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Release Notes | March 2021

Published on March 6, 2021

This release of Service Autopilot introduces a new Client Portal, which has replaced the original one. We also have overhauled the Help Center, added a new option called “Applicants” to help with your hiring process, and made improvements to Email Integrations. And as always, we continue to improve SA by adding other enhancements and fixing issues. Enjoy!

Welcome to the New Client Portal

The Client Portal has a new, responsive design that works on mobile devices and tablets. Features include:

  • Client Portal mobile app

Clients who want the convenience of an app can find the “Manage Service” app in the iOS or Android app store.

Note: Availability of the mobile app is contingent upon the time it takes for approval from the Google Play and Apple app stores.

  • User-managed login

Your Leads and Clients can register and update their login information and account without your intervention. You won’t need to send a username or password. Your clients can go through a “Forgot Password” process by answering security questions.

  • See service information

Your clients can now see their upcoming services (scheduled jobs and services, including appointment start times), their past service history, and paused reasons, all from the Client Portal.

  • Search for transactions and services

These can more easily be searched and navigated through.

  • Navigate Master and Sub properties

Clients can navigate among their properties with a single login.

  • See transaction history

Clients can see their transaction history, including Credits and Refunds.

  • Send payments

As before, your clients can see their invoice and make payments. And now, they’ll be able to see a clear distinction between their open balance and what is past due.

  • Send requests

Clients can still email your company for requests—these will come in as Tickets to Service Autopilot.

Get Started with the Client Portal

Check out the information and templates we’ve provided:

  • Using the Client Portal walks you through how the CP works for your clients.
  • Client Portal Settings explains the setup options for your company.
  • Client Portal Emails, a free new email bundle, are email templates with instructions for your clients to create their own CP login credentials. Click the preceding link or go to the Marketplace to download this bundle.

How can I get the Client Portal?

Don’t have the CP yet? You can sign up under your avatar at Account & Billing.

New and Improved Help Center

We hope you enjoy the new format of the SA Help Center. Since
we’ve moved things around a bit, be sure to take a look at the new layout. You’ll
see that the resources you’re used to are still there, but some are in in a
different place, and there are new features:

·     Click Help to get answers to your questions without leaving SA.

·     Open the Help Center directly from your Avatar icon.

·     Access an updated chat experience with our Member Support Reps.

Click here for a video tour of the newly redesigned Help Center!

You can learn more in—where else??—the Help Center, or by clicking these links:

Access to Certified Advisor Information

Note that the link to Certified Advisor information has been moved under the Avatar icon.

ENHANCEMENTS TO SA


New: Applicants Screen

There’s a new Applicants screen under the Team menu which helps you track internal applicants before converting them to an Employee. Here’s how it works:

  • Applicants are minimal versions of Employees, similar to how the record for a Lead is less detailed than a Client record.
  • You can convert Applicants to Employees by navigating to their record and selecting More > Hire. Then follow the prompts to complete the Employee information fields.
  • Custom Fields that are associated to "Employee" are also available on Applicants to be filled out.
  • Note that Applicants do not sync to QuickBooks, but employees do.

Tickets


Calendar Events and Tickets

Now, if the account for a Ticket is updated, any upcoming Calendar Events scheduled on that Ticket will also have their account updated. Already completed events are not affected.

Email Integration and Tickets

We’ve improved the way email integration works with Tickets. When emailing from a Ticket that was created with no account set, you will now be prompted to specify an account.

  • You’ll see suggestions for which accounts might match so you can assign them to the Ticket.
  • You can also choose a different account or create a new one.

General Enhancements


V3 Accounts List

We’ve added the following filters:

Termination Reason

Installment Plan Expires Date

Jobs filter: This filters at the Job level and combines several V2 Clients List filters into one. There are several ways to filter, including:

  • Job Type (Repeats, One Time, Package, etc.)
  • Service
  • Will Auto Renew (for Custom Repeating Jobs)
  • Job End Date (for Custom Packages)
  • Date Created
  • Products
  • Last Visit Date
  • Master Schedules (for Repeating Jobs)
  • Package Renewal Type (for Package jobs)
  • Job Name
  • Job Status (Active, Cancelled, Paused)

Visits filter: This filters at the Visit (individual service) level. It also has different ways to filter including:

  • Service
  • Date Range
  • Products
  • Last Visit Date
  • Status (Pending, Dispatched, Completed, etc.)

