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Set Up the Attendance Management Agent

Set up the Attendance Management Agent so that parents and guardians can resolve their student's absences by phone. Complete these tasks in order. Each task builds on the one before it.

Required Editions

Available in: Lightning Experience

Available in: Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer Editions with Education Cloud, Einstein for Education Cloud add-on, Data 360, Marketing Cloud Next with the Salesforce Message Credits - SMS add-on and at least one Salesforce SMS Code Lease add-on, an applicable Salesforce Voice add-on, applicable Agentforce add-on licenses, and Slack.

For more support on Marketing Cloud Next, Salesforce Voice, and Agentforce add-on licenses, contact your Salesforce account executive.
User Permissions Needed
To set up the Attendance Management Agent:

Education Cloud Full Access

AND

Education Cloud Advanced Academic Operations Admin Access
To set up SMS prerequisites: Data Cloud Architect
To send SMS messages:

Marketing Cloud Admin

OR

Marketing Cloud Manager
To configure inbound call routing: The appropriate Agentforce Contact Center or Salesforce Voice permission set

Prepare Your Org for the Attendance Management Agent

Set up the data and features that the Attendance Management Agent depends on.

  1. Set up Attendance Management so that your org creates the attendance entry and attendance source data records that the agent reads and resolves.
    Attendance Management doesn't include an app or interface in this release. See Set Up Attendance.
  2. Turn on Advanced Academic Operations.
    1. From Setup, in the Quick Find box, find and select Set Up Education Cloud.
    2. In the Set Up Academic Operations area, turn on Advanced Academic Operations.
  3. Create an attendance source type named Parent Voice Call.
    The attendance flows look for a source type with this name by default. To use a different name, change the value of the ParentVoiceCallSourceTypeName variable when you configure the attendance flows. If no source type matches, the agent tells the caller that the required attendance source type isn't configured.

Configure Attendance Flows

The Attendance Management Agent template includes two flows that read and update attendance. Set both flows to run in system mode, and then activate them. You can also change the source type name that the flows look for and add your own caller verification checks.

  1. From Setup, find and select Flows.
  2. Select EDU Attendance: Get Attendance Information from Incoming Call.
  3. From How to Run the Flow, select System Context Without Sharing - Access All Data.
  4. If your attendance source type for voice calls has a name other than Parent Voice Call, change the value of the ParentVoiceCallSourceTypeName variable to match.
  5. Optionally, to add your own caller verification checks, configure the customInputParameter input variable.
    If you use this variable, update your agent configuration to match.
  6. Save and activate the flow.
  7. From Setup, find and select Flows.
  8. Select EDU Attendance: Create Attendance Feedback from Incoming Call.
  9. From How to Run the Flow, select System Context Without Sharing - Access All Data.
  10. Optionally, to add your own caller verification checks, configure the customInputParameter input variable.
    If you use this variable, update your agent configuration to match.
  11. Save and activate the flow.

Configure Agentforce Voice for the Attendance Management Agent

Set up Agentforce Voice so that your org can receive calls from parents and guardians. You connect the calls to the agent when you build it.

  1. Enable Salesforce Voice and connect your telephony provider.
  2. Open the Agentforce Voice Setup page.
  3. Provision the phone number that parents and guardians call.
    How you get the number depends on your telephony model: provision a number natively in Salesforce, claim a number in Amazon Connect, or get a number from your partner telephony provider. The number is ready when its status is Live.
  4. Create the voice channel that uses the phone number.
  5. Turn on call recording.

Build the Attendance Management Agent

Create the agent from its template, add the action that stores each caller's explanation, activate the agent, and route incoming calls to it.

