The latest version of Mission Control (Version 1.68) has just been released on the Salesforce AppExchange. You can read up on all the updates in the main Release Notes. In this article, we take a look at some of the key features being introduced.
Mobile App Time Logger
Your Project and Field Service Teams can use the Mobile App Time Logger to quickly log time on the go, whilst they’re out and about. The Mobile App Time Logger is accessible on mobile devices via the Salesforce Mobile App for Salesforce Users and via your device’s browser for Salesforce Community Users.
The Mobile App Time Logger makes logging progress to your projects very efficient, with the ability to log increments of time with one click. You also have the ability to specify whether the time is billable or non billable, as well as adding supporting notes.
In addition to being able to log time, the Mobile App Time Logger also provides you with an efficient way of submitting your time for approval. You’re able to log time as required and at the end of the week you can submit all of your Time Log entries for approval with the click of one button.
Billing Type: Retainer to T&M
A new Billing Type has been introduced that provides greater flexibility for consulting businesses to invoice their customers for a blend of fixed retainer managed services and additional Time & Materials (T&M) incurred over and above the retainer fee.
For example, say Grommets Creative Inc. has a monthly retainer with their customer to provide creative design services and they charge them $5,000 per month. The customer has also agreed that if Grommets exceeds the monthly retainer amount, they are able to submit an additional invoice for the extra hours works.
Using the ‘Retainer to T&M’ Billing Type, Grommets is able to automatically raise a monthly retainer invoice for $5,000. This will happen periodically every month. In addition to that, let’s say during May, they carry out extra work that amounts to an additional $1,500, when the next monthly retainer invoice is generated for June, an additional T&M invoice will be generated for the additional $1,500 for May.
All of this happens automatically, dramatically reducing the effort Grommets needs to spend each month working how much each of their customers need to be invoiced.
Additional Enhancements
There’s been a number of additional enhancements included within this release across a number of different features. We’ve summarised some of those key enhancements below.
Role Allocations
Role Allocations can now take Checklist Item dates into account, providing a more granular level of resource management. This enables resource managers to see exactly when a resource will be required on a project, based on the specific scheduling of Checklist Items.
Role Utilisation
Users now have the ability to view the utilisation charts based on hours or percentage. Being able to toggle to percentage provides an easier visual comparison of each team member’s performance against their utilisation targets.
In addition, administrators can restrict individual team member’s access to the Role Utilisation Report to only see data relating to their own utilisation.
Hours Distributor
The Hours Distributor has been enhanced, enabling users to extend Contributor Dates directly from the component, as a result of adjusting Role Allocations relating to the individual Contributor.
Release Schedule
Version 1.68 is now available from the Salesforce AppExchange. It will be released to Sandbox Orgs on the 18th May 2024 and to Production Orgs on the 1st June 2024.
Don’t forget, you can find the full details of all updates included within this new version in the Release Notes.
