ProductChannel: 2020 R2 Release Highlights

Owned by Vijay Ramakrishnan (Deactivated)
Last updated: Jun 05, 2020
9 min read

2020 Release 2 (“R2”) of ServiceChannel is planned for release in July. The new capabilities are listed below and you can find additional details through the link at the end of the listing.

If you have ideas for enhancements that will help you move faster, work smarter and keep customers happier, please share them with us!

Summary

Updates for ServiceChannel Essentials

  • Dashboard

    • Create Work Order Using Keyword Search on Dashboard 2.0

    • Unlimited Issue List Overrides

  • Work Order Manager

    • Work Order List Enhancements

    • Work Order Labels

    • Checklists for Provider Response

    • Bulk Work Order Creation from Maps

    • Copy Attachments to a Linked Work Order

    • Custom Feedback Questions on ServiceChannel Mobile

  • Proposal Manager

    • Work Order Description Displayed on Proposals

    • Custom Instruction Text on Proposal Form

  • Invoice Manager

    • View ‘WO Assignee’ Field on Invoices

    • Asset Tag ID on Standard Invoice Report

    • Provider Name on Invoice Auto-Approval Report

  • Payment Manager

    • Push-to-Pay to Explicitly Release Payments

    • Streamlined Provider Onboarding

  • Compliance Manager

    • “Do Not Dispatch” Designation of Providers via Compliance Manager

  • Analytics

    • Enhancements to Analytics

  • Platform

    • Single Sign-On from Links in Email and on Login Page

Updates for Additional Modules, ServiceChannel Select & Enterprise

  • Projects

    • NEW: Projects Module is here!

  • Site Planning Manager

    • New Ratings Types for Site Planning Manager

  • Weather

    • Weather Type Field Added to Work Orders

Updates for ServiceChannel Essentials

Dashboard

Create Work Order Using Keyword Search on Dashboard 2.0

Dashboard 2.0 users now have a faster and easier way to create work orders from the Issue List via keyword search.  Instead of navigating multiple drop-down choices, a user may now enter a keyword or phrase and ServiceChannel will automatically return all of the issue combinations referencing that search term.  In this way, users can zero in on a short list of likely combinations.The search terms are matched against any part of the available Problem, Asset, Area, or Problem Type drop-down choices.  Admins can enable this feature from the Edit Dashboard Setting “Request” tab.  Reach out to ServiceChannel for more information on the benefits of Dashboard 2.0.

 

Unlimited Issue List Overrides

We have removed the limit of 20 issue list overrides allowed on the Issue List Template.  Issue list overrides allow users to reroute work orders based on specific conditions, such as rerouting one to a different provider based on location note information. This additional configurability allows clients to utilize overrides to their fullest potential and not have to make choices about which 20 to implement.

Work Order Manager

Work Order List Enhancements

We’ve added new capabilities to help make you more efficient as you search, manage and view work orders. The capabilities include:

Set a Default Work Order Filter

Users may now assign one of their saved WO Filters as their ‘‘Default View”. This will specify the results that the user receives when accessing the Work Order module to better fit their business needs.

Dynamic Dates Filter

Now search WO dates by the previous x days/weeks rather than selecting specific dates. Using the dynamic date range in a saved filter will automatically adjust the search date range on when users apply the filter in the future.

Improved Provider Reassignment Dropdown

The Provider Reassignment pop-up on the Work Order List has been redesigned in order to more clearly outline your reassignment options. As well, the “Assign to next ranked provider” option has been added to allow quick reassignment to your next ranked provider.

 

Update Work Order Assignee Using Bulk Edit

Users can select multiple Work Orders to bulk edit the Assignee field

Add a Note from Notes History

On the Work Order List Summary View, the most recent WO Note is displayed.  Clicking on that Note will display a pop-up of the full Notes history along with a button to quickly add a new Note.

Bulk Action Required Notes

The Action Required checkbox is now available when adding notes in bulk to multiple Work Orders.

Email Alert on Follow-Up Date of Work Orders

Now when a user flags a Work Order with a ‘Follow Up' Date and tags recipients, we will send an email notification upon the Follow Up date to all parties tagged in the original note.

Work Order Status Color Legend

Each Status tab on the Work Order list has been given it’s correlating color, allowing new users to understand what each color represents.

Adding Total NTE Summary to WO List

The Total NTE and Total Invoice Amount for all Work Orders returned in the results of the Work Order list will be displayed at the top along with the total count of Work Orders. Previously the Work Order List only reported Total Invoiced Amount and number of Work Orders

‘Search For’ Fields Support Multiple Values

WO Search fields now support a list of values  copied from excel (and excel-like) tables.  (This was previously only available from the Actionable Landing Page).

Work Order Labels

Labels allow you to index and manage related work orders. For example, you may have a situation that affects multiple work orders or work orders across locations. Labeling those work orders allow you to track, organize and report on them in a way that is meaningful to your facility operations.  A label may be added to a Work Order via the WO List Page, bulk Edit, PM recurring services, and to bulk WO upload template.  An Analytics report called, “Work Order Labels Dashboard” is available to analyze the activity of labeled transactions.

 

Checklists for Provider Response

Checklists enable you to communicate and gather specific information from provider technicians as they check-in or out of work orders on ServiceChannel’s Provider Mobile app. Checklists can be used to validate that specific steps are acknowledged or to gather additional information about the work order. Checklists can be separately defined for each combination of trade and category.  To enable location specific configuration, reach out to ServiceChannel support.

