Platform - Customer Service - Dispatch

Dispatch

The Dispatch is the electronic version of your dispatch board. Use the Dispatch to track and maintain calls.  You can maintain assignments and schedules, and can view call activity by day, technician, or week.

The Dispatch can be opened by: 

• Clicking the icon from the toolbar,
• Under Customer Service
• Clicking the Dispatch from the Job

Dispatch Features

Dispatch allows you to view your dispatch screen in three ways.  They include:

• Daily Assignment View
• Daily Call View
• Weekly Job View

Dispatch contains 4 lists that can be displayed in the left portion of the screen.  They are the:

• Unscheduled
• Unassigned
• To Be Closed
• To Be Reviewed

Call Panel Views

To change your dispatch view, click on the drop down. 

Day View

Week View

Assignment View

Click the Assignment View on the drop down to display the dispatch grid as a series of one-week calendars which Jobs display vertically for each day.

Technician Display

The displayed list of technicians allows you to see their schedule and assign them to jobs.  In order for an employee to show in Dispatch, they would need to be listed in the Employee Setup Form. 

When setting up an employee that should show in Dispatch, make sure their Employee Type is set to Installer, Sales/Tech, or Technician.  Also, the employee will need at least one skill listed in the Qualifications and Skills section to show in Dispatch.

If you click the ellipsis to the left of the technicians' name, you can select the Tech Details option, which will tell you more about the tech's skills and work history.

   

 

Details Information Panel

The Details subtab displays information about the currently selected customer and job.

Filtering Dispatch

Filtering Dispatch allows you to control several types of information, including which employees are displayed, the types of calls, calls that occur in particular zones, and calls that are not scheduled.

To Sort or Filter the List of Technicians in Dispatch:

1. Click the Filter Technicians option to open the technician filters. 
    
2. In the Filter Technicians window, set the specific filters by check marking the items that you want to display.
3. Successware will save your filters until you log out.
   

Job Status Filters

You can also filter within each of the four drawers on the left side of the page, Unscheduled, Unassigned, To Be Closed, and To Be Reviewed.

1. From Dispatch, click the slide out drawers on the left side of the page to see jobs that are unscheduled, unassigned, or ready to close out.

2. If you click the Filter option within that drawer, it will just show the jobs that meet the filter criteria.

Filtering for Agreement Visits

In the Unscheduled drawer, you can show the unscheduled jobs, or the unscheduled Agreement visits.  To show the unscheduled Agreement visits, simply select the Agreement Visits option at the top.

 

To Add or Remove Technicians from Dispatch:

1. If you want to display only certain employees in Dispatch, click the Main Menu button . Under Setup, go to Employee Management. 
2. From there you will need to select the desired employee and click edit. Select or deselect the Active checkbox to add or remove employee from the dispatch board. 
3. Click Save.

To Track Technicians in Dispatch

Successware Platform interfaces with Google Maps®.

1. Click on the Live Map button.
2. You can search by Employee, Technician or Job No.

Click the "Live Map" button to open the map.

The map you see will depend upon the options you have chosen.

There are a few requirements that will allow the Live Map to track your technicians:

1. The ‘Geolocation Accessibility’ toggle must be turned on from the Mobile Admin page.
   
2. The User Permission, "Dispatch/Close (Call Progress) [Job/Call/Assignment]" should be given to the mobile application users.
   
3. Both the ‘Location’ and ‘Motion & Fitness’ permissions should be granted on the technicians’ devices.

Once the technician has been dispatched, the live map will update after every 0.5 miles moved.

Scheduling and Assigning Jobs

When a Job is created a Call or appointment is immediately created as well. In order for the job to be completed, the Call or Calls associated with the job must be Scheduled (given a date and time) and Assigned (given to a tech).

The Calls related to a Job are what we maintain in the Dispatch board.

You have 3 scheduling and assigning options. They are:

• Schedule a job, but not assign it.
• Assign a job, but not schedule it.
• Schedule and assign a job.

Ultimately however, the Job cannot be completed until all of its associated calls have been scheduled AND assigned.

You can schedule and assign Calls from Dispatch. From Dispatch, a call can be dragged and dropped from either the list panels on the left side to the dispatch board or from one time to another on the board itself.

Scheduling Calls from Dispatch

Calls can be scheduled in Dispatch using the drag and drop method. Successware Platform conveniently allows you to use the mouse to drag a call to a particular time and technician, creating the scheduling and assignment of the call in one step. 

