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Logging time against cases with maintenance plans
Logging time against cases with maintenance plans

Information for users of the maintenance add-on

R
Written by Raymond Carrel
Updated over a week ago

Time is logged using the + button on a customer case record:

The user role Allow Retrospective Case Time Addition will allow you to change the Entry Date to an earlier date. If you do not have this role, the current time and date will be used.

The following fields can be filled out:

Time - You can enter a text string representing the time spent. You can enter this in any of the following units, or a combination (e.g. 1h 3h) and this will be converted to working hours. You can enter the actual time spent, and this will be rounded up to a plan's increment time if set.

  • Use m, h, d, w, mo, y to represent time (e.g. "2d 1h")

  • We use the following conventions: 8h = 1d, 5d = 1w, 22d = 1mo

Please remember that the time entered will determine the maintenance period used. For example - if your monthly plan refreshed today, and you logged time for a date last week, time would be logged against and deducted from last week's allowance.

Notes - Enter a summary of the work being logged. This will be stored as a Case Note, alongside any others on the case. You will be able to see any notes for a particular case time entry by clicking the "Notes" link. Please see the section below for more details on Case Notes.

Log against plan - Select the maintenance plan you would like to deduct time from. The remaining time on each plan is shown. This balance reflects the balance of the maintenance plan for the period that corresponds with the date you have selected.

If you have plan groups enabled, plans will be aggregated by group. This will take time from the soonest-expiring plan that has enough time to cover the time logged.

Deduct time - Users with the appropriate permission can uncheck this box, which will allow them to log time against a plan, but without deducting time. Please see below for more details on deductible vs non-deductible plan time. Time logged in this fashion will not be rounded to the plan type's increment - e.g. 16 minutes will log as 16 minutes even if the plan type operates with 15 minute increments.

If your case is maintenance-enabled, time must be logged from a plan, unless you have the user role to add non-plan time. This is called Override Case Time Creation for Cases with Maintenance Type.


Case time history log

The lower section of the Case Time Entry window details time logged against that case.

Logged Time / Actual Time

Please note the difference between Logged Time and Actual Time. Actual Time is the time entered by the user in the Time field. Logged Time is this time, rounded up to the maintenance plan's Minimum Deductible Unit. In this case, our plan has been configured so that time may only be deducted in increments of two hours. 5 minutes would be rounded to 2 hours, 5 hours would be rounded to 6 hours etc.

Plan Name / Plan Type

The Plan Name is the name of the maintenance product that has been provided. The Plan Type is a configuration that has been applied to the maintenance plan.

Deductible

The Deductible column specifies whether or not the time was actually deducted from the plan, or just logged against it.


Case time editing and deletion

Existing entries can be edited with the pencil icon, if you have the role Edit Case Time Entries. You will be prompted to enter a new note to explain the edit. This note will be saved against the time entry.

Any changes that affect plan balance will be made automatically, e.g. time amendments, changing the plan, changing "is Deductible".

Users with the role Delete Case Time Entries can delete entries using the trash can icon.


Case Time Notes

The Notes field allows you to enter information relating to the time being logged.

This will add a Case Note to the case record, specifying the time logged alongside the text entered.

The time logged will only appear if you view the note from the case time logging window. Viewing the note directly from the case view will hide this information - this means that the time logged will also be excluded from any customer emails that automatically pull in notes.

Please remember that any notes made visible to customer will trigger a first response for the case.

You can see the number of notes for a given time entry in brackets. The delete and edit buttons will only show if you have the correct user role.

Editing a time entry, for users with that role, will require you to enter an additional note for that edit.

It's also possible to add extra notes against a time entry by clicking Notes and adding a new note. This window will also show you all of the notes for that time entry.


Negative Balances

Users with the role Allow Case Time Creation after Maintenance balance is exhausted can log time against a plan even when it is fully depleted.

Resolving Negative Case Time

Logging time into the negative may be useful as a temporary measure if you are intending to sell the customer a new plan. In this case, once the new plan has been set up, you may wish to manually adjust the balances of the two plans accordingly. A user with the edit role can amend the old time entry so that the plan balance is 0, and create a new entry against the new plan to replace it.

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