Fast ways to move around the service calendar
As a busy customer service representative (CSR), receptionist, dispatcher, or CSR manager, you need to know how to locate appointments and service activities with just a few clicks. Using little-known features of the service calendar, you can navigate your service activities and appointments with ease. See how three savvy service professionals use Index, Zoom Scale, Calendar, Type list, View list, and Quick Find in Microsoft CRM to enhance their productivity.
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View an appointment or service activity
Rebecca, the receptionist, receives a call from Jessica Arnold, a customer. Ms. Arnold wants to confirm what time her service activity appointment is today. Rebecca opens the service calendar, clicks Service Activity on the Type list, clicks All Activities in the View list, and then clicks Today under the Calendar.
The service calendar displays a list of today’s service activities. Rebecca tells Ms Arnold that her bike tune up is at 2:00 P.M. and is expected to last two hours.
Cancel a service activity
Rebecca receives a call from another customer, Michael Vanderhyde. Mr. Vanderhyde wants to cancel his appointment. Rebecca clicks Appointment and Service Activity on the Type list and All Activities on the View list. Then, Rebecca clicks V on the Index. The list displays all customers whose last name starts with V. Rebecca selects Michael Vanderhyde's name. Next, Rebecca clicks Change Status, clicks Cancel, and then clicks OK to cancel the appointment.
View the current status of service activities
Marie, the CSR manager, wants to check the current status of all appointments and service activities. When she opens the service calendar, she can tell the status of each appointment and service activity by the color coding. (For more information on color coding, see “View service calendar colors and statuses” later in this article.) Marie wants to view the details of one service activity in the list. She selects the item, and then double-clicks the pane expand arrow to see the details.
Refine your view
Daniel, the dispatcher, uses Quick Find to see a specific type of service activity for November. He clicks Service Activity in the Type list, clicks All Activities in the View list, clicks Month on the Calendar, types replace headset in the Look for box, and then clicks Find to display all service activities of that type for November.
Change the service calendar view
Daniel, the dispatcher, wants to see the Replace headset service activity for October. On the Calendar, he clicks the back arrow (<), clicks 1, clicks Month, and then clicks Find to display all service activities of that type for October.
To more easily review the service activities, Daniel wants to increase the service activity viewing area. Because he doesn’t need the Calendar for now, he hides it by clicking the Calendar Collapse icon. He then points to the left boarder where the Subject area and the Date area meet. When the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow, Daniel drags the edge of the box to the left to change its width.
View service calendar colors and statuses
Appointments and service activities appear in the service calendar as labeled color blocks. The distinct colors indicate whether the time shown is for an appointment or a service activity, and also indicates the current status of the appointment or service activity.
For more information about how to navigate the service calendar, see the “Navigating the Service Calendar” topic in the Microsoft CRM 3.0 online Help.
