Build a customer account management tool—coding optional

This starter kit allows customer service agents to view and discuss account information with customers. Customer accounts include purchased services and invoicing by default, but can easily be extended to enable customized scenarios. This starter kit has six data tables in addition to the standard Users and Roles tables that are used for Windows authentication: Agents, Customers, Invoices, Notes, Services, and Service Types.

Keep customer information up to date

The Search Customers screen offers a searchable list of all customers that are currently in the database. From this screen, a customer service agent can either update the customer contact and address or open the Customer Details screen. The Customer Details screen represents the primary interface through which an employee can manage a customer account. Conversations, requests, and other forms of customer communication can be recorded by an agent using the Notes grid. New notes are automatically assigned a time stamp that is recorded at the moment the note is saved. Notes also include a description field where a description of the communication can be entered.

Access each customer’s service history

The services grid found in the customer detail screen provides a basic format for recording the services (or products) that a customer has requested. Services consist of a quantity, description, and service type. Once these values have been entered, a service total will automatically be created. The service total is an amount that is derived from the rate specified for the selected service type and the quantity of the service.

Create and track customer invoices

Services are considered active until they have been invoiced. This is indicated by the Invoiced parameter in the Services grid. An invoice is generated using the Create Invoice button located in the toolbar for the Invoices grid of the customer detail screen. When the Create Invoice button is selected, all services that have not been invoiced will be aggregated into a total amount due and entered into the Amount field in the Create New Invoice screen. If there are no services available to invoice, the amount will be set to zero. When an invoice has been paid, the service agent can change the status from Not Paid to Paid using the Status choice list for the desired invoice.