Account Past Due filter is now Past Due Amount. You now can type in a value.
Example: You might want to search for accounts that have a past due amount greater than $100.00.

V3 Alert List

There is a new V3 Alert List under the alert icon's “See All” link. This list lets you filter for things like:

  • Date created
  • Description of the alert
  • Alert type (such as Schedule, Client Portal, or Automation generated)

You can also bulk delete alerts from here.

Billing

For Payroc and Clearent integrated companies, we made updates to streamline the Account and Payments screens, so you’re not asked to fill in information that’s not needed for those processors. For example, Payroc does not require a billing address, so this field has been removed.

We've improved responsiveness for these screens on mobile devices:

  • Payments List
  • Credits List
  • Expenses List

V3 Jobs Notes/Attachments Overlay

Internal notes are now called Internal Scheduling notes.

Master Routes

We’ve optimized the search function in Master Routes to speed up filtering.

UPDATES TO CORRECT SYSTEM ISSUES


General

  • Searching for services could sometimes cause an error to occur and prevent searching correctly. This has been fixed.
  • In some cases, a sub account could be incorrectly associated as the master to its own master account. This has been fixed.
  • Previously, marking certain vendors inactive and attempting to reassign their scheduled work could cause an error. This now works as expected.
  • Some custom fields could not be deleted, even if they were never used. This now works correctly.
  • On the V2 Client View, avatars could duplicate on Past Event cards if you clicked Show More a few times. This has been fixed.
  • In rare instances, saving a Master Schedule could cause an error. This has been fixed.
  • Previously, the V3 Property Review would not show the name of the account if it did not have a First or Last Name. This has been fixed.

Dispatch Board

  • In some cases, Google Route Optimization on the Dispatch Board would display an error if trying to route Calendar Events that didn’t have valid property data. This has been fixed.
  • Calendar Events containing attachments on the Dispatch Board were not letting you click and open the attachments correctly. This now works as expected.

Email Stats

You might have noticed that there was a chart missing from Email Stats and Two-Way Texting dialogs, which show the percentage of stats such as “Opened” and “Delivered.” The chart tool had to be upgraded, which we did for this release.

You can find the chart on these screens:

  • Automation Edit
  • Email Activity
  • Settings > Two-Way Texting

Estimates

  • Some product discounts were deducted incorrectly on Estimates. This now works correctly.

V3 Forms

  • In some circumstances with V3 Forms, rule values that were set on the Multiple ChoiceDropdown List, and Checklist fields were not saved. This has been fixed.

V2 Forms

  • We removed the option for "Use Client Portal URL" on V2 Forms, because they do not display on the new Client Portal. Instead, any forms replacement fields will continue to work with the my.serviceautopilot link automatically.
  • Previously, you might see an error if you tried to associate a V2 Form to a Ticket Category. This issue no longer occurs.

V3 Installment Plans

  • The common filters for Installment Plan List made a mistake if "End date within 30/60/90 days" went into the following calendar year. This has been corrected.
  • Previously, converting a Contract to an Installment Plan was not setting the
    Annual Value until after it was re-saved. This now works as expected.
  • Installment Plan line items would attempt to use the rate matrix on the service when the client had no value for the custom field. Now, it correctly uses the default rate if no rate matrix is present.
  • You might be unable to save if an Installment Plan contained a validation error
    that was corrected. This has been fixed.

Notes/Attachments

  • On the Notes/Attachments overlay, you previously couldn’t set the dates to display the notes when first adding one. Now, you can set these dates at any time instead of having to save and re-open the notes.

Settings

  • In some cases, Members were unable to save statement options under Settings. This now works as expected.
  • Some Startup subscription Members were unable to save invoice email options under Settings. This has been fixed.

Team App

  • On Android devices, a drive time record could be duplicated if a visit had more than one service on it. This has been fixed.
  • On Android devices, the Break option became inaccessible when all visits were marked as Completed or Skipped. This now works as expected.

Service Autopilot

Service Autopilot is software that will help you grow - and automate - your service business. From Lawn Care, to Snow Removal, to Cleaning, we help owners learn how to run healthier, more profitable businesses, and give them the tools to win in their markets.
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