Technician - WebTMA 5

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Identity Tab

Technician records contain information for each person on staff that is issued work through a Work Order. The default field name is Technician, but the WebTMA System Administrator can replace it with the term used by your organization. The module for making these changes is Admin > Text Management.

Access to this window should be limited to persons who normally have access to confidential employee information. Several Tabs on this window are for information only, such as Costs and Work Orders. Authorized personnel can review costs for work performed by the Technician and Work Orders assigned to the Technician.

Additional information specific to your organization can be recorded using the UDF Tab in this module. These UDF field labels are defined from Organization > Repair Center > Trades / UDF Tab.

Technician Logins

Technicians with a record created from the Technician window do not have permission to log in to WebTMA regardless of the method, i.e., neither browser nor a mobile device.

After you create a Technician record, go to Admin > User Management > Records and create a User record with an assigned Role of Technician. Login information and device types are established from the User window. Information about how to complete the Preferences Tab, Privileges Tab, and various access Tabs for User Management are found in Help > Help Page > System Administrator Setup.

For Technicians who can log in, you have the option to grant some or all of the following permissions from the User record: view Work Orders assigned to the logged in Technician (with limitations), create Work Orders, create a request for quotes (RFQ), and review quote requests. A Technician login restricts the Technician’s access to his or her assigned Work Orders or to records they created.

Even if Technicians cannot log in to the system, their names are available from selection popup windows such as the Work Order / Schedule Tab as long as they have a Technician record.

When you create a Technician record, all Technicians must be assigned to at least one Trade and one Repair Center to save the record.

Technician Identity Tab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Identity Tab

The Identity Tab of the Technician window stores personal and organizational information about employees that are assigned work. Most of the fields on this window are self-evident.

This window is used to establish basic information about the person; however, the login, permissions, and access are added from Admin > User Management > Records. When a new Technician record is saved, click the User Account link on the Action Menu. If you click OK on the query popup window, this opens a User record and adds the basic information. Complete the Role and access information on the User window. If a user record exists, click the User Account link to open the record in a separate window.

The Charge Rate is a required field. If you want to use the default rate from the Trade, click the Trade Subtab and select the Trade or Trades. WebTMA will use the rate for the Trade you mark as Preferred.

The value in the MobileTMA Days field determines how many days forward the system checks for outstanding work. This applies to mobileTMA, mobileTMA GO, and WebTMA GO. The value in this field represents the number of days in the future. If the field shows a value of 3, WebTMA downloads Work Orders for the current day plus the next three days. For example, if the value is 3 and the current day is the 6th, Work Orders through the 9th are downloaded. If the field is empty, WebTMA automatically downloads Work Orders for the current day plus the next two days, as if the value in the field were 2.

The Driver check box applies to the optional Transportation Dispatch module. If you use this module, any Technician marked as a driver is eligible to have vehicles assigned from the module.

A valid address in the Work E-mail field is useful if your organization sets up email notification from the Repair Center / WO Email – Schedule Tech Subtab. Using this Repair Center function, the Technician receives an e‑mail notice when work is assigned to him from the Work Order / Schedule Tab when the record is saved. On the Repair Center / WO Email – Schedule Tech Subtab, you have the option to mark the Suppress Email check box to prevent sending any notices. Or, you can exclude PM Work Order notifications by marking the Exclude Auto Notify Technician for PM Work Order check box on the Repair Center / Identity – Preference Subtab.

If you use a Work Pager or Pager Service, add the information to these fields. When completed, these will also display as an e-mail option when you click the e-mail icon on the Work Order / Schedule Tab or some Quick Post lines (Cost, Time & Labor, Material, or Time & Attendance). For SMS text messages, first go to Organization > Lookups > Messaging Services to set up the cell or pager carrier and address that allow you to send a text message or a page.

When you select a Supervisor ID or Supervisor Name using the down arrows in either field, WebTMA automatically completes the other field for you.

NOTE: Be certain that the address entered in the Work E-mail field is valid. This is one of the e-mail addresses used by the system. If the address is invalid, it causes an error for the service, and messages cannot be sent or received.

