Practical and efficient – The new functions of the craftsmen portal

However, we are not going to let the enthusiastic reception of this relaunch make us complacent. Quite the reverse: our product managers, developers and designers have consulted, obtained feedback, incorporated their experience, tinkered and deliberated. The result is even more useful functions and new features in the craftsmen portal. We are providing you with the functions to work and collaborate even more quickly, conveniently and efficiently.

Chat

The advantages of fast and direct communication between the client and the craftsman are obvious:

• tradesmen can contact the client quickly without any complications
• direct integration in the SAP^® ERP system
• communications are highly transparent with an audit trail
• improvement in workflows on site
  

However, these advantages don't just help the client and tradesmen collaborate and coordinate. If the housing company also uses the tenants' app, direct and straightforward communication between the craftsman and the tenant is enabled. Both parties can then initiate a chat. It is particularly helpful when there are queries about the precise nature of the defect or when making or changing appointments.

There is no risk of the message going to the wrong employee at the craftsman's company because the message is sent to a collective address. Only the person who is responsible for the job will handle the chat communication. All other employees just have to click on ignore message to reset the conversation to unread. Another advantage is that the chat is linked directly to the underlying job.

Instead of writing the job number down and searching for it, staff can now conveniently go straight to the job from chat mode.

Appointments

A calendar integrated in the portal makes it possible to plan craftsmen's appointments clearly and conveniently. Planning using the integrated calendar is cost-effective and efficient. The calendar stores information on exactly which employees or subcontractors are going to work when and where. Start, duration, address – all the details can be saved and resources allocated. Holiday, sickness and other jobs are immediately visible so schedules can be planned precisely. If a visit is postponed in the calendar, transferred to another employee or deleted, this is automatically changed in the craftsmen portal.

In future, the tradesman's mobile device will no longer show the complete job, but only the relevant appointment to which they are assigned. Information on further appointments relating to the job can be displayed in an overview of the appointments before and afterwards. For example: The painter is not coming until the wallpaperer has completed his or her appointment.

In future, the work carried out will also be entered in advance at the same time as the appointment or reasons given for non-completion (for example, “Could not reach tenant”).

Templates

Streamlining makes for even faster and more efficient work. So that activities can also be recorded in the craftsmen portal (and in future also while on the move), there is no need for a long list of contractually agreed services covering hundreds of items. Tradesmen and housing providers often find themselves faced with recording the same work. This is where the new templates come in handy. Every tradesman can create, change, adapt, add to, overwrite and delete the templates for themselves.

Templates can be created quickly and easily when recording the activity. The “Als Vorlage speichern” (Save as template) button does the work and guides the tradesman clearly through the process.

System messages for product updates or maintenance work

A genuine boost to quality of service. Where communication used to go around in circles – PROMOS informs the housing company, the housing company informs the craftsman – it is now fast and direct. For instance, when maintenance work is planned and the provider therefore cannot be contacted, system messages keep everyone in the loop. Users are directly updated on bug fixes or the launch of a new, friendlier interface. The solution also saves them worrying why the portal is unavailable. A message such as: “We are sorry, but the system is down. We are working as fast as we can to restore the service. Thank you for your understanding,” explains the situation. Where circumstances permit, everything may be resolved and the system restored very quickly.

System messages and product information are configured in the message service in the craftsmen portal.

Alternating images

“A feast for the eyes” and an appealing design combined with useful applications make the overall package complete. The alternating images open different content when clicked. For example, the first image may link to customer-specific training documentation, the second to the housing company's website and a third to YouTube, where users can access easy-to-understand tutorials and explanatory videos.

Summary

The new technical options and functions complement the easysquare craftsmen portal perfectly. We are helping housing companies and tradesmen to achieve even more practical, modern and productive workflows for their processes. Service providers can therefore complete jobs more quickly and efficiently. The portal is always easy to understand and intuitive to use and is now even “handier”.

These innovations will help us to keep providing our customers with comprehensive support. We would be delighted to discuss and present them in person.