Classifications and Notifications

This facility enables you to classify jobs and, based on the classification, determine who is to be notified when the job is complete.

Overview

To use this facility

Enable the appropriate tab in the Job Details window.
Set up Notification Roles
Set up Notification Groups
Specify Alarm Company and/or Location contacts who will be notified.
Set up Classification Codes

When despatching a job, the operator can select one or more classifications for the job. Each classification may specify people to be notified when the job is complete. Immediate notifications are required before the job can be considered complete, other notifications can be done later, either manually or as a Scheduled Report.

The classification can also determine whether the job is submitted for invoicing.

You can use Classifications without Notifications, but not vice versa.

Enabling Classifications and Notifications

Make these settings in the General Configuration window, Service Types tab. (Different settings can apply for different service types.)

Section Item Value Comment

Job Details Show Classification Details Yes If 'Yes', displays the 'Classification' tab in the Job Details window which allows entry of Classifications and display and processing of Notifications

Job Details Invoice if so classified Yes
If 'Yes', determines the status of a completed job.

Unless the job has one or more classifications which are flagged 'Invoice', the job is marked 'Never Invoice' as soon as complete.

Otherwise, it appears in the 'Not Approved' tab of the 'Items to be approved for invoicing' window.

If no classifications are entered (and they are not required for job completion) the job is submitted for invoicing.

If Show Classification Details (above) is set to 'No' this setting is treated as 'No'.

Job Details Require Classification Yes
If 'Yes', one or more Classifications with the 'Completes Job' box checked (see below) must be selected before the job can be considered complete.

This selection has no effect if Show Classification Details (above) is set to 'No'.

Setting up Notification Roles

A role is a title, for example Area Manager, of a person to be notified. Roles simplify the process of determining who to notify.

To add or change Role names, select \Maintenance \Smart Setup \Contacts & Notifications \ Roles.

Setting up Notification Groups

Notification Groups specify one or more Roles to be notified. For example, if an installation turns out to be faulty you may want to notify the Service Representative and the Sales Representative for the location or Alarm Company.

To add or change Notification Groups, select \Maintenance \Smart Setup \Contacts & Notifications \ Notification Groups.

Right click and add to add a Notification Code or a Role to notify.

When adding a Role, if you check the box Must be notified before job can be completed the operator is required to perform the notification before the job can be considered completed. (If this box is not checked, the notification can be carried out at any time before or after the job is complete. You would normally use a Scheduled Report to ensure that all such notifications are completed.)

Specifying Alarm Company Contacts to be Notified

(Depending on your Smart configuration, Alarm Companies may be referred to by another name, e.g. Districts). Select \Maintenance \Alarm Companies for the list of Alarm Companies.

A list of roles will appear in the Contacts tab of the Alarm Company Details window (see below). If no roles are listed, create some (see above).

To add a contact, press the Insert key or right click and select Add. The window below will appear.

To select from a list of existing contacts for alarm companies or locations, press the lookup button [...].
To view or update additional information about the contact, press the edit button .. Depending on your system configuration, the window which appears may allow you enter details of other contacts. However, only the first set of contact information will be used in this case.

Any changes you make to the contact details here will be reflected elsewhere, for example if this contact is also a location contact. However, the contact can have different roles at different alarm companies or locations.

Specifying Location Contacts to be Notified

To access Location Contacts, go to the Location List and press the Contacts button, or in the Site Details window, General tab, press the Other Contacts button.

The General Contacts tab lists all contacts for this location. A contact must appear in this list before they can be selected for notification.

The Notifications tab initially shows a list of all Roles. If no Roles appear, add them as above.

To specify a contact for a Role, right click in the list of Roles and choose Add. Multiple contacts may be assigned the same role.

If no contact is specified for a Role at this location, the contact specified for that role at the Alarm Company will be notified.
If a contact is specified for a Role at this location, the Alarm Company contact for that role will not be notified.

Setting up Classification Codes

Select \Maintenance \Smart Setup \Job Codes \Classification Codes.

Classification Code A unique 10-character code. May contain letters or numbers.

Notify The group of people to notify (if any) - see below.

Service Type If a service type is selected, this classification will be available only for jobs of that service type.

Invoice Jobs ..

If Invoice if so classified is set to 'Yes' (see above) the job will only be submitted for invoicing if one or more classification(s) with this box checked is selected for the job.

If no such classification is selected, the job is marked Never Invoice as soon as it is complete.

Completes Job

If Require classification is set to 'Yes' (see above), at least one of the classifications selected for a job must have this box ticked before the job can be considered complete.

Requires entry .. If a classification with this box ticked is selected, the job must have an entry in the 'Internal Notes' section of the job before the job can be considered complete.

Adding Classifications and Notifications to a Job

In the Job Details window, go to the Classifications tab. If this tab is not visible, change the Show Classification Details setting for this service type (see above).

In the Classifications list, press the Insert key or right click and select Add to display the list of Classifications:

To select a single Classification, highlight the Classification and press the Select button.

To select multiple Classifications, highlight each Classification and press the space bar. Press the Select button to exit this window and transfer the selections to the Job Details window. Selection of multiple classification may be prevented depending on the Service Types setting Job Details/Allow Multiple Classifications.

The classification requires one or more people to be notified (notification details will be automatically added to the Job Details window). Only one copy of a notification can be sent to any one contact (if necessary additional copies can be sent using the Print button in the Job Details or Job List windows).

If Require classification has been selected (see above), the job cannot be considered complete unless at least one classification of this type has been selected.

If Invoice if so classified has been selected (see above), the job will marked 'never invoice' unless at least one classification of this type has been selected.

Carrying out Immediate Notifications

Notifications showing an exclamation mark (above) must be carried out before the job can be considered complete.

Immediate Notifications which are to be sent by fax, email, or print are submitted automatically when the job is otherwise complete. If the notification fails, the status of the job is set back to incomplete and the Notification is marked as not done. The reason for the failure is shown in the Change Record for the job (press the Change Record button on the Internal Notes tab).
Immediate Notifications which are to be made by phone must be made by the operator, using the phone icon to the right of the list of notifications, before the job can be considered complete.
Depending on the operator's access (see Operator Configuration / System Access / Job Notifications) an operator may be permitted to add, change, or even delete notifications.

Carrying out Scheduled Notifications

Notifications which are not Immediate are carried out at a predetermined time by creating a Scheduled Report. Typically, these notifications are scheduled for a time (e.g. mid morning) which allows details to be checked before they are sent.

The Scheduled Report settings allow some notifications (e.g. for a specified location) to be sent earlier than others. Only one copy of a notification will be sent to any one contact, even if the notification is included in multiple Scheduled Reports.

Viewing Notification History

Details of Notifications are shown in the Change Record for the job (press the Change Record button on the Internal Notes tab).
A list of notifications can be seen by selecting \File \Notification Status from the Main Menu.