Assigning Technicians to a Job

To assign an additional technician to a job:

• In the Dispatch screen, click on the job, the Job Details screen will open.
• From the Job Details screen, click the ellipsis and select Add Assignment.
  
• Click on the assignment that is labeled "unscheduled".
  
• Click on the Schedule button.
• Select date and technician.
• Click the Schedule button.
• You will be returned to the Dispatch screen.

Rescheduling Calls

Calls that have already been scheduled can be rescheduled in both Dispatch as well as the Job Manager. A call can only be rescheduled if it does not have timecard entries (Call Progress) recorded against it. Once Call Progress has been recorded against a job, Calls associated with the job can only be Continued.

Rescheduling from Job Details

Click on the call in Dispatch and select the option to Reschedule under the Assignment section of the Job Details subtab.

• If you want to move the call to a different day select desired day on the calendar. 
• Next select the time preference to the right of the calendar.
• Click Confirm once date has been decided. 

Note: If the Call has Call Progress recorded, it cannot be rescheduled, but rather, only continued.

Adding a Call

Adding a call is a term that is used to identify adding additional appointments to a job. If a call that was scheduled for one day is not completed it can be continued to another day. When a Call is continued it DOES NOT create another invoice for the job. There is still one invoice associated with the main job that each of the calls are attached to.

1. Click on the call on the dispatch board under Job details select Add Assignment.
   

2. Select the Add Assignment option.
3. Assignment will be added to the Job, listed as unassigned.
   
4. Select Schedule
5. You will then follow the same process as scheduling a job.
   

Tracking Call Progress

Once a Job has been scheduled and assigned to a technician, the next step in the job process is to send the technician out on the call. The actual performance of the job is recorded, for timecard sake as well as job process sake in the Call Progress window.

Entering Call Progress will create job-related timecard entries for the employees in the Call Progress form. The timecard entries created in the Call Progress window are then made available in the labor costing screens of an AR invoice where they can be imported as actual cost.

The Call Progress window can also be used to assign additional technicians a call by pressing Insert while you are in Call Progress.

The call progress stages are:

1. Call Confirmed - confirm the call with the customer
2. Notified - notify the technician with the call information (optional) This time will be recorded if you page job information to the technician.
3. Dispatched- This time indicates the beginning of the drive time for the technician as he starts his trip to the location.
4. Onsite- Identifies the time that the technician arrives at the Service Location
5. Completed- Identifies the time that the technician finished the job.

Only the Dispatched, Onsite and Completed entries result in the creation of timecard entries.

The entries made in the Dispatch and Onsite fields will together create a timecard entry with a status of Dispatched on the employee’s timecard. The Onsite and Completed entries in the Call Progress window will together create a timecard entry with a status of Onsite on the employee’s timecard.

Call Progress can be accessed from 3 different areas:

• The Job Form
• The Job Manager
• Dispatch

To Record Call Progress

1. Open the Set Assignment Progress
2. Record the times in the appropriate field by, using the drop downs select time and click OK.                                                                               
3. Once you have recorded the Completed time you can access the Job Summary or tech debrief by clicking the Job Summary.
4. The Call Status drop down can be used to identify a status of the call such as a need to reschedule or that the call is waiting for parts. The Calls report can be run grouped by the Call Status.
5. Once you leave the Completed field the Assignment Progress form will ask you if the Call is complete. If you do not plan to record any additional timecard entries against this call on the current date, click Yes. If you need to add additional techs or send a tech back later in the day, answer no and the Call Progress will remain editable for the Call.

Note: Once a "Completed" time has been recorded for all technicians assigned to the call, Successware Platform will ask the user via a pop-up box if they want to "Mark the Call Complete". Marking the Call complete will prevent any additional assignments or modifications to the existing Call Progress. Marking the Call complete is ultimately required for the job to be "Closed" in the system.
If you have marked the Call as complete and then discover that you need to modify or add assignments, you can choose the Uncomplete Call.

6. The recording of Call Progress will create Job-related timecard entries

The pay rate used for the timecard entry will either be the employee’s variable rate set up to match the pay item in employee setup or, if no specific rate is define for the pay item, the employee’s standard hourly rate will be used.

Note: Modifications of the pay item, premium code or rate of a timecard entry generated via the Call Progress window must be made in the employee’s timecard, they cannot be made from the Call Progress window. Appropriate user permission is required.

