Routing Records for Approval

Starting an Approval Route

To start an approval route, the launch the VERA Action Menu and select the Start Approval Route(s) action.

Figure: Start Approval Route(s) Action Button

The system then displays a selection window that allows the user to select records to route for approval. See Multi-select Actions for more information on the selection window.

Figure : Start Approval Route(s) Selection Window

After selecting the records that will be routed for approval, press the OK button. The user will then be prompted to configure one or more approval routes. The next section describes how to configure the approval routes.

Configuring an Approval Route

After selecting records for the Start Approval Route(s) action, the user will be presented with a dialog window to configure one or more approval routes. Configuring an approval route involves three optional tasks: 1) assigning tasks to specific users, 2) resequencing the order of tasks, and 3) adding additional tasks.
The displayed approval tasks are based on the route templates configured by the project administrators. These tasks represent the minimum number and type of approvers that are required for the selected record(s). If multiple records were selected that require different approval rules, then the user will be required to configure all relevant route templates. The number of route templates that must be configured can be identified by the page count in the lower-left corner of the dialog.

Figure: Configure Route Template Example

Assigning Approvers: The Assignee field of each task provides a list of users that are eligible to have the task assigned to them. For example, if the task is for Quality Approval, then the list will show all users from the Quality user group. When a task is assigned to a specific user, then that user will receive an email notification of their task, and only they will be permitted to complete it. If the <Any> option is selected, then no specific user is assigned to the task, and any eligible user from the group may complete it. However, no email notifications will be sent for the task if no assignee is selected.
By default, the Assignee field will default to <Any> unless the route has previously been configured. In that case, VERA will attempt to use the prior assignee as the default value.

Sequencing Approval Tasks: The Order column is used to configure the sequence in which tasks must be completed. The drop-down list provides a list of task groups to which a task can be assigned. All tasks in a task group will be assigned at once, but the task groups must be completed in order.

For example, all tasks assigned to the Level 1 task group can be completed in parallel (at the same time). However, only once all Level 1 tasks are completed will Level 2 tasks become available. Once Level 2 tasks are complete, then Level 3 will become available, and so forth.

If all tasks are assigned to the same task group, then no order will be enforced. If each task is assigned to its own task group, then the tasks must be completed entirely in sequence.
By default, the order values are set to the values specified by the project administrators in the route template.

Additional Approval Tasks: Users can also add additional approval tasks to the route. This is done by pressing the Add Task link at the bottom of the list of tasks. When adding a new task, the user must select an approval role, an assignee, and an order.
Approval tasks that have been added by the user can be removed before clicking the Start Routes button. Clicking the minus button in the row for the added task will remove the task.

Configuring Multiple Approval Routes

If multiple records were selected that require different approval rules, then the user will be required to configure all relevant route templates. When this happens, the Configure Route Template dialog window will have multiple pages of route templates to configure. The user can navigate between pages using the Next and Previous buttons. The current page number and total page count are displayed in the lower-left corner of the dialog. The Start Routes button will not be enabled until the user reaches the last page of configurations.

Figure: Two route templates must be configured. Page 1 of 2 is showing.

Content Originator Signatures

Some approval routes may include a Content Originator task. The content originator refers to the person that will sign the record as an author/submitter. (This is similar to the "Authored By" or "Submitted By" signatures found on traditional documentation cover pages.) Typically, the person routing the record for approval will assign this task to themselves. However, if they are routing a record that was written by another user, it may be more appropriate to assign the content originator task to the user that authored the record.
Content Originator tasks are completed in the same way as approval tasks, and the user can refer to the instructions for Completing Approval Tasks for instructions on how to apply an electronic signature using VERA. (NOTE: A Content Originator signature is not an approval signature; it is an author's signature.)