Curo365 Playbooks (not to be confused with the Playbooks that are already native to Dynamics) is a tool that allows you to automatically create Tasks and Appointments in the system based on an initial, Key Date.

An easy example of how Key Dates and subsequent Appointments/Deadlines/Tasks could work can be illustrated in a Filing Date and a Hearing Date. Once you know the Date of the Hearing (Key Date) the system can automatically populate a Deadline for the last day to File some required Form. Conversely, you could make that Deadline a Task instead (which is what we’ll do in our example).

Using this system, you can quickly populate repeatable Tasks and Appoints/Deadlines without having to recreate them on every new Matter.

BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED

Note that this is not a default function of Curo365. If you see this Guide and decide that Curo365 Playbooks is a feature from which your Firm can benefit, you’ll need to reach out to us in order for it to be added to your Environment. However, if you’ve already got this feature or you’re wondering if you’d like to have it, then read on!

Again, note that if we haven’t set this up for you, none of the following options will be available. Otherwise, in your Admin App, look on the left side of your screen in your Entities list for Curo365 Playbook Templates (the top one, if the labels get cut off).

Here, we see a list of Active Templates, or we would if I had yet created any. To start, client +New on the top Ribbon.

There are quite a few Fields here, so we’ll go through what each one means in groups. First, the Name and Description fields are pretty self-explanatory. Name the Template whatever you like, and then explain its purpose.

Next, the Matter Type can be used to specify that this Playbook can only be used on certain Matter Types. Otherwise, leave it blank. The Calendar should always be set to Holiday Schedule, and your IC, during the initial configuration of this feature, can help you set up what days are considered Holidays in case you need to add something not already part of the Federal Holiday list. We’ll talk more about what this does soon.

Next, we have an option for Move/Delete Related Activity. When this is set to Yes, then if you were to change the date of the Key Date (our example from above, the Date of Incident), then the system would adjust the cascading, related Dates (Statute of Limitations, for example). If set to No, then it will not automatically update the cascading Dates. And finally, the assisting Curo365 Consultant will set up the Matter Date for you the first time, and you can copy the code on the rest of them. This field will be used for Mapping a Custom Field into your created Activity, and is a little too complex to get into in this Guide.

Next, we have our SMS options. These options will control when and how often you receive Text Message reminders for an upcoming Appointment/Deadline. The first field, SMS Scheduled Duration, is the amount of Days before the event, as well as the number of times, that the system will send you a Text Message. SMS Send Time is what time in the day, once a day, that the Message will be sent.

In the image below, I have 5 Days and 19:00 set. This means that 5 Days before a Scheduled Event, I’m going to start receiving a text message, once a day, every day for the next 5 days, at 7:00 PM, reminding me that this Appointment or Deadline is coming.

Next, we’re going to decide which days ‘count’. Basically, the Working Day option allows you to choose what days ‘count’ as Days/Business Days. For example, f something is due 10 days later, but the current Date is December 23rd, then in most cases, the 24th, 25th, and 31st will not be ‘counted’ against those 10 days, since they are Holidays. If you set this option to Disregard, then it will count all days. If you set it to Adjust, it will not count weekends or holidays, and the third option, Use Court Days Cutoff, allows you to do both. At a set time before the Appointment, it will stop counting Weekends and Holidays and start, instead, only counting Court/Work Days.

The last two Fields are Adjust for Non-Working Days, which asks, which way do you want to move the clock if something falls on a Non-Working Day, maybe a Saturday? Do you want to move the Due Date forward to the following Monday? Or would you like to move the Due Date backward and set it on the Friday before the Saturday? You can also leave it as Non-Applicable.

And lastly, the Court Days Cutoff value, where you will put a number of Days, is only if you chose to Use Court Day Cutoff in the Working Days dropdown. This number (6, in my example below) means that at 6 court days before the Due Date, we’ll stop counting every day and start only counting Court Days (business days).

That’s it for now! Click Save and let’s set up our Events.

Ok, now that we have all the behavioral options set up, it’s time to actually create some Events. These will be the Events that are automatically created when a Playbook is executed on a Matter. First, click the +New Curo365 Playbook Template Item button.

This will take you to a new screen where we’ll be setting up the specific Event that we want the Playbook to create on execution. To start, we want to Name the Event and make sure that it’s associated with the proper Playbook Template. For this portion, we’ll continue to use our example of a Hearing Date and Filing Date.

