On this page

Overview

Requests are a type of activity that is requested by someone, needs to be actioned and may utilise resources.  In an emergency context, "Request for sandbags" is an example of a request that may have been requested by an EMLO at the SES, and assigned to a council officer at the depot for fulfilment.

Requests provide the following features:

• Users adding requests can nominate a requestor by searching existing requestors, entering a new requestor or nominating themselves
• Task details are captured simply using free-text subject, description and attachment fields
• An address can be looked up and attached to the request
• A map can be annotated to show the location of the request
• Various workflow fields allow for prioritising, assigning, setting of due dates and tagging to aid in management.
• Requests capture resource utilisation in the fulfilment of the request, and ad-hoc resources can be added if required. This data feeds into the finance module for full financial reconciliation.
• Requests are assigned to positions to aid in tracking between shift changeovers
• Assignment and management of requests are handled by coordinators
• As of August 2021, a new feature has been added allowing users with permission to send the contents of the request item or a link to the request item as a Communication Message.

Using Requests

The request register is located under Operations > Requests in the menu.  As with any register, it will only appear when enabled within the current event, and for users that have access to that register for positions that they are on duty.

Adding a new request

To add a new request:

1. From any screen, press New Request
2. Specify the requestor
   1. If you are the requestor, select "Use my details as the requestor"
   2. If you know the requestor (for example, you are entering the request from a phone call), then select "Select an existing contact" and then search or enter the requestor details.
      1. If the default contact details are not correct for the current event, you can put them in the records Details section, or you can edit the contact record after saving the request record to have them updated permanently  
   3. Or you can add a new contact by selecting "Add a new contact"
      1. Adding a new contact adds them as a new contact record in the current event, so don't worry about using fake names during a training event.
      2. If the new contact is one you would like to keep in your contacts system after this current event, you can move them into a global workspace after the offer record has been created together with the request record after saving.
   4. If there are likely costs involved and the requestor has agreed to pay costs, check the checkbox under the requestor form. This will help in emergency cost recovery.
3. Specify the request particulars by entering a subject, details and attachments just like you may write an email
4. Enter a location
   1. You can search by Property, by Point Of Interest, or by any other configured asset class. When a property is selected, it will appear on the map.
   2. You can also annotate the map to add points, a polygon or a linestring (a line with multiple points) to provide more context to the request.
5. Set the priority field if the request is high priority.
6. If you wish to send the item as a Communication Message, click on the Share this record via email or SMS checkbox.  See Creating Communications from within Register Items for more details.
7. Save the request

The request will then appear in the datagrid as unassigned, meaning a coordinator will need to assess the request and assign it to a position for action. The unassigned counter can be thought of as an inbox for new requests.

Assigning a request

Coordinators can assign requests as follows:

1. Click Edit to edit the request
2. On the edit screen, pull down the assignment field and select the position within the event that will handle the assignment.
3. Add any additional notes into the yellow notes field
4. Click Save

Users on duty for the assigned position will be notified of the assignment.

Tracking progress

The assignee can edit the request as often as required in order to update progress on the request.

There are two main parts to this:

1. Notes can be added to the yellow notes field through multiple edits, to maintain a case history
2. The status field, when set to In Progress, reveals a % Complete field that can estimate the progress through the job.

To update these fields, the assignee simply edits the request to update these fields as required.

Completing a request

When the request has been completed, the assignee can set the status to indicate the job is complete.

Setting the status to Resolved will complete the job and return it back to the coordinator for review. Setting the status to On Hold will mark the job as being paused, and will retain the request with the assignee.

Adding resources to a request

COORDINATORS ONLY

Authorised users can add resources to a request, to track costs and utilisation. 

To add a resource to a request:

1. Click Edit to edit the request
2. Expand the Resources & Costs fieldset
3. Click Add New to add the resource assignment. You can add multiple resource assignments to a single request.
4. A subform is added to the request form for each resource assignment. For each assignment:
   
   1. Search the resource by name, and select it from the list to use it. Its unit rate is loaded into the form. If it is a new resource then you can add it as an ad-hoc resource by simply typing the name of the new resource. A warning appears to tell you it will be added as a new resource.
   2. Enter the quantity of utilisation of the resource. For ad-hoc resources, this is dollars, but other resources may specify another unit (e.g. hours, litres, etc)
   3. Enter a reference such as a Purchase Order Number, if applicable
   4. Enter details for the resource assignment if needed
5. Click save

To complete a resource assignment, edit the resource assignment and click the Completed checkbox. 

