How to use auto contract selection
Auto contract selection is a feature that allows the system to automatically determine the contract to use for pricing and allocation to the ticket using details entered by the operator.
The following article explains how to activate and use this feature on Mandalay CS.
Turning on Auto Contract Selection
Start Configuration Manager and turn on the option 'Use Auto Contract Selection'. This will need to be done on any computer that needs to use this feature.
Contract Matching Fields
The ticketing system will use the following fields to resolve to a matching contract. If more than one contract match it will select the most recent one.
Client: The client is generally mandatory for any contract so it is always used as the starting point for finding a contract.
Source: Its possible to separate contracts based on the source locations. This way when a ticket is captured the pricing can vary depending on where it came from and the system will automatically select the correct contract based on its source location. It is not mandatory to provide this on a contract.
Destination: Similar to the source location the contract selection can occur based on the destination for the transaction. It is not mandatory to provide this on a contract.
Product: Before the contract look up takes place a product must be selected. It is possible to select the product first and then the contract may changes as other details about the transaction are captured.
If a product exists in more than one contract for a client, the system will wait until sufficient information is provided before deciding which one to use. E.G. A client has 2 contracts with product X in both and one of the contracts does not specify a source location and the other does, then the system will not make a selection until a source location has been selected for the transaction.
When a client only has one contract and it has a source or destination set then the system will select that contract once the product is selected and will subsequently set the source and destination to what is in the contract. If the source or destination is then changed the contract will be de-selected as it does not match that contract.
Auto Contract for Primary Product
The contract matching rules detailed above will work for both the primary product selection and the multi each items selection. When used in the primary product selection the contract will be populated in the contract field in ticketing.
Auto Contract for Multi Each Items
When auto contract selection is used in multi each items the contract will not be set in the transaction and is only used to determine the pricing for the transaction item. The contract used for an each item can be identified at the bottom of the each item form.
Tip: With this feature it is possible to use more than one contract in a transaction. The contract used for the first item could be different to the one used in second item.
Note: If only multi each items are used in a transaction then no contract will be allocated to a contract, only the pricing is used. This may impact any reporting that may be based on contracts.