Advisors/Agencies - Case Status

In this topic:

• Overview
• Sending Case Status from the Side Menu

• Sending Case Status from the Advisor/Agency List, Policy List, Pending Case List or Group Policy List

Overview

The Case Status feature enables a SmartOffice user to send pending case status updates by e-mail or letter to advisors currently assigned to cases.

Note: To enable an advisor to check case status online, create a SmartView for Advisors account for the advisor.

When a case status report is sent, the following occurs:

• A pending case note is logged to the case and to the advisor's SmartPad.
• When no policy-based follow-ups are configured for the office, each pending case's Next Follow-Up date is moved to its Last Follow-Up field. This leaves the Next Follow-Up field blank so that the case will not be included in a subsequent case status report.

The case status update also includes requirements for the case, based on the defaults specified in the Status Setup and Advisor Communication sections of Policy/Case Setup.

Note: Pending case status reports display requirements in the order in which they are listed in SmartOffice, including bold formatting for key requirements.

Sending Case Status from the Side Menu

Note: To use this method of sending case status reports, a user must have the Side menu case status (mass send) license (see User Accounts - User Rights Content Link). Because this method allows a user to send case status reports to all advisors at once, administrators should use caution when assigning that license.

• From the side menu, select Case Status from the expanded Insurance menu to open the Case Status dialog box.
• To limit the cases included in the report to those created in a specific office, select that office from the drop-down list in the Office section.

• To limit the cases included in the report to those associated with a particular case manager, enter the manager's name in the Case Manager field, or click the Case Manager hyperlink to search for and select a case manager.
• In the Advisor section, select one of the following options: All advisors: Primary advisors, referral advisors, servicing advisors, writing advisors, etc., all receive the update.

• All primary advisors: This option sends the update to primary advisors only.
• By selected advisors: This option limits the update to specific advisors. Selecting this option opens an advisor search dialog box. Search for and select the advisors who will receive the update (see Searching for Advisors and Agencies).

• In the Pending Case section, select one of the following options: All pending cases based on follow-up date: This option produces status reports for cases whose policy stage-based follow-up date is today or earlier. This option is available only if a policy-based follow-up method is selected in the office's Initial PCM Workflow settings (see Policy/Case Setup - PCM Workflows). A separate case status report is produced for each case. Once the report is generated for a case, the case is automatically scheduled for its next follow-up date. These case status reports can include custom text based on the current policy stage, as configured in the Policy-Based Follow-Ups section of Policy/Case Setup - PCM Workflows.

• All pending cases: The update will cover all pending cases in the system.
• By pending case Stage: This option limits the update to cases in a specific stage.

• By selected pending cases: This option limits the update to specific pending cases. Selecting this option opens a pending case search dialog box. Search for and select the appropriate cases (see Searching in SmartCaseManager).

In addition to these options, the Pending Case section includes options for including informal cases, informal child cases, group pending cases and outstanding policy owner service (POS) requirements in the case status update.

• In the Communication Method section, select one of these options: Advisor's preferred communication method: This option sends the update using the method specified in the Preferred Communication section of the advisor Add'l Detail content link.
• E-mail all: This option sends the update by e-mail, regardless of an advisor's preferred communication method.

• Print all: This option sends the update by letter, regardless of an advisor's preferred communication method.
• Send one case per letter: This option sends case status reports to advisors on a one-case-per-report basis instead of including all cases in a single report. This option is selected automatically if the user selects the All pending cases based on follow-up date option in the pending case section.

• Show office logo: Selecting this option inserts the organization's logo into case status reports. The image used is the same one selected in Office Settings. See SmartOffice Branding.
• Mask Policy #/Name: Select this option and then use the adjacent drop-down list to select whether policy numbers, policyholder names or both are masked in case status reports.

• In the Subject Line section, do one of the following: Select the Use default option to use the system's default subject line for the case status report. The default subject line can be specified in Policy/Case Setup
• Advisor Communication.

• Select the check box next to the blank field and enter a custom subject line.
• (Optional) Click the Preview button to see a report of the advisors who will receive case status updates. (When the user clicks this button, the settings in the Case Status dialog box are no longer editable. To make any changes, the user must close the dialog box and start over.) The preview will note any issues, such as advisors who have missing or invalid e-mail addresses or postal addresses. To print this preview, click the Print button. When finished with the preview, click the Close button.

• Click the Send button. SmartOffice prints the reports or sends them by e-mail. If the reports are printed, SmartOffice sends the reports to the printer in alphabetical order by the primary advisor's last name.

• The Report Status dialog box displays the results. The dialog box shows successful entries for advisors who have pending cases.

Sending Case Status from the Advisor/Agency List, Policy List, Pending Case List or Group Policy List

Note: To use this method of sending case status reports, a user must have the Button case status (selective send) license (see User Accounts - User Rights Content Link).

• Search for the advisors or agencies (see Searching for Advisors and Agencies).

• In the list of advisors, policies or pending cases, tag one or more entries (click the List content link if SmartOffice automatically opens a specific advisor or agency record).

• Select Menu > Case Status to open the Case Status dialog box.
• Select the appropriate case status options (see Sending Case Status from the Side Menu). Note that the Advisor section may not be editable if advisors have already been selected in the list.

• Click the Preview or Send button.