Using the Manual Calls feature
The Manual Calls feature gives collection personnel an organized, user-friendly work environment in which to select overdue tenants, review account records and notes from previous collection calls, initiate new collection calls with a single click, obtain payments or promise to pay commitments, and document call interactions and outcomes.
NOTE: Manual Calls is offered as an optional XpressCollect feature. For more information, contact your OpenTech Customer Success Manager.
Collection personnel select entries from a list of overdue tenants. When an entry is selected, detailed account information is available for viewing, including phone numbers, the current payment status, payment and charge histories, and any supplementary notes that might have been created during previous tenant collection calls.
Manual Call feature capabilities are described in the following sections:
Things to know
Tenants are added to the call list by specifying Days Late criteria for a scheduled message entry page in which the Manual Calls button is set to Enabled. The relevant settings are located on the Edit Scheduled Messages page.
Tenants can be added to the call list either on the same day that a scheduled notification message is sent or on days when no notifications are sent. For example, a notification message can be sent to tenants who are 3 days overdue, and another entry can be configured at 5 days late with the Manual Calls option enabled either with or without another notification message. This approach gives overdue tenants an opportunity to respond to one or more reminder messages before they are added to the call list so the number of collection calls need to be made can be reduced.
Removing and rescheduling call list entries
Tenants can be removed from the call list in the following ways:
- If a tenant is contacted, provides payment information and the payment is successfully processed, the collection representative can click the
Complete button to remove the tenant entry from the call list. For more information, see
Processing payments.
- Collection personnel can otherwise remove tenants from the call list at any time by opening a call list entry and clicking the Complete button. This action removes tenants from the list until such a time as any that their payment status again matches a Days Late value specified for a Manual Calls-enabled notification entry in the Edit Scheduled Messages page.
This capability can be useful when a tenant never answers collection call attempts, has stated that they do not ever intend to pay, or to address any other situation in which additional contact attempts are not expected to yield results.
Promise to Pay (temporary removal) - When a promise to pay commitment is obtained from a tenant, collection personnel specify a payment commitment date, click the button and then click the
Complete button. When a tenant collection entry is temporarily
Completed due to a promise to pay commitment, the entry is removed from the call list and any
scheduled notification messages that might otherwise be applicable are suspended until the specified reactivation date arrives. For more information, see
Documenting promise to pay commitments.
NOTE: Promise to Pay tenants are still eligible to receive XpressCollect preset messages and other manual messages sent by authorized users until the Promise to Pay commitment date arrives.
- Tenants on the call list can still be set to Rescheduled in the absence of a Promise to Pay commitment. For example, a tenant might be temporarily unavailable because they are on vacation, participating in a military training exercise, or for some other reason. In this case, collection personnel can click the Reschedule button and enter a date on which collection efforts will resume. When a tenant on the call list is manually rescheduled, the entry is hidden when the list filter is set to Scheduled (the initial designation for all tenants added to the call list) until the specified reschedule date has arrived.
NOTE: Tenant call list entries that have been manually set to Rescheduled are still eligible to receive XpressCollect notification messages while the account remains overdue and matches Days Late criteria for any of the notification entries administered for the facility on the Edit Scheduled Messages page. The tenant also remains eligible to receive XpressCollect preset messages and manual messages while the Reschedule period is in effect.
Displaying tenant account information
Using the call list filters
The tenant call list is displayed when Manual Calls is launched. The default status assigned to tenants when they are added to the call list is
Scheduled. Tenants on the list can also be set to
Rescheduled status on an individual basis, as described in
Removing and rescheduling call list entries.
You can also set the call list filter to All Tenants and enter various types of tenant information, including the tenant name, unit number or hone number to locate and view account information for any tenant at the facility. This capability can be useful when collection personnel handle incoming calls from tenants who want to submit a payment.
Reviewing tenant information and making collection calls
When you select a tenant, basic information about the account is displayed, including the tenant name, unit number, unit type, email address and all available phone numbers. Separate tabs are provided to enter payment information, to review tenant charge and payment records, and to enter supplementary notes related to the tenant and call outcomes.
Starting a collection call
To start a collection call, you need to provide the number of the phone you are using. The entry field, which is labeled Your Phone, is located on the right side near the top of the screen.
When you click the Call button located next to a tenant phone number, your phone rings and the call will be connected after you answer.
NOTE: Once you enter your phone number, it remains in the entry field for the duration of your user session.
Processing payments
Collection personnel can take payment information from customers and submit payments to the facility for processing.
Things to know
• The various payment fields are pre-populated with account-specific information when it can be obtained from the facility PMS.
• The charge amount inserted in the Pay Amount field reflects the full payment amount. This value cannot be changed unless facility settings have been configured to allow partial payments.
To process a payment:
1. Open a tenant entry and go to the Payment tab.
2. If necessary, use the Pay Type drop down list in the Payment tab to select a payment method. Depending on the online payment settings that have been enabled for the facility, possible choices are Credit Card or Check.
3. Enter or verify the payment information as needed, choose delivery methods for promise to pay confirmation messages to the tenant via text, email, or both, and click Process.
A message is displayed to either indicate that the payment was successful or that an error has occurred.
4. Click OK to close the message and if the payment was successful, click Complete to remove the tenant entry from the call list.
Documenting promise to pay commitments
If a tenant makes a commitment to pay by a certain date, the information can be documented, an autogenerated message can be sent to the tenant via text or email to verify the payment commitment, and the tenant entry can be removed from the list until the promise date arrives.
To document a promise to pay commitment:
1. On the Payment tab, open the Pay Type drop down list, select the Promise to Pay option.
2. Use the calendar popup or manually enter the promised payment date and choose delivery methods for promise to pay confirmation messages to the tenant via text, email, or both.
3. Click Save.
A message is displayed to confirm the operation.
4. Click OK to close the message and then click Complete.