Which Service features are shared across multiple interfaces?

Environment:

Interfaces, Customizable Menus, Application Configuration, Site Management

Resolution:

Within the Oracle B2C Service application, several features are shared across multiple interfaces while some features are always interface specific. With some features, you can configure where the item displays so that it can be enabled for use with some interfaces and not with others. Common examples in these categories are listed below:

Features Common across Interfaces

The features below are always shared across interfaces. If you add an item to any of the features below, that item is visible and accessible from any other interface.

	System/Custom Menus:Unless mentioned explicitly below the menus configured within Service Configuration > Customizable Menus are common across all interfaces. Where appropriate, language-specific labels can be configured from any interface. The entire menu list will be displayed unless workspace rules are used to hide/show certain menu items.
	Rules: For each record type, there is one ruleset that can be active at any given time. The ruleset acts on all records of that type across all interfaces.  For example, the incident ruleset acts on all incidents regardless of which interface the incident is created from. For incident routing, you can use the interface field or the mailbox (which is interface specific) to handle incidents from a specific interface. However, the overall ruleset is shared across all interfaces.
	Organizations and Contacts: Organization and contact records are shared across all interfaces. You can create custom fields to flag certain records as being primarily associated to a specific interface.
	Product Linking: If product linking is enabled, it is enabled across all interfaces -- either product-category linking or product-disposition linking.

Features Never Shared across Interfaces

The features below are always configured separately for each interface. While you can configure several features to have the same value for different interfaces (such as configuration settings), they must be configured for each interface separately and do not share a joint configuration. Adding or editing an item does not affect how that feature is used in the other interfaces.

	Mailboxes: Mailboxes are specific to the interface they are configured in. When you look at the mailboxes table, only the mailboxes for that interface are listed. For other interfaces, you must access the Service Mailboxes table from the Administration Console.
	Configuration Settings, Message Bases, File Manager: Each interface can be configured independently using the configuration settings, message bases, and file manager. Changes to a setting or message base in one interface are not global in nature - with the exception of the AR_AUTO_ENABLE setting. If AR_AUTO_ENABLE is enabled in one interface, it will affect all interfaces. Note: When you select Configuration > Site Configuration and then Settings, Message Bases or File Manager, the interfaces are listed along the left frame of the configuration editor. Click the appropriate interface name to switch to the configuration files for another interface.
	Reports: The list of reports and views that can be accessed are independent in each interface. That is, when you add a custom report or view in one interface, that report or view is not automatically listed in the other interfaces.  You can copy a report or view to another interface. When copying the item, set the Interface menu to specify which interface the copy will be saved to. Note: From within a certain interface, you can configure views or reports to display data from multiple interfaces. This allows you to access records from multiple interfaces from a single location. Some records may or may not be accessible in another interface due to visibility considerations such as products, categories, and staff members.
	End-User Pages: Since both the end-user view and configuration settings, message bases, and file manager are independent for each interface, configuring your end-user pages is specific to each interface.
	Workspaces: The list of workspaces is unique for each interface. You can copy a workspace from one interface to another. The list of available workspaces, though, is specific to the interface.
	Navigation Sets: Navigation sets are unique to a specific interface. Since different features may be enabled for different interfaces, you cannot copy a navigation set from one interface to another.
	Surveys/Mailings/Questions: These items are unique to a specific interface. When viewing the associated Explorer, only those configured in that interface are listed.

Configurable or Partially Shared across Interfaces

Several features share the same lists across multiple interfaces, but specific items may be enabled or disabled for specific interfaces. In these cases, an administrator can typically edit the overall list from the Management and Configuration console of any interface, but the elements that display in a console or on end-user pages can be enabled for an individual interface or multiple interface, depending on how the visibility is configured. While the feature / field can be edited and configured from any interface, specific values may or may not display at the consoles within that interface.

	Staff Profiles and Staff Accounts Tables: The staff profiles and staff accounts that are configured in the Configuration > Staff Management area are accessible from any interface. That is, the list of staff profiles and staff accounts are common across all interfaces. Specific profiles may only allow access to certain interfaces so that profiles may be configured to be used specifically for individual interfaces. As a result, staff accounts may be configured to use a profile that only allows them the ability to log in to a specific interface.
	Service Level Agreements, Response Requirements, and Holidays: The list of SLAs, response requirements, and holidays are common across all interfaces and can be accessed from any interface for editing or updating. Response requirements themselves are configured separately for each interface. Holidays may be enabled for multiple interfaces or may be added only for a specific interface. SLAs are common across all interfaces and can be applied to any contact or organization record. Since SLAs also affect privileged access, SLAs may grant access to access levels that are only accessible through a specific interface.
	Products and Categories: The complete products and categories tables are accessible from any interface, regardless of how individual items are configured for visibility. This allows an administrator to edit products and categories from any interface. Each individual product or category may be enabled for Administration or End-user visibility, so the list of products and categories listed with incidents at the administration console and on the end-user pages may be independent or may overlap depending on how each element is configured for visibility. If a product or category is enabled for Administration visibility for any interface, when editing an answer, that value will display for all interfaces on either the Relationships tab. Typically, the overall list of products or categories is listed when editing answers from the administration consoles.  The products and categories listed on the Answers page of the end-user pages is controlled by the End-user visibility checkbox.
	Standard Text: The list of standard text messages from the Configuration > Service > Standard Text table is common across all interfaces. Each specific standard text message can be enabled or disabled for use for a specific interface or for multiple interfaces.
	Access Levels: The list of access levels from the Service Configuration > Customizable Menus > Answer Access Levels table is common across all interfaces. In addition, the entire list is included at the Answer Console for any interface. The end-user visibility of access levels can be enabled or disabled for each interface separately.
	Custom Fields: The overall list of custom fields can be accessed and edited from any interface. However, the specific custom field may be enabled for use for a specific interface or for multiple interfaces, depending on the configuration. For more information on the visibility settings for custom field, refer to Answer ID 1102: Visibility Settings for Custom Fields.