Notify Case Creator when something is posted/commented on Chatter using Salesforce Flow

SCENARIO

While working on one of the requirements for an Electric Automotive Company based in Sweden, there was a requirement to send an Email to the Case creator when something is posted or commented on chatter.

APPROACH

As the requirement is pretty straightforward, The client wants to send an email to the case creator. We have many ways to achieve this requirement like Apex Code, but Salesforce encourages us to code less.

So, we have used Record Trigger Flow to fulfill this requirement.

Below are the steps to achieve the requirement:

Step 1:-  Define flow properties.

• Click Setup.
• In the Quick Find box, type Flows.
• Select Flows then click on the New Flow.
• Select the Record-Triggered Flow option and click on Next and configure the flow as follows:
• How do you want to start building: Freeform

Step 2:- Select Object and Set Entry Condition. 

Give Input as follows:

• Object: Feed Item.
• Trigger the Flow When: A record is created or updated.
• Condition Requirements: All Conditions Are Met(AND).
• Field: ParentId.
• Operator: Starts With.
• Value:500(Case Object record Id starts with "500...").
• When to Run the Flow for Updated Records: Every time a record is updated and meets the condition requirements.
• Optimize the Flow for Actions and Related Records. 

Step 3:- Get Case Records. 

Drag Get Record Element into canvas from Data Section under Elements Tab from the ToolBox & Give Input as follows:

• Object: Case.
• Condition Requirements: All Conditions Are Met(AND).
• Field: Id.
• Operator: Equals.
• Value:{!$Record.Parent:Case.Id}.
• How Many Records to Store: Only the first record.
• How to Store Record Data: Automatically store all fields.
• Join start Element to Get Element.

Step 4:- Create a Decision. 

Drag Decision Element into canvas from Logic Section under Elements Tab from the ToolBox & Give Input as follows:

• Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met(AND).
• Resource: {!Get_Case_Records.CreatedBy.Id}.
• Operator: Is Null.
• Value: False.
• When to Execute Outcome: If the condition requirements are met.
• Join Get Element to Decision Element.

Step 5:- Define Body and Subject Variables for Email.

We need to create flow variables for the Body & Subject portion of the email.

Click New Resource under Elements Tab from the ToolBox & Give Input as follows:

• Resource Type: Text Template.
• API Name: TextTemplate.(Write as per your convenience)
• Body: Comment has been Made. (Write as per your convenience)
• Click Done.

Repeat the same above steps for Subject.

• Resource Type: Text Template.
• API Name: SubjectTemplate.(Write as per your convenience)
• Body: Hi How are you?. (Write as per your convenience)
• Click Done.

Step 6:- Send an Email. 

Drag Action Element into canvas from Interaction Section under Elements Tab from the ToolBox, scroll down the list from the left-hand side and select Email from the bottom, in the Action select Send Email & Give Input as follows:

• Set Body & Subject variables in their respective input field.
• Press the Don't Include Button for RecipientEmailAddresses(comma-separated) and set it to Include(True).
• RecipientEmailAddresses(comma-separated):{!Get_Case_Records.CreatedBy.Email}.
• Click Done.
• Join Decision Element to Email Action Element for Case Creator.

Step 7:- Now Save the flow & then Activate it.

FLOW DIAGRAM

CONCLUSION

By following the steps mentioned above you can send an Email Notification to Case Creator when something is Posted/Commented on the Chatter.

If you have any questions you can reach out our Salesforce Consulting team here.

Integration of Salesforce Chatter with SharePoint Online

INTRODUCTION 

When working on one of the requirements for a manufacturing sector project for a client based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, we came across a requirement where we had to develop a solution by integrating Salesforce with SharePoint. The basic need was to save feedback/comments from SharePoint to custom object in Salesforce. 

Comment should contain user name same as in Salesforce Chatter. Responses received from either of the platform, Salesforce or SharePoint; should be in sync. 

CHALLENGE

The main challenge was that SharePoint users are not licensed users within Salesforce. And API provided by chatter saves comment or post to chatter for only Salesforce licensed user. These users were not in sync with both Salesforce and SharePoint. 

 

The other challenge was to display comments from Salesforce into SharePoint. Connect API provides very complex response from Salesforce and it was not easy to map the field values in SharePoint. 

APPROACH

To address these issues, we took an approach of configuring a custom object in Salesforce to save comments. With a Master-detail relationship, we linked this custom object (which was created to save comments) to its parent object. 

To get more insight about the technical approach, have a look at the below explanation and screenshots. 

Let’s assume that we have an object (e.g., Account) which we consider as a parent object. We want to add comments related to the each record of that object. 

Now, users from SharePoint are going to add their comments to the records of this object to keep track of approval status. Let’s not forget that these users are not licensed Salesforce users. 

SharePoint users add their comments from SharePoint UI and with use of REST API, it will be stored in custom object in Salesforce, which is related to our parent object - Account. 

To store these comments from SharePoint, Salesforce connected app credentials were used for authentication and authorization.

Configuration of custom object for Chatter is shown in below screenshot:

Data fetched through REST API from SharePoint, would be displayed as shown in below screenshot.

SUMMARY 

By configuring custom object in Salesforce & using REST API, we can easily integrate data from 3rd party applications used by non-Salesforce users by its username or email id.

If you have any questions you can reach out our Salesforce Consulting team here.