In the FM App for time input there are two ways to add a note (1) on the EMPLOYEE screen, click three dots on the right of an employee and select 'Add/Edit Note' (2) on the PHASE screen , click three dots on the right of an phase, select 'Add/Edit Note', and then select which employees it applies to. In BOTH of these cases, the note comes over in Vista PR Timecard Entry under "Memo" column. This is a terrible design because Foreman input daily notes for MANY things such as the weather, if a piece of equipment broke or got repairs, etc. which is for Overhead personnel to review and be aware of. These notes are NOT for payroll nor does payroll need them. Aside from the current open suggestion to change how VP interprets NOTES (it gets assigned to EVERY earn code), the mobile app NEEDS to have another area to input daily notes which project managers can review but does NOT get input to the Vista PR Entry Memo column. See attached.
Chris D
| Company | Driscoll Construction |
| Job Title / Role | Project Manager |
| I need it... | Yesterday...Come on already |
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Thanks Michael. I think my confusion is where the new notes field will be added. Currently our Foreman add notes for payroll and productions. If there is an added field, they may add notes there as well.
Hi Rapa, are you using the current mobile app today? If you are and the notes display in your custom report then yes it will continue to work, we are not removing any existing notes functionality. Your custom report based on the older field time solution will likely work as well, but since it's custom I can't say for sure without our team looking at it.
Chris - we've put a lot of effort into it, I hope you give us another try!
Hi Michael, we had a custom report built following the prior field time mobile to display field and payroll notes. Will these show up there as well?
I'm glad to see that only four (4) years after my initial inquiry this has just now been changed to 'planning to implement'. I do not know when this will actually be delivered. Unfortunately we stopped using the app years ago due to the many many bugs and loopholes that do not seem to tie together intuitively or technically. Such a pain to troubleshoot an app that had much potential but didn't deliver. I do hope this assists other people on the app because it is long, long overdue.
We will add a new notes field for this, so you won't lose any existing functionality for timecard-specific notes. Your foreman will continue to be able to enter those the same way.
Rapa - those notes will still flow to PM Daily Log, which can also show in the portal under Field Tools > Daily Reports. Is there another spot you'd like to see them?
What if we do not use Field Tickets? Where will the notes be added?
Can this change be implemented as an optional setting? We use the notes for Foreman to add comments for payroll to document when someone is off, does not have a full day, etc. We want these notes imported to the timecard entry in VISTA.
We are planning to do this with field tickets in the mobile app. Notes can be added to the field ticket and will write to the PM Daily Log in Vista.
This would be a great benefit to us. People use the notes to let people know what they were working on and other misc notes that do not have to go to payroll. It would be nice to see them on the approval screens (and corresponding timecard reports) but not go to vista. Our timecard entry report has doubled in size mainly due to the memo's coming through. It would not be feasible to use the submission questions for us.
Hi Chris,
Have you tried using the submission questions section for your employees to add their notes when they submit the timecard? These notes wouldn't go to the batch in Vista and would only be visible on the downloaded view of the employees timecard.
Let me know what you think!
Perhaps you could add an option to the portal settings for whether or not to import the notes to the timecard memo line. For us, the notes entered on the Grid Timesheet are only relevant to payroll and I would want to retain the option of having them flow through to the memo field.
I too enjoy these healthy discussions back and forth and the proposal of new ideas and suggestions. In instances such as this when I am not familiar with the entire Vista system and its hundreds of programs and reports, I will challenge Viewpoint to find a location for the desired suggestion. Thank you for the continued troubleshooting efforts !
Hi Chris,
This board is a wonderful place for the community to discuss items. When I ask about where you would like to see the data, its to gather understanding about how you prefer data interactions. We do this with all our features and its important to the ux. We will investigate and prove out the best place to store the data and present the data. I hope as we continue to discuss items on the web that we provide the community with healthy opportunities to participate with idea sharing.
Again, I am unsure exactly where the desired location would be in Vista. As these notes would only be used for Overhead review/approval of timecards, I would lean towards a way to connect the app and the Portal in a way that does not tie to Vista. This will allow notes in mobile app to be seen in the portal, but not in Vista since they are not required. If the app, portal, and Vista must be tied together for all operations, I would leave it up to Viewpoint to find a proper location for additional notes to be pushed to in Vista.
Hey Chris, I should have been more clear with my request. If a field employee enters notes regarding a job, where would you hope to see these notes in Vista? This is a common discussion item I have had with customers. I'm curious to know from your experience where you would like to see the notes since you don't want them in payroll.
I am not an app developer or a designer so I would trust that Vista could find or make a location for these additional notes to go. I believe the best would be a second note column; it's then input on the app, and is visible in the Portal for daily/weekly timecard review, but that second column would not get pushed into the batch or Vista.
Hi Chris, where would you like to see these notes appear? They currently go to PR Timecard Entry because the mobile app data pushes to PR Timecard Entry and JC Progress Entry. I'd love to know where you would like to see the data from notes to appear.