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New Features in Oracle Service Release 11

New features in this release are as follows:

Attachments

Oracle Service supports Application Object Library's attachments feature, which allows you to attach Web URLs and files (such as images and word-processing documents) to customer products, service requests, and depot repair lines. See: Attaching Documents to Service Records.

Billing

Oracle Service's billing module lets you consolidate charges across support service requests, field service requests, and depot repair lines. Transaction groups and transaction types that you define determine what sort of impact a charge detail has, such as labor, material, or expense. You can decrement inventory based on field service charges and pass billing information to Oracle Receivables via Oracle Order Entry/Shipping. See: Overview of Service Billing.

Calls

The Calls window tracks interactions with your customers by logging incoming and outgoing calls. You can define call types and call follow-up types to suit your needs. See: Recording Customer Interaction.

Comments

You can add comments (notes) to service requests, depot repair lines, and customer products. See: Entering Comments.

Documents on the Navigator Desktop

Once you have entered and saved a service request, you can place it on the Applications Navigator desktop so that you can revisit it without having to requery the record. See: Using the Navigator's Documents Region.

Field Service/Dispatch

Using Oracle Service's field service module, you can create field service requests; select personnel to dispatch based on rules you define; and track labor, material, and expenses incurred during the field visit. See: Overview of Field Service.

Installed Base Enhancements

When you split a customer product, you can keep track of the original product that was split. Also, when you update your installed base with sales order information using the Autocreate Installed Base concurrent program, Oracle Service looks up Oracle Order Entry/Shipping data directly and brings non-shippable included items into the installed base. See: Splitting Customer Products and Automatic Capture from Order Entry.

Integration with Oracle Self-Service Web Applications

Your customers can use Oracle Web Customers to view the products they own as well as any associated support services and to review open service requests or repair activities against a product. Customers and employees can also search the knowledge base for previously reported problems and enter service requests with problem descriptions and comments. See: Service Requests.

Integration with Oracle Quality

If you set up collection plans in Oracle Quality, you can use them to capture data when logging service requests. See: Managing Service Quality.

Knowledge Base

The Search Knowledge Base window enables you to search for previously entered service requests and their solutions. You can query the database for service request field values and perform ConText searches to view service request details that match your criteria as well as comments attached to those requests. See: Searching the Knowledge Base.

Messages

You can send, review, and reply to messages to facilitate communication amongst field engineers, support service personnel, and customers. Messaging is supported in the Service Requests, Repairs, and Customer Products windows. See: Creating Messages.

Pricing Enhancement

Pricing functionality has been enhanced in the Order Service and Renew Service windows. See: Service Program Pricing.

Repair Jobs

You can optionally change the customer product while creating a repair job. See: Repair Jobs.

Workflows

Oracle Service provides two workflows that you can tailor to your needs. The Service Request workflow routes new service requests to appropriate employees and facilitates escalation and transfer as needed; the Service Request Action workflow routes request actions to field service personnel whom you dispatch to a customer site. See: Overview of Service Request and Action Workflows.


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