Service Activities explained

The service activity is used to register the whole process from entering the request until the invoicing. The service activity is an Exact Synergy Enterprise request with extra options. You can view the configurations of a customer, and choose the service that is required. In addition, you can create one service activity or multiple service activities.

In the service activity, you can register what needs to be done, including linking standard problems and standard solutions to help in the process. The service activity can be created automatically from the Exact Globe sales order screen, or by the preventive maintenance generator. It can also be created manually.

You have the option to select one engineer or more who will do the job, and when they will do it. However, it is more efficient to leave this blank, and use the dispatch board for the planning. On the dispatch board, you will have a bucket with all the to-be-planned service activities, and you can use the drag-and-drop feature to plan which engineer(s) will be working on that date. You will be able to view the relevant information, which you can customize, so planning for the right engineer at the right time will be faster and easier.

You can also plan for the items that are required for the service activity, which can be pre-filled from the contract. Discounts can be used for the contracts. When planning the items required, stock information from Exact Globe is visible, and the stock is automatically planned in Exact Globe so the purchase orders can be generated or available stock can be allocated.

The engineer can realize the hours and used items based on the planned activities. After authorization, the invoice can be created. When the invoice is sent from Exact Globe, the detailed documents from Exact Synergy Enterprise will be automatically printed or emailed. This will all be in the Exact Synergy Enterprise software, and integrated in all the relevant master data and menu paths.

Okay, enough talk, you can watch the video and see for yourself by clicking the image below:

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Exact is currently developing a new Service Management solution. The team has created this video to give you a global preview about what you can expect from the solution which will be available soon. However we would like to take you a little bit more in depth for Service Contracts at this stage.

The service contract is optional but can be used to register the agreements made with the customer. For an easy and uniform contract entry, it is possible to create agreement sets containing different agreements, which can be added to a contract as a set. Templates can be created with pre-filled contract information. This means you only have to select the configuration; it is optional to select which agreement applies to which configuration item or part. To make sure the right prices are used when creating agreements for an item, you can define default contract rates. These can be invoiced periodically, or the agreements can influence the service activity process. You can also define when and how often preventive maintenance will be done, and which service activities can be created in a batch.

Please take a look at the video!

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Exact is currently developing a new Service Management solution. The development team has created this video to give you a preview about what you can expect from the solution which will be available soon.

For reporting, alerting and monitoring MS Reporting Services based reports and a set of predefined events will be offered. From service slips and contract layouts to reports on invoicing details and much more. Alerts will be offered via Exact Event Manager. It is possible to implement different scenarios such as automatic confirmations to customers of activities that have been done to avoid discussions after invoicing, creating workflow for sales to offer contracts when warranty expires, etc.

 While invoicing you can add attachments from the service process such as photos, invoicing details or signed service slips. Invoice details are reporting services based reports that can be adjusted to your company’s needs and wishes. But also service contracts are customizable and can be visualized the way your company likes to present them.

Need to supply the service slips or planning to your service engineer? Using reporting services a service slip, compressed or detailed planning report can easily be printed or emailed.

Service management is still under development and the shown solution can differ from the final product. Feedback is highly appreciated!

Exact is currently developing a new Service Management solution. The development team has created this video to give you a preview about what you can expect from the solution which will be available soon.

Dispatching of service activities

Assigning the right engineer to a service activity is essential in service organizations. Aspects such as availability, skills and stock on hand are the instruments a planner or helpdesk employee can use in making sure the right engineer is planned for the job. We looked at the gaps that customers experience in the current plan board of Field Service in Exact Synergy ASP and used these to design and develop a completely new plan board. This plan board helps you to solve issues like separating backlog from planned activities, filter on resource and activity-related constraints, and makes it easy to assign or reassign service activities to one or more engineer.

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Note: We are still developing and improving this solution, the shown solution can differ from the actual delivered solution.

