How automation runs your workflows

When a workflow has automation on, Esqase works through its steps for you: sending the email, creating the task, requesting the form, waiting for the client to answer, and moving on to the next step. This page explains what that looks like on a lead or a matter, what every state means, and what to do when a step needs you.

For building workflows see Workflows and the builder, for the individual steps see Workflow step types, and for the firm-wide switches see Automation settings.

Before you begin

• Esqase only runs steps when the workflow's Automation switch is on, the record's own automation is running, and automation is not paused for your firm.
• To run, approve, or skip steps on a record you need Update access for leads (or matters) and View access for workflows. Firm owners always have access.
• Everything on this page happens in the record's Workflow section: at the top of a lead's profile, and on the Overview tab of a matter.

How a workflow runs

A workflow is a chain. Esqase works one step at a time, in the order the steps appear, and only starts a step once the one above it is done or skipped. That is why a step waiting on a client holds everything below it.

For each step in turn, Esqase:

1. checks the step's condition, if it has one, and skips the step (or stops the workflow) when the condition is not met,
2. waits out the step's start delay, and holds emails, form requests, meeting invites, and reminders until your firm's sending window is open,
3. asks for approval when the step, or your firm's settings, say approval is needed,
4. runs the step, and either marks it done or waits for the outcome you chose under Done when.

When the last step is done the workflow is finished on that record, whether Esqase worked through the steps or your team ticked them off by hand. A finished workflow can be attached to the same record again if you need to run it a second time.

The record's copy of the workflow is its own. Editing the workflow afterward does not change a record already running it, and reordering or editing steps on the record never re-runs a step that is already finished.

What each state means

Every step shows a badge and a short sentence under its title.

The automation bar

A bar sits above the steps and tells you what Esqase is doing with this record.

• A badge reads Automation on, Automation paused, Automation off, or Automation paused for the firm.
• Next: names the step that comes next and when it starts, for example Next: Send intake form, 2 days after the previous step.
• Buttons offer Pause automation, Resume automation, or Start automation, depending on the state.
• Run history opens the log of everything that has happened.

The bar only appears once a workflow has been attached to the record.

Pause, resume, and start

• Pause automation stops Esqase on this record. The dialog reads Steps already waiting stay where they are. Nothing new runs until you resume. Use it when you need to hold a client at arm's length for a while.
• Resume automation reads Esqase picks the workflow up where it left off and carries on with the next step.
• Start automation appears when the record's workflow is not running automatically, which is the normal state for a lead that arrived from a public page or the API while your firm's public-source setting is off. The dialog reads Esqase starts running the steps that are set to run on their own. Steps that need a team member still wait for you.

Waiting for the client

A step whose Done when is a client outcome (the form comes back, the meeting is confirmed, the invoice is paid) sits in Waiting until that happens.

• If the step has reminders turned on, Esqase re-sends the reminder template on the interval you set, until the client responds, the step's total is reached, or your firm's cap or stop-after limit is hit.
• When Esqase stops chasing, everyone watching the record gets a Waiting on the client notification reading We have reminded the client 3 times about Intake form on LEAD-0117. It arrives as the chasing stops, whether the step used up the reminders it was given, reached your firm's maximum, or has been waiting longer than your firm allows. The step keeps waiting, so you can still chase the client yourself.
• If a reminder cannot be sent at all, for example because its template was deleted, Esqase stops reminding, tells you once with the reason, and leaves the step waiting.
• You can always do it yourself with the step's own button, or use Skip this step in the step's ... menu to let the workflow move on.

Approving a step

A step set to Automatic, needs approval, or one whose type your firm requires approval for, is prepared and then held. The badge reads Needs approval and the row offers Review.

What the review shows depends on the step:

• Email: the recipient, the subject, and the body exactly as Esqase wrote them, above Esqase wrote this email and is waiting for you before it goes out. Choose Send now to send what you just read, Edit and send to open the email composer on that same wording so you can change it first, or Do not send to skip the step.
• Invoice: the draft invoice number with a Review draft invoice link that opens it, a checkbox reading Also approve this invoice that is ticked for you, then Approve and continue or Skip this step. Leave the checkbox ticked and approving the step also approves the invoice, credited to you. Clear it and the invoice stays a draft. See Creating and sending invoices.
• Convert to matter: there is no review dialog. The step's own Convert to matter button is the approval, and it converts the lead or opens the new-matter wizard.
• Every other type: Approve to let Esqase run this step now, or skip it and the workflow carries on with the next one, with Approve and Skip this step.

When a step cannot run

If something goes wrong, Esqase tries again a few times for problems that look temporary. When it cannot get through, the step turns red with Needs attention, the reason is written under the title, and everyone watching the record is notified that A step could not run.

Typical reasons, in the words you will see:

• The client has no email address on file.
• The email could not be delivered. Check the client email address, then try again. This is the one you see when the address exists but the message bounced or was rejected.
• The email template for this step is no longer available.
• The email template uses a placeholder this step cannot fill, followed by the name of the placeholder.
• The form for this step is no longer available.
• Possible conflicts were found. Review them before continuing.
• This step did not finish.

You have three ways out, and the workflow stays stopped until you take one:

• Try again. Fix the cause first (add the email address, pick a template that exists), then run the step again.
• Do it by hand. The step keeps its own button (Send, Create task, Create draft invoice, and so on), so you can do the work yourself and then tick the step off.
• Skip this step. In the step's ... menu. The step is marked skipped and the workflow moves on.

