Using Field Efficient with ServiceM8

If you run your jobs in ServiceM8, you don't have to type them into Field Efficient too. Connect the two, bring your ServiceM8 jobs across with their clients and sites, do the testing in Field Efficient, and send the finished report straight back to the ServiceM8 job diary. ServiceM8 stays in charge of scheduling, quoting and invoicing; Field Efficient handles the testing and the report.

The ServiceM8 connection is part of the Professional and Business plans.

1. Connect ServiceM8

The organisation owner connects ServiceM8, once, for the whole team.

1. In Field Efficient, go to Settings → Integrations and choose Connect ServiceM8.
2. Sign in to ServiceM8 if it asks you to.
3. Until ServiceM8 has verified the Field Efficient add-on, ServiceM8 first shows a “This Addon isn't verified” screen. Choose Proceed.
4. Check the permissions (explained below) and choose Allow. You're taken back to Field Efficient, which shows Connected to and your ServiceM8 business name.

What Field Efficient can see and do

ServiceM8 asks you to allow these permissions:

• Basic information, customers, jobs, staff and schedule — read-only. Used to list your jobs for import, fill in the client and site, and suggest the technician the job is booked to.
• Job attachments — “Full access to file attachments”. This is the only permission ServiceM8 offers for adding a file to a job, and it's used for one thing: putting your finished report PDF in the job diary. Field Efficient never opens, changes or deletes the attachments already in your ServiceM8 account.

Field Efficient never creates, changes or deletes a ServiceM8 client or job. The connection keys are kept on our servers and are never sent to anyone's browser.

2. Import jobs

The owner or an admin can import. Go to Jobs, open the ⋮ menu and choose Import from ServiceM8. You can also use the link on the Integrations page.

• Open jobs (ServiceM8 Work Orders) are listed first. Use Find older jobs to search other statuses over a date range.
• Nothing is saved until you press Import. Review each job first: its client, its site and its technician. You can import up to 50 jobs at a time.
• Jobs you've already imported are listed separately, so nothing comes across twice.

How clients are matched

Field Efficient only matches a client when it's sure. If it isn't sure, it asks you.

• A business matches the Field Efficient client with exactly the same company name.
• A person (a ServiceM8 client marked as an individual) matches a Field Efficient client with the same name and no company.
• Two possible matches? The job goes under Needs a choice. Pick the right client (each one shows its contact name or email so you can tell them apart), or create a new one.
• No match? A new client is created, with the ServiceM8 contact details. Several jobs for the same ServiceM8 client share that one new client.

Head offices and sites

If you use ServiceM8's free Client Sites add-on, a job at a site is imported under its head office, with the site as the job's address. If you'd rather keep the site as its own client, tick Use … as its own client on that job.

Technicians

If the ServiceM8 job is booked to a staff member whose email matches someone in your Field Efficient team, they're suggested as the technician. Change it or leave it unassigned; the technician is notified as usual when you import.

3. Send the report to ServiceM8

On a job that came from ServiceM8, the job page shows a ServiceM8 line with the ServiceM8 job number. Once the report is generated, anyone who can edit the job can choose Send report to ServiceM8.

• The PDF lands in that job's diary in ServiceM8, named like Client – Job title – v1.pdf.
• The job page then shows Sent v1, with when and by whom.
• If you regenerate the report, choose Send v2 to ServiceM8 to add the new version. A version that's already been sent is never added twice, even if the button is pressed again.

Disconnecting

The owner can choose Disconnect on the Integrations page. Imported jobs, clients and reports stay in Field Efficient, and nothing in ServiceM8 is deleted. You can also remove the add-on from inside ServiceM8; Field Efficient then shows that ServiceM8 needs reconnecting.

If something goes wrong

• “ServiceM8 needs reconnecting” — the connection was removed in ServiceM8, or it needs a permission it doesn't have yet. The owner chooses Reconnect on the Integrations page.
• “ServiceM8 isn't responding” or “ServiceM8 is busy” — wait a minute and try again. Nothing is half-saved.
• “This job no longer exists in ServiceM8” — the job was deleted in ServiceM8, so there's nowhere to put the report. Download the PDF from Field Efficient instead.
• A job can't be imported because its client can't be found — the job's client was removed in ServiceM8. Give the job a client in ServiceM8, then import it.

Still stuck? Contact us from fieldefficient.com.au and tell us the ServiceM8 job number.