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This solution article helps you track time spent on service tasks in the field, and create time logs for service tasks on both the mobile as well as the web version of Freshdesk.
If you are trying to find out how you can log time on Freshdesk support tickets, click here.
You may want to track the time spent by field teams on service tasks for various reasons such as:
To track your field team’s efficiency.
To charge customers for the field service provided based on time spent.
To pay your field technicians for the time spent attending to customer issues.
The “Time Logs” feature helps you track and log time entries on the Freshdesk mobile app and these time entries are directly linked to the service tasks which field technicians work on.
Field technicians can follow the steps below to track time on Freshdesk iOS and Android apps.
Login to the Freshdesk mobile app
Select the service task you want to log time for
Click on the floating action button on the bottom right corner of the app
Select Log Time
The "Log Time" screen gives you the ability to add time entries via an automated timer or enter time spent manually.
Automated Time Tracking:
The timer option functions similar to a stopwatch and helps you track time spent on a service task.
On the Log Time screen,
Ensure that the right field technician name is selected for the time entry. By default, the name is that of the field technician logged into the app.
Choose if this time log is Billable or not using the toggle button. Choosing a time log entry as “Billable” will reflect accordingly in the “Time Sheet Summary” report that Freshdesk automatically generates for you. Marking time entries as “Billable” can also make your invoicing workflow smoother by helping you differentiate between various work orders and billing the right customer.
Select the date for which you wish to log time. By default, the current day is chosen.
Enter any notes if you wish to explain more detail about why this particular time entry is being documented.
- Click on the Start Timer button present on the bottom of the page. You will be taken back to the “All Logs” page with a new time tracker entry under the “Ongoing Timer” section. This time tracker will keep running until you stop it.
- To stop the timer, swipe right on the tracker and you’ll find the options to delete the entry or stop the timer. Click on the Stop Timer option.
Logging Time Manually:
To log time manually, click on Switch to manual entry. Enter the hours and minutes worked on the ticket.
You can add notes on the ticket, select if the ticket is billable or not using the toggle button.
Click Save log.
Swiping right on a time entry lets you start the timer so if you've manually logged 1 hour 25 minutes, the timer will start counting upwards from 1 hour, 25 minutes, 1 second, and so on. You can also manually edit or delete the log if required.
The Time Logs page
Every service task can have multiple time entries associated with it. Perhaps a customer issue requires multiple visits from your field technicians and you want to track time during each visit, or maybe you’ve dispatched two or more technicians for the same issue and you want to track the time spent by all of them.
The Time Logs page lists all time entries - both saved as well as ongoing - for each service task. Every time entry listed here highlights who the field technician is for that particular entry, whether an entry is billable or not and the time logged in that entry. It also sums up the total time spent by your field team on any given service task and has options for you to manage each entry as well.
The Time Logs page is divided into the “Ongoing Timer” section if there is a running timer and the “Saved Logs” section.
Swiping right on time entries in the “Ongoing Timer” section will provide you the options to:
Stop: This stops the automated timer and the time tracked is reflected in the “Total Time Tracked” section above as well.
Delete: This deletes the time entry and removes it from the “Total Time Tracked” section as well.
The “Saved Logs” section lists all the time logs that have been manually entered as well as any automated timers that have been stopped. Swiping right on the time entries in the “Saved Logs” section gives you the following options
Start: This starts the timer, moves this entry to the “Ongoing Timer” section and adds to the total time that has already been tracked. If there is already a saved log for 1:10 and you start the timer, it’ll start counting from 1:11.
Edit: Takes you to the Log Time page, and allows you to manually edit the time entry such as selecting the field technician responsible, choosing whether the entry is billable or not, and so on.
Delete: Deletes this time entry and removes it from the “Total Time Tracked” as well.
Managing time entries on the web
To log time for service tasks on the web or otherwise manage them, follow these steps
Login to your account on Freshdesk, and navigate to the service task that you want to log time for.
On the details page, you can find “Time Logs” under contact details in the rightmost column. Click to expand the section.
If you’ve not added any time entries for the service task so far, the “Log Time” button will be present. Click on it.
The “Log Time” pane appears from the right. Here, select the field technician to whom you want to credit this time log.
Enter the time spent in HH:MM format (Hours:Minutes). You can leave this field blank if you want an automated timer to start.
Choose whether the time entry is billable or not and add any notes if necessary.
Click on “Start Timer” or “Save” depending on your choices.
You’ll find that a new time entry has been added under the Time Logs section. You’ll have the option to edit or delete these entries as well. If you wish to add more entries, click on the “Log Time” button again.
All the time entries added to service tasks will be reflected in the Time Sheet Summary report as well.
The Time Sheet Summary Report
The time entries which you add to service tasks are reflected in the Time Sheet summary report under the Analytics section. This report helps you analyze the following items:
Time spent per field technician on service tasks
Total time spent by your field team on each customer
Total time spent by your team on field service per month
This time sheet report helps you get a clear overview of how your field team's time has been spent when you group the data points by "Agent" as can be seen in the above screenshot. If you pay field technicians by time spent on service tasks, this report will make it easy for you to calculate how much you owe them.
You can also group the data by "Customer" so you can see which customers are demanding the most resources and time from your field teams and charge them accordingly if necessary.
To learn more about this report and what you can do with it, please read this solution article.
