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FullAgenticStack WhatsApp-first: RFC-WF-0033

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RFC-WF-0033

Backoffice Parity & Operator Workflows (BPOW)

Status: Draft Standard
Version: 1.0.0
Date: 20 Nov 2025
Category: Standards Track
Author: FullAgenticStack Initiative
Dependencies: RFC-WF-0001 (WFCS), RFC-WF-0002 (WWCS), RFC-WF-0003 (CCP), RFC-WF-0004 (ACSM), RFC-WF-0007 (OoC), RFC-WF-0008 (RCP), RFC-WF-0015 (PPGP), RFC-WF-0023 (TUXP)
License: Open Specification (Public, Royalty-Free)

Abstract

This document specifies Backoffice Parity & Operator Workflows (BPOW) for WhatsApp-first systems. BPOW defines normative requirements for supporting operator/backoffice workflows (support, fulfillment, finance, admin) entirely via WhatsApp—without requiring a dashboard for critical operations. BPOW standardizes role-based operator command surfaces, queue/work-item handling, multi-actor handoffs, and safe operator actions (approve, override, recover) with evidence-backed visibility. BPOW operationalizes WFCS “Administrative Sovereignty” into concrete operator workflows.

Index Terms— backoffice, operator workflows, queues, work items, handoffs, approvals, admin operations, WhatsApp-first parity.

I. Introduction

Many systems claim WhatsApp-first for customer-facing flows while silently relying on a web backoffice for the real work: triage, escalation, refunds, cancellations, approvals, exception handling. That violates the core parity principle: if the business can’t operate without the dashboard, the system isn’t WhatsApp-first.

BPOW defines what “backoffice parity” means operationally: operators must be able to do their work via WhatsApp with appropriate security, observability, and recovery.

II. Scope

BPOW specifies:

  • Operator roles and minimum workflow capabilities
  • Work-item / queue model for conversational operations
  • Handoff and escalation patterns (operator-to-operator, agent-to-operator)
  • Operator command surfaces and templates
  • Governance gating (scopes, step-up, approvals) for operator actions
  • Evidence and observability requirements for operator decisions
  • Anti-abuse and rate limits for operator commands

BPOW does not mandate staffing models; it defines protocol and workflow requirements.

III. Normative Language

MUST, MUST NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, MAY are normative.

IV. Definitions

Operator: A human performing support/admin/finance/fulfillment tasks.
Backoffice Workflow: Operational tasks typically performed in dashboards.
Work Item: A unit of work requiring action (ticket, exception, approval request).
Queue: An ordered set of work items for a role or team.
Handoff: Transfer of a work item between actors/roles.

V. Design Goals

BPOW MUST ensure:

  • G1. Backoffice parity: critical operator workflows are executable via WhatsApp.
  • G2. Role safety: operator capabilities are scope-gated and step-up protected.
  • G3. Operational clarity: queue state and item context are visible conversationally.
  • G4. Evidence-backed actions: operator decisions produce evidence artifacts.
  • G5. Recoverability: exceptions and failed work items can be recovered via RCP.

VI. Operator Role Model (Minimum)

Implementations MUST support at least:

  • Support Operator: triage, respond, escalate, annotate
  • Fulfillment Operator: process orders, handle shipping exceptions
  • Finance Operator: refunds, billing exceptions, reconciliation
  • Admin Operator: scopes, policies, system configuration, lockdown

Roles MUST map to ACSM scopes; operators MUST not share “superuser” by default.

VII. Work Item & Queue Model (Normative)

A. Work Item Schema (Minimum Fields)

A work item MUST include:

  • work_item_id
  • type (e.g., support.ticket, payment.exception, shipment.exception, approval.request)
  • status (open|in_progress|blocked|resolved|canceled)
  • priority (low|medium|high|critical)
  • created_at, updated_at
  • owner (optional)

  • context_refs:

    • command_id (if created by a command)
    • correlation_id (optional)
    • affected resource ids (order_id, payment_id, etc.)

  • summary (redacted as needed)

B. Queue Semantics

Queues MUST support:

  • list next items (QUEUE.NEXT)
  • claim item (QUEUE.CLAIM <id>)
  • release item (QUEUE.RELEASE <id>)
  • resolve item (QUEUE.RESOLVE <id>)
  • escalate item (QUEUE.ESCALATE <id> role=<role>)

Queue operations MUST emit evidence.

