This User Guide covers the usage of the Customer Access Portal from the Shop perspective (Booking Requests and Estimate Disputes)
With this module in place shops will be able to:
- Receive or Suggest a new Date/Time for Booking Requests
- Generate/Revise Estimates or Disputed Estimates
- Allow Customers to be set to require Authorizing prior to an invoice being generated
Step 1 - Create a Customer Access Portal for your Customers
Initial Setup will require a new Customer Access Portal account, that is restricted to only display units belonging to that customer
A user must first be created and assigned a License
New User Creation can be done under Administration -> User Accounts -> User Manager -> New User
Once created, select Security -> Add Software -> Customer Access Portal
This software package cannot be issued to any user that currently has other software assigned
Once complete, select the Customers tab and restrict the account to only display units for the customer that will be using the portal
In the example below, C1088CUST will belong to Customer Arctic Refrigeration
Once the customer is set up, a password for the account should be set. The customer can then begin using the Customer Access Portal to submit Booking Requests which will be covered in the next section
Step 2 - Receiving Booking Requests
When a Booking Request comes in, Users can navigate to Services -> Service Board -> Booking Requests to view all current requests that are open
Shops can then choose one of the following options:
Decline Booking Request - This denies the request completely, ending the process
Suggest New Date and Time - This will allow the Shop to Suggest a new Date/Time towards the customer for their confirmation.
Confirm Booking - This confirms the booking but does not generate an Estimate. Estimates can be generated at a later date
Confirm Booking and Create an Estimate - This operates as stated. A new window will appear for the user to generate an Estimate
If the user selects Suggest New Date and Time, confirming will open a new window where the shop can propose their own available time for the customer to confirm
Booking Requests that are currently in dispute will be displayed both on the Shop and Customer side of this module in the Booking Requests tab
Users will need to Refresh or Search depending on the screen they are on to receive status updates
Once a Booking Time has been confirmed by both sides, an Estimate can be created
Step 3 - Creating and Reviewing Estimates
Once a Booking Request has a confirmed time, Users should create an Estimate.
If an Estimate is not created at the time of confirming a Booking Request, it can be created at a later date through Services -> Service Board -> Booking Requests or Services -> Service Board -> Repair Estimates In Progress
Estimates can be created by using the +Add Labour and +Add Parts buttons, every part must be associated with a Labour Line, you cannot have an estimate containing only parts.
Once the Estimate has been completed, users should select Submit to send the Estimate in a finalized state to the Customer Access Portal Side
Customers can then Approve, Decline, or Dispute an Estimate
Reviewing Disputed Estimates
Customers may choose to Dispute an estimate, disputing either Labor, Parts, or both.
Under Services -> Service Board -> Repair Estimates in Progress users will be able to filter by Estimates in Dispute as displayed below
Selecting the Estimate Number will bring up the Estimate Window where users can review Dispute Notes and make changes accordingly
In the example below, the estimate was submitted with a Part Price of $320.00 per unit, however, the customer is disputing this price as an entry error.
The Shop may Acknowledge the Dispute, enter Dispute Notes, make necessary adjustments, and return the Estimate to the customer for approval
Dispute Notes will be displayed as a log for both the Shop and the Customer by clicking on Dispute History
Adjustments to the Part Price have now been made and the Estimate can now be re-submitted for approval
Step 4 - Assigning Approved Estimates to a Technician
Once the customer approves the Estimate, the unit will be listed on the Service Board with Work Required that contains the Approved Labour Lines from the estimate
The Technician would then sign into the TechRO to clock onto the job creating a Repair Order / Work Order Number and Unit Ready the job once complete per the standard Work Order process
The Work Order would then be listed in the Services -> CompleteRO -> Ready to Submit tab for final actions, finalizing the process from the Shop side, and invoicing the customer.
Step 5 - Require Customer Authorization before Invoicing
If customer authorization is required before invoicing, some setup is required. By default, no customers will require authorization to invoice out their repair orders.
To set a customer up for this, navigate to Administration -> Customers -> Search and Select your Customer
If this functionality is turned on, the Shop will only be able to "Submit" the Work Order Invoice from the CompleteRO Screen
The Customer will then finalize the invoice on the Customer Access Portal Side, ending the process.