Get Started with Application Approvals

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

Describe the advantages of using Public Sector Solutions for your application approval processes.
Explain how to create a dynamic application form with OmniStudio.
Use OmniScript to help ensure that constituents submit complete applications.

Before You Start

Before you start this module, consider completing the following recommended content.

Discover Application Approvals

Governments worldwide are striving to operate more efficiently and serve people better, and one area that's ripe for improvement is application approval. Constituents need to submit applications to government agencies for a variety of reasons, from requesting food and medical assistance to applying for licenses and permits. Many government agencies still review and approve applications manually. Not only are manual processes tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone, but they can be obtuse. Also, when employees don’t know the right process, compliance issues can arise.

Enter Public Sector Solutions. It gives you power, automation, and flexibility in approval processes for all kinds of applications, from food stamps, child care, and unemployment insurance, to driver's licenses, business licenses, financial assistance, and medical help, like COVID-19 relief.

With Public Sector Solutions, government agencies and other organizations can create custom approval processes to ensure applications are reviewed and approved consistently and accurately. Employees can respond to applications quickly thanks to in-app and email notifications. Checklists and next steps guide reviewers and approvers through required tasks. Everyone knows what to do, applications don't get stuck in someone's inbox, and compliance is ensured.

Cosville, the city you visited in the Licensing, Permitting, and Inspections with Public Sector Solutions Trailhead module, is ready to streamline its application approval processes with Public Sector Solutions. Let’s follow along as Tishon Nichols, Cosville’s Public Sector Solutions admin, sets up an approval workflow for business license applications.

We don’t have any hands-on challenges in this module, but if you want to practice and try out the steps, you need a special Developer Edition org that contains Public Sector Solutions and our sample data. A regular Trailhead Playground doesn’t have Public Sector Solution or our sample data. Here’s how to get the free Developer Edition now.

Sign up for a free Developer Edition org with Public Sector Solutions.
Fill out the form.

For Email, enter an active email address.
For Username, enter a username that looks like an email address and is unique. It doesn’t need to be a valid email account (for example, yourname@hc4evah.com is fine).

Click Sign me up. A confirmation message appears.
When you receive the activation email (this might take a few minutes), open it and click Verify Account.
Complete your registration by setting your password and challenge question.
Tip: Write down your username, password, and login URL for easy access later.

Create Dynamic Applications Using OmniScript

Tishon is ready to start setting up her approval workflow for constituents in Cosville who want to apply for a business license. Before she can do this, what needs to be in place? The business license application form, of course!

With OmniStudio, the digital engagement suite that comes with Public Sector Solutions, Tishon can create dynamic application forms and deploy them on the Cosville public portal for constituents to fill in and submit. OmniStudio includes a drag-and-drop visual designer called OmniScript Designer, which lets her define all the form elements on a canvas, without code.

Tishon uses OmniScript Designer to create the dynamic business application form. You may be wondering, what’s a dynamic form anyway? It’s a clever type of form that uses conditional logic to present questions based on answers and data the applicant provides in other parts of the form. This makes it even faster and easier for constituents to apply for licenses, permits, and other programs.

She designs the form to handle a number of variables, such as the location of the business. Depending on whether the business is situated in a commercial establishment or in the applicant’s home, OmniScript creates conditional logic to quickly determine the next steps for the applicant.

Here's how Tishon creates the form.

