The Oracle B2C Service application is a rich Internet application utilizing a standard 3-Tier architecture consisting of the following:

Client Tier: The client tier consists of a .NET Client application that presents content received from the application tier. The client tier communicates with the application tier through the Internet via Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS).

Application Tier: The application tier provides the business logic for the Oracle B2C Service product and communicates data from the database tier to the client tier. This tier resides on web server farms located in Oracle data center facilities.

Database Tier: At the base of the application is the database tier, consisting of the database management system that manages the database containing the data users create, delete, modify, and query.

The Oracle B2C Service application is deployed using Microsoft’s ClickOnce Technology and therefore is a Web-based Deployment. To deploy, an agent navigates to the appropriate deployment URL, for example: https://interface.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/interface.cfg/php/admin/launch.php

Selecting 'Install Oracle B2C Service' on the launch page deploys the application under their Windows Profile for the agents use. Note, once the application is deployed, it is no longer necessary to navigate to the launch page. Instead, Oracle B2C Service application can be started from the Windows Start menu.

Windows Profiles: Deployment of the Oracle B2C Service application in non-roaming and non-mandatory profiles environments is fully supported.

Roaming Profiles: The Oracle B2C Service application is deployed using the Microsoft ClickOnce technology. This technology is not supported by Microsoft with roaming profiles. For details see Does the Oracle B2C Service application work with roaming profiles or nonpersistent VDIs.

Mandatory Profiles: ClickOnce deployment is precluded when a mandatory Windows profile is detected since Microsoft's ClickOnce technology utilizes the user's Windows profile as the deployment file destination. For details, refer to Mandatory Profiles.

For more information regarding deployment of the Service Cloud application, please see Service Cloud Application Deployment and Deployment Options Overview.

As the Oracle B2C Service application is web services based, the corporate network plays an essential role in the efficient and consistent connectivity to the application. The following items should be considered when implementing the Oracle B2C Service application:

Bandwidth:

Data payloads of the application differ greatly depending upon the implementation. Data requests and responses are also directly related to agent activity types and usage. Since transaction times will be directly proportional to the bandwidth available to the CX application; regular bandwidth utilization monitoring should be done in production environments to facilitate the tuning of the amount of bandwidth provisioned and its optimal utilization.

For satisfactory performance, a high-speed Internet connection is required. Dial-up connections are not supported.

The information below provides general guidelines for the network bandwidth to the Internet for the Oracle B2C Service application. Please also consider other application requirements and general user Internet use when determining overall bandwidth needs.

As a recommended minimum, 25kbps (kilobits per second) should be dedicated per concurrent logged in agent.

Application averages show that payload requests can range from 1-50KB each, with maximums reaching 100KB - 2MB. Single agent utilization may average 1-10kbps in five minute intervals, but may burst well beyond this in shorter intervals.

If your network utilizes a private WAN (typically over multiple call centers) specified bandwidth must be available throughout the entire network path; that is from the Internet to the Private WAN to the LAN and to the agent’s workstation.

Round Trip Time (RTT):

Your network connectivity to the Oracle data center (either Internet or private WAN) must consistently provide less than a 250 ms round trip time (RTT) and less than 1% packet-loss. Where possible, your IT/IS staff should work to minimize WAN / Internet latency to ensure proper application performance.

Network Appliances (including Proxy Devices, Firewalls, and Content Filters):

The customer network administration team must ensure that all communication between the Oracle B2C Service application and the Oracle hosted servers is allowed, in an unrestricted manner, through all levels of the customer network. All network appliances must be configured to allow all traffic between the client workstations and the following domains to occur in an unrestricted manner:

*.custhelp.com
*.rightnowtech.com
*.rightnow.com
*.oraclecloud.com
*.rnengage.com
*.estara.com (For Engagement Engine)

Applicable network appliances include the following (but are not limited to):

• Gateways
• Routers
• Hubs
• Bridges
• Switches
• Proxy Servers
• Firewalls
• Load Balancers

Important notes: 

• Firewalls must be configured to allow traffic on HTTPS port 443 for the domains listed above.
• Proxy servers must be configured with authentication and caching exclusion rules for each of the domains listed above.
• Deployment will not occur successfully when Proxy authentication other than NTLM is in place.
• If using Chat service, note that your proxy server must not recognize any of the B2C Service Chat packets entering or exiting your network.
   

