Backup Person Practices
Backup persons are processed in the application when timed e-mails are sent. If no e-mail transmission has been timed, then transactions are not transferred to backup persons. screen you can specify the timing of e-mail transmissions and working days according to which the sufficiency of processing times is calculated (for more information, see Workflow Settings). Additionally, a transfer to a backup person affects the processing times defined for processing steps (for more information, see Workflow Steps of Transactions).
A user can specify his own period of absence and his backup person on the screen. If the user's user profile includes the right Absence Settings, Other Users, the user can also specify absence times and backup persons for other users, by selecting another user in the User field in the Absence Settings screen. The main user can specify the absence time and backup person for another user in the screen by pressing the Absence button. For more information on defining the absence settings, see Edit Absence Settings and The Functions of the Users-page.
When a transaction is forwarded to a backup person, it can still be processed by the original processor. Both can process the step in question. When one has processed the transaction, the processing step of the other changes to Informative Flow.
A transaction is forwarded to a backup person in the following situations:
- The user is absent for such a long time that he/she cannot process the transaction in time before the due date.
- OR the transaction has not been processed within the time frame that was reserved for it. Processing time frames are defined in the workflow steps of transactions (see Processing Time of Workflow Steps). This means that a transaction can be transferred to a backup person, even though the original processor does not have valid absence settings. However, processors are always given at least 24 hours to process a step. This is calculated from the moment when the step has become active.Note: In this case, a transaction is in the Task List of the original processor for 24 hours, and it is then transferred to the backup person after sending an automated e-mail message, if all the other conditions are met.
- A backup person is specified for the user in the absence settings. Please note that also company specific backup person settings can be specified for a user. For more information, see The Functions of the Users-page.
- The backup person is not already a processor of this step. If processors of one step have the same backup person, he/she is added as the backup person only for one of the processors.
- The backup person has a sufficient processing limit for the step in question, or the step does not have any processing limits in force.
- The backup person's user profile contains the right to access the processing step.
- The backup person is not absent.
- The backup person is not a processor in any steps of the transaction, if one processor can only process one single step of this transaction. This is affected by the settings defined in the workflow steps of transactions (see Workflow Steps of Transactions).
If all of the above conditions are not met, the processor is not given a backup person and he/she remains the processor until further notice.
Suspended or abandoned transactions or transactions in Informative Flow are not transferred to a backup person. Also, no backup person is appointed if not all processors of the present step have yet processed the transaction, but one of the processors has marked the invoice as suspended or abandoned.
A transaction is never transferred to the backup person of a backup person.
The processor and his backup person have the right to view the transaction also in the archive.
The processor’s absence settings can be saved already before the start of the absence. A transaction is transferred to a backup person only after the start of the processor’s absence, if the processor has not already processed the transaction before that.