Really need a calendar view in the Web Interface.

[bdbrower]

In going through the forum posts there seems to be a lot of requests for a Calendar view in the Web Interface, going back almost two years or so, but none of the CommitCRM Support responses seem to reflect an appreciation for the value of adding this feature. We have been using CommitCRM for almost two months now (after moving from ServiceCEO) and all of our field users LOVE it, with their ONLY criticism being the lack of a calendar to easily view their appointments. I know what all of your other forum responses have said: "You can view this information in lists". But is just isn't the same. You guys seem to be very responsive to other customer feedback. How about a little love for the guys in the field who just need this one other feature in order to view the web interface as a tool delivering everything they need. As far as we are concerned, we don't need dispatching ability for the Web Interface calendar. Just "read only" daily/weekly/monthly calendar views of appointments with links to the Appointment records would be fine. The programming for this can't be that hard, can it? Do any other CommitCRM users reading this post agree?

[Support Team]

bdbrower,

Thank you for the feedback. We're happy to hear that you're happy with RangerMSP :-)

We definitely see how it would help and it's on our list. That being said, it's all about priorities and we try hard to promote and implement the most popular requests first, which is not an easy job and some users can see why we delay their suggestions. We have no doubt that other will benefit from such an improvement, however, at this moment some other items have a higher priority. Please note that we have received requests for this in the past and we're definitely going to evaluate this for one of our coming releases.

Thanks again,
Dina

[nattivillin]

The lack of a calendar is why we haven't fully adopted CommitCRM for use in all of our sites. It just too difficult to keep up with with is going on without it. And since we cant use the client over a vpn, CommitCRM really isn't a solution for all our sales / billing / scheduling / invoicing / ticketing / needs.

We only use CommitCRM at one of our locations and dispatch from there instead. The web interface is just too clumsy. Too many clicks to do stuff the client does easily.

This really need to be pushed near the top of the list.

[pops1000uk]

yeah i would like calendar view for my remote receptionist! be good for them. At the moment what i do is create slots in the calendar (1 hour slots) the receptionist fills the info in when the call si taken

[lpopejoy]

For me the best option would be to make the CommitCRM client run over a VPN. That would make me very happy. However, I can see how having a calendar in the web interface would be very helpful too.

[mcjack]

What about login through Remote Desktop Connection?

[Support Team]

Than's an option, though it means bypassing the Web interface altogether.

Thanks,
Dina

[danoli]

We have been requesting this for 2 years and are looking for a replacement to CommitCRM as it is VERY high on our list of priorities...

[Support Team]

Feedback noted. Thanks.

[pops1000uk]

what i used to do is, create blank callender entries and get my remote receptionist to pre fill the data. not ideal but worked. The VPN option is to slow i have tried it lol

[jim@dsolutionsgroup.com]

Here's a link to a video demo of iPhone accessing CommitCRM calendar info in real-time via Interlink iPhone web app.

Watch Video Here (http://vimeo.com/17908002)

[hayden]

I think the whole web interface needs an overhaul. It's slow, many clicks. Could do with some Ajax and web parts...

[bdbrower]

It's been two months since I made this post and there have been several others chiming in on the need for a web calendar. Your original reply was vague about where this ranks in your list of priorities for feature enhancements, and the posts don't show a strong indication for high requests for other features. Can you provide any insight into where this currently ranks in your priorities list? Is there a current development roadmap that would include this request? Any feedback would be appreciated. My techs are getting impatient.

[Support Team]

Thanks bdbrower, this is definitely something we're looking at. We're currently working on some other requests and I can say that this is not something that will be included in our next release. I believe it will be implemented in one of our future releases though at this point I do not have more details.

Happy New Year!

Dina

[springcity]

I agree we would like to see calendar improvements as the #1 priority. We have been holding off on buying any upgrades to our CommitCRM version waiting for a calendar view to come out for the web interface.

We love using CommitCRM inside the office, but my field service techs complain constantly about the web interface and we have had a number of missed appointments with customers due to the lack of a calendar view in the web interface. This is because our tech's have to view their schedule by ticket and don't see anything that is scheduled as an appointment as opposed to a ticket. Instead of looking for work arounds we would really like to have a full featured web interface.

The lack of a calendar view is in my opinion the only thing keeping CommitCRM from being an outstanding solution for us right now. Are there any plans for adding this feature yet? Overall CommitCRM is working for us, but not having a calendar view for field service employees is why we haven't upgraded to 5.5. There are some neat little things in there, but nothing so important to the business as making sure that the field service employees are seeing the same schedule that people in the office see.

