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Department Reception

Craig Weir
Updated
Department Reception Manual

Department Reception Manual

Document: 256.01E — Qmatic

Copyright Notice

The information in this document is subject to change without prior notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Q-MATIC AB. All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this manual, but Q-MATIC AB cannot assume any responsibility for any errors and their consequences. This manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Reproduction is not allowed without written permission from Q-MATIC AB.

COPYRIGHT © Q-MATIC AB, 2023. Feedback and questions: documentation@qmatic.com.

1. What’s New

Version Chapter Change
01.A General Manual for Department Reception created.
01.B Department Reception Settings Settings for visibility and order of columns in the appointment list added; settings for custom visit fields added; settings for custom ticket number added; setting to make it mandatory to add a customer to a visit added.
Using Department Reception Possibility to change order of appointment list columns added; description of printing functionality updated.
01.C Department Reception Settings; Using Department Reception Booking functionality added.
01.D (v1.4.0) Department Reception Settings Reprint ticket functionality added; option to hide appointments older than a certain time added.
Using Department Reception Reprint ticket functionality added; hide old appointments option added.
01.E Department Reception Settings Clarification of the Counting setting.
Using Department Reception Added section about counting customer without creating a ticket.

2. Installation

2.1 Overview

Department Reception is a staff application combining different reception tasks. It includes:

  • Create single-service or multi-service visits
  • See and check in upcoming appointments
  • See waiting time and number of waiting customers per queue
  • Create and edit customers
  • Book appointments

Department Reception can be used in a multi-department environment.

2.2 Installation

If installing Department Reception from Xtend, skip to step 6.
  1. Copy department-reception.war to <Orchestra_install_dir>\system\custdeploy.
  2. Add departmentReceptionMessages.properties to <Orchestra_install_dir>\system\conf\lang.
  3. Add the content from the commonMessages.properties file in the Department Reception package to the existing commonMessages.properties file in <Orchestra_install_dir>\system\conf\lang.
  4. Execute update_central.sql (from the sql folder) to make the required changes to the qp_central database.
  5. Restart Orchestra Central.
  6. Create users and roles with the required access rights (see section 2.3).

2.3 Access Rights

Users of Department Reception must be assigned to a role with the following access modules:

  • Appointments
  • EntryPoint Connector
  • ServicePoint Connector
  • Department Reception
  • Department Reception Settings (for administrators)

3. Department Reception Settings

3.1 Introduction

This chapter describes all configurable settings for Department Reception.

3.2 Global

Reception

  • Enable Reception — Enable or disable the Reception functionality.
  • Enable Queue Overview — Show or hide the queue overview.
  • Enable Customer Selection — Enable or disable selecting a customer when creating a visit.
  • Enable Mandatory Customer Selection — Make customer selection mandatory when creating a visit (useful when using customer name instead of ticket number; see section 3.11).
  • Enable Search Visit — Enable or disable searching for a ticket in Reception.
  • Enable Reprint Ticket — Enable or disable reprinting a ticket.
  • Enable Queue Transfer — Enable or disable transferring visits to a queue.
  • Enable Userpool Transfer — Enable or disable transferring visits to a user pool.
  • Enable Counterpool Transfer — Enable or disable transferring visits to a counter pool.

Appointment Arrival

  • Enable Appointment Arrival — Enable or disable the appointment arrival functionality.

Booking

  • Enable Booking — Enable or disable the booking functionality.

3.3 Booking

  • Enable Regions Selection — Enable or disable region selection.
  • Enable Service Groups — Enable or disable the service group filter. If disabled, the full service list is shown.
  • Enable Notification Type — Allow selecting a notification type. If disabled, the default notification type is always used.
  • Activate number of children — Enable or disable selecting and showing the number of children for an appointment.
  • Disable saving the same service multiple times based on number of people — By default, the service is saved once per person. Enable this option to save the service only once regardless of the number of people.
  • Disable Stat Events — Check to prevent the system from sending appointment origin events.
  • Default notification type — Set the default method for sending notifications.

3.4 Branch Configuration (Multidepartment)

Configure specific settings for entry points, used only in multi-department installations.

  • Select a multi-branch / reception branch to display a list of entry points for that branch.
  • Select if the branch is a standalone branch.
  • For each entry point, select whether tickets should be printed.
  • For each entry point, set the Department Printer ID — the logical ID configured in the DepartmentPrinter unit type. This allows the reception to only see departments that have a DepartmentPrinter/Virtual printer with the same ID.

