Choosing Service Options

You can determine how the core Service Management module operates by enabling functions in the Service Options window.

Choose Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > Service Management > Module Setup > Service Options.

Preferences

In the Preferences section, mark the setup options, as necessary.

• Lock Time Stamp Entries
  Mark the Lock Time Stamp Entries checkbox to prohibit users from editing time stamp entries made in any text field with an attached clock button. When a user clicks the time clock, the current date and time are recorded in the attached field. If this checkbox is marked, the resulting date and time cannot be edited or re-stamped. If this checkbox is not marked, users can edit or re-stamp time stamp entries. You may want time stamps to be locked to ensure accurate record keeping.
• Use Technician Board
  Mark the Use Technician Board checkbox to activate the Technician Board – Appointments window, where you can view each technician's service, activity, and job appointments. It also activates the Technicians button on the Dispatch Board, which also opens the Technician Board – Appointments window. Using the Technician Board doesn't impact system performance.
• Use Corporate Customer ID
  Mark this to display the Corporate Customer ID field in the Customer window and Customer Maintenance window. The corporate customer ID can be used to group customers. This field is only used for reporting purposes and has no other impact within Service Management. The corporate customer ID isn't included with any default report formats. You can use Report Writer to add it to a report format (Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Customize > Report Writer). For example, a service organization may have many customers all belonging to the Mobil Corporation. The customer ID and customer name are unique, while the corporate customer ID is Mobil Corporation. When reporting, the Mobil customers could be grouped.
• Use Equipment Tracking (Meter Readings/Hours)
  Mark this checkbox to activate the Meter Readings/Hours button in the Equipment Master window. The Meters Readings/Hours window contains 25 user-definable fields. The fields are numeric, date, currency, and text fields. Readings can be recorded daily for a piece of equipment. If the checkbox isn't marked, the Meter Readings/Hours button is disabled.
• Require Same Equipment Type for Groups
  When creating multiple equipment records using the Multi-Add button in the Equipment Master window, you can require the group items to be the same equipment type as the main group record equipment type. When the group items are created, the item's Equipment Type field isn't editable if this option is marked. For more information, see Creating equipment records.
• Require Appointment Completion
  If you mark this checkbox, you will not be able to change the call status to Complete or Closed until the appointments for the call are marked Complete. You may want to require appointment completion to make sure all costs associated with the call have been recorded before invoicing the call. If the option isn't marked, you can change the call status to Complete or Closed even though it has open appointments.
• Use Contact Management Option
  See Setting up Contact Management for set up information. 
• Use Stop-and-Go Light with Receivables Status
  The Stop-and-Go Light is a visual indicator of a customer's accounts receivable status. If you are using Microsoft Dynamics GP Receivables Management, this checkbox is marked and disabled. If you mark this checkbox, you can see the Stop-and-Go Light indicator even if you have not purchased Receivables Management. You can use the Microsoft Dynamics GP Import Utility or other programs to import data to the table that drives the Stop-and-Go Light indicator. If the Use Stop-and-Go Lights with Receivables Status checkbox is marked, you can select an action to be performed when the Stop-and-Go Light is red. You can choose to have a warning display when the New Call button is selected in the Service Manager window or you can have the New Call button disabled in the Service Manager window. Choose one of the following actions:
  • No Warning
    When a user chooses a customer in the Service Manager window whose Stop-and-Go Light is red, there is no change to the New Call button and no warning message is displayed when the New Call button is selected.
  • Display Warning
    When a user chooses the New Call button in the Service Manager window for a customer whose Stop-and-Go Light is red, a warning message displays indicating this. The call can still be created.
  • Disable New Call Button
    When a user chooses a customer in the Service Manager window whose Stop-and-Go Light is red, the New Call button is disabled in the Service Manager window.

You also have the option of defining an additional color coding procedure to turn the Stop-and-Go Light red. This procedure is performed on all windows that contain the Stop-and-Go Light: Service Manager, Customer, and Customer Maintenance. Contact WennSoft for more information about the Stop-and-Go Light Stored Procedure feature. Signature Technical Consulting is available for assistance with programming this additional procedure, if needed.

