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Call Logs: General Best Practices

Jennifer Trower Updated by Jennifer Trower

Read Time: 10 mins

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Call Logs allow users to record and collect data while on the phone with a customer. This helps to ensure key details of the customer's reason for calling in do not go unaddressed and saves the user from needing to make notes elsewhere - especially since the call log will then be tied to the entity once completed, and also due to the functionality of having a ticket created based on the completed call log. Below is an overview of how you can interact with call logs, where to find saved call logs, as well as some best practices for using them.

Using Call Logs

How To Start A Call Log

There are 3 places that you can start a call log from, each of which is outlined below:

  1. Global Search: By performing a global search for an account, you will be provided with the phone icon (next to the globe icon) from the Accounts results section of the global search window. Clicking this phone icon will cause the call log window to be displayed.
    To perform a global search, simply hit the SHIFT button on your keyboard twice (SHIFT + SHIFT) to have the global search box appear. For more information on global searches, please refer to the How To Best Use Global Search document.
  2. Individual Account Management Page: From within a specific account's management page, clicking the downward arrow adjacent to the “Edit” menu within the top banner of the page will provide the “Add Call Log” option. Clicking this option will result in the call log window being displayed.
  1. Account List Screen: From the main account list screen, clicking the downward arrow adjacent to the “Edit” menu for an account will provide the “Add Call Log” option. Clicking this option will result in the call log window being displayed.

Call Log Window

The call log window, once displayed, will remain visible regardless of where you navigate throughout Sonar. Users can therefore easily navigate through the system while on a call with a customer by clicking anywhere on the green header to minimize it, and still be able to take notes and document the call as they go - while being able to search for and look up information that is pertinent to the ongoing call.

The specific features of the call log window are detailed below.

  1. This timer starts once the call log is first opened, and will be displayed and running until the call log is successfully created.
  2. The entity that is associated with this call log will be displayed here - this is automatically populated and based on the entity that the call log was started for. Clicking on this will result in a sidebar menu being displayed with further details on that entity, along with the option to navigate into that particular page.
  3. The subject of the call log can be entered here - this will be visible in the Subject column for the call log, where the call logs are displayed (both from the Call Logs screen and also the Correspondence tab of the account).
  4. The body section of the call log is where users can document the necessary information about the call. There are also several formatting options available here that can be used as needed.
  5. This checkbox will determine whether a public ticket is created based off of the call log. If this is checked, once you click “Create” from the call log window, the Create Public Ticket window will appear directly after with the assignee, subject, description, and user fields automatically populated, based off of the information from the call log.

Locating Saved Call Logs

There are 2 different ways for you to locate a saved call log for a customer within your instance. Below, we'll break down these options for you.

Using the Communication Tools

The first page you'll see upon accessing Communication Tools is “Call Logs”. This section reflects all call logs taken within your instance and includes options to action them into tickets.

  1. You may be familiar with filtering already due to the function presence already ingrained in your instance. Much like other tables, you can filter through all line items to pinpoint specific data, such as accounts or users.
For more information on Simple vs Advanced Filtering, click here.
  1. The Account column reflects the account name attached to the call log and provides quick account access to the account by clicking on the name.
  2. The Subject column reflects the header input by the user who took the call.
  3. The Duration column details how long the call lasted, counting from the moment the agent started a call log through to when they created it.
  4. The User column reflects the name of the user who started the call log.
  5. The Created column details the time and date the call log was created by the attendant.
  6. The Edit button allows you to make adjustments to the call log, if necessary. This button being visible depends on permissions set to the user role, which we'll go into further detail about below.
  7. Clicking on Create Internal Ticket will prompt the internal ticket creation modal, similar to what you would see if creating a call log and immediately continuing on into a ticket.
  8. And on a similar note, clicking on Create Public Ticket will prompt the public ticket creation modal.
  9. The Delete button provides the ability to entirely delete a call log from the instance. This button being visible also depends on permissions set to the user role and will be covered below.

Account Management Page

While viewing the account management page, you will click on the Correspondence tab. This section reflects all call logs taken within your instance per this individual account, and includes options to action them into tickets.

