General Question Action Item

The General Question Action Type is a wonderful tool that can be used both for Homeowner Communication and Questions, as well as for internal communication when a more specific Action Item isn't needed. In this article, we'll discuss the General Question Action Type and it's uses. 

Note: Vantaca action items are configurable and may differ in your company’s database. Below reflects our current best practice.

In the homeowner portal on the New Request page, owners can choose General Request, and then in the Choose a Type of Request field, select General Question.

Note: For an action type to appear in the Choose a Type of Request dropdown, it must have a category of Homeowner Request configured on the action type.

The following screen is an example:
 

Once an owner submits a General Question an action item is automatically created that is typically assigned to the Customer Service team. Customer Service can answer the owner’s question by stepping the action item to "Response to Owner."

If the member of the customer service team needs the manager or another staff member to answer the owner’s question, they should step the general question action item to “Question for Manager,” “Question for AR,” or “Question for Accounting.”

If the customer service team stepped the action item to “Question for Manager”. The manager can then step the action item to “Message to Owner” to answer the owner directly.

This action item is also designed to facilitate internal communication. As the steps are assigned to different functional areas, simply create the action item in the applicable step. If the action item is never sent to the homeowner (by stepping it to Message to Owner) then the owner will never see the action item.

NOTE: The homeowner will only see the communication on steps designated in the action item rules as Send To -  Homeowner. 

FAQ

Q: Is there a report that shows which owners have portal logins and their login activity?

A: Vantaca doesn't have a built-in report for this, but you can access this information through the Homeowner and Board Login Activity dashboard within the Business dashboard section in Vantaca IQ.

Use this tool to access comprehensive insights into homeowner and board member login activity. View unique logins and the frequency of homeowner logins, shown by association. Easily identify homeowners and properties without login information or email addresses and take action when needed.

For details on using this dashboard, see our Vantaca IQ - Business Dashboard article. If Vantaca IQ isn't enabled for your database, contact your Customer Success Manager to get started.

Q: Why is General Question missing from the Choose a Type of Request drop-down on the portal?

A: This happens when the General Question action type is not assigned to the Homeowner Request category. To fix this:

1. Go to Settings > Action Types/Steps.
2. Locate General Question and click Edit.
3. On the Edit Action Type window, select Homeowner Request from the Category drop-down.
4. Click Update to save the change.

Once saved, General Question will appear in the Choose a Type of Request drop-down when homeowners select General Request from the Request page.