Event Types

There are several kinds of events, one for each type of contact in the system. These are described below with instructions for entering any details or additional settings when you create the contact Event.

Basically, Event Types fall into two groups:

Operator Assisted Contacts, such as phone calls, requiring Operator intervention. These will appear in the Operator's Work In Progress To Do List.

Automatic Contacts, such as letters, which are automatically processed by Collect! in batches.

Operator Assisted Contacts

The Review, Phone, Promise and Other contacts are loaded by default into the appropriate Operator's To Do list.

Review

The Review Event is used to schedule a review of the file. Enter a Description which will appear with this contact in the Operator's WIP list.

Phone

The Phone Event is used to schedule telephone calls. Collect! automatically loads the Debtor's phone number into the WIP list when you are working.

You can choose any of the following phone numbers from the Description field pick list.

- Home
- Work
- Home2
- Work2 (co-signer home and work phone)
- Client
- Client 2 (the Client's fax number)
- Incoming (call received rather than made)
- Other (for your own use)

You can also manually type in a phone number if you want, or you can even type in text if you want. The Description field will hold up to 79 characters.

Promise

The Promise Event is used to record when the Debtor promises to pay. Enter a description into the Description field and switch ON Prompt to confirm details with a check mark. Additional fields become visible where you can enter an Amount of the Promise as a percent of Owing or Settlement. Yo can also fill in the Amount of the Promise when the plan is run.

Other

This is used for miscellaneous activities.

Automatic Contacts

Activate, Close, Commission, Edit, Email, Export, Letter, Metro, Note, Operator, Plan, Rate Plan, Sales, Status and Transaction contact events are processed automatically by Collect! in the daily batch.

If you switch on Schedule immediately for one of the following contact Event types, the Event will occur as soon as you run the plan. If a Delay is entered, the Event will be run when the batch process is run on the date the Event.

There are several ways to run a batch process on automatic contacts.

To print queued batch letters

Daily Administration - Daily Batch Processes -
Scheduled Batch Letters

Print menu - Daily Reports - Scheduled Batch Letters

To process other types of automatic contacts

Daily Administration - Daily Batch Processes -
Batch Processing

Tools menu - Batch Processing

When a contact Event is completed, it is marked as Done. The date and time it was completed are recorded, and the current Operator ID is written to the Contact record as Done by.

Activate

The Activate Event automatically activates a Debtor when processed. This means the Mode field on the Debtor's account is set to ACTIVE and the Closed Date field is hidden.

This will process all accounts regardless of the current setting of the Mode when you want to set it to ACTIVE using the Activate Event.

Close

The Close Event automatically closes a Debtor when processed. This means the Mode field on the Debtor's account is set to CLOSED and any pending and incomplete contacts are deleted, removing this Debtor from all To Do lists. If a contact has the "Do not autodelete" switch set, it is NOT deleted. In progress Promises and Transactions are marked 'Completed'. The Closed Date field appears displaying the current date.

Commission

The Commission Event sets a commission rate on the debtor's account. In the Description field, enter the percentage as a number. For example, 33 means 33% and 12.5 means 12.5%

If you switch on Schedule immediately, the Commission Rate will be set as soon as you run the plan. If a Delay is entered, the Rate will be set when the batch process is run on the date of the Event.

Edit

The Edit Event allows you to modify any field related to the Debtor form when processing Debtors, or the Client form when processing Clients.

The Process pick list in the Batch Processing form allows you to choose either Debtors or Clients to process.

In the Description field, you need to type in the field name and its new value, i.e. field name = some value. For example, the Description would contain Summary = Test note if you wanted Test note to appear in the Debtor Summary line. Or, you could use POE = Fred's Cleaners to put Fred's Cleaners in the debtor's POE field. If you are processing Clients, you could use the field name from the Client form that you want to edit, for instance Worked Date = 02/02/2007.

The field name that you put in the Description is the name that appears on the record you are processing (Clients or Debtors). This works for aliased fields as well. Or, you can use the printable field code for the field. For example @de.su = Test note or @cl.u2 = New Contact (when processing Clients) .

Any related record may be edited as well. For example, on an interest-bearing account, you can process Debtors to change the date in the Calculate interest from field in the Interest Detail form using the format @id.cifd = {date}, for example, @id.cifd = 12/12/2003. This can be combined with a Transaction Type that allows you to post the accrued interest on an account. Please see Transaction Type - Percent of Interest for details.

When processing Clients, you can also edit fields in the Client Settings this same way, for instance, you could use @cs.tr = 6 to set the tax rate on your Clients to 6%.

