Hi <<First Name>>,
It's been a longer gap than usual since our last user - so lots to tell you about. In fact too much for one newsletter, so here's the first instalment of 2013! New features and more flexibility as we continue to listen to your feedback and experience. This edition is focussing on Helpdesk enhancements. Read on for the headlines...
Manual control of Helpdesk issue status
Sometimes its useful to be able to indicate that a Helpdesk issue is in progress even if no tasks or works instructions have been sorted out. Why? because it triggers a message update to the person who logged the issue so they know things are in hand and it updates the status indicator to green.
Where do I find this option?
Just click the change button next to the current status readout and select 'in progress' as the option, add any notes required and confirm. Automatic messages will be triggered as usual to indicate a status update.
Manual addition of historical Helpdesk issues
Some users want to be able to manually add in old Helpdesk issues in order to build a history of issues that have already been logged and dealt with. Well, you now can!
How do I add an historic Helpdesk issue?
On the Helpdesk card you will find a new date option "raised on" that is automatically preset with the current date - what you may not realise that this date can now be manually set to an earlier date to allow you to log an issue from the past in order to build a complete history for an asset. Note that this capability is limited to Managers only! General staff users cannot adjust the date an issue was raised on!
Combine this with the "Confirm & Close" button and the logging of historic issues is a simple 2 step process.
Logging helpdesk issues at the building level (or higher!)
By far the majority of Helpdesk issues relate to items in rooms but sometimes it's useful to be able to log an issue for an entire building say. What if the power is out or the heating not working for the whole block? It's hard to say where the problem lies, so it makes sense to be able to log the issue at the building level.
This new capability is controlled by the Manager preferences of the primary manager on the site.
Where do I adjust this setting?
When logged in as a primary manager on a site, go to your preferences and select the
manager tab, then adjust this setting to the level required (anything from site down to item). Note that you can change this setting whenever you like and it will only affect newly raised issues.
Better labelling of Helpdesk issues in lists and reports
We have improved the labelling of Helpdesk tasks and issues in list views to make it easier to scan a list to see what the issues are (previously tasks generated from helpdesk issues were simply labelled as Helpdesk task). You will also find that more complete information is now included in email message notifications to ensure that personnel receiving notifications by email have the fullest possible information without having to log on to Flow360 for the details.
Avoiding duplicate location names
We have always advised users to make sure that locations have unique names at their level - so, avoid having 2 room locations on the same floor of the same building with the same name as this will inevitably cause confusion when a staff user attempts to log a Helpdesk issue or find a specific location by name!
Flow360 now prevents the entering of duplicate names or the changing of names where the new name is already in use at that level.
Collaborating on adding assets and resources
We have added some new options for when you are adding new assets and resources to make it easier to keep track of who has added what when you are working in a team. You can now setup a new survey at any level of a site, add collaborators and set a survey as your current survey. From that point on whenever any of the collaborators in the survey indicates that a location has been completed all the other collaborators will see a check next to that location - no more confusion over whether that room has been done yet!
Even better, all objects, notes, scheduled tasks, uploaded documents and events that relate to a specific survey can all be viewed in one location on the survey record itself, all fully linked of course to the objects they relate to.
How do I start a new survey?
Start by going to the relevant resource (site, building, room etc), then select the
inspections tab and click the
Add record button, then select
survey as the inspection type.
How do I add collaborators?
Go to the relevant survey record using the Goto button on the inspections list, select the
collaborators tab and click the
Add button to add a new person as a collaborator on this survey.
Getting started guide update
As usual the User Guide is the place to go to for more details. The guide is regularly updated in line with these (and other!) changes -
check it out
IMPORTANT NOTE: You may need to refresh or empty your browser cache in order for the guide pages to update!
If you have any queries about these changes, or would like a quick webinar demonstration of how to use these new features, please
get in touch with Flow360 Support.