 

Bulk Work Order Creation from Maps

Within the Location panel of the Map View, there is a new option to ‘Batch Work Order.’ With this option, users can select the locations they wish to create a Work Order for on the map, and create multiple work orders at once. If Weather is enabled, users can select from a standardized list of Weather Types when creating/editing Work Orders from any module of the system.

Note: To enable this feature, please contact your ServiceChannel representative.

 

Copy Attachments to a Linked Work Order

When creating a ‘Linked Service Request,’ users will have the option to clone all attachments so that they show up on the newly created Work Order. If there are certain attachments that you do not want to bring over to the new Work Order, there is also the option to delete certain attachments.

 

Custom Feedback Questions on ServiceChannel Mobile

Customers who have configured Custom Feedback questions may now provide feedback to these questions on ServiceChannel Mobile. Custom Feedback questions can be used to collect responses to specific questions after work order completion from the location staff.  Contact ServiceChannel to enable this feature.

Proposal Manager

Work Order Description Displayed on Proposals

For faster reference, the Work Order Description field is now displayed on the Proposal Form and View Proposals page for both subscribers and providers.  Subscribers will also see this field on the Proposal Report export.  The Work Order description on a Proposal will be updated if it is changed on the work order itself.

Custom Instruction Text on Proposal Form

Add custom instruction text to the Proposal Form to set clear expectations with your providers for the proposal submission process. These instructions can help providers understand requirements for expected proposal details and thereby reduce the number of rejected proposals.

Note: To enable this feature, please contact your ServiceChannel representative.

Invoice Manager

View ‘WO Assignee’ Field on Invoices

WO Assignee name is now displayed on Invoices in the summary List and Detail views. Assignees can also quickly filter for their Invoices by choosing “WO assigned to me.” The new capability helps to reduce the time spent on finding an invoice assigned to a user.

 

Asset Tag ID added to Standard Invoice Report

A new column “TagID” is added to the standard invoice report download between the existing Problem Description and Invoice Numbers column.  This will help you to better understand costs associated with assets.

Provider Name added to Invoice Auto-Approval Report

A new column "ProviderName" is added at the end of the invoice auto-approval report so you don’t have to reference by only the Provider ID anymore.

Payment Manager

Push-to-Pay to Explicitly Release Payments

Payment Manager now provides the Payables team with control to explicitly release payment on one or more invoices.  This is in addition to the previous option that automated approved payments based purely on timing which some customers found limiting.  The new feature is aligned with a wider array of finance payment processes.

 

Streamlined Provider Onboarding

Payment Manager introduces a new, faster, and clearer onboarding process for providers who you have instructed to register for electronic payment via ServiceChannel.  The new best-in-class KYC (Know Your Customer) check expedites the data collection process required to verify the identity of those receiving payments.

Compliance Manager

“Do Not Dispatch” Designation of Providers via Compliance Manager

Within Compliance Manager, a subscriber may now mark a provider as ‘Do Not Dispatch’ in order to temporarily prevent the routing of WOs.  This action may be taken to address non-compliance, pauses in service, or other temporary blocks.  During the time a provider is marked as Do Not Dispatch, work order assignment will favor the next ranked provider.

 

Analytics

Enhancements to Analytics

This release introduces a number of enhancements to ServiceChannel Analytics to streamline the user interface, provide more up-to-date information in reports and make report distribution more flexible.

New or updated functionally includes:

  • More up-to-date information in the reports, as the data will be refreshed every hour.

  • Changes to the user interface (UI) to support improvements to navigation, filtering and email scheduling capabilities.

  • Update to the scoring criteria that determine how the Provider grade is calculated.

  • For ServiceChannel Analytics Premium customers: Improvements to the interface to easily build custom visualizations, tables, and dashboards.

Platform

Single Sign-On from Links in Email and on Login Page

When Single Sign-on (SSO) users who are not logged in, click on a work order link via email, they will be directed to their SSO login instead of the ServiceChannel login page. SSO users who are logged in will be taken directly into the system. In addition, SSO users will have the option to login using their SSO keyword on the ServiceChannel login page.

Hungarian & Russian Languages Supported

Language support across the entire application expands to include Hungarian and Russian.

Updates for ServiceChannel Select & Enterprise

Projects

NEW: Projects Module is here!

Projects is a new module that helps you scope, create, and manage complex work plans in a snap. It enables you to associate multiple work orders with a single project, no matter how many GL codes, trades, assets and providers it spans. Within this new module, you can create budgets associated with projects, or have certain approvers review any unbudgeted projects before the project starts.

 

Site Planning Manager

New Ratings Types for Site Planning Manager

Site Planning adds three new rating types to extend the options for collecting rating responses that support a broader range of business requirements.  Customers will now have the ability to also define Pass Threshold and Numeric Range for each survey question. 

The new rating types include:

  • Percentage - Allows entry of a percentage based rating for a check list item.

  • Weighted - Allow the assignment of numeric values to the three weighted score options Failed, Good, Great.

  • Numeric - Enhanced numeric rating type to allow 0 to 10 rating system

Weather

Weather Type Field Added to Work Orders

Users of Weather Overlay for Map View can now select from a standardized list of Weather Types when creating/editing Work Orders from any module of the system.  Reporting by Weather Type is available via Work Order Reports and Analytics.