If you are reading this chances are you're a vendor that is working with a client that uses Maintain by PM Toolbelt. If that is the case then keep reading because this guide will help you better understand the new system that your client has taken on.
Rather than the old school method of phone calls to accept work your client has switched to a smarter, simpler, and more automated system. It will not only help them, but you as well by allowing you to in a more simpler way accept jobs, schedule work orders, and submit invoices via email or text(SMS). This guide will also include some best practices to help you stay on top of things and be more organized.
Workorders will be sent out by either email or text(SMS). They both work the same, for this guide I will be using email as my method.
Accepting & Denying Workorders
The first start of the process is either Confirming you can complete the work by the Due Date or Denying the workorder because you can't complete it by the Due Date.
The photo below is an example email, circled in orange are the workorder details. These details will tell you the problem as well as the property information and the due date. The information that is circled in purple are the access details. You the vendor will use those details to schedule the workorder yourself, without needing to call the client and play phone tag all day trying to schedule the work.
Now that you have read the workorder details it's time to choose if you will accept the job or not. If you click Deny the process is over and the client will be automatically notified.
If you click Confirm you will be brought to a new page where you will schedule the work.
Scheduling the workorder
Now that you have accepted the work it's time to schedule the workorder. This starts the process that is the bread and butter or your clients new system. No longer will they middle man trying to schedule the workorder with you and the tenant. It's all on you to schedule yourself and make sure it fits the tenants schedule (if the access details are tenant present).
This page is where you will be scheduling the workorder or not if you do not know when to schedule to work. To better help you schedule the workorder we have added some information to this page. The information that is circled in orange are your workorder details.
The information that is circled in green are the technician notes. These are notes that only you the technician will see, they are some extra information that the client finds useful for
you.
The information that is circled in purple is your access method. For this example because the access method is Tenant Present chances are you'll have to reach out to the tenant and see when they would like you to come by and complete the work.
Selecting a date to do the work
At the bottom you have 2 options you can either schedule the work and select your date and time when you'll be out to complete the work or you can select Not at this time.
By selecting Not at this time the workorder status will be set to Approved. That tells the client you know you can do the work by then, but just don't know when you can do it.
If you know what day you would like to go out and complete the work you can enter in the date and time and ultimately schedule yourself without needing to call the client. Pretty sweet huh? We think so!
If you know the day and time click the box labeled Yes, I will enter it now. Next, you'll want to select the the date then select the time using the drop down choices.
Once you have chosen a day and time click confirm, that will automatically notify the client that you have scheduled the workorder. You will also get a nice little confirmation pop up.(see below)
Rescheduling the workorder
After you have scheduled the workorder you will receive a email confirming your scheduled work. This email is very important because if you need to reschedule the work you will do so from within this email.
The picture below is an example of that email confirming your scheduled workorder. To reschedule the work click on the blue button labeled View Schedule.
(Best practice tip)
To better track your scheduled workorders try creating a subfolder for that client and place all emails from the client in that folder. It should help with tryin to track down old emails, also you can always try using labels. For example, if the work has been scheduled label that email a certain color. Likewise for new work request.
Completing the work & Uploading images and documents
There are 2 ways that the workorder will be marked as complete. The first way is organically by you, the vendor, receiving an email from the system that ask if the work is complete and selecting that the workorder is complete or not complete. The second way is by the client overriding the system and changing the status to complete.
The system that your client has taken on is very automated, that means emails and text messages are automatically sent based off of triggers and cron jobs (commands or shell scripts to run periodically at fixed times, dates, or intervals.)
The way the system works organically is on the scheduled date at 5pm (your timezone) you will receive an email or text asking if the workorder was complete. It is very important to reply quickly back to this because the workorder will stay in the status of In Progress until you click Complete or Not Completed. If you do not respond to this message you will be automatically reminded in 24 hours and will keep being reminded until you select Completed or Not Completed.
The photo below is an example of that email you would receive, if the work was completed click Completed. That will notify the client that the work has been done. If you need more time or the work is simply not done yet you can click Not Completed. If you select not completed the client will be automatically notified and the system will give you 24 more hours to do the work until it sends this same email again asking if the work was done now.
Let's say that the client has opted out of the organic method and manually changes the status to completed. If that's the case you will receive an email from the system letting you know the workorder has been complete. If you need to download a PDF of the workorder for your own records you can do so by clicking the blue button labeled Download PDF
Uploading documents and images
If you are a vendor that likes to save trees and be kind to mother earth or is all digital you can easily submit your invoice to the client as well as any photos and documents. To do this click on the button that is labeled Upload Images or Files.
From this page you can click and select your images and documents or drag and drop. You can also enter in any resolution notes in the line labeled Notes. Upon uploading any documents or images the client will be automatically notified.
That is the process from start to finish. If you still are a little confused and unsure please reach out to your client and ask them to explain more. You can also email any questions to support@pmtoolbelt.com.