System Chats
Overview
System chats are created by scripts in your solution (or by scheduled scripts on your FileMaker Server) instead of being created by one of your users. To create one, you call the "SendMessageFromSystem..." API script, passing in the users you'd like on the chat, the message, and any entity information you need linked to the chat. See the comments in the head of that script for more information.
Use Cases (Suggestions)
Here are some of the things you can do with system chats---some simple, some advanced:
Requiring Approval.
Let's say a given record needs three people to approve it before the record can move on to the next stage. When it hits the stage requiring approval a script calls our system chat API sending the record's info and the user IDs of the 3 people need to approve it. A server side script can then test this record to see if it's related system chat messages contain one "approved" message from each key person and if so, moving the record to the next level.
Help Desk.
When users click "I Need Help" the script calls our system chat routine, stating a chat between the logged in users's chat ID and a designate help desk user depending on the time of day. In the mornings user X gets added to the chat, in the afternoon user Y.
Server Process Completes.
Important server side scripts could log their completion in system chats.
Warehouse.
Someone picking orders in a warehouse is asked to pull an order for a dozen widgets. The worker is looking at the order on their iPad in GO and chats their manager (using an entity chat linked to that order) asking if they can fill it in 2 packs of 6 instead. Manager gets the chat, clicks to see the order, and replies "yea".
Receptionist with a remote sales team.
A receptionist takes a message that could be replied to by any of 3 sales people, all of whom are out of the office. Your script starts a system chat to the 3 sales people in this region with a data detector link to the message record asking for someone to respond. When sales person number 2 chats back "I'll take this one" the other sales people see this when they go to look at the chat and know it's been handled.
