On the last post we talked about the importance of correct address placement on accounts. There’s one last tweak we need to tell you about though, because it can make a huge impact on your business and you’ve probably been skipping it and it’s right under the address section.
That’s right. It’s the box in red. The region.
Here’s the thing… if you let it default, it will show as above and say “Test.” It’s not the end of the world.
BUT…. If you actually click the drop down and select the proper state for your account, here are a few benefits you’ll receive:
- Simplification of ‘Mass On Test’ during inclement weather
- The ability of the Central Station to assign ‘Storm Areas’ to specific operators for optimum response
- The ability of Dealers who cover more than one state to focus on specific states for power outages, etc.
The last one is also shown above, though not marked. The Time Zone. On the old system everything defaulted to the time zone we at Central Station were in. This made placing accounts on test or sometimes dispositioning a signal with you, the dealer, the police, or our shared customers a bit of a challenge or confusing if they were not also in EST.
Here’s the cool thing… If you’re in multiple time zones and you adjust that spot in your customer’s account it insures that there aren’t any mistakes when someone from Pacific Standard Time calls and says they want to place an account on test until 5pm because the test time is already set to the correct time zone. If someone calls and wants details pertaining to a signal or an operator is dispatching and the police ask for times, the time reflected is already in the proper time zone. Simple.
If you or whomever does your data entry follows these two little items it will make things so much better for you and us and eliminate misunderstandings.