Dispatching Items

Once you have reviewed the items that need dispatching, you can begin dispatching the items to the field.

To dispatch an item:

• In the Dispatch tab , check the box in the Select column for a complaint, shortage or message to be dispatched and click the Detail button to display the Dispatch Detail window. Delivery directions, instructions, and other information helpful to the driver is shown.

  
• Enter remarks and other information about the dispatch in the following fields. This step is optional (all of the pertinent information may be entered already).

  Field	Type	What to enter
  DISPATCHED TO	predefined setup	Select the entity type (Route, Zone, District, Service Area, Truck, or Other) and the entity for whom this record is dispatched. The entity type will default from the Filter panel. Note: If you select Other, the entity field will allow you to enter free-form text.
  REMARKS	unlimited	Enter any remarks regarding this dispatch. For example, you might indicate that delivery should be made by a specific time.
  TIME/DATE	date military	Leave the default date and time that this record is dispatched or override this field if necessary.
  LOCAL DATE AND TIME	date	The local date and time an item was dispatched displays here. If the item is not yet dispatched, a ‘?’ displays.
  COPIES	integer (6)	If this is a shortage, the number of copies that should be dispatched to the carrier are displayed (you may override this number).
  CHARGE CARRIER	yes/no	This flag indicates whether the carrier should be charged for the complaint. You may change the flag, or retain the value specified by the associate who entered it.
  REQUEST RESUPPLY	yes/no	For a shortage, you can check Request Resupply if this is a resupply request, rather than an actual shortage.
  COMPLAINT / SHORTAGE	display	Circulation displays any remarks entered by the associate regarding the complaint or shortage. If this is a message, the message text will appear here.
  PRODUCT, ROUTE, ACCOUNT DEL SCHEDULE, EDITION, USER, SOURCE, REASON	display	Dispatching displays the product, route, delivery schedule, edition, source code, and reason code for this dispatch item, as well as the user who entered the item.

• Click the Dispatch button to accept the information. This item will now be recorded as dispatched in Circulation, and the Dispatch checkbox in the Dispatch tab will be selected.

• In the case of shortages, you can click the Resupply button rather than Dispatch, if the shortage should be handled by resupply documents rather than the dispatching process. These shortages will be added to a suspended draw adjustment batch. The batch must be accepted (in Adjust for a Day) before resupply documents can be processed.

Note:

When using the Resupply button, if the shortage has Request Resupply checked, it will use the resupply draw adjustment code specified in Deliverable setup, which typically charges the carrier and updates AAM.

If the shortage does not have Request Resupply checked (i.e. is an actual shortage of papers being managed through the resupply documents), it will use the draw adjustment code specified in the Business Rule— “What draw adjust code should be used when a shortage is fulfilled via the resupply process?” This draw adjustment code will not charge the carrier or update AAM.

Mapping

If Mapping is set up in your Circulation implementation (an add-on feature), a map can be generated to show the address for subscription-related or delivery address-related dispatching activity. This can be useful to show the exact location where an item needs to be dispatched.

To generate a map, highlight the dispatch item in the list and click Map. A map of the address will appear in a browser window.