Creating a Service Call

You can initiate a new service call for a customer from the Customer Hub and the Schedule Board (including the Unscheduled grid).

When creating a new service call and entering the technician, start time, and estimated hours, thereby creating a scheduled appointment, the appointment status is automatically set to the Scheduled Update status that was set up in Settings > Company Options > Configuration in the Options section. If the value has not been set for the Scheduled Update, then the status will be updated to the Default Status from the Automatic Status Assignment section in the Configuration window. If both the Schedule Update status field and the Default Status field are not set in Schedule Settings, then the "DEFAULT" displays in the scheduled appointment's status field. See Setting Up Schedule Configuration.

Notes:

• When creating a maintenance call (MC) service call and the equipment is not on the contract, a warning message displays indicating the equipment is not on the contract. Select Yes to keep your selections as is or select No to return to the service call window with the current field cleared.
  The message displays if:

  • The call type is MC, the contract is selected and then the equipment is selected.

  • The call type is MC, equipment is selected and then the contract is selected.

  • The contract and equipment are selected and then the call type is changed to MC.

• When creating a new service call for an On Hold customer, your company's settings may not allow some users to create the new service call. This option is dependent on the settings selected in the Service Options window in Signature. See Choosing Setup Options in the Signature documentation.

• The New Service Call context menu will not display if you do not have Service Management.

A billable service call cannot be created if the customer or location is marked as inactive in Signature. However, if the inactive location is associated with a maintenance contract, depending on your Global Settings, you can create a maintenance contract (MC) service call. You are required to enter the contract ID on the MC service call.

To create a new service call:

1. You can create a new service call from the context-sensitive menu (right-click) in the following areas:

   • Schedule Board

     • Right-click an existing appointment or resource activity on the Schedule Board and select New Service Call > New Service Call - <customer name - location> or select New Service Call to open a blank service call window. From the Unscheduled grid, the New Service Call option only displays for job and service appointments.

     • Right-click an empty time cell on the Schedule Board and select New Service Call > New Service Call to autopopulate the start time. The technician will be autopopulate if available based on global filtering for the customer.

   • Customer Hub:

     • Create a service call from the customer list
       In the Customer Hub, right-click on the customer from the list and select Create New Service Call for <customer name - location>. The customer and location information defaults into the New Service Call window. If the location is inactive, this option will be New Service Call (MC Only) for <location>.

     • Create a service call from a contract
       In the Customer Hub, select a customer from the list, select the Contracts tab, right-click on the contract number, and select Create New Service Call for <customer name - location>. The contract information defaults into the New Service Call window and the service call type is set to Maintenance. You can change the information in this window as needed.

2. Complete the following fields, as applicable:

   • Customer Number/Customer Name

     • If you create the service call from an existing customer and location, this information is auto populated and cannot be changed.

     • If creating a new service call, enter the customer ID or click the lookup button to open the Customer Lookup window. Press the Enter key to display a list of customers or type part of the customer ID or name and click the Search button. Select the customer and then click Select.

   • Address ID

     • If you create the service call from an existing customer and location, this information is auto populated and cannot be changed.

     • If creating a new service call, enter the Address ID or click the lookup button to open the Location Lookup window. A list of locations for the selected customer is displayed or type part of the address ID or name and click the Search button. Select the location and then click Select.

   • Location Name
     Display-only. This displays the location name associated with the address ID.

   • Service Call
     Display-only. The service call ID is generated when the service call is saved.

   • Description
     Enter a brief description of the reason for the call. Use the notepad button to enter multiple pages of notes for the service call. These notes appear on Workorder 1 and Workorder 3. If the description exceeds 30 characters, a note is created that contains the entire description.

   • Problem Type
     Select the problem type.

   • Division (required)
     Use the lookup to select a division for the service call.

   • Salesperson
     Select the salesperson.

   • Service Call Type
     Select the service call type. The MCC call type is not available in the lookup window because the system generates MCC calls.

   • Priority
     Select the priority.

   • Customer P.O. Number
     Enter the customer purchase order number. This field is required if the Service Location in Signature has the Purchase Order Required option marked.

   • Contract Number
     Use the lookup to open the Contract Lookup window. This window displays all open and expired contracts. Expired contracts display the start and end dates in red. You can still select an expired contract for a new service call as Schedule follows the same selection process as Service Management. To select the contract in the lookup window, double-click anywhere on the row or select the Add icon to the far right of the contract. To remove the contract from the Contract field on the Service Call window, click the Remove icon to the right of the contract.

   • Equipment
     Select the drop-down to add equipment to the service call. This will also create the default task for the service call as defined in Service Options. 

   • Resource
     The assigned technician displays but you can select another technician. You can filter the list of technicians by typing the first few letters of their first or last name.

   • Start Date (and Time)
     The date and time of the service call. The system date defaults and can be changed. 

   • Date/Time Lock
     When marked, this prevents the call from being rolled forward when Auto-Roll Calls Forward is used. A Date/Time Lock icon is displayed on the service appointment in Schedule when this is turned on. This option is available when the service call has only 1 appointment.

   • Estimated Hours
     The amount of time it takes to complete the service appointment. If the Default Service Appointment Hours field is configured in Schedule Settings, a default value might automatically fill in this field. See Setting Up Schedule Configuration.

   • Service Call Status
     This defaults to Open but you can select another status from the drop-down.

   • Bill Customer ID/Bill Address ID
     Display-only. The bill customer ID and bill address ID default from the Customer Hub.

   • Job Number
     Use the lookup to open the Job Lookup window. To select a job in the lookup window, double-click anywhere on the row or select the Add icon to the far right of the job.

   • Original Service Call
     If this new service call is based on another service call, you can select the original service call from the drop-down.

   • Caller Information Use the lookup to select an existing contact or add a new contact on-the-fly.

3. Select Save.