Service Dispatch Settings: Explanation

There are admin features inside of FCS that help you control and optimize your Service module.  Before you utilize the Service module, it is crucial to set up your Service Dispatch Settings.  This article will explain how to navigate to Service Dispatch Settings and what each setting means.

Step 1

Navigate to your "Toolbox", select "Admin", then select "Service Dispatch Settings".

Step 2

After clicking into Service Dispatch Settings you will see a list of options, beginning with "Service Dispatch and Proposals From" (see below).

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Service Dispatch and Proposals From

Your customers will receive service dispatches and/or proposals from whatever email address is entered in this field (Please note: many companies set up a generic service email such as "[e-mail]" for this purpose).

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Priorities

When scheduling an invoice, you will need to choose a priority to dictate the labor rate.  You can enter up to three priorities within which your company will offer service.  You will also need to enter in the hourly rate per priority, as it will automatically calculate when a technician punches in and out of the ticket (Note: these rates are based on a two man crew).  Lastly, you will also need to enter in a time frame or targeted time of arrival for each priority.

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Invoice Contact

This will pull from a list of all your users, and the selected user's contact information will appear at the bottom of all invoices.

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BCC Invoices to

Any email addresses listed here will blind copy on all invoices sent out to customers (for example, if you want your accounting team to always receive invoices you can enter their email address here).

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Invoice default email body

Enter in the default text you would like to appear in invoices as you send them through the system; this text will show up in the body of the email.

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Require Customer ID

If selected, no invoices are to be generated unless a customer ID number has been added to that company.

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Override Dispatch Date with Resolved Date (PDF)

If selected, the Resolved Date will be displayed on the Invoice's “supporting documents” instead of the Dispatch Date (see screenshot below for example).

 

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No Invoice Backdating

If selected, you will not have the ability to go back and create an invoice from a previous day; this is important for companies that do nightly pushes over to accounting, to ensure there are no duplicates.

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Tax Exempt

When editing an invoice you have the ability to add tax by default; if this option is selected, no one can add tax on an invoice.

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Display Technician Names

If you select this box, all invoices will display the technician's name (see screenshot below for an example).

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Always Show Customer ID

If selected, this will always show the customer ID number on invoices that are sent to clients.  This is where it will appear on the invoice:

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Auto Round Labor & Materials

If selected, this will round up labor and materials automatically.  Labor will round up to the nearest quarter hour and materials will round up to the nearest whole number.

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Always use Simple Invoice

If selected, all invoices will be generated as simple invoices.  A simple invoice will only display the description of work performed, whereas a normal invoice will display a breakdown of all of the charges by line item.

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Auto Add “Other” line item to all Invoices

If selected, you will have the ability to add an additional line item to future invoices (i.e., trip charge, fuel surcharge, discount, materials) (Note: only the billable information will be displayed on the invoices).

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Custom Invoice Field

These are custom fields you can include on each invoice.  These fields are exportable and are typically tied to accounting systems, or else reflect custom data you would like the ability to pull and do specific reporting on.  For example, some companies use a custom field for a Van # or Purchase Order #.  This is what it will look like on the invoice:

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Dispatch Report Export

This will dictate the format in which work orders are manually exported from the Dispatch Board.  You can choose from the following: Standard, Quickbooks, ComputerEase, Excel 2, Timberline, Foundations, Other TXT.  For a more detailed information on exporting, please see this article: Choosing the Right Export.

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Auto Generate Report

Every night at midnight, an export of your Service Dispatches can be generated in the format selected above; this will allow you to tie your invoices to your accounting system.

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Auto Generate Type

This will only affect standard format exports;  ComputerEase will always be an .XML file,  Excel 2 will always be a .CSV file, and Timberline will always be a .TXT file.

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Download Auto File

This is the link where you can retrieve the download file from the previous night, based on the format you have selected.

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Email File To

The email address that is entered here is the email address that the auto-generated report is sent to.

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Congratulations -- you now know how to adjust Service Dispatch Settings!