Two-Way Communication

This article is for all users of FMI Works

Overview

Two-way communication allows the FM team to send messages from the work order's Log tab. An internal tradesperson or requester can reply from the Requests portal, and contractors from the Contractor portal.

Every message is recorded against the work order alongside the rest of its history.

Where to start

Two-way communication is switched on by default. To get the most from it, make sure that:

Internal tradespeople, requesters and contractors can sign in to their FMI portal.
The work order has its contractor (supplier) and/or assigned employee filled in.
The work order is still open. Once it is Closed, Completed, Cancelled, Duplicate,
Not To Proceed or To Be Invoiced, requesters and contractors can read the conversation but can't add to it.

Sending a message from the Log tab

1. Open the work order and select the Log tab.

2. Type your message in Log Message. A message can be up to 2,000 characters.

3. Leave Public selected. Choose Private only for an internal note — this option is available to users with the Works Coordinator or Manager permission.

4. Under Send To, tick everyone who should receive the message.

5. Click Add. The message is added to the log and emailed to everyone you ticked.

Ticks in the Req, Site, Emp, Sup and Int columns show who each message was sent to, and a log entry marked Private is internal-only - it is not shown in the Requests or Contractor portals.

Who receives each message

Send To	Who Receives It	Where They Read It
Requested By	The person who raised the request	By email, and in the Messages section of the Requests portal
Assigned Contractor	The supplier assigned to the work order	By email, and in the Messages section of the Contractor portal
Int. Parties	The work order's interested parties	By email, and read-only in the Requests portal
Site Contact	The site's contact	By email
Assigned Employee	The internal employee assigned to the work order	By email, and in the Requests Portal

Messages the FM team sends from the Log tab are already marked as read for the team, so they never add to your own unread count. Replies from requesters and contractors are set as unread.

Replying as a requestor or internal tradesperson

1. Select the Requests module and open the request.

2. Scroll to the Messages section. Messages are shown in order, with the newest at the bottom and your own on the right.

3. Type your reply in the box below the messages and click Send.

Your reply is recorded on the work order, and the requestor and employee assigned to it is emailed so the FM team knows you have responded.

A requestor and internal tradesperson will only see each others messages or messages from the FM team that are sent to them. Messages to the contractor, internal notes and private entries are not shown.

Replying as a contractor

1. Sign in to the Contractor portal and open the job.

2. Scroll to the Messages section.

3. Type your message. To email someone else as well, tick Also notify Site Contact or
Also notify FM Team Assignee.

4. Click Send.

A contractor will only see messages sent to Assigned Contractor while their company was assigned.

A Supplier Manager sees every message from their company on the job; a Supplier User sees the FM team's messages and their own, but not their colleagues'.

If the work order is reassigned, the new contractor doesn't see the previous contractor's messages.

Seeing new messages

Unread messages are flagged in the follow areas, and only work orders that are still open are counted.

Where	Who	What it shows
Dashboard	FM Team	The Unread Messages tile counts unread messages across open work orders at your sites. View Details opens the list.
Works Search	FM Team	The Unread Messages quick search lists every open work order with unread messages. A bell beside the work order number shows how many.
Log Tab	FM Team	The tab heading shows unread messages, for example Log (2) and a bell marks each unread message.
Requests Portal	Requestor	A bell on the request card, and an unread message under Status Update on the home page.
Contractor Portal	Contractor	A bell on the job card, and an alert on the homepage.

Marking messages as read for the FM team

For the FM team, read status is shared rather than personal. When one person marks a message as read, it stops counting for everyone on the team.

1. Open the work order and select the Log tab. Each unread message has a bell in the Unread column.

2. To mark a single message as read, click its bell.

3. To mark every unread message on the work order as read, click Mark all as read.

Messages stay unread for the team until someone marks them. Opening a work order does not mark a message as read.

Turning messaging on or off

Administrators can turn off two-way communication if not wanting to use this function.

1. Go to Administrator > System > General

2. Under Work Order Messaging, tick or clear Enable work order messaging. The change is saved as soon as you click the box.

While messaging is off, the Messages section in both portals show Messages aren't available for this work order. The unread bells, the dashboard tile, the Status Update alerts and the Unread Messages quick search are hidden. The Log tab keeps working as normal.

Turning messaging off only hides it. Every message and unread count is kept, and all of it reappears when you turn it back on.