The Job Summary Form

The Job Summary form can be used to debrief your technician as they complete a job. The Job Summary form allows you to enter details about a job and the technician that completed the job. This information can be reported daily, before the actual invoicing is complete. The information that you record includes whether an agreement was sold, leads generated, total ticket, total collected as well as payment method information. 

The Job Summary form also serves as the basis for many of the pieces of data that comprise the Job and Invoice Scorecard reports. In addition, the Job Summary form gives you access to options which allow you to create job related wage and commission entries.

The Job Summary Form can be opened by going to the Dispatch and clicking on a Job. In the Job Summary Form, select the options that apply to the particular job or technician for which you are filling out the form.

Note: Financial information such as Total Ticket and Amount Collected will not automatically be carried over to the invoice and has no General Ledger effect.

Job Details Tabbed Screen Layout

The information in the Job Details screen is divided into sections. This format allows a number of features to be available to you.

1. The tabbed layout of the screen provides a more organized grouping of the information.
2. An area has been added to allow you to enter tech credits for opportunities identified and the result of the opportunity. These tech credits can be used in reports of Key Performance Indicators.

Job Info/Notes Tab

The Job Info/Notes tab includes all note information entered for the job.

Field	Description
Work Request	This field contains the job instructions entered for the job. These notes can be edited from the Job Summary screen.
Work Done	The notes in this field describe the work that was performed during the job.
Work Suggested	Enter notes in this field if the technician suggests work that the customer chooses not to have performed.

Invoice Info Tab

The Invoice Info Tab includes invoice information that includes information about the performance of the job and payment information.

Field	Description
Invoice Number	The default invoice number is system generated but can be changed if needed. Any change made here will be reflected on the actual invoice also.
Invoice Status	This field displays the current status of the invoice.
Invoice Total	Enter the dollar amount of the invoice.
Agreement Visit Value	This field will display the value of any agreement visit associated with the job even if there is no current charge on the invoice.
Override	Selecting this will allow you to change the amount in the Agreement Visit Value field.
Service Charged to Agreement	Enter the value of the work performed that was charged to an agreement and not reflected in the invoice total.
Service Charged to Warranty	Enter the value of the work that was charged to a warranty and not reflected in the invoice total.
Value of Agreements Sold and Billed	Enter the value of any agreement(s) sold on the job that was billed and the revenue is being deferred until the visit is performed. This amount will be subtracted from the current
Total Job Value	This is a calculated field that displays the total value of the job based on the following calculation. Total Job Value = Invoice Amount + Agreement Visit Value + Service Charged to Agreement + Service Charged to Warranty - Value of Agreement Sold and Billed
Money Task Count	Enter the number of repairs performed beyond any diagnostic.
Add On Count	Enter the number of repairs/items sold beyond the original reason for the job.
Add On Amount	Enter the value of any add-ons sold.
Billable Hours	Enter the billable hours associated with the job.
Amount Collected	This should be the amount collected by the technician on the job.
Payment Information	Enter information related to the Payment method used by the customer. This information will be carried over to the Payment screen of the Invoice form
No Charge	Mark this if a Diagnostic was performed.
Warranty Call	Mark if the job was a warranty call.
Contract Maintenance	Mark this if the job included preventative maintenance agreement work.
Non-Contract Maintenance	Mark this if maintenance work was done and there is no preventative maintenance agreement.

Opportunities Tab

This tab allows entry of information about any opportunity identified during the job.

Field	Description
Agreement Opportunity	This checkbox will be selected if the customer does not have an existing agreement.
Agreement Sold	Select this checkbox if an agreement was sold with the job.
Included with Install	Select this if an agreement was included with an installation job (Agreement Sold must be selected).
Replacement Opportunity	Select this if this customer meets the guidelines for an equipment replacement.
Replacement Sold (Amount)	Select and enter the value of any replacement sold on the job.
Extended Warranty Opportunity	Select if this customer or job qualifies for an extended warranty sale.
Extended Warranty Sold (Years, Amount)	Select if extended warranty was sold and enter the amount.
Opportunity Generated	Select this check box to indicate that an Opportunity has been identified.
Lead Job Required	If a sales opportunity was generated while on the job checkmark this option and identify the lead generating technician.
Opportunity Code	Select code to identify type of opportunity.
Follow Up Date	Select or enter date to follow up on opportunity.
Notified	Select to indicate that the customer has been notified of the opportunity and is expecting a contact.

