NOTE: Information displayed on the Telephony Setup tool in the Agency Office Module cannot be modified without assistance from HomeTrak Technical Support. This document describes the various Telephony options that are available, however changes may only be made with the assistance of HomeTrak Technical Support.
Many of the options under the Telephony Setup tool are dependent on the prompts set up on the toll-free number that the caregivers will call. Making a change to the options selected in the Telephony Defaults screen may also require that changes be made to the prompts the Caregivers will hear when they place calls to the toll-free number. Any changes to the prompts must be made by the HomeTrak Telephony Call Center. Any requests for changes to the prompts the caregiver will hear when they call the toll-free number should be requested by contacting HomeTrak Technical Support.
Telephony is Active
A checkmark in the Telephony is Active field indicates that you are using Telephony. If this field is unchecked it indicates that you are not a Telephony user. The default for this field indicates no Telephony. During the initial Telephony set-up for your company, your HomeTrak representative will populate this field.
Telephony ID
This is the Telephony ID for your company/office. This is a four-digit number assigned by HomeTrak when Telephony is initially set up, and your HomeTrak representative will populate this field.
800 Number Caregivers Call
This is the toll-free phone number your caregivers will call to initiate a Start or End of Visit call. This number is assigned by the HomeTrak Telephony Call Center. During the initial Telephony set up for your company/office, your HomeTrak representative will populate this field. It will be a ten-digit toll-free telephone number. The 800 number entered here will be printed on the Telephony Instruction Cards that can be generated in the Printed Reports Module for your caregivers.
Maximum Minutes Matching Calls Together
This is the longest amount of time (in minutes) that should elapse between calling in and calling out so the system recognizes the calls for matching. Telephony uses the value in this field to match the Start of Visit call and End of Visit call for a visit, update the schedule and move the record to the Completed Visit file. (NOTE: 24 hours = 1440 minutes.)
Minimum Minutes Matching Calls Together
This is the shortest amount of time (in minutes) that should elapse between calling in and calling out so the system recognizes the calls for matching. Telephony uses the value in this field to match the Start of Visit call and End of Visit call for a visit, update the schedule and move the record to the Completed Visit file.
Call Type Entered by the Caregivers
This option is used to indicate whether the caregiver will be entering the call type for a visit into the system on an End of Visit call. If the box is unchecked, the caregiver will NOT be entering a call type on the End of Visit call.
NOTE: To have caregivers enter call types through telephony, you must also have the call type prompt added to the prompts the caregivers hear when they place an End of Visit call. If this option is turned on, and the caregiver enters an invalid call type code, the system will treat the call as an open E-TimeCard with an error.
Task Codes Entered by Caregivers
With Telephony, you have the capability of having a caregiver sign off specific tasks they have performed as part of their End of Visit call. If this box is checked, your caregivers will enter Task Codes for work they performed during the visit when they make their End of Visit call.
NOTE: To have caregivers enter task codes through telephony, you must also have the Task Code prompt added to the prompts the caregivers hear when they place an End of Visit call. You should discuss with HomeTrak support the way you perform your business and whether you are a task-based agency before having this feature enabled.
Invalid Task Codes Constitute Open Visit
This field is applicable only when the Task Codes Entered by Caregivers box is checked. A check mark in the Invalid Task Codes Constitute Open Visit box tells the system that if a caregiver places the End of Visit call/calls (call out) to sign off a visit and enters an invalid task code, the system will treat the call as an Open E-TimeCard with an error.
No Task Codes Constitute Open Visit
This field is applicable only when the Task Codes Entered by Caregivers box is checked. A check mark in the No Tasks Codes Constitute Open Visit box tells the system that if a caregiver places the End of Visit call/calls (call out) to sign off a visit and does not use a Task Code, the system will treat the call as an Open E-TimeCard with an error.
Attempt to Fix Multi-Phone Errors
HomeTrak telephony uses 911 Technology to determine where a caregiver is when they place their call, based on the telephone number from which they are calling. You must add the phone number(s) that you want the Telephony system to recognize as valid for the client to the client's profile in the Client Module. Sometimes you may have more than one client with the same phone number. (For example, clients who live in the same facility, or family members in the same home.)
Under normal circumstances when a caregiver makes a call from a client who shares the same phone number as another client, the system cannot determine the exact client for the E-TimeCard. The E-TimeCard generated for the call will automatically be held as an open ETimeCard with a Multi-Phone ID error. Open E-TimeCards with Multi-Phone ID errors require manual intervention to match to a schedule and update it with actual hours.
If the Attempt to Fix Multi-Phone Errors option is enabled, then the system tries to determine which client the Open E-TimeCard is for, based on the schedules that exist.
NOTE: This option only should be selected if you only provide service for private pay clients, as there is a chance that the wrong schedule may be updated if a caregiver visits clients in a sequence different than what is scheduled on the Caregiver’s calendar.
