Fall 2023 Release is here!

[jgelfat]

Welcome to Release Highlights, Fall 2023 Edition! Our team has been hard at work developing and refining features so that your team can benefit from streamlined operations and elevating customer experiences. 

Check out the Release Highlights below, as well as our Release Guide for all the information you need to make the most of these Fall 2023 updates.

Additional Fall 2023 Release Resources:

• Read the full Release Notes
• Watch Blue Collar Nerd's Release Video
• Head over to the Q&A Forum for any questions you may have
• Review the Release Deck  for a deeper dive on the Release Highlights 

[tekkrack]

Still wish we could get an eta on when we will be getting these releases. We used to get them right away and now it takes weeks after a release. 😞

[JB707]

Wen are we getting this release. 

[roryhoffmann]

More ST redundancy  😡  Less and less user friendly.  

[tekkrack]

Still awaiting this release. We used to get the release in the first group and this past year it feels like we get a current release as they are launching the next one. One update behind now.

[zoiev]

@jgelfat 

Re: the Improvements to creating and editing Customer and Location Records under Release ST-64: 

This update has DECREASED usability. Previously, when creating/updating records in the call booking screen, you selected 1 option (either New Customer or New Location). This populated a single screen to input the customer's information. Once you were finished, you saved the information/closed out of this screen and were taken back to the job booking screen where the customer's information was already populated. This was essentially a 2 to 3 step process. Now, when creating customer records, you are taken to one screen for all of the customer's information except for their contact information. If there is already an existing customer location and you need to update that information, you are first taken to the customer location records, then you have to select the edit button. The process now is that you have to input all information except for contact information, then select the option to Edit Contact Methods. Once you update the Contact Methods, you have to select Save. Then you go back to the main screen to update the customer's other information and save that. And if you are updating an existing customer and then try to navigate to the job booking screen by either using the back button on your browser or selecting the Job Booking option in ST, it does not populate the customer or any information you may have already input on the job booking screen which means the information the customer already provided is lost and the CSR must ask the customer to repeat themselves.

What was a 3 step method has morphed into a 4-7 step method. For those who are talking to customers while inputting or updating information, this causes increased call length, decreased efficiency and almost assuredly will decrease customer service satisfaction. 

This is one of the least usable updates that have been implemented. In the release notes, it states that this is an "enhanced interface" and we would "receive clearer messaging when you miss required fields." Enhanced by definition means to improve the quality. That certainly is not the case when it creates more work that takes longer to perform. And as far as I can tell, the alerts in ST when missing required fields are the exact same as before. 

I usually take all of the unnecessary ST updates in stride. However, this specific update impacts our office in their daily tasks to such a degree that I feel compelled to provide honest feedback in the hopes that someone might rethink this "enhancement."

[S-B]

Thank you @zoiev  for taking the time to share your experience with the latest release. I'm sorry to hear that the updates are impacting office efficiency; I know it can be frustrating when things change.

The new drawer experience for customer and location from call booking is asking for the same information as the previous form, simply in a drawer rather than a take-over screen. While we do now have a new entry point within that drawer for adding additional contact methods, there are 2 empty spots for contact methods directly in the form so when creating a customer/location for the first time you can input an email/phone without having to use it unless you have more than 2 contact methods to add.

The completion of creating a customer will still take you back to the job booking screen with that customer/location selected and the job detail inputs in tact. If there are more specifics on what you had appearing on job booking upon customer creation that you feel are missing in the new release, please let us know so we can investigate. 

We are working on evolving contact methods into contact people for better contact management and organization. Some of these improvements, including the edit contacts entry point, are paving the way for that work. You are able to go directly into editing contacts without going first to edit customer/location by clicking the edit pencil in the Contact Methods section of your Customer or Location records in the right details panel.

 

[zoiev]

@S-B 

In order to edit the contact method using the steps described in your last sentence, the user must still open a new window, search for the customer, and then edit the details from the customer location record. Again, an increase in the number of steps that must be taken to achieve the same result. Also, because the new tables are so busy/crowded that it makes finding information in a timely manner difficult, we are still utilizing the old tables. 