How to Add Technician Records

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Identity Tab

To create a record from the Technician window:

1. Click Add on the WebTMA toolbar.
2. Type a unique ID number up to 15 alphanumeric characters.
3. Type the person's First Name / Last Name.
4. Enter the Charge Rate, that is, the amount used to calculate the labor cost when labor is added to a Work Order. To use the Trade’s default rate, click the Trade Subtab and add the Trade.
5. Enter the Shift.
6. Add other work and personal information available to complete the record.
7. Click the Repair Center Tab to allow the applicable centers to see this Technician.
8. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar.

How to De-activate a Technician Record

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Identity Tab

If a Technician is laid off or fired but has been used in transactions within the software, the record must be retained. If deleted, the link between the Technician record and all the related files would be broken. 

To make a Technician record inactive:

1. Open the Technician
2. Locate the desired record.
3. Click Edit on the WebTMA toolbar.
4. Clear the Active check box on the window.
5. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar.

The record is now inactive, and the Technician’s name will not display on selection lists. To re-activate a previously inactive record, use the same process and mark the check box again.

How to Store and View a Technician's Picture

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Identity Tab

The software supports the storage of black-and-white or color images of each person. Save the picture to a .jpg or .gif file.

To add a photo to the record from the Technician's record:

1. Click the Linked Documents link on the Action Menu.
2. Click the Add Document link on the Linked Documents
3. Select Image as the Type on the Document Entry
4. Type a Title for the file.
5. Type a Description to help you recognize the subject when you review the list later.
6. Click the Browse button on the window to locate the image file.
7. Double-click the file.
8. Click the Save button on the Document Entry
9. Click the Save button on the Linked Documents
10. Click the Close button on the Linked Documents

To view the image, click the Linked Documents link on the Action Menu, and double-click the line item.

Technician Other Info Section

The Other Info Section is used to record sizes for protective gear such as gloves and boots.

Technician Crew Section

The Crews Section is used to list any crews to which the Technician is assigned.

Technician Trade Section

The Trade Section is used to assign a Trade or Trades to a Technician's record. In some organizations, a Technician can perform the duties of more than one Trade. You can select several secondary Trades that are associated with a specific Technician record. See the next topic for information about the Preferred Trade and its relationship to the Charge Rate.

How to Add Trade to Technician

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Identity–Trade Subtab

On the Technician window in Add or Edit mode:

1. Click the Add Trades link on the grid.
2. Click the check boxes of the desired Trades on the Trade Entry
3. Click the Add Selected button on the popup window.
4. (Optional) Click the Preferred check box to indicate the primary Trade.
5. Complete all other Technician required fields.
6. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar.

When you add a Trade, WebTMA inserts the Charge Rate of the first Trade entered in the Charge Rate field on the Identity Tab; however, when you mark a Trade as Preferred or change the Preferred Trade, WebTMA displays an alert asking, “Do you wish to change the default charge rate for the Technician to the default of this Trade?”

Technician Supervised Techs Section

The Supervised Techs Section is a read-only list of any Technicians who are supervised by a Technician designated as a supervisor.

Mark the Supervisor check box in the upper section of the Technician / Identity window to designate a Technician as a supervisor.

On regular Technicians' records (non-supervisors), include the supervisor's code and name in the Supervisor ID and Supervisor Name fields on the Work Info Section of the Technician / Identity window.

Once Technicians have been assigned, they display in the Supervised Techs Section of the supervisor's record. Check marks in boxes in the Active column indicate the Technicians that are active. You can sort on any column in the grid. Sorting on the Active column groups the active Technicians together.

Technician HR Tab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / HR Tab

Use the HR Tab to record personal information about the Technician. This includes sensitive information such as social security number and pay rate. WebTMA includes a User / Preferences check box to limit access to the Tab. By default, the Allow View of Technician HR Tab check box is clear. Unless checked, users cannot see any information on this Tab. For UFI and UFI eXpress users, the Budget Code field in the Payroll Information Section, if entered, becomes a variable part of the account stream.

Advanced HR (Enterprise Only)

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / HR Tab-General Subtab

The Enterprise version of Human Resources offers extensive options to track core human resources elements. This Tab is also protected from general view. See the precautions described in the previous topic.

WebTMA tracks information such as:

• Education
• Evaluations
• Detailed Payroll Information
• Leave Usage and Accrual

These Lookup tables support human resources and payroll information.

