Order versus Start/Stop

There are two different ways to start service for a customer:

The following table provides insight into the pros and cons of each method (after this table you will find our recommendations):

Issue

Order

Start/Stop

New customer setup

Information about the new customer can be entered on the order page. A person / account will be setup when the order is completed.

A new person and account must be setup prior to using Start/Stop. See How To Add A New Customer From Control Central for more information.

New premise setup

Information about the new premise can be entered on the order page. A premise (and service points) will be setup when the order is completed.

A new premise and service point(s) must be setup prior to using Start/Stop.

Updates to existing customer information

Changes to a customer's existing account and/or person info may be entered on the order page. The related person and/or account will be updated when the order is completed.

Start/Stop cannot be used to update person or account information. Rather, you must transfer to the person or account page and make the necessary changes.

Incomplete orders

The order transaction allows you to record customer information and hold it without starting service. The customer can call back in the future and you can continue where you left off.

You cannot leave a start half-finished - you either have to complete the start or cancel it.

Stop current service, start new service

The order transaction does not currently provide a mechanism for stopping service (it can only be used to start service).

Start/Stop can be used to stop a customer's current service and start new service.

Automatic versus manual start option selection (start options are used to default a great deal of information onto a service agreement)

If a customer selects a package, the system creates service agreements using the start options defined in the package (i.e., you do not have to select a start option for each service agreement that's created).

When you start service, you must define the specific start option for each service agreement created (actually, you only have to do this for those types of service agreements that use start options).

Starting premise and non-premise oriented services

If a customer selects a package, the system can create both premise and non-premise oriented service agreements. For example, when a package is selected, the system can create electric, gas, deposit, and charitable contribution SAs (based on the information defined on the package).

Multiple premise-oriented service agreements can be created in one interaction. However, a separate interaction is required for each non-premise oriented service agreement.

Changes after completion

An order cannot be modified after it is completed. Any changes (cancellations prior to starting service, changes of the start date, etc.) must be performed using the start/stop transaction.

The start/stop transaction allows you to cancel and make changes to pending start service agreements.

Field activity visibility

After an order is completed, the user is transferred to control central where field activities associated with the premise can be seen in trees and context zones.

All field activities associated with all premises associated with all pending starts / stops are shown on the start / stop transaction.

Address changes

Address changes entered on the order transaction are applied when an order is completed (i.e., when a package is selected). They are not held awaiting service agreement activation.

When you enter an address change on the start / stop transaction, this address changed is saved until the first pending start or stop is activated. This means that the address change is effectively held until the start/stop is activated.

Based on the above, we'd recommend the following:

  • If your organization has well-defined service locations (i.e., premises) AND a premise's service point type controls the types of services offered to the customer, you should probably only use the order transaction to setup new customer information. The new service agreements should be setup using start / stop. See Prelude To Start/Stop for more information.
  • In all other situations, we'd recommend using the order transaction to start service. If customers typically stop and start service in tandem, we'd recommend the following steps:
    • Stop the customer’s existing service using start / stop.
    • Return to Control Central - Account Info and select the appropriate campaign from the appropriate portal zone. Keep in mind that the portal zones displayed on this page are based on the user's preferences and security profile. Therefore this zone may not be available to all users.
    • When you select the appropriate campaign, you'll be transferred to the order transaction where you can start the desired package for the customer.