[springcity]

Sorry for the double post here, but finding out that this feature isn't in active development is rather hard to swallow. I'm not saying that we're going to just run out and switch to a different product (we've been on CommitCRM for 6 months now) but I had assumed that this was just a very young application and an improved web interface was going to be released at any minute...

Right now employees in the field can't see where they are supposed to be with anywhere near the accuracy or clarity that the people scheduling them can see. This translates directly into missed appointments and damaged customer relationships. How can fixing this not be a priority for a CRM system?

I am VERY disappointed right now :( PLEASE make this your #1 priority.

[Mister-c]

I'm currently contemplating adding the web interface to my package but the lack of a calendar would be a major hindrance and is one of the main things stopping me from purchasing this add on.

[Support Team]

springcity,

Thank you for the additional feedback on this. We are looking at this and always try to provide answers to requirements brought up and votes by our users. Your feedback is noted.

Thanks,
Dina

[Support Team]

Mister-C. Thank you for the additional feedback. Noted.

-- General Comment:
I want to make it clear to all readers of this thread that Calendar information is already included and available in the Web interface.

Users already can view, edit or create Appointments and Tasks. Technicians can see their schedules for the day, the Tickets linked to the scheduled appointments and more. Customer users can also see scheduled on-site visits linked to their tickets.

The missing feature, as discussed in this thread, is a graphic Web calendar (the RangerMSP client application does include one).

We plan to report back on this when once we have any updates.

Thanks,
Dina

[nattivillin]

Not to beat a dead horse, but some of us who have been following this conversation since it existed 2 threads ago, i wonder how long people have been requesting this feature.

I know i have since i originally got CommitCRM almost 18 months ago. I know people have been asking for a roadmap for sometime, to see which features were being worked on, and which were not.

I would assume that "A" reason for not publishing the roadmap could possibly be the disconnect in what CommitCRM is working on and what the users are asking for.

The last thing i want is for this to turn into a bash CommitCRM thread, because the software is so good, and CommitCRM support is so great, this one feature probably gets more bad press than any other.

I do feel that for all the new things they are adding, it seems like they are just skipping this one in each new release.

As an amateur programmer, i can only image how difficult a feature this may be to make a reality.

As our workforce goes more mobile, having access to the full calendar is such an important feature. I think sometimes CommitCRM doesn't see it that way. Maybe they have never had to actually use the web interface like we do. Maybe they have never had an upset customer from a missed appointment because the tech was looking at tickets and not appointments. Or in our case, someone made the ticket but not the appointment or vice versa.

We just had one today, luckily we caught it. Ticket made, but appointment created as the user and not assigned to the person who is going to do it. So the email to do the job went to nobody. What a pain.

[Support Team]

*** Quick update:

RangerMSP 5.7 provides a new weekly view for Calendar appointments via the Employees Web Interface .

Using the Weekly Calendar, users can view a graphically oriented appointment display for themselves or for other employees. Users can also add and update Appointments to the Calendar.

The new Web Calendar makes it much easier to see what’s going on, what activities and tasks are planned for the week, and the schedules of all individual team members.

>> Read more on What's new in version 5.7.

The Support Team

***************


Original post:

nattivillin,

Thank you for the feedback and for your kind words regarding the product and our support. I believe that as a user that has been using RangerMSP for a while now you are aware that we're working almost solely based on requests that come from our user base. Unfortunately not all features can be implemented together as this will result in a very delayed release something we definitely try to avoid. We like to release new features once they're ready, or at least close after.
This request has become popular and therefore it should be implemented in a future release, unfortunately it will not make it to our next release :-( yet again, it's now high on our list.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Dina

[AN-Tech]

For whats its worth, my techs would benefit more from a mobile client (Android, iPhone, etc) for most CommitCRM functions when out of the office then the web portal. About the only thing we would use the web portal for would be typing up notes and printing work orders for the client to sign. Scheduling and calendar are all handled by syncing with our exchange server which is viewable on their phones.

[jim@dsolutionsgroup.com]

Just a quick post with an updated video link of our Interlink iPhone web calendar for CommitCRM. The latest update adds Day, Week and Month lists, plus you can use date picker to select specific date to view calendar items & details for that date.

Link to Video - Click Here (http://vimeo.com/18687208)

[springcity]

Thank you Dina.