Monitoring the Customer Calling Queue

Monitor the Customer Calling Queue to proactively track the sales orders that require calls to customers. The queue reminds you at the appropriate time about orders with a status of:

Call When Available
Call When Complete
Call When Specified

Orders with a call status still commit the inventory, but do not print shipping tickets. Instead, these orders send reminders to the queue that action is needed.

In its default view, this queue has columns listing each order's Ship-To customer, phone number, order number, branch, purchase order number, ship via, and order amount.

To monitor the calling queue:

From the Orders > Queues menu, select Customer Calling Queue.
In the Brch field, press F10 and specify a branch, territory, or ALL.
In the Type field, press F10 and specify the category of orders to list. Note that the screen's columns and hot keys may change, depending on the type you specify.

Type	Restricts listings to...
New Items	orders with no entry (or with a suitable Next Call date entered), using the Log Call hot key.
Trouble	orders in trouble, where available dates have slipped.
Cancel	review open orders before returning them to bids, or cancelling. Use with the Order Return to Bid Parameter control maintenance record to catch dead orders that are committing inventory. First, run Check Availability for All Orders from the Orders menu.
Directs	orders shipped direct from vendors to customers.
Lot Items	orders with one or more lot item order generations.
Credit	open sales orders that are on credit hold.

Specify selection criteria in these optional fields, as desired:

Field	Restricts listings to...
Writer	an order writer.
End Dt	the orders' ship date. If blank, the system lists all orders that match the type specified in the Type field. Note: Orders for which a different next-call date has been entered, as described in step 6, will not display.
In Slsp	an inside salesperson.
Out Slsp	an outside salesperson.
Via	the orders' ship via type.
Credits	whether they include credits (negative items, such as returns). Press F10 and specify whether to Include, Exclude, or Only list credits.
Directs	whether they include direct shipments. Press F10 and specify whether to Include, Exclude, or Only list direct shipments. Note: This field only displays when you select Trouble in the Type column.

Once the list displays, use these hot keys as needed. Note that different hot keys or wording may display, depending on your selection in the Type field.

To...	Use this hot key...
open the selected order for viewing	View
open the selected order for editing	Edit
combine open sales orders for a customer	Consolidate
open the selected order's Header screen	Header
open the Detail Scheduling screen for the selected order	Detail Scheduling
change the selected trouble order's ShipDate to the Earliest date	Adj Shipdt
toggle the queue listing from ship date to required date	View
display items from the selected orders that are scheduled to ship	View Items
toggle the view from bill-to customer to ship-to customer	Bill-To/Ship-To

If desired, use the Log Call hot key to enter notes about a customer phone call, specify a next-call date, or set up a postcard reminder.

In the Next Call field, enter the date you want to place the next follow up call. The sales order will appear in the Call When Complete Queue on that date.
In the Mail Card field, specify whether you want the system to print a Customer Reminder postcard.
In the Comment field, enter any desired comments.

To remove an order from the queue, change its status. For instance, open and edit the order so that its status is Ship When Specified or Pick Up Now.