Sending Approval Steps via Outlook

[Alon Raskin]

There is one more option...
 
Alon Raskin
e:  <mailto:araskin at 3i-consulting.com> araskin at 3i-consulting.com
p: +1 207 409 4983
 

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From: sap-wug-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:sap-wug-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf Of
Munday,Sherie J.
Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 3:32 PM
To: SAP Workflow Users' Group
Subject: Sending Approval Steps via Outlook


Hello Experienced Workflow Developers,
 
Our company recently upgraded to ECC 5.0.  We have several custom workflows
including HR functions that make use of the MSS portal and our managers use
the Universal Worklist on the portal for very limited functions.  Our
workflows also send emails to employee's outlook inboxes, and currently all
return emails are routed to the WF-Batch Outlook email inbox.
 
We are now investigating the options around sending approvals to managers
without having them use the Business Workplace, and with the least amount of
custom abap programming possible.  Would those of you with experience in
this area, please give me your comments and suggestions?  I would be most
grateful!
 
After reading appendix A.2.4 (Offline Work Item Execution Via E-Mail) of
Practical Workflow for SAP and OSS Note 455140 (Configuration E-mail), it
seems we have these two "simple" options..one requires the approver to be
online, one in which the approval could be processed offline:

1.	Send the email with a hyperlink in the text which takes the manager
directly to their Universal Worklist Inbox on the portal.  The manager would
then open and process the work item (a normal approval decision step).  

2.	Send the email with two different hyperlinks in the text... one for
the approve and one for the reject.  With this scenario, we would have to
create an SAP user such as WFDecision, have the hyperlink do a send mail
back to that userid in SAP with a given subject text such as Decision,
create an abap program to check the validity of the sender's email address
and complete the work item with the appropriate response, insert that
program into the Settings->Inbound Porcessing in transaction SCOT, and have
our messaging team set the mail server with a routing rule to send any mail
to WFDecision to the SAP port.... Wow ... does anyone actually do that?  Are
there any "standard" SAP workflows and/or programs that have this
functionality?...or does this have to be purely custom?

Have I missed any other obvious solutions that would require minimal
programming?
Thanks again in advance!!
Sherie
 
Sherie Munday
Workflow Developer/ Anlayst
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.
 
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