Tracking the cost recovery method

COORDINATORS ONLY

A large part of resource assignment is tracking the expected costs. For this, there are fields in the request form.

1. In the Requestor fieldset, a leading question exists as to whether or not the requestor has agreed to pay all costs
2. In the Resource Costs fieldset, a cost recovery method allows tracking of the following options:
   1. No authorisation obtained
   2. MERC — Authorised as part of the incident cost
   3. MERO — Council will pay
   4. Requestor — The requestor will pay (this is selected automatically if the requestor has agreed to pay the costs)
   5. Other — Allows entry of another cost recovery method 
3. If the Crisisworks installation contains the Financial Reconciliation module, a Financial Payments fieldset appears in the right hand side to list all reconciled payments against the request. 

Managing Workflow

Requests support a full lifecycle workflow model, using a combination of status, assignment, prioritisation and progress. It also tracks the cost recovery method along with estimated costs of any attached resources, for later cost recovery reporting.

Status

The basic workflow for a request is REQUESTED > ASSIGNED > IN PROGRESS > RESOLVED > CLOSED.  Users set the status of the request by editing the request and changing the value in the status field.

The following diagram shows this in more detail. 

Priority

If the priority of a request is set to HIGH or URGENT priority, then a special counter will appear to track these while they are in an active state.

Assignment

There are two types of assignment available for requests.

1. Requests are assigned to a single position to indicate a responsible position. This allows requests to be managed by teams across multiple shifts.  A request can only be assigned to one position at a time, meaning there is one point of responsibility to handle and resolve the request. Whenever an active request is unassigned, it reverts to the REQUESTED state and it is the job of coordinators to assign (or close) the request.  To unassign a request, simply set the status back to REQUESTED.

2. Requests can also be assigned to multiple resources. Resources are used to track utilisation and costs, plus allows resource managers to access the request record while they are actively assigned. Each resource assignment contains additional information such as quantity and descriptive information about the job. 

A counter will appear for each assigned entity, to allow tracking of assignments by each position or resource.  An unassigned counter appears whenever there are unassigned requests that require assignment by coordinators. Coordinators should ensure all requests are assigned for action, or are resolved and then closed.

Progress

When the request is in a IN PROGRESS status, the assignee or the coordinator can update the status of the request with a progress indicator, which is a percentage from 0% through to 90%. To set 100%, change the status to RESOLVED. 

Cost Recovery

As described in the section "Tracking the cost recovery method" (above), cost recovery indicators are built into the request form to support identification of the payer of the request.  

From a workflow perspective, it is important to identify the payer for all requests. A Payment Not Authorised counter appears to assist coordinators in following up with any requests without an agreement for payment.

Bulk Actions

Requests support the following bulk actions. 

Notifications

Any updates to a request will send notifications to all users assigned to the request /wiki/spaces/KB/pages/85950687. If the request is unassigned, coordinators receive these notifications.

Reporting

Standard reporting

The following reports are useful in reporting and managing requests.

All reports can be grouped, ordered and filtered by a range of fields, and the results can be printed, exported to Excel and saved into Crisisworks as a snapshot. 

Read Generating Reports for more details.

Ad-hoc reporting and exporting

It is possible to export a custom selection of requests using the standard Requests report.

To export a custom selection:

1. Start on the Request Datagrid
2. Select one or more records. You can use counters and filters to find the records you need, and build up your custom selection over a few queries. 
3. When one or more records are selected, click the Export to Report button that appears at the bottom of the screen. 
4. This will load the base report with the selected IDs, where you can configure the report as required — add/remove columns, select custom ordering and group by a field.
5. Click Generate Report to build the report

If you wish to export the generated report, scroll to the bottom of the report and click Export to Excel

Technical Reference

The following information allows system integrators or technologists to work with the Crisisworks API.

Request schema

Contact schema

Non-schema fields

Workflow

Import