Steps of the Nightly Processing in Release 8.26 and Newer

There will be 3 parts to nightly processing. During the first part, users can be on the system. Processes such as daily reports, linking, contact series, selected letters, payment arrangement processing and letter printing will be run in this phase of the nightly process. The second phase is the "dedicated phase" and it is expected that this section should run for less than 30 minutes for most systems! The final part of the nightly process is the restarting of the system, allowing users to get on, and the completion of the backup, a part of which will run after the nightly process has completed and users may be on the system!

• Account processing will also be run in the first phase. It is very possible that collectors will be working while the processing is taking place. We will create "temporary" new queues based on the status of accounts at the time the job is run. This will not interfere with the queues or accounts that the collectors may be working at the time. Suppose the account processing part of the process started at 11 PM. The system may select an account for the next days queue, but that account may get worked at 11.45 PM and dated for the future. Is this a problem? No! In a later part of the nightly processing, we will look for all  the accounts worked after the queue creation was started, and rebuild the queues for those accounts only!
  
  
• The second part of nightly processing is the "dedicated process". In the company information system control file, the option to delay the second part of the nightly, now refers to this process. When this step is started, we will send a message to all users that they need to sign off. After 2 minutes, Intelec jobs will be canceled. Users will not be able to sign in to Intelec.
  
  
• During the dedicated portion of nightly processing, we will do the following -
  
  • Cancel the smart code processing program
  • End the I-Tel mini servers and do end day processing for the dialer
  • The "temporary" queue file created will be copied into the queues for the next day
  • Work maps will be built
  • The special processing that runs after the queues will be run (NTSPECL2). If you process new accounts or payments while the nightly process is running, or, you have processes that need to look at all the notes entered for the day, these processes must be moved into this part of the nightly so all the records can be accessed.
  • The daily notes file is backed up and cleared
  • Transaction files are cleared and some files are reorganized
  • Archiving of files take place
  • Backup processing is started. We will be using the system's feature to save files while they are being used. This will requires the system to establish a checkpoint and to then do the backup. The checkpoint process could take a few minutes, but the time taken is significantly less than the time taken for backup the files. The system is basically taking a snapshot of the data, as at a particular time - and the actual backup of that snapshot can take place later!
  • After the checkpoint has been established for the backup, the system will start the I-Tel servers and start the system. This will allows users to sign on (There will be no need to start the system in the morning). The backup will continue to run after the system is started and while users may be on the system!
  • If you power down the system, the backup will be canceled. You should not power down the system unless you are omitting the backup process. There is no need to power down the system frequently.
  • The smart code processing program is started and the nightly processing will complete.
    
    
• You should not be posting payments or new business after nightly processing is started. If you need to do that, we can accommodate it, but some custom work may be needed (e.g. We may need to move some processes into the dedicated part of nightly processing).
  
  
• From the operational angle, the only changes you will be concerned with are -
  
  • Setting up a time for the dedicated part of the process to start
  • Making sure that if you work during nightly processing and have special jobs that need all the data for the day, these jobs will need to be moved to the dedicated area of the process
  • There will be no need to start the system in the morning. You should still check INTELOPR messages
  • If you do not work after nightly processing is started, you should see no changes, other than for not needing to start the system in the morning

Keywords - Article Nightly steps