Update 19A

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Overview

This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in this update.

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Administration

Customer-Provided Coordinates in Pre-Calculation of Travel Time

Starting with 19A, customer provided geocodes will be used in pre-calculating travel time.

Extended Support for OpenID Connect

Support for OpenID Connect has been extended in 19A. Now you can use OpenID Connect providers such as Oracle IDSC, Google, and Microsoft Azure to establish authentication.

APIs

Enable Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) in REST API

Starting with 19A, you can set up a white list of CORS domains, from which requests can be made to REST APIs. CORS requests that go directly to the customer's unique sub-domain (for example, https://ofsc12345.test.etadirect.com) will be validated against this list. The requests are rejected if they fail CORS validation.

Support for Parts Catalog REST API

Starting with 19A, the Parts Catalog API supports RESTful operations (such as create, update, and delete items from existing catalogs), so that the catalog can be synchronized from an external data source. The focus is to integrate parts catalog using the Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) Field Service Cloud adapter.

Support for ‘formSubmitted’ Event

Starting with 19A, a new Core API Event with type ‘formSubmitted’ is generated when a form is submitted. This event contains information about the form values and the entity values that are submitted with the new Forms feature.

Core Application

Date Picker and Barcode Scanner

Starting with 19A, Core Application and iOS and Android apps users have a new simplified way to populate data on screens when using the new Forms functionality. With this feature, users can:

• Populate data in fields and properties using a barcode or a QR code scanner
• Select and specify the date and time using date and time pickers

Disable Coordinates Gathering for Personal Activities

Starting with 19A, a new privacy feature is available, where you can disable location tracking by activity type.

Improved Calendars

With 19A, the following improvements have been made to calendars in the Core Application and Mobility:

• Resource Landing Page: A date picker is added.
• Resource info and Resource calendar screens: Additional information about working days and shifts is displayed.

Improvements in Parts Catalog

Starting with 19A, the following improvements are implemented for parts catalog:

• A new context layout screen, 'Parts details' is added to the Application screen configuration.
• A new entity “partsCatalogItem” is added to the Plug-in API Framework.
• Field Resources can view more details on the Parts Details screen.
• Field Resources can find out whether a part is available with any of the nearby technicians.
• Customers can use plugins to create business workflows related to parts. For example, order a part or find a particular part at nearby warehouses.

Landing Page: Improve Plug-Ins Presentation

Starting with 19A, plug-ins are improved to support the following options that are displayed on the Mobility and Core Application landing page: 

• Icon for plug-in tile
• Short message displayed on tile
• Highlight tile

Support of Forms

Starting with 19A, Oracle Field Service Cloud introduces the new Forms capability in Core Application, iOS and Android apps. This feature has numerous improvements, including:

• The Forms and Plugins screen, which replaces the Action Management configuration screen.
• The new 'Teamwork’ resource hierarchy visualization option to find and locate resources easily when creating teamwork.
• The updated Visual Form Editor screen to simplify the configuration process.
• The new Form Fields entity that allows fields to be created for a specific form, without having to use the application configured properties.
• The visual display to view and manage all the configured forms and plug-ins easily from a single location.

Plugin Framework

Improved Navigation and Configuration for Plug-Ins

Starting with 19A, for each plug-in, you can configure the data that must be sent to a plug-in. This means, each plug-in can have its own configured fields, independent of other plug-ins in Oracle Field Service Cloud. You can also specify which plug-in must be opened after closing the current one, so that the navigation flow between plug-ins is set. This eliminates the need to open the plug-in again manually when you have to continue to use it after submitting data.

Mobility

Find Nearby Resources and Broadcast a Message

With 19A, field resources (technicians) using the parts catalog can find and locate other field resources who have a specific part available in their truck and invoke a broadcast request for sharing inventory.

Improve Routing on Mobility Design

With 19A, the look and feel of Routing screen widgets have been improved to allow smooth functionality on all the devices including mobile phones and tablets.

Improvements of Search Functionality in Oracle Field Service Cloud

Starting 19A, the new search in Oracle Field Service Cloud allows users to perform the following tasks:

• Search for an Activity / an Inventory / Parts
• Search in Offline Mode
• Set search preferences
• View the last five recent searches
• Navigate the search