Customers using HTTP / IP proxy devices, either directly or indirectly, must ensure that these devices are configured to exclude Oracle B2C Service application traffic from any caching/inspection operations. These devices include but are not limited to:

• Traditional proxy server (PC server or dedicated appliances)
• Content caching/acceleration devices
• Local content filtering/inspection appliances, including IPS( Intrusion Preventions Systems) devices. 
• Hosted content filtering and inspection services, including anti-virus Internet security applications.

Quality of Service (QoS) Packet-Shaping Policies:

If your networks have QoS / packet-shaping policies implemented, the Oracle B2C Service application should be considered a performance-sensitive application and accordingly given appropriate priority to ensure maximum performance.

If your organization has not instituted QoS/packet-shaping policies, you should consider the economic advantages of grooming network traffic to provide priority applications, such as your Oracle B2C Service application, sufficient access to network resources. Whenever possible, customer LAN / WAN connectivity should be groomed to match generally-accepted VOIP standards of:

• Less than 250ms round trip time (RTT),

• Less than 5% latency jitter,

• Near-zero packet-loss,

• Appropriate / consistent Layer-2/3 QoS policing.

Wide Area Network / Internet Load Balancing:

Wide area network (WAN) and internet load balancing must be performed in a per-session manner for Oracle B2C Service traffic. Per-packet load balancing often leads to out of order packet delivery which will result in degraded performance of your Oracle B2C Service application and may destabilize the application.

Security:

Viruses, adware, and spyware can affect the performance of your workstation and Oracle B2C Service products. We recommend that workstations have a firewall, anti-virus software, and spyware/adware-detection software. However, exclusions should be in place for the RightNow.CX.exe process in order to avoid potential conflicts and/or interference with the Oracle B2C Service console.

The information in the workstation requirements section outlines the minimum specifications required for using the current release of Oracle B2C Service application and all of its components

Hardware Requirements

* For Terminal Server users, the hard disk space must be available on the server for use by the client.

Important note on Memory Requirements:

The memory requirements listed in the above table are suitable for workstations running only Oracle B2C Service. These baseline memory requirements were calculated using an average, non-customized site and provide the minimum memory necessary for running an unloaded client for that particular Operating System. Adding complex elements to your workspaces, such as browser controls and large reports, will increase the memory footprint consumed for each object.

Performing actions and leaving objects open inside the client will consume additional memory, while closing objects will allow that memory to return to the operating system for reuse. Running additional applications on your workstation will also limit the amount of memory available. If your workstation will feature any such additional resource-consuming needs or requirements, be sure to increase your memory accordingly.

We strongly encourage performance testing to determine the workstation memory required for your deployment.

Video Requirements

Workstation video drivers must be kept up to date and be running current video driver catalogues.  If your workstations are not running the latest video drivers for the video hardware and Operating System, performance issue may be experienced.

Workstation display settings

The following display settings are required for staff member and administrator workstations:

• Minimum screen area: 1024 by 768 pixels

• Maximum screen area: 1920 by 1080 pixels for standard console

• For screen areas above: 1920 by 1080 pixels the enhanced console must be used.

• Font size: Small fonts or normal size (96 dpi), 100%

Note: 
The Windows System display setting that is supported by Oracle B2C Service for .NET console is 100% (96 DPI) only. Other settings may be used and individual results may vary depending on monitor(s) settings and video OEM drivers and settings. The .NET client does NOT support accessibility guidelines of section 508 or WCAG 2.0 AA.

Important!

• All Workstation hardware drivers must be the latest available drivers versions to ensure smooth functioning of Oracle B2C Service. This includes, but is not limited to, Video, NIC, ChipSet, and BIOS.

