QAD 2017 Enterprise Edition > User Guides > Service/Support Management > Call Management > What Is Call Management?
  
What Is Call Management?
A call refers to a unique record of communication between the end user and the service organization. Each call identifies the end user, the nature of the problem or request, the urgency associated with that request, and the products involved.
The actual communication related to the call can take any form: telephone call, physical visit or service call, electronic mail. The call, in terms of processing, is a record used to track activity between the service organization and the end user and to generate statistics about this activity.
Call management handles all kinds of end-user input, covering a range of needs. This input can be classified into three broad categories, indicating the level of response needed.
• Inquiries. These may be general questions about availability, releases of product, or marketing-related issues. Not tracking them can result in lost business. The callers do not have to be current customers.
• Questions. End users may have specific questions about the product. Some may be simple; others may require research for an answer, or, in some cases, reveal deeper issues or design problems that need more complex responses.
• Service Needs. Usually the primary concern of a service and support organization is to support the installed base. This may include installing new equipment, fixing broken equipment, correcting faulty design, or performing preventive maintenance.
A call is created with the goal of closing it. Closing a call means the problem, question, or service situation has been resolved to your standards.
Note: If you want to reduce the overhead of creating calls in Call Maintenance, you can design a pending call system that only captures the data essential to your organization. If these calls require service activity, they can then be transferred to Call Maintenance and updated there. Pending calls are discussed in Using Pending Calls.
SSM functions work together to enable a service organization to:
• Create calls.
• Maintain visibility over call status.
• Change call status automatically based on user-defined criteria.
• Select an appropriate engineer for the call.
• Order items to service a call.
• Record activity—items, labor, expenses—for a call.
• Create invoices for service activity.
Other functions provide alternate ways of resolving calls, such as creating an RMA, RTS, or service request.
The operation of these functions depends on call setup and control program settings. These enable each company to tailor the call management process to their own business needs and requirements.