Match on Call-Ins for Back-to-Back Schedules
If this option is enabled, the system will identify when there is a back-to-back schedule scenario. A back-to-back schedule scenario occurs when there are consecutive schedules for the same caregiver, with either the same client, or clients at the same location and phone number, with no gaps between the scheduled end time of one schedule and the scheduled start time of the next schedule. The call type(s) on the schedules may be the same or different. The Caregiver will only have to clock-in for each of the schedules in the sequence and the system will automatically create the End of Visit call when the second clock-in arrives. (The clock-in time for the next visit in the sequence will automatically become the clock-out time for the previous visit in the sequence.) This works regardless of the Rate Type involved (Live-In, Hourly, Per Visit, etc.) The Caregiver must place an End of Visit call on their final schedule in the back-to-back sequence.
Using this feature will produce a more accurate recording of actual hours worked in back-to-back schedules than if you were utilizing the Breakout across Back-to-Back Schedules feature.
NOTE: HomeTrak does not recommend using this feature in conjunction with the Breakout across Back-to-Back Schedules feature.
If this option is disabled, then this feature will only work for Caregivers who perform back-to-back Live-Ins for the same client. (the schedules must be created from an Authorization where the Billing Rate Type in the Rate Package is a Live-In Rate Type). For Hourly and Per Visit schedules, the caregiver will need to place both Start and End of Visit calls for each schedule.
Breakout across Back-to-Back Schedules
When this option is enabled, caregivers can clock in once with a Start of Visit call at the start of a sequence of back-to-back schedules and then clock out once at the end of the day's back-to-back schedule sequence. Telephony will identify this pattern and create a new E-TimeCard record for each of the completed back-to-back schedules and automatically divide the hours between the schedules.
NOTE: HomeTrak does not recommend using this feature in conjunction with the Match on Call-Ins for Back-to-Back Schedules feature. HomeTrak also does not recommend using this feature if your caregivers enter Call Types, Tasks or Expenses on their End of Visit calls.
If the sequence of back-to-back schedules are all for the same client, the caregiver will have to call within 30 minutes before or after the Schedule Start Time of the first visit in the back-to-back sequence for this feature to work.
This feature functions by determining for which schedule the caregiver is clocking in. HomeTrak Companion Telephony will not be able to determine a schedule for a Start of Visit
call if more than one candidate schedule for the given day exists or none of the candidate schedules start within +/- 30 minutes of the clock-in.
The rules for handling Call Types, Expenses, and Tasks when breaking out E-TimeCards are as follows:
- All the E-TimeCards created from a breakout inherit the Call Type from the original call.
- The first E-TimeCard created from a breakout inherits all Tasks from the original call. The remaining E-TimeCards are assigned no tasks.
- The first E-TimeCard created from a breakout inherits all Expenses from the original call. The remaining E-TimeCards are assigned no expenses.
The rules for partitioning hours across the back-to-back schedules are as follows:
(NOTE: The total time between the Caregiver's clock-in and clock-out are called the “attributable hours”.)
- The start time applied to the first schedule in a sequence will take into account any early or late clock-in time (deviating from the schedule time) from the caregiver's original clock in.
- Each schedule except the last schedule in the sequence is given a portion of the attributable hours up to the originally scheduled length of the schedule. If there are less attributable hours than schedule hours, that schedule will be assigned the remaining attributable hours.
- The last schedule in a sequence is given any remaining attributable hours, even if this exceeds the scheduled hours. Therefore, if the caregiver clocks out earlier or later than the total length of the schedules in a back-to-back sequence, the last schedule in the sequence will reflect the over/under hours.
NOTE: Any E-TimeCard that has been broken out will have the 'Note' in the E-TimeCard set to include the text "Breakout E-TimeCard created on {DATE}". Be aware that the 'Note' will not be set if the user already added their own note to the E-TimeCard
How the Breakout across Back-to-Back Schedules Feature Affects Telephony Alerting
Telephony Alerts for schedules that occur back-to-back for the same caregiver are handled differently when this feature is enabled. When a caregiver clocks in at the start of any back-to-back schedule sequence, the system assumes that the caregiver is starting the back-to-back sequence and it will not send out any alerts for the remainder of schedules in that back-to-back sequence. This is necessary since it is not expected that the caregiver will be placing any more calls during the schedule sequence until they clock-out at the end of the sequence. Thus, when HomeTrak Companion detects a clock-in for a caregiver's back-to-back schedule sequence, the schedule(s) will appear on the screen Has Caregiver Signed in Yet? under the heading of Back-to-back Schedules: Caregiver Signed In.
Attributes to Attach to Schedule
When a Telephony E-TimeCard is manually edited, the Add Attributes to Schedule check box is automatically checked. This indicates that if default attributes have been added in the Telephony Defaults screen, when the E-TimeCard is matched to a schedule the system will add the default attributes identified in the Telephony screen to the schedule.
Attributes are characteristics that may be used to conveniently describe a schedule.
