How to trigger a search in CRM IC

[Former Member]

Hi Experts,

I have a scenario where there is an external telephony system which is not integrated with SAP CRM.

Can I create a Web service for the external system so that it can pass on the BP ID and can I trigger a search in IC for this BP ID using some action handler or event handler ?

Thanks & Regards,

Nandu

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Nandu,

Yes, that is very straightforward - you can develop an enterprise web service that wraps the BP search. Your external CTI system would need to be able to access the IP/port of your SAP CRM system for it to work though.

Sincerely,

Glenn

Glenn Abel

Covington Creative

www.covingtoncreative.com

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Glen,

Thanks for the reply.

But using enterprise search, we cannot trigger a search in Interaction Center and display the BP details in the Agent's screen.

I'll explain the current scenario in detail:

1-> The external telephony(Noble system) system will do predictive outbound dialling.

2-> When a call gets connected, the phone no. and the BP Id will be passed to CRM(Maximiser CRM) by Noble system.

3-> The CRM system will then pop-up the details of the Customer.

Now we are replacing the existing Maximiser CRM with SAP CRM Interaction Center

The challenge is without CTI integration, how to pass the phone no. and BP ID to SAP CRM IC and display the details in the logged in Agents screen.

Right now I am investigating the option of displaying/launching SAP CRM IC via a generated URL

Your valuable comments are welcome.

Thanks & Regards,

Nandu.

[walt_b · Accepted solution]

Hello Nandu,

In the past, I came across the request to pass phone no. to SAP CRM without CTI

integration, in order to trigger a BP search. Two approaches I used, in different

projects:

a) integration with Vocalcom telephony via javascript; cross-frame data and event

exchange. CRM 4.0 IC WebClient. 35 days of SAP development. 20 days on Vocalcom side.

Looking back to that integration, I would discourage anybody from that approach because

cross-frame communication is synchronous: risk is high that SAP CRM locks telephony client;

moreover risk of conflict between asynchronous custom processes in IC WebClient (ajax based) and

synchronous cross-frame communication.

b) server-side integration between CRM 5.0 IC WebClient and web-based telephony client

running besides. We used same technique as ICI interface to communicate IC WebClient,

i.e. simple abap messaging (SAM). Restriction: works only INBOUND.

This was a very successful approach, I would recommend if you are in a similar situation.

Principle:

In order to update IC WebClient of a definite agent, one needs to know SAP session ID of that IC WebClient. So we enhanced IC WebClient to keep a registry of all session IDs by SAP user. In standard, SICF node /default_host/sap/bc/soap/ici is in charge of dispatching incoming telephony requests to agents - using that session ID. We created a new node with its own handler to dispatch our custom requests (not ICI based, but produced by web-based telephony client - simple HTTP get with user and phone number as url params). In IC WebClient, we had to replace standard ACCEPT/REJECT buttons by custom ones, to avoid standard logic that sends soap messages back to ICI when buttons are clicked.

Steps in short - CRM 5.0:

- define new DDIC table to serve as registry of IC WebClient sessions

- enhance IC WebClient to feed session registry at start-up and logoff

- define new SICF node with custom handler

- define custom ACCEPT / REJECT buttons;

- modify page IC_BASE/contextareapage.htm, so that it handles custom buttons

- modify page fragment IC_BASE/ workspacebarpage.htm so that it handles custom buttons

- write a simple simulator

Effort for b)

- 40 days on SAP side

- 1-2 days on side of web-based telephony client

Hope you can use those ideas

KR

Walter

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Nandu,

Now that I re-read your request, I see what you're trying to accomplish - I thought you just wanted the data from CRM in an external application.

Looks like Walter has given you some suggestions, which I have also done in the past, and agree that the option a has some side effects.

Almost every approach has some downside to it... my personal preference if there is an API available is to write a simple ICI adapter that only implements the necessary features for associating the agent with their phone, receiving phone calls, making calls, and hanging up. If you have some webservice development skills in java or C#, you can generate all the ICI proxy classes from the WSDL which greatly simplifies the effort. And, if you use a modular approach, you can reuse the interface code for a different CTI down the road.

Another approach is to write a simple windows application that encapsulates the browser control, and hosts the interaction center in its browser control. The application communicates natively with the CTI and either automatically or at the press of a button will transfer the search criterion passed via call attached data directly into the search fields on the screen and automate the search submission. For this to work, there are typically a few BSP mods you need to make to set the focus on the correct form field, etc. but if you're more comfortable doing development in a windows environment than an SAP environment it might be preferable, and less work than the ICI adapter approach. Downside is that you can run into some of the same session issues as an internal frame approach if trying to screen pop automatically, and you need to handle the IC timeout events to be sure the app captures them and closes down everything properly.

Having done a number of different approaches, I still feel the best way is to use the proper interface... or move to BCM

Sincerely,

Glenn

Glenn Abel

Covington Creative

www.covingtoncreative.com

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Walter,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

I will explore option b. The only issue is development effort.

I am also exploring the option of asking the external telephony system to generate a URL to launch IC.

1.)The URL string should contain BP Number.

2.)In the event handler OnCreate in the BSP Application CRM_UI_START, I will extract the BP Id from the URL

3.)I will set the BP ID in the search field and trigger a search and do auto confirm.

The issue here is that after the call has ended, the user should close the browser. Otherwise in the next call a New browser will open which is not a good option.

Thanks & Regards,

Nandu.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

HI Glen,

Thanks a lot for replying.

As you mentioned BCM is the best option here but the client is not ready to move to BCM now.

And we have constraints in developing a new windows application.

I will keep you updated on how it will implemented finally..

Thanks & Regards,

Nandu.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

hi walter and Nandu,

we are looking for similar solution, but we kinda stuck at situatiion where we do not have any communication with CTI system. so how should sap know about incoming call and about call exceptance.

1. all customer call related actiivities are routed through CTI and CAD tool

2. we need to have screen pop and so forth in SAP. i was proposing similar solution but how should we integrated cti call and saop message in sap

please reply as quickly as possible

thanks

susheel

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

hi walter,

we have same scenarios as above we have CTI system with no integration with SAP, all inbound call routing activties are controlled from cti using cad tool we are trying to integrate ICWEB with in CAD tool. becasue there is no itegration with CTI system we got no screen pops and stuff. in order to acheive screen pops i like your second approach

" server-side integration between CRM 5.0 IC WebClient and web-based telephony client

running besides. We used same technique as ICI interface to communicate IC WebClient,

i.e. simple abap messaging (SAM). Restriction: works only INBOUND"

if i use exisiting ici soap and use ici adapter( with custom built ICI proxy classes from the WSDL ) plus a http get to include user id and account from CTI would this be a good approach because in your apporach you are talking about simulator to push call to ic web client interface i would rather use exisiting ici may be i dont know yet

is it possibele for you to provide more information about your approach i would like to understand more about your approach.

thanks

susheel

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Nandu

Just wants to check with you whether you guys went ahead with the implementation of the Option b suggested by Walter.

My client also has the similar requirement to integrate the Cisco Agent Desktop(CAD) tool with SAP CRM.

Once the call has been accepted by the Agent in CAD with the phone number needs to trigger a Account Search and if the Search was successful display the results else agent will create a new account via Account Identification.

So just curious to know about the implementation success ,common issues faced and development complexity.

Regards

Sreeni