• Use Overhead Amounts from Job Cost
  You can use overhead amounts created in Job Cost for Service Management labor transactions. A Job Cost registration key, other than the demo key, must be entered for the checkbox to be enabled. Changing this option affects future transactions only. Marking this checkbox gives you access to the Overhead Detail Codes and Overhead Group Setup windows from Job Cost.After marking the checkbox, you are prompted to print the Invalid Labor Rate Groups report. This lists locations with undefined labor rate groups. You will reassign labor rate groups to location records once the labor rate groups, which reference the Job Cost overhead amounts, are created.
• Use Service Debit Accounts for Microsoft Dynamics GP Costs
  If you mark this checkbox, you can choose a debit account for cost transactions other than the default debit account from Microsoft Dynamics GP. See Choosing Service Management Debit Accounts for Cost Transactions.
• Allow Editing of the Service Management GL account on PO Line Items
  If you are using service debit accounts, you can allow users to edit the account number on purchase orders. If you are not using service debit accounts, users can already edit the account for non-inventory purchase order line items. This option cannot be checked if you are using COGS distributions.
• Use Service Invoicing or SOP Invoicing
  Once you choose an invoicing option, you cannot change your selection.
  • Choose the Service Invoicing radio button if you want to create invoices using the Service Management Invoicing module.

  • Choose the SOP Invoicing radio button if you want to create invoices using Microsoft Dynamics GP Sales Order Processing (SOP). 

    

    When using SOP invoicing, you do not have the option to create COGS distributions for invoices.

Validate

Mark the appropriate checkboxes if you want the following fields to be validated and have attached lookup windows with pre-existing lookup data. Upon entering a new value in one of these validated fields, users will be prompted to add to the field's lookup data.

• The first and second user-defined fields on the Location window
• The first and second user-defined fields on the Maintenance Contract window
• The first and second user-defined fields on the Master Contract window
• The user-defined field in the Add Subtask window
• The user-defined field on the Service Call window

If you do not choose to validate the fields, the field will not have a lookup window or pre-existing data.
Additionally, mark the Change Call Type to MC when add Equipment under contract checkbox if you do not want users to be able to add equipment that is covered under a contract to non-MC type service calls. When equipment under contract is added to a service call, the call type will automatically be changed to MC.

Default

In the Default section, choose system defaults.

• Task Status
  Use the lookup to select a task status. The task status selected will be the default entry in the Task Status field in the Service Call Tasks window when tasks are entered. 

  

  You must have a default task status selected in the Service Options window to open the Service Call Tasks window.

• Quick Print Workorder
  This is the workorder format that prints after choosing the Quick button in the Service Call window. The Quick button prints a workorder with one mouse click, as opposed to the Print button, which takes three mouse clicks. Choose the workorder format that you print most often.
• Number of Days
  This is the number of days to consider for recent call notification. A message will display in the Service Manager window if service calls were opened for the customer location within this number of days. MCC calls are not considered. If zero is in the field, you will not be notified of recent calls.
• Address
  Select an address default. The address default you select — ZIP code or postal code — becomes the label of the eighth field in the Service Manager window. The third address field in the Customer and Location windows is user-definable.
• Auto-Roll Calls Forward
  You may have service calls and appointments that were not answered on the day they were initially scheduled. You are prompted to roll these calls forward when you open Service Management. Mark this checkbox if you want to automatically roll service calls forward rather than receiving the prompt. You can choose to exclude certain call types or job appointments. The system rolls forward open service calls and appointments. Open service calls and appointments have a status other than Complete or Closed. The system looks at the call and appointment status independently. When an appointment is rolled forward, the Start Time field is cleared. Rolling a call forward changes the Date field in the Service Call and Service Call Appointments windows to the current system date. If an appointment date is before the roll-forward date and the service call date is after the roll-forward date, the appointment is rolled forward and the service call is not. If the Date/Time Lock field on the Service Call window is marked, the service call and its appointments are not rolled forward. You can exclude rolling forward maintenance calls (MC), computer-generated maintenance calls (MCC), and all other call types. For instance, if your technicians complete MCC service calls as time allows throughout the month, you may not need to roll those calls forward, so you would mark the checkbox to exclude MCC. On the other hand, an emergency call that was not completed would need to be moved to the current day, so you would not exclude all other call types.Calls also can be rolled forward to a new day using the Call Roll Forward process. See Rolling Calls Forward.
• Number of Service Calls to display on Service Manager
  You can view the last X number of service calls for a selected customer location or contract on the Service Manager window. This is useful if you want information about the most recent service calls related to a specific location or contract, but you do not want to browse through the service calls in the lookup window to find the correct ones. By default, the most recent five service calls will display on the Service Manager window. You can change this default.

