How do I assign staff to a request?
Requests are assigned to one or more staff members to process. There are two levels of responsibility for a particular request:
- Point of Contact: Each request is assigned a single Point of Contact who is responsible for ensuring that the request is fulfilled. A Point of Contact for a request will close out a request once it's complete and will coordinate the work of any additional departments or staff Helpers. They will receive email notifications for actions on a request as long as they are assigned as Point of Contact to that request.
- Support Staff: Support staff help the Point of Contact process a request. Once someone is added as support staff they will receive email updates on the request and can perform actions such as uploading responsive documents.
A Point of Contact will automatically be assigned to every request that is submitted based on the agency and department defaults. Depending on the default settings, Support Staff may also be automatically assigned. Changing the department that a request is assigned to may automatically assign a new Point of Contact and Support Staff. For information about how to automatically assign a request to a Point of Contact and Support Staff when the request is created click here.
This help document covers how to manually update the Point of Contact and Support Staff for an individual request. Click on a link in the list to jump to that section:
- How to assign a request to one or more departments
- How to unassign a department from a request
- How to change the Point of Contact for a request
- How to add Support Staff to a request
- How to remove Support Staff from a request
How to assign a request to one or more departments
Note: Only Publishers and Admin users can assign a request to departments.
After receiving a request, you can assign it to one or more departments. How Points of Contact and Support Staff are assigned depends on if the request is being assigned to one or multiple departments:
- If a request is assigned to one department: The default Point of Contact for that department will become the Point of Contact for the request. Any staff in that department who have been set to automatically be added to all department requests will be assigned as Support Staff for the request.
- If a request is assigned to multiple departments: You will have the option to choose which department's default Point of Contact should be the Point of Contact for the request. The Points of Contact for the other departments will be assigned as Support Staff on the request. Any staff in those departments who have been set to automatically be added to all department requests will be assigned as Support Staff for the request.
For information about how to set department staff to automatically be added to all department requests, click here.
Steps for assigning a request to departments
- Sign in to your account
- Navigate to the request you want to change the department of
- Locate the department in the top section, then click the Edit icon (
) next to the department name - Click in the box "Assign departments"
- Select a department name from the list (type text into the box to search for a department)
- (Optional) Change the Point of Contact for the request by selecting a different user from the drop-down. Only the default Points of Contact for the assigned departments and the Point of Contact for the Organization are listed. For information about how to change the Point of Contact to a user that doesn't fit those categories click here.
- (Optional) Click the Request Visibility drop-down and select a different visibility. For more information about visibility options click here
- Click the SAVE button
How to unassign a department from a request
If a department has completed their work for a request you may want to remove them from that request. When you unassign a department from a request, all support staff and the Point of Contact for that department will be removed from the request.
Steps for unassigning a request from a department
- Sign in to your account
- Navigate to the request you want to unassign from a department
- Locate the department in the top section, then click the Edit icon () next to the department name
- Click the 'x' next to the department you want to unassign
- (Optional) If you are removing the department that determined the request's Point of Contact, make sure that the new Point of Contact is the one you want. You can change the Point of Contact for the request by selecting a different user from the drop-down. Only the default Points of Contact for the assigned departments and the Point of Contact for the Organization are listed. For information about how to change the Point of Contact to a user that doesn't fit those categories click here.
- (Optional) Click the Request Visibility drop-down and select a different visibility. For more information about visibility options click here
- Click the SAVE button
How to change the Point of Contact for a request
Note: Only Publishers and Admin users can change the Point of Contact for a request.
Steps for changing the Point of Contact for a request
- Sign in to your account.
- Navigate to the request you want to change the Point of Contact for (the request must be open)
- Find the Staff section, then select the Edit icon () next to the current Point of Contact
- Click the drop-down menu in the pop-up that appears.
- Enter the new Point of Contact’s email or select it from the drop-down menu
- Note: If you want to change the Point of Contact to somebody who is already a Support Staff on the request, you must first remove them as Support Staff before they will appear in the drop-down menu
- Click the REASSIGN button. The new Point of Contact will now appear on the request. An email will also be sent to the new Point of Contact notifying them they have been assigned to the request.
How to add Support Staff to a request
Once someone is added as support staff they will receive email updates on the request and can perform actions such as uploading responsive documents. Every time you add support staff that action will be recorded in a request's history.
Steps for adding Support Staff to a request
- Sign in to your account
- Navigate to the request you want to add Support Staff to
- Find the Staff section, then click the Add icon (
) under Support - Select the staff member you would like to add to the request
- Note: a staff member who is already the Point of Contact for a request can not be added as Support Staff
- (Optional) Enter a message explaining why you are adding that staff member to the request. This message will be included in an email notifying the staff member that they have been added to the request.
- Click SAVE.
How to remove Support Staff from a request
Once Support Staff have completed their role for a specific request they may be removed from that request so they don’t continue to receive updates. Support Staff can remove themselves from requests that they are assigned to. Every time a staff member is removed from a request that action will be recorded in a request's history.
Steps for removing Support Staff from a request
- Sign in to your account
- Navigate to the request you want to remove Support Staff from
- Find the Staff section, then locate the Support Staff you want to remove
- Move your cursor over the name without clicking. Once you do this the name will become highlighted and a Remove icon (
) will appear to the right. - Click the Remove icon ().
- Click OK.