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 Product Enhancements 1 for the Utilities Industry

 

Technical Data

Technical Name of Business Function

CRM_UT_PROD_ENH_1

Type of Business Function

Industry Business Function

Available As Of

SAP enhancement package 3 for SAP CRM 7.0, support package 03

Technical Usage

CRM Core

Application Component

Utilities Industry (CRM-IU)

Required Business Function

Utilities Energy Management(CRM_UT_ER_3)

This business function provides you with a number of new functions and functional enhancements that can be used during the utilities industry sales process. For more information, see the Features section.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the following components as of the version mentioned:

    Type of Component

    Component

    Is Needed Only for the Following Features

    Software component

    BBPCRM 713

  • You have made the necessary settings in Customizing for Customer Relationship Management under the following paths:

    • Start of the navigation path Industry-Specific Solutions Next navigation step Utillities Industry Next navigation step Product Next navigation step Simplified Configuration Next navigation step Define Views End of the navigation path

    • Start of the navigation path Industry-Specific Solutions Next navigation step Utillities Industry Next navigation step General Settings Next navigation step BRFplus Integration Next navigation step Assign BRFplus Functions to Tasks. End of the navigation path

Features

OData Service for the Product Finder and Configurator

OData (Open Data Protocol) is a Web protocol used to search for and update data. OData can be used to decrypt data and avoid the restrictions that apply to current applications. The OData protocol uses Web technologies and enables you to access information from a large number of applications, services and data stores. OData therefore ensures that a large number of clients, servers, services and tools can interact with each other.

OData is used to provide and access information from a series of sources including relational databases, file systems, content management systems and traditional databases.

It uses URIs to identify resources and HTTP-based standard interfaces to interact with these resources.

For more information about OData, see the Web pages for the Open Data Protocol.

The OData service makes the Product Finder and Configurator (PFC) functions available in OData format on the Internet. This means that the PFC and all of its standard functions can also be used beyond the call center environment.

Full integration of the service with the PFC means that you can also use all of its functions, product types and the complete BRFplus framework. You also have the option of using its configurations, rules and determination routines for products as you would in the call center. In addition to full integration with the PFC, you also have the option of designing your own user interfaces and integrating them with your company branding.

For more information about the OData service, see the section PFC as an OData Service for the Internet.

Open Saved Documents from the Product Finder and Configurator Again in the Interaction Center

If you create and save a quotation or a contract that comes from the Product Finder and Configurator (PFC), the system also saves the document for the product determination object. You can use a link to access the document, for example to compare attribute values.

This document contains comprehensive information and can also be used to create new quotations on the basis of existing information.

For more information, see Display Saved Product Configurations (PDO Documents).

Additional Tags for the User Interface (UI) in the Simplified Configuration

You can use new tags to display simplified configuration attributes in a contemporary and efficient manner, for example as a slider (OData service), a roadmap (OData service) or as a series of fields that contain multiple values.

Example Example

You can for example use the new slider attributes provided with the OData service to enter values (instead of an input field).

End of the example.
Simple Expression Generation for the BRFplus Editor

The BRFplus editor supports the generation of frequently used expressions as condition columns in decision tables. You can add system environment data, such as the confirmed business partner or the user roler and user information without having to manually create procedure calls.

Multiple Values for Simplified Configuration Attributes

Previously it was only possible to assign a single value to an attribute in the simplified configuration. You can now define fields with multiple values. This function allows several values to be entered for the same attribute.

Example Example

You can for example assign brands from several different manufacturers to the Brand attribute.

End of the example.
Enhancements to the BRFplus Usage

New result attributes with the BRFplus function are now available to you for the following application usages:

  • Results groups for the PFC can be determined dynamically in product lists.

  • Presentation control for attributes supports the additional presentation types Slider and Combined Fields and means that field label texts can be determined dynamically.

  • You can use the dynamic value help to transfer additional information about an attribute to the OData service for the PFC.