3.5 Custom Visit Parameters

Select which custom fields from branch, calendar branch, calendar service, or calendar resource should be added to the visit when an appointment is arrived.

  1. Click Edit.
  2. Select a parameter type: branch, calendar branch, calendar service, or calendar resource.
  3. Select the custom visit parameters to include.
  4. Click Save to add the parameters.
  5. Click Save for the whole settings page.

3.6 Appointment List Fields

Configure the fields shown in the appointment list when arriving appointments. Select which fields are enabled, whether they are visible by default, and the default column order. Staff members can further customise visibility and order. Available fields:

Alert, Status, Time, Duration, Name, Branch, Services, Resource (Orchestra Calendar), Phone, Email, Date of Birth, Language, Address 1, Address 2, Post Code, City, State, Country, Identification Number, Customer External ID, Title, Last Modified, Internal ID, External ID, Public ID, Notes, Primary Resource (QCA), Secondary Resource (QCA).

3.7 Booking Time Ranges

Define time range filters shown when selecting appointment time slots in Booking. Defaults are Morning (AM) and Afternoon (PM).

  1. Click Add.
  2. Enter a display name for the time range.
  3. Set the start and end time.
  4. Click Save to add the range.
  5. Click Save for the whole settings page.

3.8 Customer Form

Select which fields appear in the customer information form and whether they are required. Available fields: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Date of Birth, Identification Number, External ID, Address Line 1, Address Line 2, Post Code, City, State/Province, Country, Language.

3.9 Country Code

Settings used for the customer phone number field. Configure:

  • Which countries to show in the country code list (if none selected, all country codes are included).
  • The preselected (default) country code.
  • Which country codes to show at the top of the list (most frequently used).
  • Whether a flag is shown alongside the country code.

3.10 Customer Languages

Define the languages available when creating a customer. Click a language to set it as the default. Languages added here should match those configured in Notification Admin.

3.11 Custom Ticket Number

Print tickets with a customer name instead of a ticket number.

  1. Go to Settings > Extra Configuration > Custom Ticket Number and check Enable custom ticket number.
  2. Select the ticket number type:
    • Last name
    • First name
    • First name + first letter of last name
    • Last 4 digits of the appointment ID
  3. Click Save at the top of the settings page.

3.12 Counting

The counting feature allows visits to be counted in the system even when a customer is helped directly without creating a ticket. Staff click Count customer in the Visit Form to manually register the visit for statistics purposes.

Set Up the Counting Feature

A service point must be assigned for counting per branch before the feature can be used.

  1. In Department Reception Settings, find the Counting section.
  2. Click +.
  3. Select a branch and a service point.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Repeat for all branches/service points.

4. Using Department Reception

4.1 Introduction

Department Reception combines visit creation, queue monitoring, appointment check-in, and booking. It can be used in a multi-department environment. Available sections and features depend on your configuration.

To open Department Reception, click the icon on the Orchestra home page. On first launch, select a branch and entry point. In a multi-department installation, select the Reception Branch. To return to the Orchestra home page, click Cancel.

The selected branch and entry point are shown in the top bar. To change them while working, click the cog wheel icon in the top bar.

Department Reception has three views:

  • Reception — Create visits and view the queue overview.
  • Appointment arrival — View and check in appointments.
  • Booking — Book appointments.

4.2 Reception

The Reception view can have up to five sections (depending on settings): Department/Branch selection, Service list, Add customer and/or notes, Queue overview, and Search by ticket number.

4.2.1 Quick Create for Visits

Click the Create visit icon next to a service name in the service list to create a visit with a single click. A popup shows the visit number, and a ticket is printed if a printer is connected.

Quick Create is not available if mandatory customer selection is enabled.

4.2.2 Create a Visit

  1. In a multi-department environment, select a branch. Otherwise this section is hidden.
  2. Select one or more services by clicking the service name (search is also available).
    • Hover over the info icon to see an internal service description if available.
    • Use the density slider to change the number of services shown per page.
  3. To add a customer, search for an existing customer or click Add customer to create a new one (see section 4.2.6).
  4. Once a customer is selected, they appear in a list. Multiple customers can be added.
    • Click the pencil icon to edit a customer.
    • Click the trash can icon to remove a customer.
  5. Optionally, add notes to the visit (visible when the visit is served).
  6. Click Create visit to finalise.
    • If counting is configured, click Count customer to register the visit for statistics without creating a ticket (see section 4.2.3).
    • Click Clear form to reset all fields.

