Product documentation
Service Quotations in HSO Service Management support the preparation, pricing and approval of service work before operational execution begins. Quotations can be created for existing customers or prospects, without requiring a Service Call or Service Object to exist beforehand. Once accepted, a quotation can be transferred to a Service Call and Service Task, retaining the agreed work and transaction details.
Introduction
Service Quotations provide a separate process for managing service requests that require a commercial offer before work can begin. They allow users to define the proposed service activities, calculate prices, generate quotation documents and obtain customer approval without creating an operational Service Call.
Quotation lifecycle
The process starts with creating a quotation and defining the proposed work. After reviewing the quotation lines and prices, the quotation is generated and sent to the customer. An accepted quotation is confirmed and can subsequently be promoted to operational service work. Quotations that are not accepted can be revised or cancelled.
Integration with Service Management
Service Quotations use the relevant Service Object or Object Type context to describe the proposed work. Upon promotion, the quotation information and forecasted transactions are transferred to a Service Call and Service Task, providing continuity between the commercial agreement and its execution.
Introduction
A Service Quotation can be created for an existing customer or a prospect requiring service work. The quotation contains the customer context, relevant service information, validity period and proposed transactions.
Quotation header
The quotation header identifies the customer or prospect and contains the information required to prepare the offer. Service Object or Object Type information and the relevant Service Call context are included to support the subsequent transfer into operational Service Management.
Quotation validity
A Service Quotation contains an expiration date that defines the validity of the offer. The quotation should be reviewed against this date before acceptance and confirmation, particularly when pricing or the proposed work may have changed.
Service Objects and prospects
A quotation can be prepared even when the customer or Service Object does not yet exist in the operational database. The required customer and object records can be established later, before the quotation is promoted into a Service Call.
Introduction
Quotation lines define the work and costs included in the proposed service. HSO Service Management supports the service-related transaction types required to prepare a complete commercial offer.
Transaction types
A Service Quotation can contain Hour, Item, Cost, Travel and Revenue transactions. These lines represent the proposed labor, materials, expenses, travel charges and service fees associated with the work.
Defining the proposed work
The user adds the required transaction lines and specifies the quantities and prices relevant to the quotation. Together, these lines form the proposed financial scope of the service activity and provide the forecasted transactions that can later be transferred to a Service Task.
Quotation review
Before generating the quotation, the user should verify that the transaction lines accurately represent the work being offered. This includes checking estimated labor, required materials, additional charges and the resulting quotation amount.
Introduction
Quotation Pricing determines the amount offered to the customer for the proposed service work. The quotation combines the applicable prices and quantities from its transaction lines into a commercial offer.
Price calculation
The quotation value is based on the Hour, Item, Cost, Travel and Revenue lines included in the offer. Users can review the calculated amounts and adjust the proposed transactions before generating the quotation document.
Price validation
The quotation should reflect the intended commercial conditions for the customer and the proposed service. Where contract-specific or other pricing arrangements are relevant, the resulting amounts should be reviewed before the quotation is sent.
Agreed quotation value
Once the customer accepts the quotation, the agreed transaction details form the basis for the work transferred to Service Management. This allows the operational Service Task to start with the quantities and prices established during the quotation process.
Introduction
Once the proposed work and pricing have been completed, the Service Quotation can be generated for communication to the customer. This records the commercial offer and supports the formal quotation process.
Generate Quotation
The Generate Quotation function is available from the Quote tab. It generates the quotation document and updates the quotation to Sent status, allowing the offer to be printed and communicated to the customer.
Quotation document
The generated document presents the proposed service work and commercial conditions for customer review. The user should verify the document before sending it, particularly when the quotation contains multiple transaction types or additional service charges.
Customer response
After the quotation has been sent, the customer can accept the offer, request changes or decline the proposed work. The subsequent action determines whether the quotation is confirmed, revised or cancelled.
Introduction
Service Quotations support version tracking when the proposed work or commercial conditions change after an offer has been generated. This allows revised quotations to be prepared while retaining a history of the previous versions.
Revising a quotation
When changes are required, the user updates the quotation lines or other relevant information and generates the quotation again. The revised offer can then be sent to the customer for review.
Version history
The quotation process automatically tracks the different versions generated during revision. This provides a record of how the proposed work and pricing changed before the customer accepted the final offer.
Final quotation version
The version accepted by the customer should represent the agreed scope and prices. Before confirmation, the user should ensure that the latest quotation corresponds to the customer's approval.
Introduction
After the customer has reviewed the offer, the Service Quotation can be confirmed or cancelled according to the outcome of the commercial process.
Confirming a quotation
When the customer accepts the proposed work and prices, the quotation is confirmed. Confirmation establishes the accepted quotation as the basis for transferring the agreed work into Service Management.
Cancelling a quotation
A quotation can be cancelled when the customer declines the offer or the proposed service is no longer required. Cancellation ends the quotation process without creating operational Service Calls or Service Tasks from that offer.
Changes before confirmation
If the customer requests changes, the quotation should be revised and generated again rather than confirming an offer that no longer reflects the agreed conditions. The quotation version history preserves the previous commercial proposals.
Introduction
An accepted Service Quotation can be promoted to operational work using the quotation promotion wizard. This process transfers the agreed service information and forecasted transactions to Service Management.
Promotion prerequisites
Before promotion, the quotation must be confirmed and the required operational records must be available. If the quotation was created for a prospect or a proposed Service Object, the corresponding customer and Service Object records must be created before the transfer can be completed.
Creating a Service Call and Task
The promotion wizard can create a new Service Call and Service Task from the confirmed quotation. The quotation's service context and transaction lines are transferred so that the agreed scope becomes available for planning and execution.
Transferred transactions
The quoted Hour, Item, Cost, Travel and Revenue transactions become forecasted transactions on the Service Task. This reduces duplicate data entry and preserves the connection between the accepted quotation and the operational work.
Introduction
The quotation promotion process can also transfer accepted work to an existing Service Call. This is useful when additional work is identified during an ongoing service activity and requires separate customer approval.
Additional work quotations
When additional work is required, a Service Quotation can be prepared for the proposed activities and associated costs. The customer can review and approve the additional work before it is added to the existing service process.
Promotion to an existing call
Instead of creating a new Service Call, the promotion wizard can add the accepted quotation as an additional Service Task under an existing call. The quoted transactions are transferred to the new task while the work remains associated with the original service request.
Operational continuity
This approach allows the original Service Call to retain its relationship with the additional quoted work. The new Service Task can then be confirmed, scheduled, executed and registered through the standard Service Task lifecycle.
Introduction
HSO Service Management supports both standalone Service Quotations and quotation activities within an existing Service Task. Although both are used to communicate proposed service costs, they serve different stages of the service process.
Standalone Service Quotations
A standalone Service Quotation is created before an operational Service Call is required. It supports prospects, quotation versioning, customer approval and promotion into Service Management. This approach is appropriate when the service request must first pass through a separate commercial process.
Service Task Quotations
A Service Task can also be used to prepare a quotation for work that already belongs to an existing Service Call. The task's forecasted transactions provide the basis for the quotation, and the task remains within the established Service Call structure.
Choosing the appropriate process
Use a standalone Service Quotation when a formal commercial offer must be prepared independently of operational service work. Use Service Task quotation functionality when the Service Call already exists and the quotation is part of its normal task processing.
The Service Task lifecycle and its quotation and confirmation stages are described in the Service Tasks & Execution chapter.