Creating a Complaints Record (Pt.4)

Modified on Fri, 19 Jul at 8:53 PM

This article looks at all the fields available in Complaints records to create one. Look-up lists can be configured to include the information you need to capture when a new record is raised.

Managing User-configurable Look-up Fields

Upon creating the first Complaint record, all of the look-up fields in this section can be configured to make it easy for other users to raise new Complaint records going forward.

The rules for managing user-configurable lists of options in look-up fields are common across the system. However, some fields in this module don't include a 'Visibility' setting and three of them have an additional field.

Complaint records have 8 fields with user-configurable look-up lists:

Complaint Type* - can be edited in the 'New Complaint' tab (no need to create a complaint)
Complaint Status - can be edited in the 'New Complaint' tab
Complaint Contact Method - can be edited in the 'New Complaints' tab
Complaint Subjects - can be edited in the 'New Complaints' tab
Complaint Action Types - no 'Visibility' setting; can be edited in the 'Actions Taken' tab
Complaint Risk Consequence** - no 'Visibility' setting; can be edited in the 'Risks' tab
Complaint Risk Likelihood of Reoccurrence** - no 'Visibility' setting; can be edited in the 'Risks' tab
Complaint Relation - no 'Visibility' setting; can be edited in the 'Contacts' tab by opening one of the contacts

To populate and manage the user-configurable fields, click the spanner/wrench icon next to the field and follow instructions in this link: Managing Configurable Look-up Lists.

* 'Complaint Type' items have an additional field - 'Reply in Days'. This allows you to set a target deadline for responding to the relevant party in cases of the specified type.

The value entered in the 'Reply In Days' field is used to calculate the date which will be displayed in the field 'Reply By', under the 'General' tab of the new Complaint record. It is also displayed below the title of the record in a blue legend - "Reply to this Complaint is expected by: ... ".

** 'Complaint Risk Consequence' and 'Complaint Risk Likelihood of Reoccurrence' items have an additional field - 'Value'. This allows you to assign a value (from 1 to 10) to new levels of risk consequences and likelihoods that you create, which are used by the system to calculate the risk level.

Creating a Complaint Record

The 'Complaints' module is located under the Quality Management area:

The plus (+) sign next to it is a shortcut to the 'New Complaint' tab:

To raise a Complaint (or compliment) record:

Open the 'Quality Management > Complaints > New Complaint' tab.
Select the Organisational Unit where the Complaint will be stored.
Enter a Name (Required) for the new record; it should be descriptive (although not too long) as this is the item displayed when searching and reporting.
The Index (Required) can be auto generated by the system; alternatively, clicking the cog icon turns off 'auto generate' and allows entering a combination of numbers, letters or both. The system will validate custom made indices to ensure they are unique across the account.
Select a target date for when the complaint record should be closed in the field 'Resolved By', by clicking the field to invoke a calendar.

Select a 'Complaint Type' from the dropdown menu of items.

Note

You can populate the list of options with both positive and negative types of feedback, e.g., 'Insult', 'External Praise', 'Customer Complaint', 'Compliment', etc. As described above, for each Complaint Type you create, you must assign a number of days by which a response should be sent.

Select the date when the complaint record was raised in the field 'Reported on', by clicking the field to invoke a calendar.
The field 'User Responsible' will search for any user in the account. Start typing a name and the search engine will offer matching names, then click the name of the person who should be responsible for resolving the matter. No task will be generated but the selected user will receive a notification by email.
The 'Reference' field is a free text field which allows entering an additional identifier for the record if required.
The field 'Manager Responsible' will search for any user in the account. Start typing a name and the search engine will offer matching names, then click the name of the manager who should be responsible for overseeing the matter. No task will be generated but the selected user will receive a notification by email.

Select a 'Status' from the list of options if appropriate. This field can be updated during the course of the resolution.

Note

The 'Status' field can be populated with options which compliment the main stages of a Complaint record - 'Active', 'In Progress', or 'Closed'. For example, the statuses 'Waiting on Complainant', 'Under Investigation', 'Root Cause Determined', or 'Actions in Progress' can be added.

Select a 'Contact Method' from the dropdown menu.

Note
This user-configurable field can be populated with items such as, 'In Person', 'By Phone', or 'By Email'.
With the field 'Include Users', other staff can be kept informed of the process. Start typing a name and the search engine will offer matching names, then click the name(s) of the people who should be notified of the progress of the Complaint. No task will be generated; the selected user will receive notifications by email according to their personal preferences.
You can also categorise Complaint records by selecting one or more of the 'Complaint Subjects' available.

Note
The subjects of a Complaint record might include items such as, 'Service Related', 'Procurement Issue', 'Interpersonal Conflict','Customer Interaction Feedback', etc.
Finally, 'Comments' can be entered to describe the event being raised.
Click 'Create' to finish and the new record should appear on screen with the label, 'Active'.

Next step:

The next article covers Logging Actions in Complaints Records (Pt.5)

Previous step:

The previous article covers Searching and Reporting Complaints Records (Pt.3)