The eFlo BPM (Business Process Management) Engine can be thought of as the roadmap representing:

• the steps where work is to be routed,
• what types of work are sent to each step,
• who is to work the items at each step,
• how is the user to process work at each step, and
• by when must the user complete the work

Obviously, the why, is to be more efficient and accurate in handling the work items and give management a comprehensive view of their operation’s workload.The following is a brief overview of a few of the components that can be configured to complete the business process roadmap:

• Statuses for describing each state or status that a work item may be classified as during the business process and for the each type of note that can be added to a case.

• Mailboxes for defining each of the major workflow areas (e.g., departments and/or work teams like Payroll or Claims Team) and the mailboxes or queues assigned to each area (e.g., workflow steps, like New Bills, In Process Claims, and so forth).

• Users assigning each to steps (i.e., mailboxes) in the workflow process, and authorizing the user to access one or more eFlo functions.

• Distribution Rules for describing where and how new work (i.e., scanned, faxed, or electronically captured documents) is to be forwarded into the workflow process.

• Automated Action Scripts for defining how users can act on work items at each step in the workflow process and where the work is to be sent once the user has completed his or her step.

• Field Groups for defining the sets of data that eFlo will present to users or request from users.

• Views for defining how data sets are to be presented to the user.

• Queries for constructing queries that the user can execute against document repositories, the eFlo workflow database, or other databases supported via ADO such as SQL Server and DB2.

• Letters for describing the Word templates captured during the work process or on an ad-hoc basis.

eFlo provides a comprehensive user experience, out of the box, that integrates case processing, content management, and workflow tools with facilities to integrate new components to provide the user with a single consistent UI.  The screen print that follows provides a view of the smart-client version of eFlo. 

eFlo Smart Client UI 

In the next screen print, the eFlo Web UI provides a similar look and feel found in many desktop applications (e.g., Outlook).  Of course, both versions leverage the same eFlo Rules Engine so that application functionality is identical across versions.  

eFlo manages work objects referred to as cases.  Each work object or case can move across an enterprise from user to user, group to group, or in any combination.  To facilitate this movement or workflow, eFlo uses work object collectors referred to as mailboxes.  Each mailbox organizes and prioritizes work according to a set of configurable business rules.  Mailboxes are organized into areas, which might represent a department, processor team, or workgroup.

Users retrieve cases from any mailbox to which s/he is authorized to work.  The user may then choose to take an action on the case.  An action affects the status of the case, (e.g., the status might change from Pending Final Review to Approved).   By taking the action, eFlo may, at the same time, route the case to a new mailbox, pend the case for later follow-up or for the arrival of support material, close the case, export the case to an external 3^rd party provider, and so forth.   eFlo may also split or copy the case to initiate new workflows.

 A case can be thought of as multi-part work folder organized to logically present the case’s relevant data and content.  Sections of the work folder include: case data, documents, notes, and activity.

 To manage the eFlo work folder, eFlo provides a set of tools that are both powerful and intuitive.

Users review and process cases using a familiar mailbox-style interface.  Users can select to view work in a specific mailbox, across all mailboxes in a given area, or across the enterprise. 

Once a user selects a node in the eFlo Mailbox Tree, the case or cases are displayed using the eFlo Cases View and Tabbed View components as shown here.

From the Cases View, the user can select one or more cases which automatically load the Tabbed View where the user can view documents, notes, and all prior activity.   The user may then choose to take an action on the case using the toolbar and menu options. 

If a user needs to find a case(s), the Explorer Search Tool, presented in the next screen print, allows the user to select a configured search, enter search criteria, and retrieve into the Cases View.

Users query the document repository with the same Outlook-style UI used consistently throughout eFlo.  In the screen print that follows, the user can choose from a list of administrator configured document queries. Once a user selects a query, the user is prompted to enter search criteria and the results are presented in the eFlo Documents View, as shown in the screen print to the left.

eFlo allows users to select and create Word documents during the workflow process.  Here, the user has selected a case from eFlo Explorer and selected the letters function.

The user chooses from a configured set of Word documents that differs depending on the mailbox and has selected a Delay Claim Letter.   eFlo retrieves data from a host database that requires the user to enter a few key data elements.  The user entered data, host data, and eFlo case data populate fields in the letter, the letter is indexed and stored in the document repository, and filed in the case.

eFlo also supports the capture of ad-hoc Word documents from the Word Forms function that appears in the screen print that follows:

Business process procedures are subject to continual change.  The success of a BPM system can be enhanced by providing users with easy ways to communicate BPM changes to business analysts and request features and report bugs to application developers.  Avrio Listens is the issue tracking solutions where users can report these items while in eFlo.  

eFlo leverages the Avrio WebApp Framework’s database query and data view components to provide a configurable reporting solution that can integrate reports written against the eFlo DB, the document repository, and a variety of external databases including SQLServer and DB2. 

To support critical document management functions, Avrio has implemented several web services that eFlo uses to create documents.   The Avrio PDF Service allows eFlo to submit documents from the repository and generate a PDF with a table of contents identifying each document.  The Avrio Word Service is used by eFlo to create and capture Word documents into the document repository.

eFlo can receive documents electronically from external sources and from the document repository.  On receipt, eFlo must determine where in the business process the document belongs and whether the document may need to be matched up with a work case already in process.   While in process, eFlo may need to export documents to an external third party processor or other external source and automatically perform other tasks.  eFlo installs several services to handle these offline tasks, including the eFlo Importer, eFlo Distributor, and eFlo Automaton.