Refrigerant Tracking Leak Rate Analysis Method

For examples of the two Leak Rate Analysis Methods that use the same data, view the K2ARD-Refrigerant Tracking Scenarios PDF document.
Choose the leak rate analysis method:

• Annualized
  The EPA defines the annualizing leak rate calculation method as follows: Leak Rate (%) = (pounds of refrigerant added / pounds of refrigerant in full charge) x (365 days/year / short of #days since refrigerant added OR 365 days) x 100% If the owner/operator chooses to use the annualizing method, for the first refrigerant addition in the calendar year 2019 the second term would be 365 / 365 (or "1"). For subsequent additions the second term would be 365 divided by the shorter of the number days since refrigerant was last added or 365.
• Rolling Average
  The EPA defines the rolling average method as follows: Leak Rate (%) = (pounds of refrigerant added over past 365 days / pounds of refrigerant in full charge) x 100% If the owner/operator chooses to use the rolling average method for refrigerant additions in the calendar year 2018 the numerator would be the pounds of refrigerant added since the shorter of January 1, 2019 or the last successful follow-up verification test, if one was conducted in 2019. For additions in 2020 and beyond, the numerator would be the pounds of refrigerant added since the shorter of 365 days or the last successful follow-up verification test.

Default from Last PO Line Entered

When adding a line item to a purchase order in the alternate Purchase Order Entry and alternate Purchasing Item Detail Entry windows, you can have the service call ID and cost code from the last line item entered as the default entries in the new line.

• Mark the Service Call ID checkbox if you want the service call ID from the last line item entered to default in the Job No/Service Call field.
• If you mark the Service Call ID checkbox, you can also mark the Cost Code checkbox. Mark this checkbox if you want the cost code from the last line item entered to be the default entry in the Type field.

Premier Options

• Use Temporary Customers
  New customers can be set up as temporary customers in Service Management without permanently adding them to the Receivables Management customer database. For example, you may wish to set up a customer for service pending credit approval. Later, when the credit is approved, the customer ID easily can become part of your permanent customer file. Or perhaps a branch creates a new customer but must wait for a permanent ID from their corporate office. You will be able to enter service calls, equipment IDs, and contracts for temporary customers. However, you will not be able to enter financial-related data, such as invoices in the Service Management or transactions in the Receivables Management Series.
• Use Global Record Identification Filters
  Mark this checkbox if you want to set up branch locations for your business. Once you have set up branches you can associate locations and all related records to a branch. Users can be limited to seeing records for only one branch or for several branches. Using global filters adds a drop-down list to the Service Manager, Location, Maintenance Tasking, and Maintenance Invoicing windows. The drop-down menus show all existing branches and User Profile. See Using global filters. If you mark the Use Global Record Identification Filters checkbox, you can mark the Use Postal Code Assignment checkbox. If you are using the postal code assignment module, new customers will automatically be assigned to a branch based on the customer's postal code.
• Use Validation for Sublocations
  Service Management allows users to set up sublocations at a customer location and assign equipment to those sublocations. Requiring validation ensures that the sublocations assigned to equipment IDs are the same throughout your organization.
• Keep Appointment History
  By choosing to track appointment history, you can see when any changes were made to an appointment.
• Auto Number
  See Setting Up Auto Numbering.
• Enable Time Zone View
  Mark this checkbox if you are using the Time Zone feature in Service Management. For more information, see Time Zones.