With the latest release of Harmony, we’ve been getting a lot of questions. In this issue of HERO News, we talk about advanced maintenance scheduling.
We provide answers about the flexible automated scheduling models in Harmony, and how portals and loginless links remove the phone tag from your maintenance workflow.
There’s a short article, and a video from Harmony U.
Enjoy!
– The HERO PM Team
Did you know?
Most maintenance delays come from scheduling, not the work itself. Harmony removes the back-and-forth by letting you, your vendor, and your occupant coordinate inside the work order. Portals, loginless links, and automated CRM messages handle the handoffs for you.
You touch the work order once, set the parameters, and step back. The vendor and the occupant book the appointment within the window you defined. Your dashboard flags anything stuck.
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What is the difference between scheduled routine maintenance and work order scheduling?
Scheduled Maintenance, also called Routine Maintenance, runs on a defined schedule for recurring tasks. Examples include annual fire extinguisher checks and monthly filter replacements. Harmony runs it automatically.
Work order scheduling kicks in after you learn a unit needs work. The newly expanded features are related to the second one.
What are my scheduling models per work order?
You can mix and match with configurable authorizations:
- You push the work order to the vendor and stop there – the vendor handles all the scheduling with automated tools.
- You coordinate scheduling with both the vendor and the tenant, and set the work order accordingly.
- You schedule according to the vendor’s parameters, and let the tenant confirm or request a change.
Match the model to the situation and the vendor. When you let the vendor handle scheduling, you have the following methods at your disposal:
- The vendor has their own scheduling platform, like Cal.com, Acuity, or Calendly.
- The vendor suggests up to three dates and times that work for them, and the tenant can select one.
- The vendor can lock in an appointment and allow the tenant to confirm, change, or request a change.
All of this flows smoothly with automated CRM communications, all built into Harmony.
What is happening behind the scenes when I push off scheduling to the vendor?
This is all determined by your authorizations and CRM messaging templates.
In short, your vendor gets a message with the options you’ve enabled, and they choose what works for them.
Then the tenant gets a message with the options enabled for them, and they confirm or change, which then automatically messages the vendor again.
All told, there are 120 different variations of this, but only three things for you to set in a work order that control the entire workflow.
I don’t want a vendor going to a unit without me determining or approving their appointment. Do I lose control with these new features?
Not at all!
The new features give you absolute control. You decide if you want to be completely hands-on with work order scheduling, completely hands-off, or somewhere in between. Whatever you choose, Harmony keeps you informed of every action along the way.
Featured Harmony U Article: Wrenching Order Out of Chaos
Property managers spend too much time playing phone tag scheduling maintenance. Harmony fixes that with flexible scheduling options built around how you, your vendors, and your occupants actually work.
Featured Harmony U Video: Where can I learn how to set my desired level of scheduling for work orders?
