Setting Time In?

[tmbutitta]

Is there a way to see when a ticket was created? I am looking for the time checked in to be more specific. I believe the old scheduler had this function, but I have been unable to find an alternate way to get this information.

There is a column on my work in progress page that does say "Sched", But this entire row is blank, with a few exceptions...

also, side not question while I am thinking about it: IS there a way to set a promised time alarm? Something that pops up or alerts in a way, other than changing colors, when that comes due??

Thanks,
Tad

[Silky7]

Tad,

There's a completely separate Time-In value. It gets stamped when you mark an RO as approved. This can be done as an automatic setting, or manually by printing the RO. That column is available in the WIP, or by right-clicking an item in the WIP to see the detail.

So as long as you convert estimates to approved RO when the vehicle comes in, that time should track that.

As to promised time, no, there currently is no alarm-type function.

[tmbutitta]

How do you set it as automatic? When I right click nothing is filled on, all times are blank

[Silky7]

Again, to be clear you must convert to an RO. That's the key. But if you want to automatically approve ROs to timestamp that value, go to your Setup Options. Look for the Screen View tab. On there you'll see an option to Mark All ROs As Approved/Printed. If you set that, when you convert EST to RO, you'll get your Time In value created.

Hope this helps.

[tmbutitta]

I guess I am slightly confused..

We start all tickets as a repair order.. So the only conversion is when taking them to an invoice.

I did follow your steps and will see if that helps.

Thanks!

[timbre4]

The Time In is created from printing the R.O.; (If you never print R.O.s then it isn't set) Having this setting engaged as shown below eliminates the printing steps:

[ricmorin]

In summary...

1. You start every order as an RO.
2. You never print the RO.
3. You have the box checked next to 'Mark All RO's as Printed'.

Now your Time/Date In will be filled the moment you create that RO. Your process needed number three to populate the time-in fields.

[tmbutitta]

Perfect! Thats what I gathered form silky7.

Ill test it out and make sure its all good, but appears to be so.

we have never printed repair orders, but used to use this feature all the time... not sure how we lost it. maybe it got unchecked during an update or by accident.

Thanks for all the help.

[DynaBMan]

Just out of curiosity and not to hijack the thread, but what is the benefit of marking an RO as printed? We do print ROs, but we never mark them as printed. If I remember correctly, and that is still out with the jury, doesn't ShopKey bring up an extra dialog when adding parts or labor to an RO that is marked as printed?

[DynaBMan]

Just out of curiosity and not to hijack the thread, but what is the benefit of marking an RO as printed? We do print ROs, but we never mark them as printed. If I remember correctly, and that is still out with the jury, doesn't ShopKey bring up an extra dialog when adding parts or labor to an RO that is marked as printed?

I just tested this out and yes, ShopKey asks me if I want to add parts to the RO because it will exceed the estimate. This is after the RO has been marked as printed.

[ricmorin]

Just out of curiosity and not to hijack the thread, but what is the benefit of marking an RO as printed? We do print ROs, but we never mark them as printed. If I remember correctly, and that is still out with the jury, doesn't ShopKey bring up an extra dialog when adding parts or labor to an RO that is marked as printed?

Marked as Printed is the trigger in the program to enable the ordering linking functions. The original predicted workflow was that shops printed the RO for the customer to sign, thus setting the trigger. The check box was added to accommodate shops that didn't want to print.

[ricmorin]

Just out of curiosity and not to hijack the thread, but what is the benefit of marking an RO as printed? We do print ROs, but we never mark them as printed. If I remember correctly, and that is still out with the jury, doesn't ShopKey bring up an extra dialog when adding parts or labor to an RO that is marked as printed?

I just tested this out and yes, ShopKey asks me if I want to add parts to the RO because it will exceed the estimate. This is after the RO has been marked as printed.

Exactly. A fixed number is created when the RO reaches this stage.

[DynaBMan]

And that is not necessarily a bad thing, except for the fact that when adding parts or labor to the RO after that requires an extra step. That's why I do not mark the ROs as printed until I actually convert them to an invoice.

[ricmorin]

Fixing that quoted amount is a good reminder for shops when they are exceeding it. But that's the beauty of Manager, the ability to be flexible to individual shops preferences.

[DynaBMan]

I couldn't agree more. Although, it wouldn't be a bad thing if the RO did mark the time in without marking it as printed.

[GUTHTIRE]

The time/in doesn't appear to be printed on our tech worksheets.
Example: A customer schedules an appointment for 8:00 AM (which is the time that we put in the schedule). The customer doesn't arrive until 8:30 AM. When you click the appoint from the schedule then select open new RO and print the tech worksheet the time is 8:00 AM and NOT 8:30 AM. Is there a setting somewhere that we are missing?

[ricmorin]

The time on the worksheet is the scheduled time, not the time in. That's the way the worksheet is built; no settings here.

[GUTHTIRE]

Thanks. Is there a reason why it's the scheduled time and not time in? I would think it would be preferred to show time-in.

[Silky7]

Thanks. Is there a reason why it's the scheduled time and not time in? I would think it would be preferred to show time-in.

It's the scheduled time because that's when the technician/resource are reserved for the work. Using the Time In value is not practical for many shops. Say for example your front desk checked in 7 customers between 8 and 9 am. Your shop has 3 technicians. If you used Time In, the worksheets would show they all needed to be worked at the same time.