below the standard conditions and labeled with Custom Fields. Select Show fields to see them. If you haven't set up any custom fields for that record type, you won't see this section.
Some workflows involve two record types. For example, a policy workflow can use custom fields from the policy and from its policyholder. In that case, the condition list groups the custom fields under a heading for each record type, so you can tell which fields belong to which record. You can use fields from either record as conditions, but only a change to a custom field on the policy can trigger the workflow. A change to a policyholder's custom field can't, even if it completes the match.
Other custom field types, such as Checkbox List, aren't available as conditions.
A change to a custom field on the record type you're building the workflow on can run the workflow, even when it's the only thing that changed on the record. See Custom field conditions in How Enhanced Automated Workflows trigger in AMS+.
Step 3: Add an action
This is where you decide what the workflow should do. Select + Add an action.
Then choose an action type:
- Create an activity: creates a new activity record on the triggered record. See Creating & Working with Activities for how activities work in AMS+.
- Send an email: sends an automated email to a recipient you specify
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Send a text (currently available to beta testing participants only): sends an automated text message to a recipient you specify.
- This action is only available if your agency's AMS+ account is on the Accelerate or Elevate package. Before adding a texting action to your workflow, make sure your account is set up for texting actions.
For each action, you set the timing, which is when the action should happen. With a created or updated trigger, that's how long after the trigger, and setting the interval to 0 runs it immediately, regardless of the unit you choose. With a date trigger, you count from the date on the record and choose before or after, such as 3 days before a renewal date or 1 day after it.
Using a date trigger with more than one action? AMS+ looks at your earliest action when it schedules a record, such as when you turn on the workflow. If that day has already passed for a record, none of its actions happen. See Date-based triggers in How Enhanced Automated Workflows trigger in AMS+.
The details you fill in depend on the action type. For a Send an email action, you'll choose who receives the email, set the sender and reply-to address, write a subject line, and build the message in the email editor. See How to use the Enhanced Email Editor in AMS+ for how to use the editor. For a Send a text action (currently available to beta testing participants only), you'll choose who receives the text and write the message, using merge fields to personalize it.
Select Update to save the action. If you're sending an email, select Test Email to send a test to yourself or others. Select Delete if you want to remove the action from the workflow.
You can add or remove actions as needed.
Review and save
Before saving, review all three sections: when the workflow starts, whether the conditions are met, and what action will be taken. When everything looks correct, select Save & Turn On to activate the workflow right away, or Save to keep it as a draft.
You can reopen any saved workflow to edit it or create a copy. Copies default to the name "COPY - [workflow name]" and open as drafts. For the steps, see How to make a copy of an Enhanced Automated Workflow, which lists the steps for copying a workflow.