Service Attributes

Use Contract Type Maintenance to define and update contract types. Contract Type Maintenance (11.5.10) illustrates the first two frames. Warranty Type Maintenance is similar.

Service types define your relationship with customers. The system uses some attributes of the type directly. This is always true for warranties. For contracts, some attributes provide defaults you can change in Contract Maintenance. The system derives the following information from the service type:

• Product line of the service type can direct the financial impact of service into GL accounts. See Product Lines and Service Types.

• Duration defines the length of time service is available. You define warranties in days, contracts in months. The duration determines the end date for the warranty of an installed base item and the default end date for a contract.

• Response time defines the length of time within which the customer can expect you to respond to a service request. Call Maintenance uses response time and coverage hours to calculate the call’s next event date and time.

• Price lists determine what a customer pays for contract coverage, for service on a call, and for items returned on an RMA. RMA issue lines use standard sales order pricing.

• Ship Before Return and Restocking Charge affect RMAs only. Ship Before Return determines if you can issue an item on an RMA before you receive the defective one from the customer. This field only affects linked RMA lines. The system applies the restocking charge to items returned for credit. It indicates what portion of the credit to deduct for handling. See Return Material Authorizations for details on shipping before returns and restocking charges.

• Priority sets the opening priority of a call in Call Maintenance. The lower the number, the higher the priority. You can also define the priority for an end user. If you use escalations, they can affect the priority.

• Hours of coverage define when you are available to provide service. Call Maintenance uses them to schedule engineers and calculate a call’s next event date and time.

• Level and limits of coverage determine the coverage percentage applied by the system and limits based on work code and service category or on invoice sort. You can also specify a total limit and a limit for individual prices. See Levels and Limits of Service.