Very cool concept Jeremy with the portable POE/Router and Tablet. I tend to
agree it seems like extra work in the office to have the paperwork signed
first. Also, one main reason for us is part of our paperwork relates to them
signing that they now take responsibility for the install, IE: they approve how
our technician installed it and are not going to call me in a couple weeks and
say, ‘I never said your tech could drill a hole into my house and now you’re
paying for me to fix it.’ Our techs take pictures of their completed work, we
upload those to the account profile on our in house software, and then have
them for reference. Also the price can change if they decide they want a
router or some other piece of equipment, so when they sign they sign off on the
install, the price, the equipment, and the terms of service. I would like to
however go paperless with tablets and direct pay via CC, which is what I plan
to work towards now. For cash and checks our employees are pretty responsible.
However, we have a procedure that the employee writes the amount of money and
form of payment on the paperwork that the customer keeps as their receipt, then
when that employee gets to the office the book keeping staff verifies the
amount wrote on the paperwork is turned in. It’s been a pretty simple process
that is very efficient. If the customer wants to say they gave our employee
money, then it will be on the paperwork they signed, and if it is, then the
employee is responsible for losing that money and faces disciplinary action.
That rarely to never happens, so I feel like it’s a good system.
Thank you,
Ben Royer, Operations Supervisor
Royell Communications, Inc.
217-965-3699 www.royell.net
From: Ken Hohhof via Af
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2014 9:38 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Field Paperwork
Do you guys also require customers to give the installer the upfront payment?
I don’t have the installers handle money (unless the customer gives them a tip)
because I don’t want to be in the situation where the customer says I gave the
installer a check but I didn’t get a check. Or someone trying to pay the
installer in cash or chickens. Or kittens, they are always trying to give us
kittens.
From: That One Guy via Af
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2014 9:32 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Field Paperwork
you dont have a website or email?
They can fill ours out or download them from the website
they can scan and email them back in or postal mail/hand deliver
it would seem to me additional work for office staff whos job it is to shuffle
paperwork would be better than additional work for field crews who arent paper
jockeys. that just my opinion, and thats based on the fact that we hire retards
most of the time, I assume thats where mileage varies.
but to the original OP if you have mediacom in your area, their vans all have
printers in them, theyre in the back end behind the cage, probably because of
too many mustard packets in the print head. You ought to snatch one of those
guys up off the street and find out what printer theyre using
On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 9:27 AM, Jeremy via Af <af@afmug.com> wrote:
For me, having them sign ahead of time would require extra work. I would
have to have them print it and then I'd either be back on paperwork or I'd have
to scan it and upload it to their account back at the office. I can't 'push' a
contract to them if they aren't on my network.
On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 8:24 AM, That One Guy via Af <af@afmug.com> wrote:
seriously, why do you guys not get your contracts signed ahead of time?
On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 9:22 AM, Jeremy via Af <af@afmug.com> wrote:
We use digital contracts through Powercode. They added this feature last
year. I can 'push' contracts to accounts and they are redirected and cannot
access the net until they are signed. We have them sign at the time of the
install. I have only had two who sat there and read the entire thing. Of
course one of those was an install that went until like 8pm. Once signed, the
agreement is saved in .pdf format to the customer's account. This has really
simplified the process for us. Thanks Powercode!
On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 6:46 PM, David Milholen via Af <af@afmug.com>
wrote:
We still use a the carbon copy forms.. No hardware .
The cost of printing (ink) is approx .25 - .75 cents a print or more
depending on usage. The carbon prints from a professional printing company
runs us about 120 bucks for a full CASE of triple copy contracts ready
to sign.
I say the writing is on the wall :)
On 10/29/2014 11:43 AM, Ben Royer via Af wrote:
Quick poll question... For those of you still using paper in the
field for your technicians to have customers sign, do you use printers in the
vehicles? If yes to that question, which printer do you recommend? We use a
basic HP Deskjet scanner/copier/printer, so the client can sign the paperwork
and then we can make a copy for them in the field. However, they are not very
durable to the every day use of our field techs. I’ve even had them brought in
because they are jammed and we find things like a mustard packet inside them.
Now, the obvious go paperless argument is null at this point as we are putting
a plan in place to get there someday, but until then, what would you all
recommend for paperwork printing in the field?
Thank you,
Ben Royer, Operations Supervisor
Royell Communications, Inc.
217-965-3699 www.royell.net
--
All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the
parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can't
get them together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a
hammer. -- IBM maintenance manual, 1925
--
All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the parts
you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can't get them
together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer. --
IBM maintenance manual, 1925
