Call Centre - Would anyone else find the function to add products by typing in the "item code" (in addition to having the ability to search as is the case already) I believe the current method is a little slow if taking a large order"
 
e.g New function to use the code which has been added in my case Lavender oil 10ml I choose LAV10 etc etc.
 
We have over 800 different products and sizes and sad as it is I must admit I know them all off by heart. I am sure many of you know your own codes for items too so think this would be a good function.
 
Anyone interested ??

We do not use the call centre (sadly) is because we cannot make it work for us.
 
We also have many products - over 1,500; also it does not provide for using options with the variable purchasing costs and selling prices.
 
I believe that a significant overhaul would be needed before I could see the Call Centre as a viable tool.
 
Chris

The Call center is a great idea let down by impossible loading times. Just one page but it needs to be re-loaded on every input and you can't have that while you are on the phone.

I agree. I'm working on the call center module on my own to create an order editor as well as to add coupon feature and shipping cost implementation.
 
Of course once complete, I will make it available on the site that I'm creating.

Could you not set up your "call center users" as a User Type?
The call center operator could sign on just as any regular buyer would.
Then could pick and choose the products off the website, go through the regular checkout procedures, changing the Delivery Address to the customer on the phone.
Enter credit card info directly and have it authorized through the normal route?
Would this not work??
CM

Hi, (sorry lots to discuss here after a great suggestion. I would love to hear any pitfalls anybody thinks of.....)
 
I think in principle what you suggest is a great idea. I can only see one slight problem which is the "invoice to" address would be incorrect if using the same account for all users.
 
Could we not simply set up an new account for each new user + also ask them to choose a username and password (which they would be asked to remember for the next order). This would not take any longer than if you did this in the current call centre.......
 
Or if they are unwilling to register place the order on thier behalf without registering. If anyone has a site which insists on registration maybe set up a seperate site just for "call centre" orders using multisite !
 
We could then as you suggest use the store front to place the order and checkout with all the functions in place such as multiple discounts, options, shipping rules, coupons (well the list is endless). Even allowing the client to order and send a cheque/check afterwards.
 
I actually think this would enhance the purchasers and admin shopping/selling experience as ALL product information would be on screen at time of ordering. stock levels if used, size/colour options etc etc
 
Great stuff if you ask me !
 
I think that maybe an improvement to the search option is one thing we would need. E.g improvements in usability so that each product could found quite quickly. Maybe a checkbox which if ticked cycled the system so that after adding an item to basket it returns to the search box ready for the next search.
 
The only other thing which may or may not be an issue is if the client does not have an email address.
 
If a client forgets there username and password the only option would be to either look it up via admin which could take time whilst a client is waiting or simply re-gester them.
 
Or maybe a new user type "telephone-no-email" could be set up with email as an optional field.
 
YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE !!! as this is getting quite interesting.
 
Just to add......
 
After reading the posts on "order editor" I actually approached viart with regard to somehow using the storefront to edit orders.
 
I suggested that if there could be some type of super user/s who could retrieve any orders basket (just like retrieving a saved basket) and then be able to change the order either deleting, increasing qty, adding items.
 
I am sure a new user type could be set up with these privaleges set up with maybe an extra level of security for logging in.
 
We could add a feature that could recognise the difference between the original cart/order and the new one and then that amount was carried through to the checkout to make the new payemnt through the the normal payemnt system. e.g a new field "originalordervalue" would be updated to say £55 after ammending the order total is then £58 so the system carries through £3 to the payment page.
 
Or if in credit use a simple payemnt system to complete the order and then credit back the amount to a clients card/reward credits or points etc
 
I was told by Viart that they could see no reason why this could not be done via the admin area. Well to be fair we cannot do half of the above at the moment via admin. Surely it would be more cost effective to make a few chages in accessing via the store front rather than have to add all features to the admin area...........
 
.....as is the same for using the store front to place a order rather than adding all function to the call centre.
 
anybody anything to add on this ???

I would be interested if anybody out there is using the storefront as a call centre. My one idea would be to create an extra site just for call centre orders e.g www.mydomain.com/callcentre
 
and have it laid out in a user friendly way for quick phone orders
 
e.g maybe a category for the first letter of each product
 
category a, b , c etc with all products beginning with a , b,c in each category
 
Those categories could be set up to only show on the call centre site for quick access but not on any other sites

There is so much good stuff in what you say freezer!
 
We would love to take phone orders but a lot needs to be done to make it seriously functional for this.
 
It is also crucial that orders and there changes are logged - an audit path is a must.
 
