Propertyware work orders: several vendors on one job, and who keeps it moving

Propertyware puts a lot on the work order itself. One work order can carry several vendors, vendors track their time and invoices in their own app, and the work order can tell the property owner and the tenant what happened. The phone calls that hold those steps together are still made by people.

This post follows a request through Propertyware using its public product pages, then names the points where it waits on a person. It describes Propertyware as its public pages do, checked on the date in the sources.

From service request to invoice in Propertyware

1. The tenant submits a service request. In the tenant portal, the tenant can attach a photo or a short video to the request.
2. The conversation runs on the request. Tenants and staff are each notified by email when new comments are added to the communication stream.
3. A work order goes out. You can work with several vendors on one work order, dispatching, tracking and invoicing from the same record.
4. Vendors log their time. Vendors manage their time and invoicing in Propertyware’s vendor app, and vendor time tracking ties into the specific work order.
5. Invoices and updates. The work order can bill invoices and send updates to both the property owner and the tenant.

Where the comment thread goes quiet

A comment thread and an email alert keep everyone informed. They don’t decide who acts when the thread goes quiet.

Homes spread across a map make each missed visit cost more, because a second trip means another drive across town. Telling the tenant the time, and checking they will be home, is cheaper than the second trip.

A checklist for Propertyware users

• Ask tenants for a photo or short video with every request, so the vendor brings the right part
• Reply in the request’s comment thread, so the tenant’s email alert carries the answer
• On multi-vendor jobs, write the order of trades on the work order before the first visit
• Ask the tenant whether it is fixed before the work order is final, and note the answer on it
• Write down what counts as an emergency at night, and who takes the call

Our post on covering after-hours calls compares five ways to cover the night phone.

Where Now Ours fits

Connected to Propertyware, now ours reads your work orders and writes each step back, and work orders close in Propertyware. Ours answers tenant calls and texts at any hour in your company’s name and asks the safety questions you set. Only what is on your emergency list calls and texts your on-call person, with the backup after 5 minutes. Everything else is offered to your technicians first and then your vendors, a quiet vendor gets up to 4 texts before the case comes to you, and the work order closes only when the tenant confirms the fix, or the vendor or technician marks it done with a photo or note. See how now ours works with Propertyware.