How to Read the Actions on a Call
The Actions section of the call screen lists everything logged against the call, newest first: every engineer's visit and every other action, including the automatic entries ABM Service writes when the call changes. Open it with Actions in the sections rail at the left of the call screen.
Where do I see everything that has been logged against a call?
Open the call and select Actions in the sections rail at the left of the call screen. The section is headed Actions, with Everything logged against this call — and the number of actions beside it, and shows one row per action, newest first.
- Open the call from the Calls list.
- Select Actions in the call screen's sections rail. The number beside Actions in the rail is how many actions the call has.
- Read down the table, newest first. Scroll it if the call has a long history.
- Select Details in the sections rail to go back to the call's form.
The list is read-only: it shows what has happened, and actions are added by the work itself, such as booking an engineer or changing the call's status. To book, move or change an engineer's visit, use Schedule engineer at the top of the call screen or the Scheduled visits card on the Details form.
You cannot add a phone call, a note or an e-mail to a call's Actions list in ABM Service. To keep a record of a conversation, select Note on the toolbar of the call's Details or Resolution document: it adds a stamp with your name, the time and the date, ready for you to type under, and it is kept when you save the call.
A call with no actions yet shows Nothing here. On a new call, Actions in the sections rail cannot be opened until the call is saved, and says so, because a call has no actions before it exists.
What do the columns in the Actions list mean?
The Actions list on the call screen has seven columns, the same as the actions grid in the ABM desktop application, in the same order. An empty cell shows a dash.
- Entered by — who logged the action. This is not who logged the call: the header at the top of the call screen says when the call was logged and, where ABM Service knows it, by whom.
- Logged — the date and time the action was logged.
- Type — what kind of action it is, for example an engineer's scheduled visit, a phone call, a note, an e-mail, a quote or an automatic action. A type your system has no name for shows as Type and its number.
- Description — the action's one-line description, with the start of its longer memo underneath.
- Assigned to — the engineer or person the action is for.
- Due — the date and time it is due, for an action that has one, such as an engineer's visit.
- Status — the action's status, such as Open, Active, Travelling, On Site or Finished, shown in its colour.
The desktop's Start, End, Travel and resolution columns are not in this list.
Why are there actions on the call that nobody typed?
Some actions are written by ABM Service itself. When you save a call whose status, type, job group, priority, job status or work type has changed, ABM Service logs an action described as Automatic Action. Its memo, shown under the description in the Actions list, names the user and says what changed, from what, to what. These entries have no engineer, no due date and no status. Changing only the comment, the documents or the cost centre writes no automatic action.
Booking an engineer's visit on a call at the built-in status Web, Open, Closed or Cancelled also moves the call to Active, and that change is logged in the call's history as well. So after booking one visit you may see two new rows: the visit itself, and the record of the status change.
Actions logged in the ABM desktop application, such as phone calls, e-mails and quotes, appear here too, because the list shows every action on the call, not only the ones made in ABM Service.
Can I put the Actions list on the call's Details form?
Yes. The same list is available as an Actions panel that can be placed on the call's Details form with Customize this layout…, in the small menu beside Details in the sections rail, so you can see the call's history without leaving the form. It is not on the form in the layout ABM Service ships with.
On the form, the panel is headed Actions with the number of actions beside it and scrolls within its own space. On a new call it says The actions are listed here after the call is saved., and while a call is opening it says Loading the call….
How is the Actions list different from the Scheduled visits card?
The Actions list and the Scheduled visits card on the call screen answer different questions. The Actions list shows everything that has happened on the call, newest first; the Scheduled visits card shows only engineers' visits, in the order they are due, and is where you book and change them.
- Actions lists phone calls, notes, e-mails, quotes and automatic entries as well as visits. Scheduled visits lists engineers' visits only.
- Actions is newest logged first. Scheduled visits is earliest due first, matching the engineer pill at the top of the screen.
- Actions is read-only. In Scheduled visits, Add engineer books another visit and each row opens its visit to change it.
An engineer's visit appears in both: as a row of the Actions list with its type, due date and status, and as a row of the Scheduled visits card.