4.2.3 Count Visits Without Creating Tickets

When a customer is helped directly without a ticket, you can still count the visit for statistics.

This feature may not be available depending on your system settings.
  1. In the Reception tab, select a service.
  2. Optionally add a customer or notes.
  3. Click Count customer.

4.2.4 Queue Overview

The queue overview shows queues for the selected department/branch with the following information per queue: Queue name, Customers waiting, Waiting time (longest wait in the queue).

Click a queue to expand the queue list. Per-visit information shown: Ticket number, Service, Customer(s) linked to the visit, Appointment time (if applicable), Waiting time.

Available actions from the queue list (if enabled):

  • Reprint the ticket.
  • Delete the visit.
  • Open the visit action window to see full visit details and available actions.

4.2.5 Transfer Visits

  1. From the queue list, open the visit action window.
  2. Select the transfer type: Queue transfer, User pool transfer, or Counter pool transfer.
  3. Find the target queue/user pool/counter pool and click the transfer action button.

4.2.6 Create Customer

When adding a customer to a visit, click Add customer to open the customer form. Fill in the required and optional fields (as configured in settings) and click Save. The same form is used when editing a customer.

4.2.7 Search Visits by Ticket Number

Enter the visit number in the search field and click Search. A visit action card is displayed, similar to the one in Transfer visits.

4.3 Appointment Arrival

The Appointment Arrival view shows upcoming appointments for the day. You can:

  • Filter out appointments older than a set time using the Hide appointments older than toggle and dropdown.
  • Filter by status or appointments within 2 hours.
  • Search across most columns.

Default columns in the appointment list:

  • Alert — Green, yellow, orange, or red. Yellow/orange/red indicates the appointment start time has passed by more than 10 minutes. Hover to see how late.
  • Time — Appointment start time.
  • Status — Created, arrived, called, complete, no-show, ended by reset, never arrived.
  • Duration — Appointment duration.
  • Name — Customer name.
  • Branch, Services, Resource
  • Phone, Email, Date of Birth, Language

4.3.1 Toolbar

  • Refresh — Refresh the appointment list.
  • Select date — View appointments for a specific date. Note: check-in is only available for today’s appointments.
  • Print — Print the appointment list. Only visible columns are printed.
  • Column selection — Choose which columns to show and change their order.

4.3.2 Check In an Appointment

  1. Click on the appointment in the list.
  2. Click Arrive appointment.

The appointment card shows customer name(s), appointment time, duration, and service(s). Three tabs are available:

  • Notes — View, edit, or add notes.
  • Extra — Additional appointment details: title, branch, status, resource, ticket number, external ID, ID, Public ID, and last update time.
  • Customer name tab(s) — One tab per customer linked to the appointment, showing and allowing editing of customer details.

4.4 Booking

The Booking view allows you to book, reschedule, and cancel appointments. A Booking Summary on the right side of the screen shows all selections made so far.

4.4.1 Create Booking

  1. Select a customer: search for an existing customer or click Add customer to create a new one. Multiple customers can be added to a booking.
    • Click Edit to edit a customer.
    • Click Remove customer to remove a customer.
  2. Select a service. Filter by service groups if enabled. Multiple services can be selected. Edit the number of adults and children if enabled.
  3. Select a branch. Filter by branch groups if applicable.
  4. Select a date and time. Use booking time range toggles to filter time slots (see section 3.7 for custom ranges).
  5. In the Booking Summary, enter:
    • Title
    • Notes (optional)
    • Notification type (if enabled)
  6. Click Create Appointment.
  7. In the confirmation card, choose:
    • Print confirmation — Print the booking confirmation.
    • Customer appointment list — View the customer’s appointment list.
    • Details — View the appointment card.
    • Close — Close the card.

4.4.2 Appointment List

Click the appointment list icon in Booking to view all appointments booked for the selected customer. The list is sorted with the furthest future appointments at the top.

Click Details or the info icon to open the appointment card (same as in Appointment Arrival). For upcoming appointments, the following actions are available:

  • Print confirmation — Print an appointment confirmation.
  • Resend confirmation — Send a new confirmation by email, SMS, or both.
  • Reschedule appointment — Set a new date and time (service and branch do not need to be re-selected).
  • Cancel appointment — Cancel the appointment.

Q-MATIC AB, Box 198, SE-431 23 Mölndal, Sweden. Phone: +46 31 756 46 00. Email: info@qmatic.com. Web: www.qmatic.com