And, of course it must be done correctly to update Loyaly Bonus points - and that means it must add the order to customer's account --- not a anonymous admin account. So admin must be able to log into the cutomer's account as well as create a new one.
 
We must also be able to pull up options for a product as well as find the product easily and fast - the final order produced must update the order for total buying cost and well as selling total; and it must also handle weights including those modified in options.
 
Chris

Hi
 
There were 2 things going on in my post
 
1) Using store front to process call centre orders.
 
2). A suggestion of if there was some way we could EDIT an existing order via the storefront rather than add all the functions the storefront has to the admin area.
 
With regard to the store front being used for telephone or post orders etc. I think this is personally the way I am going to go for now. I like the suggestion from Mary in actually setting up a new site using multi-site for call centre orders so that orders can be taken quickly.
 
Basically the process would work something like this
 
1). Take the call
2). Ask client if they have an "account"
3). Take password and username or if new customer take down the details and register the client. The client would then have an account which would have access to all sites.....however the url of the "callcentre" site would never be published to the user.
4). Then take the order > Add items to cart either using improved search system or maybe adopting Mary's idea of a,b,c,d,e categories for quick access. All relevant info would be available and bonus points would be added etc when the order is placed.....no different than the user placing the order themselves.
5). Checkout advise of postage options etc - apply any coupons etc
6). Make payment via whichever method, cheque, cc card etc etc.
 
Then over to admin to process/print the order etc - Which obviously would then log any changes.
 
Job done !
 
The only thing missing is some sort of log of who took the order. Well could we not add a field which only shows on this site call "admin_user" which is compulsary at the checkout additional information section + of course the system will log the ip address of the user who in this case is the person who took the order by phone.
 
Your thoughts please !
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
On a further note and apologies for the long windedness again but I am trying my best to find a workaround as we are nearing launch date.
 
For those who didn't know already because I only stumbled over this myslef recently.
At the moment we have the ability to increase/decrease the quantitys of a product , delete etc via the "view/edit" order section for an order already placed(should a client ring back to ammend an order just placed).
 
The only real pain is we cannot add items to an existing order.
 
A bit of a workaround. The only thing I can think of is logging back in as the same user to place the order for the additional goods but that means 2 invoices and all the shipping rules would be thrown into problems.
 
So could we not build another site just for add ons www.mysite.com/addons this site could be set up where there is no minimum order level just in case you had one in the first place and all shipping methods show so that the relevant shipping method could be chosen for the combined orders.
 
I realise this could get a little messy but I have been working on my site for 8 months and nearing going live and need some way of doing these things otherwise the whole thing has been a waste of time.
 
Then there are returns from clients which need accounting for...another issue in itself.
 
If anybody has any ideas on how we can have simple order ammending functionality I would be interested to hear what you have done in the past.

Regarding your post about using the store front. I've considered the order by proxy route, by letting my reps take orders through a affiliate link to track thier activity and commissions. It works on paper, but in practice it defeats the concept of call center ordering and makes the process of adding order notes and controling other admin functions cumbersome for the order taker. The feedback from the reps is not positive in my case. Plus, when you're handling people's money, accountability is important, which is why I like the idea of a call center that tracks "who did what."
 
I think with some improvements (like many of the suggestions made on this forum topic) the Call Center can function well enough to make the ViArt product stand-out in a crowded market by appealing to B2B users.
 
I also agree that the field refresh is bothersome and reps hate it as it breaks their concentration while trying to upsell during the call. Does anyone feel that an easy fix would be to break the order into two steps, where the rep would fill in the entire order and click 'process' to refresh the page, then click 'confirm' to place the order?
 
I'm no coder, but it seems that may be a relatively easy bit of programming.

Hi Dean
 
Thanks for the feedback. I agree with everything you say.
 
Its just I need to take orders very soon and it seems any improvement to the call centre is going to cost a fortune and take time also.
 
I am going to try the store front as a stop gap at least.
 
I am going to add an additional field to the checkout so the name of the order taker is logged at least.
 
Any changes to the order after that will obviously be logged as those changes will be made in the admin section. I have done a few dummy runs and keeping both the store front and admin section open and working between the 2 is not to difficult in my opinion. I find it best to take the order then access via admin and continue from there adding notes etc later.
 
From my personal point of view it should work for us as we are only a small company and do not out source the order taking at present. If/when we do I will definately need to look more at accountability for the order taking component.
 
That said I will be pressing Viart hard to try and improve this feature as it will be for the good of everyone concerned.