This first one that we’re making is our Key Event. That means that other Events require this Event to have a Date before they can populate. Because it’s a Key Event and doesn’t depend on any other Event, we only need to set Key Activity to Yes.

If the Key Event is still in the future, you may want to include an SMS Message to send to the Client, as we see below.

For this Key Event, set in the future, we’ll want to make an Appointment, so we set the Activity Type to Appointment and type in a name for the Activity Subject.

Leave some Notes if you want, but otherwise, that’s it for the Key Activity. We can click Save and then +New.

Now we’re ready to create an Event that depends on our previously-created Key Event. We’ll use most of the same fields for this one, and we’ll still start with the Name and Associated Template.

Next, we clarify that this is NOT a Key Activity (meaning that it is dependent on a Key Activity), and that it should happen 14 Days BEFORE the Key Date.

*IMPORTANT* Each Curo365 Playbook Template should only have *1* Key Activity, so there is no reason to clarify which Event this Activity will be 14 Days Before. It will simply be 14 Days Before the only Key Event.

Next, since this Task will require work from the Firm, but not the Client, we’ll choose not to send a Text Message.

Nearly at the end, we’ll clarify that the Activity Type is a Task (as opposed to an Appointment/Deadline), set the Subject Text, and add some Activity Notes for Curo users to see.

Now, you can either click Save and +New again, or if you’re done and ready to return to your Template (which we are, for this example), click Save & Close.

Lastly, let’s talk about Mappings. This is not an easy subject to discuss in a Guide, and you’ll definitely need to work on this with a Curo Admin in order to set these up, but in order to get these, some codes have to be into two boxes in this section of the Template.

There are two boxes here, and the first one is for Matter to Item Mapping. This box controls where Matter data gets sent to in the Playbook Template itself, when it’s created/executed in a Matter. For now, you can simply copy the following code:

{ "mappings":

[ { "sourceField": "curo_responsibleuserid",
"targetField": "curo_paralegal" },

{ "sourceField": "curo_responsibleuserid",
"targetField": "curo_assignedto" } ]

}

And paste it into this box. This code is telling the system to get the Responsible User from the Matter and use it for the field Paralegal and, in Tasks, the field for Assignee.

Next, take copy this code:

{ "mappings":

[ { "sourceField": [ "curo_paralegal", "curo_assignedto"],
"targetField": "requiredattendees", "type":"partylist" } ]

}

And paste it here. This is telling the system to get the Paralegal and add them as a Required Attendee to any Appointment/Deadline and then add the person to whom a Task is Assigned to the Party List.

As I said, it’s all very complicated and doesn’t really show well in a Guide or in the video, but later, you’ll be able to work with a Curo Implementations specialist to get these Mapped just the way that you want to.

Now that we’ve created our Playbook Template, let’s use it in a Matter. Once we’ve set up the Playbook Templates in your Environment, you’ll see the Button below in your Matter Forms. Click it now.

Playbooks, when used in a Matter, create an Instance of the Playbook Template that you created. To that end, you can make Matter-Specific Adjustments before you execute it. For ours, we’ll set the name and then MAKE SURE to select the Template on which this will be based.

Then click Save & Close.

Next, we need to access the Matter-specific Playbook that we just made in order to Execute it, so click the Related Tab and then scroll down and choose Curo365 Playbooks.

Now find and click the one you just created to open it.

This is the pivotal step, where it’s all going to come together. Find your Key Event and put in a Date. This will tell the system how to date everything else, since everything hinges off of your Key Event. Also, add a duration, since it’s required.

Once you’ve put data into these two fields, click Activate and then confirm the Activation when it asks you again.

You can edit anything that you want here, including Task names, Relative Days, and any other data on these. The Playbook is not locked into its initial configuration and can be customized and massaged per use. Finally, look over your Playbook Events, make sure everything is as it should be, and then click Apply Playbook in the top Ribbon.

And confirm it with OK.

The system is now creating all of the associated Activities from this Playbook. On success, you should see this! Click OK.

Now let’s see all of our lovely new Activities created from the Playbook. Click the Activities tab of the Matter, and here they all are!

One last little trick before we close. If you were to open the Key Event that was created and change the Due Date, it can actually change the rest of the created Activities to reflect the new Date. Go back and check on the Setup portion of this Guide for information on how to enable or disable this feature, but it can be very handy when you need it!

And that’s it! You can now create Curo365 Playbook Templates and execute them in Matters! I know it’s a lot, but if you’re interested in this feature, let your Curo365 Implementation Consultant ASAP, and they’ll get it added and configured for you!