VIII. Operator Command Surface (Normative Minimum)

Implementations MUST provide conversational commands for:

A. Queue Visibility

  • list open items by role/team
  • filter by priority/type
  • show item details (summary-first + drill-down)

B. Operator Actions

  • claim/reassign/escalate
  • attach notes (audited)
  • trigger recovery actions for related commands (RCP.OPTIONS/RETRY/COMPENSATE where allowed)
  • approve/deny where applicable (HAPF integration)

C. Backoffice Equivalents (Parity Requirements)

If a dashboard offers any of the following, WhatsApp MUST offer an equivalent:

  • refund / cancel / reprocess
  • override policy decisions (with step-up + evidence)
  • update customer/order fields
  • manage feature flags/policies/scopes
  • view operational errors and evidence trails

Otherwise the system fails backoffice parity.

IX. Templates and UX (TUXP Alignment)

Operator workflows MUST use TUXP templates:

  • summary-first item view
  • numbered actions for next steps
  • preview blocks for risky actions
  • drill-down for evidence and errors

This ensures operators can act quickly without ambiguity.

X. Governance and Safety (ACSM/PPGP/HAPF)

Operator actions MUST be:

  • scope-gated (ACSM)
  • step-up required for high-impact actions (S3/R3)
  • approval-gated when configured (HAPF profiles)
  • policy-driven (PPGP)

Operator overrides MUST be explicitly classified as high-impact and heavily audited.

XI. Evidence and Observability Requirements

A. Evidence

Operator actions MUST emit evidence including:

  • who acted (operator id)
  • what work item was affected
  • what command/effect was triggered
  • why (reason code or note)
  • outcome

B. OoC Support

Operators MUST be able to query:

  • status of related commands
  • last error and why denied
  • evidence chain summary
  • recovery options

OoC responses must be redacted per policy.

XII. Recovery Integration (RCP)

Work items caused by failures SHOULD include a direct mapping to recovery actions. Example:

  • payment failure → offer retry/reprocess/compensate options
  • shipment exception → offer re-create label, cancel shipment, escalate

Recovery actions MUST respect governance gates.

XIII. Abuse Controls (RAOS-Compatible)

Operator endpoints MUST be rate-limited and protected against misuse:

  • prevent mass refunds/cancels via automation without approvals
  • throttle repeated queue scanning
  • detect unusual operator patterns and surface alerts via OoC

XIV. Conformance Requirements

An implementation is BPOW-compliant if:

  1. it supports queue/work-item conversational operations for operator roles
  2. operator actions cover all critical backoffice workflows offered by any dashboard
  3. all operator actions are scope/step-up/approval governed
  4. evidence is emitted for operator decisions
  5. operators can resolve exceptions without mandatory dashboard dependence

XV. Security Considerations

Backoffice parity increases power in WhatsApp; therefore strict governance is mandatory. Operator accounts are high-value targets; step-up, least privilege, evidence immutability, and anomaly detection are essential. Dashboard parity must not become “dashboard leakage”: OoC outputs must be redacted and tenant-scoped.

XVI. Conclusion

BPOW turns WhatsApp-first from “customer chat” into a full operational system. By formalizing operator roles, work items, queue actions, and governed overrides—fully executable via WhatsApp with evidence-backed visibility—BPOW ensures real backoffice parity and prevents hidden dashboard dependencies.

References

[1] RFC-WF-0001, WhatsApp-First Compliance Core (WFCS).
[2] RFC-WF-0002, Web-to-WhatsApp Conversion Standard (WWCS).
[3] RFC-WF-0003, Conversational Command Protocol (CCP).
[4] RFC-WF-0004, Administrative Command Security Model (ACSM).
[5] RFC-WF-0007, Observability over Conversation (OoC).
[6] RFC-WF-0008, Recovery & Compensation Protocol (RCP).
[7] RFC-WF-0015, Policy Packs & Governance Profiles (PPGP).
[8] RFC-WF-0023, Template UX Patterns for Conversational Ops (TUXP).

Concepts and Technologies

Conversational backoffice parity, work-item queues, role-based operator commands, handoffs/escalation, approval-driven overrides, evidence-backed operator decisions, recovery-triggered exception handling, TUXP templates for ops UX, WhatsApp-first admin sovereignty in practice.

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