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Before we get started, be sure to familiarize yourself with The Dispatch Board so that you have a full understanding on how to navigate.
Let’s go over what we at Smart Service Cloud consider to be a Service Call. This specific type of work starts with a customer request for service. This could be a quote or a work order, but the process usually takes one day to satisfy the request. While it might sometimes turn into a Diagnose & Repair process, it’s always safe to start here with a service call.
Start by going to The Dispatch Board at the top of your screen, if you do not see it, please contact your office admin to adjust your permissions. We also recommend that The Dispatch Board be used from a computer as handheld devices are more difficult to complete certain, more complex actions with.
Let's say that a customer has requested a service call at noon. We can see that Jack, the service tech, is available. Within Jack's row, simply click and drag. We will assume that this service call will last an hour. Once you release the mouse you will be presented with some options.
Whether you chose to start with an appointment, quote or work order, your part of the process is largely the same from the office side. In this example, let's select Work Order.
You will be presented with this screen.
Start by selecting a customer. If you already have the customer information, just start typing their name, and it will appear. Or, if it's a new customer, you will be prompted to add their information.
You will notice that the Description is required. Let's go with "Service Call".
Keep in mind that service tech will be changing the status on their end as they go through the process of the service call. However, the status field provides you with other options.
In the Schedule Info section, you will see that we've already scheduled this Service Call for noon.
However, you can change the time as well as the service tech if need be.
You will have the option of adding additional employees. If you do, this job will be sent to their mobile devices as well as Jack's.
Also, this job will show up on the Dispatch Board within the additional employee's row. Jack's color will be solid, and the additional employees's will be lighter.
You will also have the option of assigning this job to a crew and a route.
There will be times when you will need to use The Waiting List. Let's say that the customer decides that the scheduled time no longer works for them, and they don't know when they want to reschedule yet. You can send the appointment to The Waiting List.
Right-click on the appointment. Go down to "Status" and select "Waiting List." Once you are ready to schedule that service call, click on The Waiting List icon near the top of the Dispatch Board. Find the appropriate appointment and schedule it by dragging and dropping.
As a part of a recent update, we've added an "Un-Assigned List" which works much like the “Waiting list”. It consists of jobs that are scheduled but haven’t been assigned to an employee or crew yet. When you are ready to assign a job to an employee, simply drag it onto the Dispatch Board accordingly.
Another way to schedule a Service Call is by going to The Work Order Center and clicking on the "Plus Symbol" on the bottom right of your screen.
Once you have created a Service Call on The Dispatch Board, you can make changes to it by double-clicking on it. Near the top of your screen, you will see tabs for General, Assets, Attachments and Time Punches. General will appear by default. To make any changes, click on "edit" at the bottom of your screen. We will cover the other tabs below.
By clicking on Assets, you can add any company assets such as ladders or any other tools that your service tech will need. Click here to learn more about Assets.
Under the Attachments tab, you can review and add documents, links, and fillable forms.
Time Punches allows you to view, add, or edit any time punches related to this work order.
To make further changes, such as adding purchase orders, click on the arrow in the Accounting Section.
You will be presented with some more tabs. The General Tab will appear by default. To make any changes, click on "edit" at the bottom of your screen. We will cover the other tabs below.
You can review, add, or edit any notes.
You can make adjustments to the schedule. For example, the customer might request recurring services. Click here to learn more about recurring services.
This is a list of all the items, such as parts and labor fees that are attached to this Service Call. These items can be added here or by the service tech in the field. Learn how Items are managed in Smart Service Cloud. Also, learn more about how inventory is managed in Smart Service Cloud.
By clicking on the Equipment tab, you can review, add or edit customer-owned equipment. To learn more about equipment, read this article.
Under the Attachments tab, you can review and add documents, links, and fillable forms.
Under the Accounting tab, you can review, add, or edit and add any Purchase Orders or Invoices related to this service call.
Time Punches allows you to view, add, or edit any time punches related to this work order.
Depending on how your service call turned out, there are different ways to review what the field techs did out there. If they created a quote, you’ll want to review their quote in the “Quotes” center at the top of Cloud.
If the visit resulted in a work order or an invoice, we’ll check over those sections instead. Depending on how your company operates, you can have your field techs convert completed work orders to invoices for you. If you’re doing that, check the “Invoices” section under the accounting center at the top of the screen.
The first step in the Work Orders center is to filter down all of your work orders to just the completed work orders from recent dates. You can click on the column headers to make these changes as shown below. Once these completed work orders are changed over to invoices, their status will be “Invoiced” so filtering by completed will show you the completed work you don’t have invoices for yet.