A blocked conflict check

When a conflict check finds a high-priority match and the step is set to block, the row reads Possible conflicts were found. Review them before continuing. and offers three controls: a Conflicts found status button, Review conflicts, and Clear and continue. The status button is the same one a conflict check step carries in every other state, where it reads Matches to review, Nothing found, or Not checked. See Workflow step types.

• Conflicts found opens the saved results on their own, under the heading What this check found when it ran. Opening it does not start a new check. It shows the outcome, when the check ran and who ran it, the parties screened, and the matches. Previous conflict checks at the bottom highlights the check that blocked the step, and Run a new check in the footer is the only thing in that dialog that starts a fresh screen.
• Review conflicts opens the conflict screen on what Esqase already found and does not start a new check, so nothing moves while you read. The dialog says so at the top: Esqase found a possible conflict on this step. Look at the checks below before you clear it or run a new one. Previous conflict checks, under the results, is where the screen that blocked the step sits, listed as Automatic screen by Esqase and highlighted so you can pick it out. Run conflict check inside that dialog starts a fresh, full check, saved to the record's conflict history like any other.
• Clear and continue is what releases the workflow once you are satisfied. Running a clean check on its own does not unblock the step.
• Stop workflow in the ... menu ends the workflow here instead.

Running a step yourself

• Run now appears on a step that is Not started (and set to run automatically) or Scheduled. It tells Esqase to go ahead now instead of waiting.
• Run it anyway appears on a Skipped step and puts it back in the queue.
• Every step keeps its own button, whatever state it is in, so you can always send, create, or schedule by hand.

The run history

Run history in the automation bar opens a panel listing everything the workflow has done on this record, newest first, with Everything this workflow has done on this record, newest first. at the top. Each line says what happened, who it is credited to, how long ago it was, and which workflow it belongs to. Before anything has happened it reads Nothing has run yet.

The credit is the real one. What a member did (approving, skipping, retrying, or asking for a step to run now) is credited to that member by name, what a client did is credited to the client, and what Esqase did on its own is credited to Esqase automation. A step that finishes because something came back, such as an email going out or a form being returned, records what came back and then a closing line saying the step is done.

What Esqase tells you

Three notifications come from automation. All three arrive in the app by default, and desktop alerts and emails for them are off until you turn them on:

• A step could not run, naming the step and the record.
• A step needs your approval, when something is ready to review.
• Waiting on the client, when a step has finished reminding and is still waiting.

They go to the member the workflow is attributed to and to the people assigned to the record. Opening one takes you straight to the record with that step highlighted. Change what you receive under your notification preferences. See Notifications.

How automatic emails are sent

Emails your team sends by hand still come from your own mailbox. Emails Esqase sends for you go out on your firm's behalf:

• Clients see your firm's name followed by via Esqase as the sender.
• Replies go wherever your firm has chosen: your firm email address, the member who started the workflow, or a different address you name.
• Your firm's default email signature is added, with placeholders filled in.
• The send is logged on the record like any other email, so it appears on the record's Communications tab, credited to the member the workflow runs as. See Logging communications.
• The step's own row and the run history record that it went out, and when.

Your firm's send-from and reply settings live in Automation settings.

What happens when the record changes

• A lead is marked Not hired, or archived. Its workflows are paused, so nothing else is sent. Putting the lead back into intake, or marking it hired, starts them again. A pause a member set with Pause automation is left alone, so a record somebody stopped deliberately stays stopped until they resume it.
• A lead is converted to a matter. The workflow moves to the new matter and carries on there from the step after the conversion.
• A matter is archived or deleted. Its workflows are cancelled and every unfinished step is marked Cancelled.

What automation does not do yet

• Documents keep their merge fields. A document Esqase creates from a template keeps the template's placeholders as written. Open it and fill them in before you send it.
• An automatic conflict screen is partial. It covers matters, clients, related contacts, organisation links, contacts, leads, and invoices. It does not search tasks, activities, events, notes, emails, or documents, so treat a clean automatic result as a first pass. A member can run the full check from the step at any time.
• A task step on a lead is done as soon as the task is created, even when the step says The task is done. On a matter the step waits for the task to be ticked off.
• A skipped invoice approval leaves the draft behind. The draft invoice stays on the matter until someone removes it.

Common questions

A step says "Runs shortly" but nothing happens. Check the automation bar. If it reads Automation off or Automation paused for the firm, nothing starts until automation is running again, and Run now is greyed out with the reason on it.

Run now is greyed out. Why? Hover over it and Esqase tells you which switch is in the way: your firm's pause, this record's pause, a record whose automation was never started, or a workflow that has already finished here. Fix the one it names, or do the step yourself with its own button, which is never blocked.

Can I stop one step without stopping the workflow? Yes. Use Skip this step in the step's ... menu. The workflow carries on with the next step, and you can always Run it anyway later.

Why was a step skipped when I never touched it? It had a condition that was not met, and the step was set to Skip this step and carry on. The reason is on the row, and it is also in the run history.

Does automation work while the record is private? Yes. Esqase acts as the member the workflow is attributed to: whoever created the record, or added the workflow, and its actions appear in the record's history under that member's name.

Related

• Workflows and the builder
• Workflow step types
• Assigning and attaching workflows
• Automation settings
• Managing leads
• Notifications