Client

The Client Event lets you change the Client Number on an account. Type the Client Number that you would like to assign the account to into the Description field. When the plan is executed, the account's Client will be changed to the new Client that you set in the plan.

Email

The Email Event lets you schedule an Email contact. Enter a Description which will be displayed in the Operator's WIP list. This description will also appear in the Email's Subject field. By default, email is addressed to the Email Address stored in the Debtor form. See Send Mail for information about how the Email feature works.

Export

The Export Event schedules the exporting of the records the plan is run on. This can be used in conjunction with the import/export module to automate scheduling of export activities.

Letter

The Letter Event schedules a letter to be queued for printing in your daily batch. Press F2 on the Description field to select the letter to be printed. You may put a dot in the radio button labeled Schedule Immediately and a check mark in the check box labeled Print now to override delays in the plan and print the letter immediately when the plan is run.

When you select "Print now," the "Create metafile" check box becomes visible. Switch this ON with a check mark to create and attach a METAFILE to the Letter Contact when the letter is printed. This also applies to letters printed to Email.

Collect! will not create a METAFILE if the Client Settings switch "Disable metafiles" is switched ON unless you are printing your Scheduled Batch Letters.

To print queued batch letters, choose one of the methods outlined above for printing letters.

Metro

The Metro Event has a special purpose in Collect! only if you are using the Credit Reporting module. A Metro contact is scheduled and updated automatically by Collect! when you choose to report a debtor to the credit bureaus.

If you are using the Credit Reporting module, or you may do so in the future, DO NOT schedule Metro contacts in your contact plan. If you will never use Credit Reporting, the Metro Event may be used for your own purposes.

Note

The Note Event writes one line of notes into the Debtor notes. In the Description field, enter the text you want written into the Debtor's notes when the plan is run.

If an asterisk [*] is the first character in the Description, an asterisk will be placed at the beginning of the note line causing it to be at the top of the Notes.

If a Delay is entered, then the note will not be written to the Debtor's notes until the batch process is run on the date of the Event. If you want the note to be written immediately, switch on Scheduled immediately for the Note event.

ODBC

The ODBC Event is a special event used in the ODBC Sync extension module. You must have this module to use the ODBC Event. The Description field shows three types of events available, Update, Insert and Delete. Each one of these triggers an event in a third party database table configured to receive information from Collect! through an ODBC data source. The Attachment field contains the name of the config/ini pair of files with the ODBC connect information.

Please refer to Help topic, ODBC Sync for details.

Operator

The Operator Event changes the operator assigned to the debtor. Any pending contacts on the account that were assigned to the previous operator will be assigned to the new operator. You may assign the account to the operator who runs the plan, or to a specific operator. If you switch ON Assign to specific operator an Operator pick list appears. Press F2 to view the list of operators. Select the ID of the Operator you wish to assign. The Description field can be used for additional information to display in the contact plan's list of events.

Plan

The Plan Event causes another Contact Plan to be invoked on the specified date. Press F2 on the Description field to select a Contact Plan to be executed.

If you switch on Schedule immediately, the Action will run as soon as you run the plan. If a Delay is entered, the Plan will run when the batch process is run on the date of the Event.

Rate Plan

The Rate Plan Event sets a Commission Rate Plan on the debtor's account when the plan is run. Press F2 in the Description field to choose a commission rate plan ID.

If you switch on Schedule immediately, the Rate Plan will be set as soon as you run the plan. If a Delay is entered, the Rate Plan will be set when the batch process is run on the date of the Event.

Sales

The Sales Event changes the Sales Team ID assigned to the debtor. You may set the Sales Team to the operator who runs the plan, or to a specific operator. If you switch ON Assign to specific operator an Operator pick list appears. Press F2 to view the list of operators. Select the ID of the Operator you wish to assign. The Description field can be used for additional information to display in the contact plan's list of Events.

Status

The Status Event changes the debtor's Status Code. Press F2 in the Description field to pick a new Status Code to assign when the plan is run.

Transaction

The Transaction Event posts a Transaction to an account. Press F2 in the Description field to select the ID of the Transaction Type. Set the amount of the transaction in the Transaction Type settings. Or, switch ON Prompt to confirm details with a check mark. Then you can fill in the amount of the Transaction when the plan is run.

When you schedule a Transaction Event with Prompt to confirm details switched ON and Schedule immediately, you are prompted with a Transaction form when the plan is run, allowing you to enter a Transaction amount. If the Transaction Type specifies an amount to post, this is entered automatically when the Transaction form is displayed.

With Prompt to confirm details switched ON with a Delay, the Schedule Next Contact form appears when you run the plan on a debtor, allowing you to enter an amount.