PentaServiceChannelConnector to ServiceChannel - Technical Guide

What is PentaServiceChannelConnector?

PentaServiceChannelConnector is a middleware solution that facilitates the automatic synchronization of work orders between PENTA and ServiceChannel, allowing clients to maintain up-to-date work order data while leveraging the power of both ServiceChannel and Penta. The solution uses webhook notifications from ServiceChannel to queue work order creation in Penta in real-time.

How Does it Work?

When a work order has been accepted in ServiceChannel - the status has been set to In Progress - a webhook, created by Penta, is notified of the change. The webhook calls an Azure function which will then immediately place the notification information in an Azure Storage Queue. Upon entering the Azure Storage Queue, a second Azure function is triggered within a minute, which processes the notification, adding the individual work orders to the Penta system using the PentaConnect API. If a problem is detected (typically, missing or invalid data) the ServiceChannel Provider will be notified via email, and another attempt to process the notification will occur in 10 minutes. An attempt to process the notification will occur up to 5 times before it will move out of the processing queue, at which point the Provider would either have to reset the work order’s status in ServiceChannel to restart the whole process, or they would have to contact Penta Support.