You will pre-establish your master list of Attributes in the User Defined Information Module.
Mileage Entered by Caregivers (On Instructions)
Use this option to indicate that the caregiver will enter Mileage (this is the mileage between clients) into the system on the Start of Visit call. If the box is checked, the caregiver instruction cards you create will include the instructions for entering mileage on the Start of Visit call.
NOTE: To have Caregivers enter mileage through telephony, you must also have the Mileage prompt added to the prompts the caregivers hear when they place a Start of Visit call.
Errand Miles Entered by Caregivers (On Instructions)
Use this option to indicate that the caregiver will enter Errand Miles (this is the errand miles they incur while looking after the client) into the system on the End of Visit call. If the box is checked, the caregiver instruction cards you create will include the instructions for entering errand miles on the End of Visit call.
NOTE: To have Caregivers enter errand mileage through telephony, you must also have the Errand Miles prompt added to the prompts the caregivers hear when they place an End of Visit call.
Expenses Entered by Caregivers (On Instructions)
Use this option to indicate that the caregiver will enter Expenses into the system on the End of Visit call. If the box is checked, the caregiver instruction cards you create will include the instructions for entering expenses on the end of visit call.
NOTE: To have Caregivers enter expenses through telephony, you must also have the Expenses prompt added to the prompts the caregivers hear when they place an End of Visit call.
Days Until Auto Fixing E-TimeCards
Auto-Fix E-TimeCards is a feature designed to automatically attempt to fix errors with ETimeCards that have not yet been matched to a schedule and that are over X days old,
where X is a user-configurable parameter. By default this feature is turned off, displaying 0 in the Days Until Auto Fixing ETimeCards field. To use this feature, you must enter a
number to specify how many days old an E-TimeCard should be before the Telephony Service attempts to auto-fix errors for the E-TimeCard. Whatever number is entered in this
field is the value for X.
If this feature is enabled, once per day between the hours of midnight and 5am, the HomeTrak Companion Telephony Service will perform an extra step to check for E-TimeCards with a Start and End Date and a modification date older than X days old. This task is designed not to update E-TimeCards that have been recently created or updated (hence the check against the modification date).
NOTE: HomeTrak does not recommend using this feature if you do work for insurance companies or other third party payers. In this case you should continue to manually fix each
E-TimeCard.
Auto-fixes only work on E-TimeCards for which the Telephony system has been able to determine the probable Schedule to which this E-TimeCard belongs. (This process is attempted for all start-only E-TimeCards when the call is first processed by Telephony, in order to determine if a caregiver has clocked-in for a particular schedule for Alerting.) Note that because of this there is a limitation with this feature such that end-only E-TimeCards will not be fixed.
Types of Auto-fixes that can be applied to E-TimeCards are:
- End Time
- Missing Caregiver
- Missing Client
- Start Time (given that end-only E-TimeCards cannot normally be fixed, the only time the start time can be auto-fixed is if you had a Start of Visit call that was manually switched to an End of Visit call).
Each auto-fixed E-TimeCard will have a custom History record written for it that will specify each type of fix applied to a given E-TimeCard. A line entry is also added to the Telephony Service History whenever the Auto-Fix E-TimeCards task is attempted. The number of fixed calls is recorded as well.
After an Auto-Fix is applied, a special error is given to the E-TimeCard titled "Pending Auto Fix". Pending Auto-Fixed E-TimeCards need to be manually approved by the end-user before being automatically matched to a schedule.
To support this, there is a scenario in the Open E-TimeCards screen called Pending Auto Fixed Calls. If this feature is being utilized, you will want to make sure that the E-TimeCards that appear in the Pending Auto-Fixed Calls scenario are approved or otherwise reviewed prior to going through the normal daily steps for checking and manually fixing your Open ETimeCards.
Days Until Auto Cancelling E-TimeCards
Auto-Cancel E-TimeCards is a feature designed to automatically cancel E-TimeCards that have not yet been matched to a schedule and that are over X days old, where X is a user configurable parameter. By default this feature is off, displaying a 0 in the Days Until Auto Cancelling E-TimeCards field. If you want to use this feature, then you would populate the number of days old an E-TimeCard should be before the Telephony Service attempts to auto cancel the E-TimeCard. Whatever number is populated in this field is the value for X.
If this feature is enabled, once per day between the hours of midnight and 5am, the HomeTrak Companion Telephony Service will perform an extra step to check for ETimeCards
with a Start and End Date and a modification date greater than X days old. This task is designed to not update E-TimeCards that have been recently created or updated (hence the check against the modification date).
Each auto-cancelled ETimeCard will have a custom History record written for it that says "Auto Cancellation Applied at : {Date}" so users can know exactly when a given ETimeCard was auto-cancelled by the system. A line entry is also added to the Service History whenever the Auto-Cancel ETimeCards task is attempted. The number of cancelled calls is recorded as well.