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(2024.2) Department Hierarchy

Owned by David Engblom
Nov 22, 2024
4 min read
image-20240614-144418.png

 

The Departmental Hierarchy function presents Users with a visual representation of their organization's working hierarchy.

Users can reference the Departmental Hierarchy to more easily identify and visualize different business concerns while serving as an important tool regarding issues of seniority and responsibility. Departmental Hierarchy entries can be defined throughout the application as 'Owners' of products and services and as a way to organize and group employees and customers.\

Note: if a Department has multiple Primary Phone Numbers and/or Emails on the Phone Number and Emails tabs, the Department will appear multiple times in the Department Hierarchy grid. The application does not allow multiple Primary Phone Numbers/Emails, so this should never occur unless there was a preexisting data issue.  To correct, open the desired Primary Phone Number/Email and save the record, the application will make all other Phone Numbers/Emails non-primary.

Adding a New Departmental Hierarchy Level

Navigate to the Departmental Hierarchy Grid. Main > People > Departmental Hierarchy

Click the image-20240614-144300.png  button located immediately above the Departmental Hierarchy Grid.

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In the Departmental Hierarchy data entry form, Users are prompted to define the required fields: Code and Billing Group. Users can also define default GLAs, SLAs, and Incident SLAs that are triggered when a User selects the new Departmental Hierarchy level elsewhere in the application.

Note: the field labeled Parent is grayed-out and is not available for edit. After the new level is saved, the User can move the level along the Tree located immediately to the left of the People Departmental Hierarchy Grid. These moves establish both the level's place in the hierarchy and its Parents or Children.

Users can create Child Departmental Hierarchy levels via the Departmental Hierarchy displayed to the left of the Grid. Right-click on the Departmental Hierarchy level intended to be the Parent of the new record and select 'New Item' from the menu. Alternatively, Users can highlight the intended Parent Department Hierarchy level and press the image-20240614-144304.png  button located on the Grid Toolbar above the Grid.

Once all required fields have been satisfied, click the image-20240614-144537.png  button at the bottom of the form. The new level appears on the original Departmental Hierarchy Grid as well as the Tree located immediately to its left.

Managing Departmental Hierarchy Levels

Now that a new Departmental Hierarchy level has been saved, the User can manage it or other existing levels using the Tree located immediately to the left of the People Departmental Hierarchy Grid.

The Tree allows Users to drag and drop Departmental Hierarchy levels to any position on the Tree. The application prompts the User to confirm the move. After confirmation, the move is saved, and the appropriate Parent to the new Departmental Hierarchy level appears in the level's Departmental Hierarchy data entry form (see 'Adding a New Departmental Hierarchy Level ' section).

Note: Moving a Departmental Hierarchy record that has descendants moves the descendant records as well and change the 'Parent' field in the level's Department Hierarchy data entry form.

Users can also move items within the Departmental Hierarchy Tree by cutting and pasting. To cut an item, right-click the Departmental Hierarchy level and select Cut. To paste an item, right-click on the intended Parent Departmental Hierarchy level and select Paste.

Bulk Updates

Replacing a Department Hierarchy

 

This button replaces all instances of a Department Hierarchy with another Department Hierarchy. This can be useful if a Department has their name changed. To use, select a Department Hierarchy to replace and click the image-20240614-144746.png  button. The Select Replacement Department dialog opens. Click on the checkbox in the Grid to select the Department that should replace the old Department. Click the image-20240614-144751.png  button on the form. The Event is sent and a Notification alerts the User when all the replacements have been made.

The Department Hierarchy is replaced on any Service Order, Service, or Equipment where that Department Hierarchy appears. Because the Replace function can change LARGE volumes of data, it is strongly recommended to permission this button where only authorized Users can access it. For more information on securing the Replace button, please see the Permissions and Best Practices pages.

The Delete Department checkbox serves a dual purpose. The default behavior leaves the checkbox unclicked. This makes the Replace function leave the Replaced Department Active and replace it anywhere it has been previously associated if it can be replaced. If the User selects the Delete Department checkbox, the Replace functionality tries to delete the existing Department. If the Department cannot be deleted because of any lingering associations, the Replaced Department record is set to Inactive instead.

The following are special circumstances related to the use of the Replace button.

  • Services: If the Billing Group of the new Department does not match the Billing Group of the old Department Hierarchy, the Billing Group Override is set to the new Billing Group.

  • Equipment: If the Billing Group of the new Department does not match the Billing Group of the old department, the Department is NOT face replaced.

Department Hierarchy tabs