Submit Your Suggestions for Vista

When someone calls in for service, what's the first thing a receptionist does (according to how VP thinks they should)?

1. Opens SM Call Handler (2 second pause).

2. Taps TAB to make a new record

3. Starts typing in the name or address from the caller, to see if this is an existing or new customer/site. (~3 seconds to find right customer)

4. and also enters caller name and number into the "Caller" info area (5 seconds)

5. Then starts typing notes

What would it be like if these steps were automatable?

Popular CRM software platforms have an API that can be called which typically does the above things for the receptionist(s).

A good platform would

1. Add the caller's name & number to a list, and show the list to everyone who's signed in as a receptionist (sometimes along with existing customer info such as amount owed or AR notes)

2. When a receptionist taps on a name/number in the list, the name/number should get an "answered" symbol by it (or the name removed from the list), and the "New call from customer X" window will then open, prefilled and ready to go!

Where are Phone Numbers stored in Viewpoint?

• AP Vendor Master

• AR Customers

• EM Shop

• HQ Companies

• (many places in HR)

• JC (Job Master, Project Managers)

• MSQH

• (multiple places in PM)

• (multiple places in PR)

• (multiple places in PC)

• VA User Profiles

• HQ (Contacts, Super Clearing House, Super Schemes)

• SM (Call Handler, Service Center, Service Site, Work Order, Work Order Quote)

• And possibly custom tables

How could this work in Viewpoint relating to Service Management?

1. The API would look through

   1. SM related tables including

   2. AR Customers, as well as

   3. custom tables that link back to one AR/SM Customer and possibly one SM Service Site.

2. The API would create a list of SM Customer & SM Service Site matches for the incoming call

   1. If no matches found, show "New Customer" with name and number.

3. The API would display the list to all receptionists.

What would the "Incoming Call Alert" contain?

• Multiple lines (separately clickable) for the call:

  • New Customer: Name & Number

  • (if available) Customer #xxx, name & number New Call, SM Cust.

  • (if available) Customer #xxx, Sites listed (each with link to SM Service Site as well as New Call)

• A "Call Status" that changes icons INSTANTLY to 'Accepted' or 'Answered' when any receptionist picks up the phone (notified by a 2nd API call), or clicks on one of the lines present.

• Tapping on ANY of the links should send a CUSTOMIZABLE API request, so the PBX could connect the call to the receptionist that clicked the line.

  • Minimum arguments that need to be supplied to the PBX API would be

    • Custom CALL ID number (supplied from first API call)

    • Receptionist ID of who clicked (value from a new field in Employee record, or a new SM Call Takers/Receptionists table)

  • Using this method (PBX API) would help with the issue of multiple people clicking the link and also answering their ringing phone at the same time, but not all phone systems would support it.

The New Customer link would open SM Call Handler and prefill the name and number into the "Caller" box as well as the customer info area, and keyboard focus into the Site Address (or Notes) field.

The New Call link would open SM Call Handler to be as specific as could be, based on if the user tapped on a "Customer" line, or a "Customer & Site" line, with the values prefilled.

The SM Cust and SM Service Site links would open the appropriate form so the receptionist could answer questions related to invoices, past work orders, or anything else pertaining to their questions.

What would this reduce?

• Frustration of client in waiting for CSR

• Duplicate site/customer entry

• Frustration of CSR in typing redundant name/number info into the computer

• Time between client dialing our number and getting an answer.

Why add this to Viewpoint?

The time between when a client knows the call is ringing in the office, until they hear someone speaking intelligently to them, is so crucial in our fast paced society! Clients EXPECT technology to help them.

It does not matter if they are calling in as an existing customer or as a new customer, or if they are calling into schedule a service call or have questions about an invoice or past work done. They deserve the quickest response we can give them.

Most PBX's in todays world offer the ability to integrate with CRMs by notifying them when an incoming call is happening. Most CRMS allow the receptionist to quickly see customer info, or create a new call record when notified via the API.

If Vista is honestly serious about being a CRM for Service Management, then why not use the technology already in place (Frameworks for APIs, SM Call Handler), and

connect them in a way that blows the competition out of the water!