Happy Check Tab

This tab is used to indicate that a follow up call was made to a customer and to record the results of this call.

Field	Description
Customer Satisfaction Rating	This field records any notes or ratings received by the customer.
Happy Check Notes	Record any notes or comments from the customer that were made during the happy check call.

Closing a Job

A Job is considered closed when two things have happened.

• All Calls associated with the Job have been marked as Complete through Call Progress. This means that when a completed time has been entered for all technicians and the form prompts you to Mark the Call As Complete you have chosen Yes.
• Any invoice(s) associated with the job have been posted.

If both of the above stated requirements are met, the system will automatically indicate that the Job is Closed.

Until a Job is closed, the History indicator light on the Customer's Information Screen record will remain illuminated in yellow and contain the text Open Job. Once the job is closed, the indicator will illuminate in green and contain the text History This indicates that there is existing service history on the customer's account.

Once a job is closed, no more calls can be created for that job. If additional calls must be made, you must open the Job Form (F9), right click and select the option to Reopen Job.

Finalizing a Job

A job can be finalized from the job form as well. To finalize a job, the job must first be closed. After a job has been closed, right click in the background and select Finalize Job.

In order to finalize a job:

• All Timecard entries must have been imported.
• All parts used on the job must have been verified.
• All part tags must have been resolved.
• All invoices must have been posted.
• All Calls must have been completed.

Assigning Technicians to a Job

You can assign a technician by clicking the Assign button in the Job Form, or in Call Handling while you're creating the job.

Scheduling and Rescheduling Jobs from the Job Manager

Using the Job Manager, you can schedule and reschedule any number of jobs. Click on an unscheduled job and select Assignment under the Details subtab. 

Creating Timecard Entries

Timecard entries allow you to keep track of each block of time in your employee’s days.

The Employee Timecard form can be accessed from any screen that has an employee selected and you can enter either unapplied or job-related transactions.

Time entered in Call Progress is automatically added to an employee’s timecard.

To access the Timecard Manager you can:

• Right Click on an employee in the Employee Manager and select Timecard.
• Right Click on an employee's name in the Call Center and select Timecard.
• Right Click on an Assignment in the Call Center and select Employee Timecard.
• Right Click on a Job in the Job Manager and select Time Card.
• Clicking on the Time Card Manager icon from the toolbar if it has been added.

Manual Timecard Entries

Manual timecard entries are created directly in the employee’s timecard. Manual timecard entries can be job related or non-job related. Manual Timecard entries in a addition to those that are job-related could include meeting time, shop time, vacation or personal time and lunch entries.

Accessing the Timecard

Timecard entries are added in the Timecard Manager. The Timecard Manager can be accessed from the:

• All modules- Under all modules click Payroll and then Timecard Manager.
• Timecard Manager- click "Select An Employee" for which you wish to make timecard entries. 

Recording Timecard Entries

1. Open the Timecard Manager.
2. Use the drop-down menu to select the employee.
3. Use the date navigation  buttons to choose the date of the timecard entry.
4. Click Modify.

5. Click the Add Entry button.
6. Select the appropriate timecard status.
7. Enter the In and Out times.
8. If necessary, check the Non-Productive box. This field is defaulted by the setting associated with the Timecard Status selected. If you want to change the Productive status of a timecard entry, add or remove the checkmark. The Productive Status of a Timecard Entry determines how the particular timecard status is handled when calculating the technician's Billable Hour Efficiency for scoreboard reports.
9. Use the drop-down menu to select the department to which you wish to apply the timecard entry. For non-job-related entries, the employee’s default department will appear.
10. If the Timecard is a Paid item, the Pay Item will be displayed. Change it if necessary.
11. The employee’s pay rate will be displayed.  This will come from the employee’s standard hourly rate in employee setup, or from the pay rate entry for the corresponding pay item.
12. If you wish to apply a premium rate for the block of time, select Premium time from the drop-down list.
13. If you have applied a premium time, choose the duration of the total timecard entry that should be calculated at the Premium Rate.
    
14. Click Accept.

Note: The Total Time (time out - time in) of any timecard entry can be broken down into five categories. Where it falls in the categories will determine how it is handled when preparing the payroll period.