If possible, I would like to provide a video screenshot of what is happening when updating the customer record from the Job Booking screen. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at rrotkin.mrelectric@gmail.com.

[roryhoffmann]

There wasnt anything wrong with it.  Maybe follow us around someday.  Oh that's right no representatives. Just a phone call, ascreenshot or a video. 

[S-B]

@zoiev thank you for providing this additional context. 

Also, because the new tables are so busy/crowded that it makes finding information in a timely manner difficult, we are still utilizing the old tables. 

The issues you cited experiencing in your original message are not present in the redesigned customer & location pages that came out 3 releases ago. To get back to the new design, simply click try now at the top of the page on a customer/location record and all your issues will be resolved.

We have made several improvements to these pages to assist with information overload since they were first released. 

1. Collapse sections for tables you don't reference regularly/at all using the arrow to the left of each table name to reduce how many tables are visible on the page
2. Reorder/Resize Columns click and drag column headers on a given table to reorder columns to bring those most important to your workflows to the left in the order that works best for you. Slide the dividing bar between columns to resize them
3. Directly access edit contacts without first going to edit customer/location by clicking the edit pencil in the Contact Methods section of the right Details Panel
4. Collapse Right Details Panel if you like more space horizontally (like on the job booking screen view of this page) you can slide the right panel closed

When you configure the tables/panels on these records in the way that works best for you, we will remember how you last set them when you load customer/location records. We have many different user role types all coming to these pages to reference different things. Making these pages more configurable allows us to provide the robust amount of information needed to satisfy all users while providing tools to help focus in on what's important to each user.

Coming soon we'll be adding the ability to hide & lock columns in tables on these pages to further customize your experience and reduce even more information not relevant for your role by letting you tuck them out of site rather than just reorder the ones that are important to you to be front and center.

[zoiev]

@S-B 

Thank you for the information. It does not pertain to the core issue re: editing customer profiles from the job booking screen.

Is there a formal submission process to submit feedback to Service Titan? 

[roryhoffmann]

Yeah not sure I've just been emailing back and forth  with their "support" feature letting them know of my disapproval.  

[S-B]

@zoiev The new design also provides multiple entry points into the edit drawer from Job booking screen for either customer or location records. Clicking the pencil icon will get you to the edit drawer from the header, tags, or additional info sections without leaving job booking. These entry points are the same whether you access these records from the job booking screen or the full customer/location page screens.

The best way to reach out to support is right within the product using the ? icon in the upper-right of your screen. 

[NoellC]

I am not at all happy with the new way to edit customer and location records.

You can no longer just change the label on a phone to switch between an Phone or a Mobile.

You also now have to select the box for Email Invoices/Statements and save it. Then you have to go in AGAIN to update the notification preference on the customer's contact info. And you can't see the contact info from the edit page, you have to open it separately.

There TOO many EXTRA steps that are absolutely unnecessary!!

[roryhoffmann]

More tabs 😡

[tekkrack]

@BCN , How come youtube removed your video??? It said it went against the terms for cyber-bullying. LOL Any chance you can upload ST-67 video here or somewhere else for us to review again?

[tekkrack]

I found the reupload of your video @BCN. As far as user facing configurations, did it fall off the update? All the other items are there except for that one. Anyone else notice that they do not have access to this new feature?

[suem]

Customer and Location Records (CRM)

Right now I am only using the Customer Records interface, and have found the response time to be very slow an inefficient.  

When I click on Add Notes, I have to wait a few seconds before I can actually Add the comment.  Do we really need a box to pop up telling us that our notes were successfully added, when we can see that they were?  Scrolling through the pop-up page is jumpy and awkward.

If a club members payment fails, with the old interface, we could scroll to the invoice to see why the card payment failed.  Now, with this new interface, we have to click into the invoice to see why the payment failed, creating extra steps.  I wish that there was a way to go back to the old interface, as I found it to be much more user friendly, with a much quicker response time.