• Employment Types
• Citizenship Status
• Ethnicity
• Salary Grades
• Pay Codes
• Pay Frequency
• Pay Period

In addition, the Lookups > Positions table includes Job Description and Duties Performed fields related to HR.

The General and Personal Info Subtabs are straightforward records of information about the technician such as date started, address, and emergency contact. The Last Action field applies to events such as performance review, warnings, or similar activities.

Advanced HR Payroll Info Subtab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / HR Tab–Payroll Info Subtab

Use the Payroll Info Subtab to record details about how the employee is paid. You have options of Salaried or Hourly Pay Rate with related fields.

If funding for the individual is divided among different accounts, add the account numbers and the percentage for each account to the Payroll Distribution Accounts grid. Percentages can be added manually or automatically distributed using the Auto-Distribute link at the upper right on the grid. The total distribution must equal 100% before you can save the record.

The contents of the Annual Base Salary, Hourly Pay Rate, and Base Pay Period Hrs fields are display-only.

Advanced HR Education Subtab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / HR Tab-Education Subtab

Use the Education Subtab to record and review a technician's educational achievements.

In Add or Edit mode, click the Add Education link to open the Education Entry popup window.

The Level field is numeric and stores the number of years of formal education achieved.

Other fields include the Graduation Date, Diploma/Degree (or certificate achieved), and Institution or school attended.

Advanced HR Evaluations Subtab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / HR Tab-Evaluations Subtab

Evaluations can be recorded in WebTMA to track management's assessment of the employee's performance throughout employment.

In Add or Edit mode, click the Add Evaluation link on the window to open the Evaluation Entry popup.

Fields on this window include the Evaluation Date, Evaluation Notes, a Rating, and Increase Amount or an Increase Percent. The increase amount and percent are for information only and do not impact any other rates on the technician's record.

Advanced HR Position History Subtab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technicians / HR-Position History Subtab

The Position Section stores the changes in position and responsibility during a person's employment. This can be used to track the position, employment type, pay rate, or salary changes through the years of employment. 

A Comments field is available for each line item. The most recent line item determines the information in the display-only fields on the technician's record.

Advanced HR Leave and Accruals Subtab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technicians / HR-Leave and Accruals Subtab

The Leave and Accruals Subtab displays Leave time as it is accrued and leave Usage when it occurs.

When leave is entered from Transactions > Time Manager > Time & Attendance, or from Transactions > Quick Post > Time and Labor or Labor by Technician, the system automatically adds the information as line items to the Leave Usage pane and subtracts the time taken from the Accrual Adjustments pane in the Balance column.

The default date range is the current year. To view leave taken during a different date range, select the dates of your choice, and click the Apply Date Range button.

How to Make Accrual Adjustments

Set up leave time types in Lookups / Time Types before you make accrual adjustments. Once time types are established, open the technician's record and use the Accrual Adjustments pane to enter the amounts of unpaid and paid leave time granted to an employee.

If time is accrued on a monthly basis, set up a routine to add amounts each month.

1. Click Edit on the WebTMA toolbar.
2. Click the Add Accrual link at the top of the Accrued Adjustments pane.
3. Complete the Accrual Adjustments Entry
4. Click Save on the popup.
5. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar to save the change.

If you save an error, the accrual line items cannot be edited. However, you can add a new line item with a negative number to reverse the entry.

Technician Checkout Tab

The Technician / Checkout Tab relates to the Checkout Tab on item windows. You can check out any of the following from the Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Checkout Tab or from the item windows:

• Equipment
• Asset
• Entity
• Tool
• Vehicle
• Biomed
• IT Equipment

The Checkout Tab displays on all the related item windows and shows a list of any technicians who have checked out the item or items. You can check out items from either the Technician or the item window and the action is reflected in both records.

Technician PPE Tab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / PPE Tab

This Tab is used to record any personal protective equipment (PPE) or Parts issued to the employee. PPE Items are defined in Organization > Lookups > PPE.

If the technician requires a supply of parts at all times, the parts can be issued through the Technician / PPE Tab. When issued from this window, WebTMA creates an On-hand Adjustment record with a code 31 to identify the issue adjustment.

