Quick Appointment Creation: To Create an Appointment from the Customers Form

In this activity, you will create an appointment from the Customers (AR303000) form while viewing a particular customer. You will also learn how to send notification emails to the customer and to your company's own staff members.

Story

Suppose that the service manager (Maia Davis) of the SweetLife Service and Equipment Sales Center has received a call from HM's Bakery and Cafe about the repair of a juicer that had been sold to this customer previously. The customer has asked for the repair of the juicer to be performed on February 1, 2024.

The service manager needs to check the history of this customer and schedule the appointment for the repair of the juicer. When the appointment is scheduled, the service manager needs to send confirmation emails both to the assigned employee and to the customer. You will perform these actions, acting as the service manager.

Configuration Overview

In the U100 dataset, the following tasks have been performed for the purposes of this activity:

• The minimum system configuration, which is described in Company with Branches that Do Not Require Balancing: General Information, has been performed.
• The SWEETLIFE company has been created on the Companies (CS101500) form. This company has multiple branches created on the Branches (CS102000) form, including SWEETEQUIP (Service and Equipment Sales Center).
• On the Service Management Preferences (FS100100) form, the minimum settings have been specified, including specifying the numbering sequences and work calendar, for the service management functionality to be used.
• On the Users (SM201010) form, the davis user account have been created. The EP00000040 - Maia Davis employee has been associated with the davis user account; that is, Maia Davis has been selected in the Linked Entity box of the Summary area of the Users form.
• On the Branch Locations (FS202500) form, the WEST BRIGHTON branch location of the SWEETEQUIP (Service and Equipment Sales Center) branch has been created.
• On the User Profile (SM203010) form, for the davis user, WEST BRIGHTON has been specified as the default branch location.
• On the Service Order Types (FS202300) form, the MRO service order type has been defined.
• On the Non-Stock Items (IN202000) form, the REPAIR service (that is, non-stock item of the Service type) has been created. This item has the Flat Rate billing rule selected on the Price/Cost tab. For this service, REPAIRING has been specified on the Service Skills tab (meaning that the assigned staff member must have this skill), and INST&REP has been specified on the Service License Types tab (indicating that the assigned staff member must have a license of this type).
• On the Skills (FS200600) form, the REPAIRING skill has been created.
• On the License Types (FS200900) form, the INST&REP license type has been created.
• On the Licenses (FS201000) form, the FSL00002 license has been defined with the INST&REP license type and the EP00000003 (Jon Waite) employee specified.
• On the Employees (EP203000) form, EP00000003 (Jon Waite) has been created. On the General tab (Employee Settings section), the Staff Member in Service Management check box has been selected. Also, the REPAIRING skill has been listed on the Skills tab, and the license of the INST&REP type has been listed on the Licenses tab.
• On the Billing Cycles (FS206000) form, the following settings have been specified for the AP AP billing cycle:
  • Run Billing For: Appointments
  • Group Billing Documents By: Appointments
• On the Customers (AR303000) form, the HMBAKERY (HM's Bakery and Cafe) customer has been defined. The AP AP billing cycle has been selected in the Service Management section of the Billing tab.

Process Overview

From the Customers (AR303000) form, you will open the Calendar Board (FS300300) form to create the first appointment. By using the Appointments (FS300200) form, you will then send notification emails about the appointment to the customer and staff member. Finally, while again using the Customers form as a starting point, you will go to the Appointment Summary (FS400100) form to view the list of all appointments scheduled for the customer.

System Preparation

Before you begin performing the steps of this activity, do the following:

1. Launch the MYOB Acumatica website, and sign in to a company with the U100 dataset preloaded. You should sign in as a service manager by using the davis username and the 123 password.
2. As a prerequisite activity, in the company to which you are signed in, be sure that you have enabled the Service Management feature on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form.
3. In the info area, in the upper-right corner of the top pane of the MYOB Acumatica screen, make sure that the business date in your system is set to 1/30/2024. If a different date is displayed, click the Business Date menu button, and select 1/30/2024 on the calendar. For simplicity, in this activity, you will create and process all documents in the system on this business date.

Step 1: Creating an Appointment from the Customers Form

To create an appointment for a customer whose record you are viewing on the Customers (AR303000) form, do the following:

1. On the Customers form, open the HMBAKERY (HM's Bakery and Cafe) customer.
2. On the More menu (under Services), click Schedule on Calendar.

   The Calendar Board (FS300300) form is opened in a pop-up window.

3. In the Date box (in the top right corner of the dashboard), change the calendar date to 2/1/2024.
4. On the dashboard, in the column for Jon Waite, click at 16:00, and drag the bottom of the shaded box to 17:30.
5. In the appointment box, which has appeared on the calendar board and is shaded in green (indicating that an appointment is in Not Started status), click the reference number of the appointment, which is the top number in the box. The Appointments (FS300200) form opens. Notice that the system has filled in the default settings based on the settings of the customer and the service order type.
6. On the Details tab of the Appointments form, add a row, and specify the following settings in the row:
   • Line Type: Service
   • Inventory ID: REPAIR
7. On the form toolbar, click Save.
8. On the Staff tab, confirm that the staff member, Jon Waite, has been assigned to the appointment.

Step 2: Sending Appointment Confirmation Emails

To send emails confirming the scheduled appointment, while you are still viewing the appointment on the Appointments (FS300200) form, do the following:

1. On the Settings tab (Scheduled Date and Time section), ensure the Confirmed check box is selected.

   The selection of this check box indicates that the appointment date and time have been confirmed with the customer.

2. On the form toolbar, click Save.
3. On the More menu (under Printing and Emailing), click Email Confirmation to Customer.
4. On the More menu (under Printing and Emailing), click Email Confirmation to Staff.
5. On the form title bar (at the top right corner of the form), click Activities, and in the Task & Activities pop-up window, which opens, click the link to each email to review what has been sent to the customer and to the staff member.
6. Close the pop-up window.

Step 3: Reviewing the Customer's Appointments

To review the appointments for the customer, do the following:

1. On the Customers (AR303000) form, again open the HMBAKERY (HM's Bakery and Cafe) customer.
2. On the More menu (under Inquiries), click Appointment History.

   The Appointment Summary (FS400100) form is opened.

3. In the Selection area, clear the Staff Member box.
4. In the To Scheduled Date box, select 2/1/2024.

Review the list of all appointments scheduled for the customer, including the appointment you have just created (see the following screenshot).