When issues arise, clear communication between your team and PropertyBoss Client Care helps resolve them faster. Providing the right information upfront reduces follow up questions and helps Client Care begin troubleshooting with a clearer understanding of the issue.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Requesting a Phone Call
- Be Specific About the Issue
- Include the Exact Error Message
- Include Helpful Screenshots
- Explain What You Were Trying to Do
- Provide Clear Steps to Recreate the Issue
- Confirm Who Is Affected
- Tell Us When It Happened
- Share Any Recent Changes
- Tell Us What You Have Already Tried
- Submit One Issue Per Request
- Respond to Follow Up Questions
- Example of a Well Written Troubleshooting Request
- Key Takeaway
Requesting a Phone Call
You can request a phone call when submitting a support ticket, but please include a description of the issue and any relevant details in your request. Providing information in the ticket does not mean Client Care will not call you. It gives us an opportunity to review the issue and complete initial research before the call.
A request that only says “Please call me” may require an initial call to gather information, followed by additional research and then a follow up call for resolution. Sharing the details upfront helps reduce information gathering and allows us to make better use of your time on the call.
Be Specific About the Issue
General descriptions can make troubleshooting more difficult. Tell Client Care what you were doing, where in PropertyBoss the issue occurred, and what happened instead of what you expected. You do not need to diagnose the problem yourself. Simply describe what you are experiencing as specifically as possible.
Here are some examples:
| Instead of: | Provide: |
|---|---|
| "The report is not working." | "The Owner Statement returns an error after selecting the date range and clicking Run." |
| "Please call me." | “I need help with an error when posting a tenant payment. The error appears after I enter the payment information and click OK. Please call me to resolve.” |
| "It's not working again." | “PB Online is not loading again. After I enter my login information and click Login, the page does not continue to the site.” |
| "I can't print." | “I can open the Resident Statement, but when I try to print it, the document does not print. I am able to print from other applications.” |
| "The payment disappeared." | “A tenant payment that previously appeared on the lease is no longer showing where I expected to see it. I expected the payment to remain visible on the tenant’s account.” |
Clear descriptions help Client Care focus on the correct area of the software.
Include the Exact Error Message
If an error message appears, include the full text exactly as shown. Helpful details include:
- The complete error message
- Where the message appears
- When the error occurs during the process
Providing a screenshot is preferred but copying and pasting the message is also helpful.
Include Helpful Screenshots
Screenshots can provide important context that may not be clear from a written description alone. Whenever possible, capture enough of the PropertyBoss screen to show both the message and where the issue occurred. This helps Client Care understand the location and context of the problem.
Before submitting screenshots, review them for sensitive information and remove or obscure any information you do not wish to share.
Explain What You Were Trying to Do
Client Care needs to understand your goal, not just the result. Include:
- What were you trying to accomplish?
- What did you expect to happen?
- What actually happened instead?
This context helps Client Care better understand the issue you are experiencing.
Provide Clear Steps to Recreate the Issue
When possible, explain how the issue occurs step by step. For example:
- Go to Reports
- Select Transactions by Date
- Choose "Last Month" as the date range
- Click Run
- Error appears
Clear steps allow Client Care to test the same scenario and determine whether the behavior can be reproduced.
Confirm Who Is Affected
Let Client Care know whether the issue affects:
- One user
- Multiple users
- All users
Also include whether it occurs on:
- One computer
- Multiple computers
- Different locations
This information can help determine whether the problem is isolated or more widespread.
Tell Us When It Happened
Include information about when you experienced the issue, such as:
- The date
- Approximate time
- Whether the issue is still occurring
- Whether it happens consistently or intermittently
Timing can provide additional context when Client Care investigates the issue.
Share Any Recent Changes
Many issues begin after a change, even when the change may seem unrelated. Let Client Care know about recent changes such as:
- New users or permission changes
- Windows or computer updates
- New software installations
- Network or firewall changes
- Configuration changes
- New portals or features enabled
This information may help narrow down the cause of the issue.
Tell Us What You Have Already Tried
If you have already attempted troubleshooting, include what you tried and what happened. Examples may include:
- Logging out and back in
- Closing and reopening PropertyBoss
- Restarting the workstation
- Testing with another user
- Testing on another workstation
- Checking your internet connection
You do not need to complete every troubleshooting step before contacting Client Care. Sharing what you have already tried gives the team additional context and helps avoid unnecessarily repeating steps.
Submit One Issue Per Request
If you are experiencing multiple unrelated issues, submit a separate request for each issue. Keeping issues separate allows each problem to be tracked and resolved independently and helps avoid confusion during troubleshooting.
Respond to Follow Up Questions
If Client Care asks for clarification or additional information, providing complete answers helps keep troubleshooting moving forward. Questions from Client Care are intended to gather the information needed to identify the cause and determine the appropriate next step.
Example of a Well Written Troubleshooting Request
Here is an example of how the information above can be combined into a clear support request:
Subject: Error When Running Owner Statement Report
When I run the Owner Statement report for September, I receive an error after selecting the date range and clicking Run.
- What I expected: The report should open and display the selected month's information.
- What happened: An error message appears and the report does not open.
- Error message: [Copy and paste the complete error message here]
- Steps to recreate:
- Open Reports
- Select the Owner Statement report
- Select the September date range
- Click Run
- The error appears
- Who is affected: Two users have experienced the same issue on separate computers.
- When it occurred: October 26 at approximately 9:00 AM. The issue is still occurring.
- What we have already tried: We closed and reopened PropertyBoss and tested the report from another workstation. The same error occurred.
- Recent changes: We are not aware of any recent changes. A screenshot of the full error message and PropertyBoss screen is attached.
This example shows how a single request can provide the issue, expected result, actual result, steps to recreate it, affected users, timing, troubleshooting already attempted, and supporting screenshot.
Key Takeaway
You do not need to diagnose the issue before contacting Client Care. The goal is to provide enough information for the team to clearly understand what you are experiencing. Specific descriptions, exact error messages, screenshots, steps to recreate the issue, affected users, timing, recent changes, and troubleshooting already attempted can reduce unnecessary back and forth and help troubleshooting move forward more efficiently.
See also: Why PropertyBoss May Ask Specific Questions During Troubleshooting