Multiple service addresses

AyaNova 7 (legacy version) Other Features
1

Hi,

It looks like your software can do most if not all of what we need, but I can’t figure out how to address one concern:

We provide sales and service to a number of real estate companies. Typically, we make the sale to the main office, and install equipment or provide service at various building addresses. We also have contacts with site managers at the different buildings. Our database has to reflect multiple service addresses for each main account, and track both installations and service by company and the specific installation/service address. Can Aya Nova do this, or be modified easily to do so?

Please let me know, and also let me know if the question isn’t clear.

Thank you.

2

Hi Dan

What I would suggest is that the “main office” be set up as a Head Office in AyaNova.

Than each building address where service will be provided to be set up as a specific Client with the specific Head Office selected within its client entry screen. Checkmark the Bill to Head Office if you want the Head Office to be identified as who to be billed for the service performed, and this way the address of the actual building being serviced will still be displayed.

Than when a workorder needs to be created, you would select the Client (the building) where the actual service will be performed at - and still be able to identify who the Head Office (main office) is.

Also, you can localize all labels in AyaNova to display how ever you wish. For example, you might want to localize Client and Clients to display as Building and Buildings. See the AyaNova Help documentation on the Localized Text Designer”

When reviewing workorders within the Service Workorder navigation pane, you can filter by the Head Office column, which will show you what is happening with workorders for clients with the same Head Office, in addition to be able to filter on any other column so that you are viewing relevant workorders for that client.

This way you can obtain reports for specific Clients (specific buildings), as well as obtain reports based on the Head Office (the main office).

You will want to download and import the sample report template Head Office Sample Detailed Service Workorder with Grand Total from the additional sample report templates section Additional Sample Report Templates & Tutorials which will identify the Head Offices postal address for billing, as well as also identify the Client (building) where the service actually was performed for.

Let me know if you need additional information or suggestions on use.

  • Joyce
3

Hi,

I have a similar situation for my client’s pest control company.

We have dozens of contracts, with each contract having multiple buildings to service. I can understand that a contract customer will be a “head office” and each building will be a “client”.

However we also have many “cash” or “special” jobs every day - people looking us up in the yellow pages and asking us to perform services at their location. In this case we do not want to create a client for each of these cash jobs. I set up a client called CASH in the (trial) software. Then when I create a new Work Order, there is no place for me to add a service address, or edit the “CASH” client address just for the work order.

  1. Where can I put the cash customer’s service address so that is shows up properly when the work order is view and printed by the technician?

Other questions:

  1. Do you think it will be possible that a custom report can be created that shows the parts (inventory) used for each work order, printed in a tabular format?

eg: 08/30/2008; 1234 main street; 0.5 PesticideX (mL); technician name;

Government regulations in BC require a daily log of all pesticides applied with address. We want to automate this logging by using inventory items and reports.

  1. Is it possible to put a “Google Map” button next to addresses so that a user can click on it and it will launch a web browser showing the address location in Google Maps?
4

Hi

  1. Where can I put the cash customer’s service address so that is shows up properly when the work order is view and printed by the technician?

The customer’s service address is only entered in that client entry screen. If you get a customer that is a cash or one time customer but you still want to enter an address etc, do the following:

Select to create a new workorder
If the client is not listed for selection already, then click on the Client “jump” button which opens a new client entry screen where you can enter the client’s details such as name and address
Now create the new workorder for this client

  1. Do you think it will be possible that a custom report can be created that shows the parts (inventory) used for each work order, printed in a tabular format?
    eg: 08/30/2008; 1234 main street; 0.5 PesticideX (mL); technician name;
    Government regulations in BC require a daily log of all pesticides applied with address. We want to automate this logging by using inventory items and reports.

Yes, this is possible. It won’t be from the Parts grid of the Service navigation pane as the tech selected in Scheduled Users or Labor is not available as a datafield from that grid for reports, but the report template would be from the Service Workorders grid via a “detailed” type report template where you have access to all “levels” of the workorder.

