The process designer allows you to define timeouts, after which the system automatically moves the process to the next step.

 

You have two options how to define timeouts:

 

•Setting a timeout in a step's properties

•Adding a Wait step into the process

 

Setting timeouts for steps

 

You can set timeouts to ensure that processes do not indefinitely stay in steps that require a human decision. If nobody moves a contact within a process to another step before the timeout expires, the system advances the contact automatically. The following types of steps support timeouts:

 

•Standard

•User choice

•Multi-choice

•First win

 

To add a timeout limit for a step:

 

1. Edit the step by clicking the pencil icon next to its name.

oThe Process step properties dialog opens.

 

2. Under Timeout settings, specify when you want the process to move to the next step:

 

•Specific interval - set the length of the timeout interval. The time starts running when a contact moves into the step. Every instance of the process has a separate timeout counter.

•Specific day - set the exact date (and optionally time) when you want the process to move into the next step. Applies to all instances of the process.

 

3. Choose to which step the process continues if the timeout expires via the Leave through selector.

oFor Standard and User choice steps, you can select a special timeout source point.

 

4. Click Save and close the properties dialog.

 

5. If you selected a separate timeout source point as the Leave through option, connect the new source point to another step in the process designer.

 

Adding Wait steps

 

Wait steps allow you to halt automation processes for a specified time interval. When contacts arrive in a wait step, the process does nothing until the wait time expires. After the wait is complete, the process automatically moves the contact to the next step.

 

While the process is in a Wait step, designated users can manually move contacts forward.

 

For example, you can use wait steps to:

 

•Add delays between automatic messages that the process sends to contacts

•Periodically check if the contact meets a condition by creating a loop containing a wait step within the flow of the process

 

To add a wait step to your process:

 

1. Place the Wait step onto the grid.

 

2. Integrate the wait step into the flow of the process by connecting a preceding step.

 

3. Edit the step by clicking the pencil icon next to its name.

oThe Process step properties dialog opens.

 

4. Under Timeout settings, specify when you want the process to move to the next step:

 

•Specific interval - set the length of the waiting interval. The time starts running when a contact moves into the wait step. Every instance of the process has a separate wait timer.

•Specific day - set the exact date (and optionally time) when you want the process to move into the next step. Applies to all instances of the process.

 

5. Click Save.