Approvals

  • Updated

The Approvals page provides a centralized location for users to view and manage records that require approval through OWL IPA (Intelligent Process Automation) workflows.

When a workflow requires approval, OWL creates an approval request and routes it to the configured approver or approvers. The request appears on the Approvals page, where authorized users can review the record, evaluate the request, and take the appropriate approval action.

This helps organizations to...

  • Review and approve inbound requests such as claim, policy, regulatory, information, and evidence requests before they are assigned to Cases, Subjects, or investigations.
  • Control sensitive workflows by routing requests to designated supervisors or authorized users for review and approval. 
  • Track requests efficiently through a centralized workflow for requests from carriers, partner agencies, prosecutors, courts, and regulatory bodies. 
  • Maintain accountability and auditability by recording approval decisions, rejections, requested changes, reviewers, review dates, and comments.

The Approvals page works closely with the following OWL functionality:

  • IPA Workflows – Defines when approval is required, who can approve, and what happens after the approval decision.
  • Email Intake – Allows inbound emails to be routed to designated users for review and approval before being associated with Cases or Subjects.
  • Case Management – Approval workflows can control actions involving Case records.
  • Subjects – Approval workflows can be used when processing or associating Subject records.
  • Notifications – Users can be notified when an approval request requires their attention or when an approval decision is completed.
  • OWLdocs – For Email Intake approvals, approvers can review email attachments stored in OWLdocs as part of the request.
  • Tips & Leads – Approval workflows can be applied when processing incoming tips or leads, ensuring they are reviewed and approved before being escalated to Cases or assigned for investigation.
  • Permissions and Licensing – Determines which users can access approval requests and perform approval actions.

The page provides an overview of approval activity through status counters and a detailed list of approval requests, allowing users to quickly monitor the current status and review approval-related information.

The dashboard displays the following approval categories:

  • Approved – Number of requests that have been approved.
  • Changes Requested – Number of requests for which changes or additional information have been requested. (under Development)
  • Pending – Number of requests awaiting review or approval.
  • Rejected – Number of requests that have been rejected.

Approval requests are not normally created manually from the Approvals page. They are generated when an IPA workflow is configured with an approval step and a record meets the conditions defined in that workflow.

A typical configuration involves:

  1. Configure an IPA workflow for the required record type or process.
  2. Define the conditions under which approval is required.
  3. Configure the department, user, role, or other supported approver criteria.
  4. Define the required approval actions.
  5. Activate the workflow.
  6. When a record meets the workflow conditions, OWL generates an approval request.
  7. The request is displayed on the Approvals page for the configured approver.

For example, when an Email Intake record is routed through an IPA approval workflow, the configured approver receives the Email Intake approval request on the Approvals page. The approver can review the request and take the appropriate action.

Approval Request Details

The approval grid provides information such as:

  • Record Name – Name of the record submitted for approval.
  • Record Type – Type of record associated with the approval request, such as Email Intake, Case, or another supported record type.
  • Record Owner / Created On – Displays the record owner and the date and time the record was created.
  • Department – Department associated with the approval request.
  • Record Status – Current status of the record.
  • Approver Type – Indicates the type of approver configured for the workflow, such as User.
  • Approvers – Displays the users configured to review the request.
  • Required – Number of approvals required for the request.
  • Approved – Number of approvals already completed.
  • Reviewed By / Reviewed On – Displays who reviewed the request and when it was reviewed.
  • Review Status – Current approval status, such as Pending, Approved, or Rejected.
  • Review Comments – Displays comments provided during the review.
  • Action – Provides available actions for the approval request.

 

Reviewing an Approval Request

When a request is assigned to an authorized approver, it appears in the Pending Approvals list.

The approver can use the available Action option to review the request.

During review, the approver can view the information associated with the record and, depending on the workflow configuration, take an appropriate action such as:

  • View Record
  • Approve the request.
  • Reject the request.
  • Request Changes (under development)

After the action is completed, OWL updates the approval status and records the review information.

Email Intake Approvals

For an Email Intake record, the approval process works as follows:

  1. An inbound email is received and created as an Email Intake record.
  2. An IPA workflow determines that the email requires approval.
  3. The Email Intake is assigned to the configured approver.
  4. The request appears in Approvals → Pending.
  5. The approver reviews the email, including its content and attachments.
  6. If approved, the Email Intake proceeds according to the configured workflow and can be associated with the appropriate Case or Subject.
  7. If rejected, the Email Intake does not proceed with the assignment workflow.
  8. OWL records the review status, reviewer, review date, and any comments.