From the App Launcher, find and select the OmniStudio app.
From the App navigation menu, select OmniScripts, and then click New.
For Name, enter Business License Application, for Type enter LicensingandPermitting, for SubType enter Salon, and for Language select English.
Save your work.
In OmniScript Designer, click Step1 and, in Step Properties, change the Name and Field Label to Business Information.
Switch to the Build panel, and expand the Inputs section. Then, drag a Date element onto the step. In Date Properties, name the element StartDate. For Field Label, enter Date that you plan to open or take over the establishment.
Drag a Radio element under the Date element, and name it BusinessatHome. For Field Label, enter Is this business in a residence? For Options, enter Value True, and for Label enter Yes. Save it, and add another option with Value of False and Label of No.
Those who open a salon in their own residence must adhere to certain business and professional codes. So next, you add a form input to display a message that allows applicants to view these codes.
From the Display section of the Build panel, drag a Text Block element under the Radio element, and name it Regulatory Codes. Click the Text field and in the rich text editor, type If yes, see Business and Professions Code sections 7346, 7350, and 7353 for the requirements for a home-based salon. Then, save your changes.
For Conditional View, select Show Element if True, and add the condition BusinessatHome is equal to True.
Drag another Radio element onto the step, and name it CommercialLocation. For Field Label, enter Is this business located inside a commercial establishment such as a health club or a hotel? Create an option with a Value of True and Label of Yes, and another option with a Value of False and a Label of No.
Add a Text element below the last elements, and name it BusinessLocation. For the Field Label, enter If Yes, enter the type of commercial establishment.
For Conditional View, select Show Element if True, and add the condition CommercialLocation is equal to True.
Drag a Number element onto the step, and name it EmployeeCount. For Field Label, enter Number of Employees.
To view how the form looks, click Preview.

Screen capture of a business license application form

Now Tishon has a business license application form that dynamically changes based on the applicant’s input. If the applicant answers Yes to the question, “Is this business in a residence?”, then the form directs them to the business and professional codes for the establishment.

Screen capture of a dynamic form that updates to show the regulatory codes if a business is located in the applicant’s residence

If the applicant answers Yes to the question, “Are you located inside a business? Example: Health Club, Hotel, Retirement Community, etc.” then the form asks for the type of commercial establishment.

Screen capture of a dynamic form that updates to display a new text field asking the applicant to enter their business type

For applicants who submit applications through email, fax, or post, you can use optical character recognition in Intelligent Form Reader to automatically extract text from paper-based documents and map the text to application fields in Public Sector Solutions.

Validate Applications Using OmniScripts

Tishon wants applicants to only submit applications that are complete. Incomplete applications extend processing time and mean more work for approval teams. Using OmniScripts and the advanced data validation elements, she can prevent the submission of incomplete applications. So what are we waiting for? Let’s learn some of the data validation elements that OmniScripts offer.

Required Fields

To make certain fields compulsory so that applicants can only submit the application if those fields are complete, Tishon makes the fields required. For example, she wants to make the EmployeeCount field mandatory on the business license application. To achieve this, Tishon selects the EmployeeCount field in Omniscript Designer, and then selects the Required checkbox, under the Properties tab.

Screen capture of the Required checkbox for field elements in OmniScript

Set Values

Set Values is another data validation element in OmniScript that helps prevent applicants from submitting incorrect information online. Say, for example, you're creating a form for constituents to request a duplicate driver's license. You can use the Set Values element to add a formula to the OmniScript that checks if the applicant’s current driver’s license is valid. You can also use Set Values to define prerequisites and populate field elements with data.

Screen capture showing the Set Values element in OmniScript

To find the Set Values element in OmniScript Designer, go to the Build tab and then the Actions section.

Set Errors

OmniScript also provides the Set Errors element for data validation. Required fields and Formula/Messaging elements only work on the current step. The Set Errors element, on the other hand, works across steps to help ensure that the data is complete.

For example, uploading a project plan may not be required at the intake step of a business establishment application, but the final submission requires a project plan. You can use the Set Errors element and a custom error message on the final step to take the applicant back to the page where they can upload the approved project plan for their business.

Find the Set Errors element in the Actions section of the Build tab.

Set Errors element in OmniScript

To learn more about creating and validating applications using OmniScript, see the OmniStudio documentation and Trailhead modules in the Resources section.

The next unit introduces you to Business Rules Engine, which you can use to automate complex policy decisions and efficiently determine the program eligibility of constituents. You also learn how to build the approvals workflow by creating an entitlement process and a milestone tracker.