  1. Create the flow that stores each caller's explanation.
    1. Create an autolaunched flow that runs in System Context Without Sharing - Access All Data.
    2. Add a text input variable for the caller's feedback.
    3. Add a text collection variable that accepts input and returns output.
    4. Add an assignment that adds the feedback to the collection.
    5. Save and activate the flow.
  2. Create the agent from the Attendance Management Agent template.
    For agent creation and configuration details, see Create a Voice-Enabled Service Agent.
  3. Select or create the bot user that the agent runs as.
  4. Set the agent's name and general settings.
  5. Set the agent's voice persona.
  6. Create an action named Add Feedback to Collection that calls the flow that stores each caller's explanation.
    Map the flow's feedback input to the caller's reason. Map the feedback collection input and output to the caller-reason collection so that the agent keeps every reason from the call.
  7. Add the Add Feedback to Collection action to the Attendance Feedback and Resolution subagent.
    This subagent already includes the Get Attendance Info action and the Resolve Attendance Source Data action.
  8. Edit the subagent's placeholder instructions so that the agent uses the Add Feedback to Collection action to store each reason that the caller gives.
    The placeholder text includes an example.
  9. Save the agent, commit the version, and activate the agent.
    An agent that isn't committed and active doesn't accept calls.
  10. Build the Omni-Channel routing flow from the Voice Calls Routed to Agents and Queues flow template so that incoming calls reach the Attendance Management Agent.
  11. Bind the routing flow to the agent.

Set Up SMS Notification Prerequisites

Set up the data, sender identity, and content that your org needs before it can text parents and guardians about absences.

For an overview, see Parent SMS Quick Start.

  1. Confirm that your org has Marketing Cloud Next and the Salesforce Message Credits - SMS add-on, then enable Marketing Cloud Next.
  2. Map the phone number of each parent or guardian to the Formatted E164 Phone Number field on the Contact Point Phone data model object.
  3. Configure Data 360 identity resolution so that matching records resolve into a unified individual.
    Set your match rules so that the phone number of each parent or guardian resolves to the unified individual that receives the SMS message. See Configure Data 360 Identity Resolution.
  4. Register an SMS brand, then register an SMS campaign.
  5. Request an SMS code with the 10-digit long code type.
    After the code is approved, activate it, and then activate Send and Receive Messages via Flow.
  6. Update your communication subscription to use the SMS code.
    Then collect or import opt-in consent for the SMS channel so that the phone number of each parent or guardian is opted in. See Set Up Receiver Consent.
  7. Create the SMS message that parents and guardians receive.

Send SMS Notifications to Parents and Guardians

Build a flow that texts the parent or guardian when a student's attendance status changes to Absent.

  1. Create an Automation Event-Triggered Flow.
  2. For the trigger event, select Prospect, Lead, Contact or Related Record Change, and then select the attendance entry object.
  3. For the related record, select the parent or guardian contact.
  4. Set the flow to run when a record is updated and the student's attendance status is Absent.
  5. Add a Send SMS Message element that sends your SMS message to the parent or guardian.
    In the element, select your SMS code and your communication subscription.
  6. Save and activate the flow.
Note
Note A Marketing Cloud problem with the unified individual merge field can stop a customer-built flow from sending the SMS message. When this happens, the cause is the Marketing Cloud merge field, not the flow you built.

Send Slack Notifications to Faculty

After an absence resolves, a flow notifies the responsible faculty member in Slack.

  1. Connect Salesforce and Slack.
  2. Confirm that each instructor has an employee record linked to their contact.
    The faculty flow uses this link to find the instructor's Slack user. You can update your employee creation process if instructors don't have these records. For an example of a customized flow, see Simplify Employee Record Creation for Faculty.
  3. From Setup, find and select Flows.
  4. Select EDU Attendance: Send Attendance Feedback to Faculty.
  5. Click Save As New Flow, and then enter a label and API name.
    This flow runs when an attendance entry resolves. It finds the responsible faculty member's Slack user and sends them a direct message. If your attendance source type for voice calls has a name other than Parent Voice Call, change the value of the ParentVoiceCallSourceTypeName variable in your version to match.
  6. Activate your version of the flow.