ProductChannel 2023 Release 3 (R3) Highlights

Table of contents

Provider Reassignment Tool

It’s now easier than ever to rank providers and swap out underperformers with the new Provider Swap Wizard. This tool streamlines the process of assigning providers to locations, saving time and eliminating the administrative hassle associated with updating your provider assignments.

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Validate the accuracy of your asset inventory

You can't proactively manage assets if your data is out of date. With the new asset inventory feature you can schedule inventories of your assets and enable employees to validate the presence of assets using the ServiceChannel mobile app. SC Mobile users can scan asset tags to easily find assets and validate them, if authorized they can edit details or add missing assets while onsite. With more accurate asset data, you can build confidence in your asset data to make smart repair vs. replace decisions and streamline your capital planning program.

This is an add-on. Reach out to your account manager for more information.

Benchmarking Dashboard for Contractor Scorecard 2.0

The new Benchmarking Dashboard gives you and your providers the ability to compare their Contractor Scorecard KPIs and Scores to the overall platform benchmarks, giving you better insight into how they stack up. You can also see where a provider ranks among your in-network providers. For each of the Speed, Quality, Engagement and Price scores and their associated KPIs, you can see where they fit in to the Benchmark Performance Tiers of Top, Average, Below Average and Bottom. This information can help you prepare for internal reviews and provider contracting discussions and can assist in identifying areas for improvement.

Faster insurance COI submission and approval

Providers can now upload their COI and the information will be automatically detected using Optical Character Recognition (OCI) technology. Additionally, you can now approve multiple insurance types at once, saving you time and getting your providers set up more efficiently.

Collect better asset data with the help of your providers

When enabled, this new setting will prompt providers to attach assets to work orders upon check-in or check-out. Exception lists can be used to exclude specific trades or locations, giving you more control over the asset data captured.

This is an add-on. Reach out to your account manager for more information.

Proactively improve your provider network with network opportunities

It’s easier than ever to strengthen your provider network without having to crunch the numbers yourself – the new Network Opportunities tool does it for you. The tool shows you which providers are underperforming across the Quality, Speed, Engagement and Price Scores, and whether there are comparable, better performing providers that you can switch to. You’ll also be able to see the percentage improvement you can expect based on the differential across each set of scores.

Reach out to your CSM for more information.

More flexibility around check-ins and check-outs

Providers can now check in or out “non-compliantly” if they are outside of a store location’s specified radius. This allows them to check in or out in situations where they’re working from a parking lot, store coordinates are wrong, or they have no GPS signal. You can review non-compliant check-ins to ensure that the billable hours match up, and you can also filter specifically for invoices with mismatched hours.

Reach out to your account manager for more information.

Site Planning for Web

Create new site plans through the Service Automation web interface. You no longer need to be physically present onsite to perform site audits, giving you more flexibility around the capturing, maintenance and updating of site planning records. You can also edit previously completed site audits.

Reach out to your CSM for more information.

Order parts and maintain inventory on the platform

You can now place purchase requests for parts through the ServiceChannel platform. Research and source specialty parts that may not be housed in inventory, maintain stock levels by automating parts orders, and save time by eliminating fragmented and costly parts purchasing processes.

Reach out to your account manager for more information.

Related proposal actions: Assign & Reassign

Expanding upon the related proposal actions feature that was released earlier in 2023, you can now assign and reassign related proposals.

More accurate invoicing with taxes by line item

You can now capture the correct tax amounts at the line item and group level on an invoice, giving you flexibility in jurisdictions where taxation is more nuanced.

Be more proactive with in-app capture of asset meter readings

You can now view and edit assets in more detail using our mobile app. New functionality lets you capture asset meter readings, so you can better monitor the health and condition of assets in the field.  

A better integration user experience for providers

We’ve made updates to the user experience for providers, giving them more information at their fingertips and simplifying the integration process. They will now benefit from a better check-in and check-out experience, and find it easier to use a range of integrations. Improvements include a brand new Provider Integration Overview page, and faster access to the App Registration page to get started with new integrations.

Require technicians to obtain electronic signatures from site staff

You can now require technicians to obtain signatures from store employees before checking out of a location, as an additional way of validating that the work was completed.

Avoid potential duplicates on Contractor Initiated Work Orders (CIWO)

Avoid duplicates by enabling this feature, which links new work orders with existing ones if their Duplicate Callout time periods match, and sets an NTE of zero for the duplicate. This prevents duplicate costs and requires a proposal for any additional billing.

Provider assignment history at a glance

Changes made by providers can now be seen in the Status History table on the Work Order Details page, so you can quickly understand a work order’s assignment history without having to comb through more detailed notes.  

Require providers to attach digital invoices

In the last release, we announced that providers can be required to attach digital invoice copies. This feature was available on an opt-in basis at the time, but will be an auto-on feature for all accounts.

Provider Admins can now create user profiles

Provider Admins, including FTMs, can now create profiles without having to send invitations. This gives them more control over their users and saves time.

Trade-specific work order status lists

The full list of work order statuses can now be delineated by trade, so a janitorial technician can’t accidentally assign a status that applies to refrigeration work (such as “IN PROGRESS – PENDING REFRIGERANT USAGE”).

More control over work order status changes

If enabled, a provider can no longer move your work order out of the “IN PROGRESS – UNSATISFACTORY” status – only you can do so. The provider can change the status to “IN PROGRESS – ONSITE” if more work needs to be done. This prevents you from being billed for incomplete work, and gives you more control over your work orders.  

Reach out to your CSM for more information.