• Windows 8 RT edition is not supported.

• Enhanced Security Mode is not supported for Windows Server 2012 R2.

• Supported versions include Enterprise, volume licensing.

      * Oracle B2C Service is currently not supported on Microsoft Windows tablets.

.NET Framework

Staff and administrator workstations require and must support .NET Framework Version 4.7.1 , 4.7.2, 4.8, or 4.8.1

Note that 4.8.1 is very strongly recommended as startup and performance issues have been seen when running versions prior to .NET 4.8.1

Note: All agent desktops must be compatible with TLS 1.2

Web browsers

In order for the Oracle B2C Service application to deploy and update as designed, Edge must be installed on the workstation and set as the default browser with cookies enabled and the browser text size to Normal. Using versions of web browsers that are not listed will result in malfunction.

Edge Chromium may not offer native ClickOnce support.  If unable to launch the .net client, agents using Edge Chromium may need to go to edge://flags. Scroll to ClickOnce Support and select Enable from the dropdown list. You'll have to Restart the browser. Additionally, agents using Edge Chromium might need to ensure the 'Microsoft Defender SmartScreen' option is enabled.

WebDAV clients

The native WebDAV clients and WebDrive are supported for the following operating systems and applications. WebDAV clients are used with Customer Portal.

• Windows 10

• Windows 11

• Windows Server 2012 R2 with Desktop Experience feature enabled

• Windows Server 2016, and 2019

• Mac OS X

• Cyberduck 8.4.0 or greater

• Dreamweaver CS 6 or later (CC)

Microsoft Office

The following versions of Microsoft Office are supported for use with Oracle B2C Service:

• Microsoft Office 2016, 2019, and 2021 (32 and 64 bit) Traditional Editions

Note: Microsoft Office 365, LTSC, or Shared versions, and other online subscription or cloud versions of Office are not supported.

Email Clients

By default, email messages sent by Oracle B2C Service use the ISO-8859-1 character set; however, the character set is configurable for each interface. Email messages are sent using quoted-printable encoding, and encoding is not configurable. Email clients used to read email messages sent by Oracle B2C Service must support the same character set and encoding or unexpected results may occur.

We test the following email clients:

• Apple Mail

• Gmail

• Hotmail

• Microsoft Outlook 2016, 2019, and 2021 (32 and 64 bit) Traditional Editions

• Yahoo

Note: Oracle B2C Service does not support Lotus Notes for email.

Citrix XenApp

Use of Citrix XenApp is supported as a published ** application on the following operating systems, using the most current version of Citrix XenApp Plugin. Refer to the Workstation Operating Systems section for required service packs.

Citrix XenApp versions are supported that have not reached End of Life (EOL) as documented by the product vendor.  See Citrix Product Matrix for more information.

Important!
** Oracle B2C Service is not supported in Citrix Seamless mode nor as a virtualized application.

• Please contact us at installer@mailca.custhelp.com for assistance with deploying the Oracle B2C Service application via Citrix XenApp. Please use the subject line, "Citrix Deployment Assistance".

• We strongly encourage load testing to determine the per user CPU and memory requirement when running Oracle B2C Service.

• Please refer to the application hardware requirements at the beginning of this guide to assist in determining per user hardware requirement.

• Outlook integration is supported only if Microsoft Outlook and Oracle B2C Service are installed on the same Citrix XenApp server.

About Citrix Ready

Citrix Ready is a product verification program that allows partners to validate their product, solution, or service as compatible with Citrix. All products featured in the Citrix Ready have completed verification testing, thereby providing confidence in joint solution compatibility. Learn more at: www.citrixready.com/ready.

VM Ware vSphere

Deployment of the Oracle B2C Service application is fully supported on virtual workstations and servers created and delivered using VMware vSphere. 

Current version of VMware tools is required. 

VMware vSphere supported systems, follows the vendors lifecycle policy for the operating systems listed in Table 2, Supported Workstation Operating Systems.

