Service Providers

Service Provider is the unit providing the service. In many cases this corresponds to a vehicle (e.g. a service vehicle or patrol car) which may be staffed by different people at different times. The Service Provider is usually provided by a Contractor, who charges you for their services. If the Service Provider is a one-person business, the Contractor, Service Provider, and Person may be one and the same.

Pricing and despatch information is set up for individual Service Providers. Payment is made to the contractor.

To view a list of service providers, go to the list of Contractors, or select \Maintenance \Service Providers from the Main Menu. Right click in the list to add, change, or delete a Service Provider. This window will appear:

If you reached this window from the list of contractors, the Contractor button will be greyed out (as above). Otherwise, you can press this button to select a contractor.
The Require Docket No field may be labelled Require Line Number depending on your Field Names setting. If At Start of Job or At End of Job is selected, a Docket Number (or Line Number) is required before a job for this Service Provider can be considered complete.
Details entered in the Area Serviced may be viewed (and changed) by operators when selecting from a list of Service Providers in the Job Details window.

Automated Despatch

Auto Despatch electronically sends job details to the Service Provider when the F6 (Despatch) button is pressed in the Job Details window or the Job List window. Depending on your system configuration, different options may be available here. For more details, refer to the Smart Communications section.

The Service Rates/Access tab shows a list of services performed by the Service Provider, and the rates that apply.

Smart users with the Operator access level can only select a Service Provider for a job if the service for that job appears in this list.
Smart users with higher access levels do not have this restriction. If a Service Provider is selected for a service which they have not previously supplied, the outcome depends on the Operator Configuration setting Service Providers \ Select if no rate. The options are
- No - the Service Provider may not be selected for a job unless the service appears in the above window.
- Yes - that service is added to the above list, and default pricing applies.
- Warn - the operator is warned that the Service Provider has not previously provided this service, and has the option to select another Service Provider.

The Guard Code is the code to be entered by the guard to disarm an alarm when attending an Alarm Response. By default, only users with Administrator access level can see the guard code. Other users may be permitted to view the code by changing the Operator Configuration setting System Access / View Guard Codes.
If a Division is specified, you can filter the Service Provider Shift report by Division (depending on your system configuration, 'Division' might be replaced by another term).
If a Control Room is specified and the Smart user is not permitted to access that control room, this Service Provider may not be selected for jobs and reports.

Right click in the list of services to add, change, or delete a service.

Service Provider Rates

This window can be accessed from the list of services as above, or from the Accounts tab of the Job Details window by pressing the Contractor Rate button.

The Service button is greyed out if this window was accessed from the Job Details window. Otherwise, you can press this button to select a service.
The Location button allows you select from a list of locations, or clear the existing selection.
- If a location is specified, this rate will apply only to this location. If this location is selected for a job, this rate will apply.
- If a rate doesn't exist for a job's location, the rate for All Locations will apply.
When a Service Provider Rate is first added, the default rate for the service is used (see the Pricing section for a further explanation of Payment Rates, including Minimum Payment, and Callout Fee).
Set the Tax Rate to 0.00% for thedefault tax rate. Check the Tax Exempt box if no tax applies.
Check the Contract Rate box to prevent the rate from being revised automatically when the default rate is changed.
The Lead Time settings are used to automatically calculate a Scheduled date and time when entering a job. This feature is not fully enabled.
The Availability settings are used to automatically select a Service Provider based on the current (or scheduled, if any) time and date. This feature is not fully enabled but the operator is warned if they select a Service Provider which is not available at the current time.

Linking Service Providers and Locations

Futher details in the Location Details window.

Linking Service Providers and Suburbs

For information about linking Service Providers to Suburbs, go here.

Selecting a Service Provider

This window appears when selecting a Service Provider in the Job Details, Periodic Details, and other windows:

When it first appears this window will show you the preferred Service Provider(s) (if any) for the Location and Service (for details of how to specify Service Providers for a Location, see the Location Details window).

If no Service Providers have been specified for the Location, all Service Providers for the Service will be displayed.

If there are no Service Providers for the Service (as selected in the previous window), all Service Providers for the Service Type will be displayed.

You can change these selections by checking or clearing the boxes in the Display Service Providers for box.

If the highlighted Service Provider holds keys for the Location, details appear in the Keys list.

Any changes you make in the Details of highlighted Service Provider area will be saved for future reference.

In some cases you are allowed to select more than one Service Provider (in this case the words multi-select mode will appear at the top of the window). Highlight each Service Provider and press the space bar (or Ctrl and Left Click) to tag or untag them. When you return to the previous window a 'Split' button will appear so you can distribute payments between Service Providers (this button may not be visible if your access level does not allow it).

When you have finished making your selection, click on the Select button or press the Enter key to exit. If selecting a single Service Provider, you can also double click on the Service Provider to select and exit.

Reports

The Service Provider Check report lists jobs currently in progress by the Service Provider