5. Notes, Alerts & Actions

5. Notes, Alerts & Actions

Notes, Alerts and Actions can be created against any record in the system by clicking on the buttons displayed at the top of each page, 

When one of these records are created they are attached to the record that is currently being viewed. For example if a Housing Register application is displayed on screen and a Note is added then the Note will be attached to the Housing Register application.


The security permissions in the system ensure users only have access to the data that are allowed to. This extends to Notes, Alerts & Actions as well. Users can only see this information if they are connected to a record that they are allowed to view.
Warning
It is important to connect these records to the correct item in the system to ensure users do not have access to data they should not see
Actions can be configured in the system according to your requirements. Standard template Actions can be created and then users are able to assign them to records by choosing from a dropdown list of types. 

Creation of template Actions can be found in the Administration User Manual. Notes and Alerts are special types of system action, that have a standard configuration.

Notes & Alerts page

When viewing a record all Notes, Alerts and Actions related to the record are displayed. When viewing a Case this page displays all Notes, Actions & Alerts assigned to the case, any person on the case or any of its associated applications/assessments.

The order of Actions within their group can be changed by clicking on the column headers to sort them ascending or descending.
If Actions are near or past their Target date then they are highlighted in the list. Actions are also highlighted in different colours if they are in the Awaiting review or Completed states.

Notes

Notes are created by clicking the add Note button, 

 

Item

Details

Important
Identifies the note as Important

Owners

Defaults to current user. Additional owners can be added if required


Save the Note and close the window

Editing notes

Once saved Notes can only be edited by users if they have correct permissions.
If users have the permission Edit notes then they can update the content of a note and the new edited version will be displayed on the Actions page. An entry is created in the audit trail containing the new text they entered recording the date and time that they did it. The original note remains in the audit trail with it's original contents along with the date and time when it was created and who created it.

If the user has the permission to Edit note history journal entries then they have the option to overwrite any previous versions of the note in the audit trail with the new contents. The audit trail still records the data, time and who created it originally but the contents are replaced with the new text that has been entered. Note: this functionality is only available for Notes that were created after the release of 8.8.1. 

Alerts

Alerts are created by clicking on the add Alert button, 

 

Item

Details

Target date

Set a date that the Alert will be flagged in the owner’s workflow for review

Owners

Defaults to current user. Additional owners can be added if required


Save the Alert and close the window

Removing an Alert

Alerts can be removed be clicking  and setting the State to either 'Completed' or 'Removed'.

Actions

Actions are created by clicking on the add Action button, 

The exact fields displayed when adding or editing an Action are dependent on how the template Action has been configured. Not all fields will be displayed for all Action types.

 

Item

Details

Action type

List of available Action types that can be created based on the record currently being viewed.

Action name
Only displayed if the Action definition has been configured to allow the name to updated.
The name is displayed in the back office and on the public portal.
Select related record
If the action definition has a category of Case People then the action needs to be assigned to a specific person associated with the case

Comment

Text box for capturing comments related to the Action. See below for further details

Instructions to staff

Displays any instructions that have been entered against the Action definition to help guide staff.

An Edit button is displayed if the Action definition has been configured to allow the instructions to be updated.

Target date

Set a date that the Action will be flagged in the owner’s workflow for review

Owners

Defaults to the current user. Additional owners can be added if required

Responsible team
Defaults to the team assigned to the Case or Property depending on the record the Action is created against.

Responsibility

Determines who is responsible for completing the action

State

Allows the state of the Action to be updated

Outcome

Some Actions once marked as completed will need an outcome to be selected from the drop-down list

Files
Displays any files that have been uploaded


Save the Action and close the window

State

Actions have a number of different states that can be assigned to them.

State

Details

Active

The state all Actions are assigned when first completed, unless the Action definition is configured as Completed on add.

Actions in this state are displayed on the public portal if applicable.

Awaiting review

Once an applicant has marked an Action on the portal as completed it is moved to this state.

Actions in this state are displayed on the public portal if applicable.

Completed

Closes the Action.

Removed

Set an Action to this state if it is no longer required. Removed Actions can still be viewed by changing the filter when viewing Actions against a record.

Comments

If the Action definition has been configured to allow Comments to be entered in the back office then a message area will be displayed.

Comments are added by entering text in the Add a message field and then clicking . The Action then needs to be saved.

Files

When creating a new action that requires a file to be uploaded the system displays all files of that type to show if one already exists.

When viewing an action after an applicant has uploaded a file, the files linked to that Action are shown by default.

You can view all files that exist for the case of the specified type by clicking the All filter.
If the file is not correct and needs to be unlinked from the action then remove the green tick. It will disappear and another file will need to be selected/uploaded for the action to be completed.
If this is done in error then the All filter can be selected and then the file can be re-attached to the action.
Each file can be marked as Reviewed to help keep track of which files have been checked if you have a large number to process.

Public portal

If the Action definition has been configured to allow the Action to be visible on the public portal then an additional tab will be displayed. 

Item

Details

Show on public portal

Determines if the Action is displayed on the public portal

Instructions to household
Displays any instructions that have been entered against the Action definition to help guide applicants.
An Edit button is displayed if the Action definition has been configured to allow the instructions to be updated.

Comment

Text box for capturing comments related to the Action that can be viewed and updated via the public portal


Save the Action and close the window

If the Action definition has been configured to allow Comments to be entered by the applicant then the Public portal log section is displayed.

Any comments entered here will be visible to the applicant on the public portal.
If an applicant has said they cannot complete an Action then the reason will be displayed in the Public portal log, and be pre fixed with 'Cannot complete this action'.

Applicant Actions

Actions created with a Responsibility set as the 'Applicant' will display on the public portal when they log in. Applicants will also be emailed about outstanding Actions on a weekly basis.

Applicants can add comments, upload a document or mark an Action as completed. The options available to them depend on the type of Action. 


When an applicant marks an Action as completed its State is set as 'Requiring review'. This allows a user in the back office to then review the Action and either mark it as 'Completed' if everything is correct, or move it back to 'Active'. This will then mark the Action as outstanding again when the applicant views it on the public portal.

If an Action has had a document uploaded against it then the file should be de-selected before it is marked as 'Active' again and sent back to the applicant.

When viewing a case or application in the back office that has Actions linked to it that are in the 'Requiring review' state, a banner is displayed on the page.


Clicking on the Actions button in the banner displays the Actions page.

Actions in a 'Requiring review' State are highlighted in blue and have a flag icon displayed in their Status.

Actions list

Notes, Alerts & Actions are all displayed in the Actions list.


Information from the Action and Action Type can be displayed on the list.
A number of 'ownership' columns can be added to the list to help create bespoke views of outstanding actions. 
Item
Details
Parent team
The responsible team of the parent item the Action was created against
My team (parent)Set to 'True' if the parent item is assigned to a team the current user belongs to
My action
Set to 'True' if the Action is assigned to the current user
Action teamThe responsible team assigned to the Action
My team (action)Set to 'True' if the Action is assigned to a team the current user belongs to

Case Actions list

This list displays all Actions that are connected to Cases or applications/assessments.

Information from the Action, Action Type and Cases tables can be displayed on the list.

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