Getting Started
To use Job Messages you will need the job sheet report and relevant dashboard widget(s) which control this.
If you don’t already have these active you will need to Personalise them onto your job sheet/dashboard.
(See our article on personalisation for hints on how to do this)
The items you need are:
Dashboard Widgets
There are two available, add both and see which works best for what you’re doing…
Job Sheet Report
Message Types
The dashboard presents the messages by Message Type – this is essentially a subject / category for the message.
These can be customised, just get in touch with us and we can adapt the list of available options for you.
For example, some of our customers use message types to flag messages for the attention of a particular person.
The dashboard can also present the messages broken down by who raised them, how you use this depends on what you’re doing with the messages.
How to Add a Message to a Job
On the top of the job sheet click the Add Message button:
Type your message, choose the Message Type and once done, click Continue:
Provided you have added the report to the job sheet, you will see your message like this:
Viewing the Message on the Dashboard
We have two widgets which show the messages (job queries), the example one is highlighted.
Click on any of the blue numbers to view the messages which relate to it.
(Both dashboard widgets launch the same report)
Responding to a Message
From the report above, click the View button.
Type a response, if the message is actioned and ‘closed’ also tick the Closed option, then click Continue:
The message now shows as closed and the response details now show on the report on the job sheet:
Closing a Message
Closing a message marks it as ‘closed’ in the system and no thus no longer visible on the dashboard.
(The messages are still visible in the job sheet and the history lines which relate to it are still there, we just stop it showing on the dashboard as a message which requires action)
Additional Dashboard Personalisation
If you click on the report filters button on the dashboard widget as below:
You can specify to Breakdown by Message Type:
Now the dashboard widget looks like this… notice the more detailed breakdown by message types filtered by who raised the message:
Additional Information
As always, please get in touch with us if you have any queries. Likewise, if you wish to add any message types to the system for maybe logging messages to specific people like the example above.