As I informed you in my previous blog, last week, we are developing a new Service Management solution. Our development team has created another video to give you a sneak preview about what you can expect from the solution which will be available soon

When creating a service request you have to deal, most of the time, with limited information provided by your customer and response time is critical. Now, it is no longer required to always link a contract and it is possible to only fill in the information available. In addition, multiple service configurations or parts of service configurations can be serviced in one go. Although we are still working on assigning (multiple) resources and materials required, we would like to give you an impression of the usability aspect we can offer helpdesk employees when dealing with incoming requests for service.

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Note: We are still developing and improving this solution, the shown solution can differ from the actual delivered solution.

Exact is currently developing a new Service Management solution. The development team has created this video to give you a preview about what you can expect from the solution which will be available soon.

Need for speed when creating service requests

When creating a service request you have to deal with different situations. Most of the time the information provided is very limited and response time is critical. This movie gives a first impression of the usability aspect we can offer when dealing with incoming requests for service.

Generate Service configurations and activities from sales orders

In the current situation it is a separate manual step to make a service configuration visible for the service organization and to create service-related activities that come with the delivery of such items. Service configurations and service activities, such as installation activities, can now be generated directly from the Exact Globe sales process. A good example of cross-disciplinary integration that drives efficiency for companies that service the products they sell.

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Note: We are still developing and improving this solution, the shown solution can differ from the actual delivered solution.

As we have informed you before we are busy with creating a true successor of the current Exact Field Service solution in Exact Synergy asp. We promised to keep you up to date with our developments and therefore we created a sneak preview video.

In the video you can see how the Exact Service Management team addresses the many usability requirements that are present in the Exact Service Management solution. The user interface which you can see in the video is currently being implemented by the team.

We will reveal more features on the Exact Service Management solution soon, so stay tuned and keep checking our blog!

Central master data management for Accounts is available .  Now company wide compliance for products and services is in scope.

Control over items is more than just identification of the items over multiple divisions.    

Having a corporate standard on items does not mean that a local division can not create or  maintain items. What should be taken into account is the fact that the comply with corporate standards. Besides that it can well be that a division offers only a selection of the overall product portfolio based on market focus or knowledge level. Within the item portfolio stock values or pricing can well differ per division. It enables managing the product life cycle on a divisional level as well as companywide optimization of usage and handling of products and services.

If you want to share your ideas, want to meet us, want to be one of the first to work with the solution, or any other way of participation, please let me know.

Do you:
• face this issue?
• what is your biggest issue?
• know customers facing this?
• how do they currently handle this?
• have any other ideas/remarks

You can comment on this blog or send me an email: Richard.Smits@exact.com

At Exact we are proud to have a lot of small and medium sized businesses as our customers, so we often receive the question whether or not our products are supported when they run on Windows Small Business Server. Most of the times, this question is about the use of Exact Globe in particular. In most cases the answer is ‘yes’: we support Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008, so why would a bundle of these two products under the name of Small Business Server 2008 not be supported? However, there are some things you need to take into account when you want to choose this all-in-one server solution to run Exact Globe.

First of all, let me explain what Small Business Server is. Microsoft has developed Small Business Server specifically for small businesses and it is an integrated server suite designed for running network infrastructure for no more than 75 workstations or users.  So that is obviously a very important limitation: if you foresee you will have more than 75 workstation or users connecting to your server(s), now or in the future, Small Business Server does not suit your business needs.

Looking at Small Business Server 2008, there are two editions available. The Standard Edition offers (amongst others) Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0. The Premium Edition adds Microsoft SQL Server 2008 For Small Business to that package. Both versions are only available as x64 (64 bits) software.

It is important to know that we always advise our customers to use a dedicated database server when using Exact Globe. If SQL Server runs on the same machine as Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows Sharepoint Services or other applications, those other applications can potentially have a negative influence on the speed and power of SQL Server and thus Exact Globe. What is new in Small Business Server 2008, is that the Premium Edition can run on two hardware servers, with the second server running Windows Server and SQL Server for line-of-business applications. In this case that line-of-business application is Exact Globe. So, for the first time with Small Business Server you can install a dedicated database server as advised by Exact.

A technical limitation of Small Business Server is however that it only supports one Microsoft Active Directory. If your IT environment exists of multiple Microsoft Active Directories and data for Exact Globe need to be send across multiple domains, Small Business Server cannot be used. This is not a limitation of Exact Globe, but a limitation of Small Business Server.