  1. The Subject column reflects the header input by the user who took the call.
  2. The Duration column details how long the call lasted, counting from the moment the agent started a call log through to when they created it.
  3. The Attendant column reflects the name of the user who started the call log.
  4. The Created column details the time and date the call log was created by the attendant.
  5. The Edit button allows you to make adjustments to the call log, if necessary. This button being visible depends on permissions set to the user role, which we'll go into further detail about below.
  6. Clicking on Create Internal Ticket will prompt the internal ticket creation modal, similar to what you would see if creating a call log and immediately continuing on into a ticket.
  7. And on a similar note, clicking on Create Public Ticket will prompt the public ticket creation modal.
  8. The Delete button provides the ability to entirely delete a call log from the instance. This button being visible also depends on permissions set to the user role and will be covered below.

Permissions

In order to utilize all aspects of Call Logs, the corresponding role permissions must be enabled first. Below, we'll break down which permissions affect which abilities in order to provide you with a clear view of how you can configure roles.

The Call Log category of permissions has 4 togglable options.

  1. View all call logs: if this is disabled, users cannot see the “Call Logs” tab under Communication Tools. On a similar note, they will be unable to see any call logs when they navigate to “Correspondence” within a customer account.
  2. Create a call log: if this is disabled, users are unable to start a call log.
  3. Update a call log: if this is disabled, users cannot see an option to “Edit” a call log either within Communication Tools or under “Correspondence” within a customer account. Instead, the only options they'll see are “Create Internal Ticket”, “Create Public Ticket”, or “Delete”.
  4. Delete a call log: if this is disabled, users cannot see the “Delete” option when clicking on the dropdown alongside a call log line item.
If you're a Super-Admin of your Sonar instance, no permission changes are required for your account. For more information on Roles and Permissions overall, please review this linked article.

Best Practices & Tips For Using

In this section, we have included some best practices for making the most out of your call logs, and tips on how to use them in the most efficient manner.

Call Logs Should Include:

  • Informative Subjects: The subject of the call log should include the name of the caller and the topic that the customer was calling about. This will provide Sonar users with key information simply from the first glance, without needing to navigate into the actual call log.
Example: “Tom re: Billing Parameter Questions”
  • Caller Information: It is always a good idea to include detailed information about the individual calling in. Ideally, a first and last name, as well as the department they are from, should be included so that there is no confusion over who called in.
Example: Simply saying that “Sarah called in...” is not particularly helpful. Larger companies potentially have multiple employees named Sarah, maybe even in the same department. Therefore, including Sarah's last name and department would be key pieces of information to know whom to follow up with.
  • Customer Issue: Including as much information as you can in the body of the call log will help internal users to all be equipped with the same information regarding the call - even if they were not the user that actually took the call. It is also a good idea to document any troubleshooting steps that are being taken during the call, so that other users who might view it after are already up to speed with any attempted solutions. This will help with finding a resolution to the issue quicker, and is a great practice for record-keeping in your system.
  • Issue Status: The status of the call topic should be included in the call log as well. If the caller was reporting an issue and it was resolved on the phone, the steps that were taken to reach a resolution should be documented. If the issue was unable to be resolved on the phone, then the plan of action, the next step, and the deadline for this next step should be documented instead.
Example: “Reviewed billing parameters with Linda and was able to answer her questions regarding delinquency settings. No further action needed.” or “Reviewed billing parameters with Linda and we were unable to change the delinquency account status for account #456 - will need to investigate with developers. Following up with Linda regarding update by EOD Wednesday.”
  • Contact Information: If follow-up with the customer is required it is important to collect contact information for the individual calling in, or the individual you will be following up with, if different. Making note in the call log of the best method and time to reach them will help ensure all parties involved are kept up-to-date on the issue and its status. Also, it provides a chance to update existing contact information for that account, if it is new contact information that was provided.
  • Additional Comments: If there were particular items that you think would be useful for others to know when looking at this call log, it is always a better idea to include them than to leave them out. If the customer seemed rather upset about the issue they were calling in for, or if you had difficulties getting into their account, it should be documented in the call log. This way, anyone can fully understand the situation when reading the records, it can be used for future reference, and can potentially be used to put an action plan in place if needed.

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