Parts issued from this Subtab can also be returned; however, the quantity returned cannot exceed the quantity issued. WebTMA creates an On-hand Adjustment record with a code 30 to identify the return adjustment.

When a Warehouse is associated with a part and the logged-in user does not have access to the warehouse, the part is view-only. Moreover, if the logged-in user does not have access to the given warehouse, he or she cannot return parts associated with the warehouse.

If the logged-in user has access to the warehouse, the part can be edited.

How to Add Items to the PPE Items Subtab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / PPE Tab–Items Subtab

The Items Subtab displays by default. To record any personal protective equipment (PPE) items issued to the employee:

1. Click Edit on the WebTMA toolbar.
2. Click the Add Item The PPE radio button is selected by default and cannot be changed.
3. Complete the PPE Entry
4. Click the Save button on the popup to save the PPE Item.
5. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar.

How to Add Parts to the PPE Parts Subtab

To record parts issued to the employee from the PPE Tab:

1. Click Edit on the WebTMA toolbar.
2. Click the Parts
3. Click the Add Item The Part radio button is selected by default and cannot be changed.
4. Complete the PPE Entry
5. Click the Save button on the popup to save the PPE Item.
6. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar.

Technician Training Tab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Training Tab

The Training Tab is used to record the training courses each technician has completed or needs to attend as well as other expertise the technician has.

Use the Supplemental Skill Subtab to record additional skills or certifications. Your WebTMA System Administrator creates the list of available skills from Organization > Lookups > Supplementary Skill.

Note: If your organization uses the optional Training Module, a read-only Completed Class Subtab is also visible on the Training Tab. See the end of this topic for more information.

From the desire technician's record in Edit mode:

1. Click the Training Tab — Legacy Subtab.
2. Click the Add Item
3. Complete the Training Entry popup window.
4. Click the Save button on the popup window.
5. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar.

When the window refreshes, the new line item is on the Training Tab.

If you use the optional Training module, the window displays three Subtabs: Completed Class, Legacy, and Supplemental Skill. The Legacy Subtab displays more limited information about any schooling prior to use of the Training module.

Technician Facilities Tab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Facilities Tab

The Facilities Tab is used to assign the technician to one or more facilities. You can select a number of applicable facilities that are associated with a specific technician record.

How to Add Facility Line Items

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Facilities Tab

1. Select the desired Technician.
2. Click the Facilities
3. Click Edit on the WebTMA toolbar.
4. Click the Add Facility link at the top of the grid.
5. Click the desire check boxes on the Facility Entry
6. Click the Add Selected button on the popup window.
7. Click the Close button on the popup window.
8. Click Save on the WebTMA toolbar.

When the screen refreshes, the new facilities are displayed on the Facilities Tab.

Technician Repair Center Tab

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / Repair Center Tab

In Edit mode, add the repair centers that can see the technician.

This does not grant any privileges to the technician, it only allows users throughout the application to see the technician's name on selection lists.

Technician Read-Only Tabs

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technicians

Several Tabs in this module supply read-only information about the technician.

Costs – Current and historical cost data about work assigned to the selected technician.

Work Orders – Open and closed Work Orders assigned to the technician. Double-click a line item to open the specific Work Order record.

P-Card Tab (WebTMA Enterprise)

Path: Organization > Repair Center > Technician / P-Card

The P-Card Tab is available to WebTMA Enterprise users. If you use the P-Card (purchase card) function to allow specified personnel to make emergency purchases, use this Tab to issue the card or cards and view a history of each item charged to the card.

Click the History Subtab to see a list of each transaction by date. To view multiple items purchased on the transaction, click the plus  button next to the line of interest.

P-Card Entry Window (WebTMA Enterprise)

In Add or Edit mode, click the Add P-Card link to open the P-Card Entry flyout and record information about the P-Card. You can issue as many cards to a technician as needed.

The Card # is the only required field on the P-Card Entry window. For security reasons, the design of the field is limited to 12 characters, which is not sufficient to enter an entire account number.

Use the final 12 digits (or fewer) in the card number to provide unique numbers for identification within the system yet protect the information from abuse.

Elective fields on the window identify issuing banks, transaction limits, expiration, and other card-related information.