Regular time- ordinary paid time that will accumulate and turn into overtime and effect regular/premium rate calculations.

Non-regular time- paid time that does not affect overtime and regular/premium rate calculations.

Premium time- time that is paid at a premium.

Non-paid time- time that is not paid.

Overtime- time that is paid at the overtime (OT) premium.

The Assignments option at the bottom of the screen includes a list of calls that the technician has been assigned to on that day. You can also view Other scheduled calls as well as Unscheduled calls, using this screen.

NTCs

NTCs are blocks of time on the employee timecard where there is no timecard entry. Successware Platform fills in the gaps between defined timecard entries with NTCs. In employee setup you will determine whether or not the NTCs are paid or unpaid and whether the NTCs are counted as regular time. NTC entries are considered to be Productive Time by default for the sake of Scoreboard reports. If an employee is engaged in Non-Productive time, you must replace the NTC entry with a Non-Productive Timecard Entry to change the status.

NTCs cannot be edited but can be replaced by creating actual timecard entries to account for the time filled by the NTCs.

Note: Successware Platform will only create NTCs on the current date or when making entries on the employee’s timecard on previous dates. NTCs will not be created on future timecard entries.

End of Day Punch Out

By default, Successware Platform is set up with a Timecard status called DayEnded (End of Day Punch Out). This status allows you to create a timecard entry at the end of the workday for an employee that only requires an In time. Based upon the End of day punch out time Successware Platform will:

• Prevent the creation of timecard entries on the day after the punch out time.
• If there is a gap in time between the last out time on the timecard and the End of Day Punch out time, Successware Platform will create an NTC to account for the gap in time.
• If there is an open timecard entry and an end of day entry is entered, the end of daytime will be entered as the Out time for the previous timecard entry.

Job Permits

Permit Tracking

Successware Platform allows you to record permit details for each job, including the stages of the permit as well as when the work is due to be completed.  As the stages of the permits are completed the permit stages can be updated to indicate the completed status.  Reports will then tell you what stages are running late and are in danger of exceeding the life of the related job permit. You can use these reports to ensure the work is complete before the permits expire and avoid unnecessary cost of purchasing additional permits.

Permit Tracking Setup

In order for you to use the Permit tracking function in Successware Platform, there are 3 Reference tables that you must populate. These reference tables will contain the values which you will select from the drop down lists in the Permit form as you are adding permits to a job.

All three of these Reference Tables can be accessed in the Customer Service volume of the Reference Library.

Permit Issuing Agency

Modify the Permit Issuing Agency reference book and create codes for the different agencies that will be issuing job permits for you.  You will be able to sort and group reports by this code.

Permit Stage Type

Modify the Permit Stage Type reference book to create codes which will represent the different stages of your permits.  Create a code for each standard stage that must be completed before your permits expire.  You will use these permit stages to identify the required elements of the Permit Types that you will create. You will be able to track your jobs/permits by the codes created here. 

Permit Type

Modify the Permit Type reference book and create codes for the different types of permits that you will be tracking.  A permit type consists of a code, a description, and a chosen set of stage types.  You will create a permit type to represent each distinct set of stages.  This permit type code will act as a "stage list" template when you are entering permits.  This way, any time a Permit Type is selected it will contain the same stages.

Permit Types are built using the Permit Type form.

To Add Permit Types:

1. In the Customer Service volume of the Reference Library, click on the Permit Type table.
2. Click the + Add Permit Type button.                                                                     
3. In the Permit Type Code field enter a code for the permit type you are adding. The code can be up to 6 characters.
4. Enter a description of the permit type in the Description.
5. In the Stages area of the form, select a Permit Stage from the Stages drop down list. This list will allow you to choose from the Stage Type reference table.
6. Once you have selected a Stage from the list, click the Add Stage button to add it to the list of stages which are part of the Permit Type.
7. Continue to add all stage types related to the permit type you are adding. Close the form when you have added all stages.

Job/Call Types

In addition, any item in the Job/Call Types table in the Customer Service volume of the Reference Library can be modified or created to indicate that a permit is required to perform that type of job.

When a job is created with a Job Type that has been marked IsPermitRequired, an alert will appear on the Job form to indicate that a permit is required.

Looking for a more interactive course on Dispatch? Check out our Learning Management System (LMS)! Our courses are available to all Successware users. If you don't have a sign-in for our LMS, contact us at [e-mail] for a free account.

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