VMs (Virtual Workstations)

Oracle B2C Service is supported on individual, on premise VMs, that are directly owned and administered by the Customers IT staff and that adhere to the Workstation Operating Systems, Networking, and general requirements sections of this document.

With regard to VMs running on off premises Cloud Computing systems such as an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), DaaS (Desktop as a Service),  or PaaS  (Platform as a service),  Oracle B2C Service Technical Support cannot provide environmental support for the Oracle B2C Service .NET application on those systems. The customer will need to work directly with that Cloud Computing vendor on any environmental issue or problems. Where possible Oracle B2C Service Technical Support will advise on issues, but remediation will be the responsibility of the Cloud Computing vendor.

In brief, any environmental issue or error that is not reproducible outside of the IaaS or PaaS will be considered to be due to problems in, or the configuration of the VM system or network hosted by that third party. Remediation of issues will fall on the customer’s vendor.

NOTE:
It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that the IaaS or PaaS vendor receive a copy of this document and that all requirements are adhered to. It is advised that the customer fully test the Iaas, DaaS, or Paas deployment before going live. 

The Oracle B2C Service application is deployed and updates using Microsoft’s ClickOnce Technology and as such does not require Administrative rights to deploy or update on a workstation. Deployment and updating the Oracle B2C Service application requires that Microsoft’s Edge is installed and set as the default browser on the workstation.

Please Note:

It is required that the following domains be added to the list of trusted sites and the security level for trusted sites be set to low. Issues may be experienced if the domains are not added to trusted sites.

*.custhelp.com
*.rightnowtech.com
*.rightnow.com
*.oraclecloud.com (UK government use only)
*.birst.com (for Enterprise Analytics functionality)
*.hivelive.com (for Oracle Social functionality)
*.rnengage.com
*.estara.com (For Engagement Engine)

See below for general browser settings.

The browser settings are accessed via the Windows Start Menu, Type INTERNET OPTIONS, then open INTERNET OPTIONS. 

Workstation Browser Settings:

• Auto-select - Selected

2. Verify correct browser caching: Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > General Tab > Settings Button

• Check for newer versions of stored pages - Every visit to the page

• Net Reliant Framework

Run components not signed with Authenticode - Prompt

(Required) Run components signed with Authenticode - Enable

• Downloads

File Download - Enable

• Miscellaneous

Access data sources across domains - Prompt or Enable

Allow scripting of Microsoft web browser control - Enable

Allow webpages to use restricted protocols for active content - Enable or Prompt

Allow script-initiated windows without size or position constraints - Enable

Display mixed content - Enable or Prompt

Launching of programs and files in an IFRAME - Enable or Prompt

Navigate windows and frames across different domains - Enable or Prompt

Userdata persistence - Enable

•  Web sites in less privileged web content zone can navigate into this zone - Enable or Prompt

• Scripting

(Required) Active Scripting - Enable or Prompt

Allow programmatic clipboard access - Enable

Scripting of Java Applets - Enable

4. Verify Browser Connection Settings: Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections tab > LAN Settings

• Automatically Detect Settings - Unchecked (Recommended)

5. Verify Advanced Browser Settings: Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Advanced Tab

• Disable Script Debugging

• Browsing

Disable Script Debugging (IE) - Unchecked (when troubleshooting)

Display notification about every script error - Checked (when troubleshooting)

Enable third-party browser extensions - Checked

• HTTP 1.1 Settings

Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections - Checked

• International

Send UTF-8 URLs - Unchecked

Cookie Use & European Cookie Legislation:

Please see Modification of cookie information for details on cookie use and information on the EU Cookie Legislation, if you have any questions around this please contact your sales representative.
 

For Windows Server 2016, and 2019 

The following directories and their sub-folders must have full-access permissions.

/%USERPROFILE%/AppData/Local/

/%USERPROFILE%/AppData/Roaming

Note:  These directories must have full access for all Oracle B2C Service deployment methods.