Attached to this topic reply is an example report template on this where the first datafield is the workorder #, the second is the Labor’s Service Start Date & Time, the third field is the client’s address, the fourth field is the part, and the fifth field is the Labor’s selected User.

Then if you want to you can Print Preview the report, and then export to a CSV file with commas as the separators

Do note that this report will only show one tech for that workorder even if more than one is selected. This is because I have have placed Labor datafields into the Parts detail band so the report can only take the first instance of a tech so that it matches similar to the layout youstated

  1. Is it possible to put a “Google Map” button next to addresses so that a user can click on it and it will launch a web browser showing the address location in Google Maps?

In the Address subscreen for a client there is the MapQuest menu option that when you click on it will take the address entered and bring it up in MapQuest. We do not have a Google Map menu option at this time.

  • Joyce
5

AyaNova Sales & Support (8/18/2008)Hi

[quote]1. Where can I put the cash customer’s service address so that is shows up properly when the work order is view and printed by the technician?

The customer’s service address is only entered in that client entry screen. If you get a customer that is a cash or one time customer but you still want to enter an address etc, do the following:
Select to create a new workorder
If the client is not listed for selection already, then click on the Client “jump” button which opens a new client entry screen where you can enter the client’s details such as name and address
Now create the new workorder for this client

[/quote]

I can see how that would work. Only problem is that after a few months, there will be hundreds of cash (one-time or non-account) clients clogging up the client lists. This would slow down the person fielding calls from customers and creating a work order while on the phone. We have been down this road already with other software.

I noticed that an existing work order keeps the old client address if the client address is modified after the work order is created. This is telling me that the work order record client address is copied and stored separately from the client address record. If this is the case could it not be easy enough to allow the work order client address to be editable? Is this a feature I can request for the next release?

That would allow us to have one CASH (meaning a one-time customer) client and the rest of the clients are ones that have contracts or recurring work, which we have to track very closely.

Other than this one issue, I really like ayanova as a solution, and now just have to convince the company stakeholders that this is the way to go. I can see even in the next year or two, the techs will have laptops in their trucks connected via rogers wireless data card. This will allow them to stay in the field, be assigned jobs, print work orders, and manage their work during the very busy summer months.

6

Actually it does not appear that the work order client address is stored separately. It seems workorder address does not change (when the client address is changed) until it is closed and reopened.

7

Hi again

I can see how that would work. Only problem is that after a few months, there will be hundreds of cash (one-time or non-account) clients clogging up the client lists. This would slow down the person fielding calls from customers and creating a work order while on the phone. We have been down this road already with other software.

What is suggested that is after work is completed, you can set the client to inactive by unchecking the Active field in that client’s entry screen. The client will no longer be listed for selection for new workorders, minimizing the list of clients for selection than.

I noticed that an existing work order keeps the old client address if the client address is modified after the work order is created. This is telling me that the work order record client address is copied and stored separately from the client address record.

What I believe you are seeing is that you have the workorder entry screen open, and you have “jumped” to the client’s entry screen from within the workorder and made changes to the clients entry screen, saved, which brings up back to the workorder.

When the workorder is loaded, at that time details from the client (its name, address etc), its units, list of parts available etc are all loaded. So if you edit the client with the workorder entry screen open, the changes to the client do not show until you exit out of the workorder and open it back up where at that time as it is loading all of the information, it will show any changes to the client.

But do note that as you have saved the client’s address changes, if you print out a report from this workorder entry screen, it will show the client’s changed address.

The main reason why I would not recommend having a generic CASH client with a changing address is that whatever is edited in the client entry screen affects all workorders linked to it. The client is directly tied to the workorder.

For example:

let’s say you have made a workorder #166 for a company AAA Company and selected the client called "CASH " and put in their address. Work is proceeding on this workorder.
Now let’s say you have another cash one time only client called BBB Company that needs work done. You create a new workorder #167 for it, also selecting “CASH” and edit its address for BBB Company.
If you open workorder #166 you will see that the address is now showing that you entered in for BBB company because you edited that client’s address.

  • Joyce