An important limitation in terms of service and support is that Microsoft’s guidelines say that products like SQL Server have to be supported by the vendor that sells the license to a customer. An additional option is to purchase support or services directly at Microsoft. Of course there is a lot of self-service support information available on the internet, but when you need expert advice or troubleshooting specifically on your SQL Server software,  Exact only provides service and support on SQL Server software that is acquired through Exact. If you decide to purchase the  integrated Small Business Server suite, which can’t be obtained through Exact, you will also have to get service and support on your Small Business Server solution at the vendor of your software or directly at Microsoft.

One of the most important reasons for small and medium businesses to consider purchasing Small Business Server is the low price of the suite compared to the total price of purchasing all applications separately. This low price is justified by the limitations that Microsoft has build into Small Business Server. If and how these limitations conflict with your business needs can only be judged by yourself and your IT advisers.

Being an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) of Microsoft, Exact can offer so-called runtime licenses for SQL Server as part of the total Exact solution at a lower price than the standard full-use licensing options offered by the Microsoft dealer channel. Advantage of such a runtime license is its appealing purchase price, a possible disadvantage can be that SQL Server under a runtime license can only be used in conjunction with Exact software. If you want to use SQL Server not only for Exact solutions, but also for other applications, a runtime license cannot be used.

We are happy to send you an offer for SQL Server licenses, so you can make an objective and well-informed choice between the Small Business Server all-in-one suite and the purchase of separate licenses. To check whether or not the limitations of Small Business Server conflict with your business needs, we advise you to contact Microsoft or a certified Microsoft partner.

In February 2008, the EU Ministers of Finance adopted a package of changes regarding the VAT system in Europe. One of the objectives of this package is to modernize and simplify existing rules regarding the cross-border delivery of services within the EU. Another objective is to reduce fraud. This new VAT package will be introduced in all EU countries on the 1st of January 2010.

This means that before the end of 2009, all 27 EU countries will have to include these changes in their local VAT legislation. I will not go in full detail of the new package in this post, but I will give you 3 major changes that might also impact your business (if it’s located in the EU, of course). It is a complicated manner, so I tried to write it down as clearly as possible.

• If you are a VAT-registered business and you sell or move goods to other VAT-registered businesses within the European Union (EU), you must record and report data on your activities. There are two systems: Intrastat and the European Community (EC) Sales List. This EC Sales List, the listing of delivery of goods, will be replaced by the listing of delivery of goods and services. This listing will thus not only be for the delivery of goods, but now also for the services that you provide to customers that are liable to VAT (B2B) located in another EU country. The periodicity of the ESL (EC Sales List) will be quarterly or monthly depending of the size of the company.
• In case of (cross-border) delivery of services, you will have to list these services on the EC Sales List if the location of your customer is in another European country than your own. In other words, the location where the service is actually executed is not relevant anymore. Only the country of your customer is relevant.
• The VAT return can also be changed, but this will differ per country. For example in the Netherlands, goods and services have to be reported in the existing ‘box 3′ while in Belgium two new VAT boxes will be added to the VAT return. Whatever solution a country will choose, the objective is always to have a full coherence between the EC Sales List and the VAT return.  

For some countries the modifications that have to be implemented in the EC Sales List and the VAT return are already known, while in other countries these modifications will not be totally clear before November or December of this year. 

Even though not all the changes are known yet, Exact Software will not and cannot wait until the last minute to implement these changes in Exact Globe and Exact Online. With customers in almost every EU country we have to take timely measures. Therefore we are currently, for each individual EU country, in contact with the local VAT administration and accountancy firms to investigate the impact for the local VAT return and EC Sales List.

Around Europe, you have probably received invitations to follow a seminar regarding this subject, often organized by the VAT authority, accountants offices or business organizations. We advise you to follow one of these seminars. This because the new VAT package will not only have impact on the VAT return or the EC Sales List, but it will also have an impact on the way that you will register your financial data.

As soon as we have new information about the VAT package of 2010 and/or the impact on our software, we will keep you informed via this blog.

Photo credit: Phillip