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Workflow with No Network

Client Flow When Experiencing Network Issues

Various problems can occur with the laptops and tablets.

Determine the issue:

  • If a tablet is not able to communicate with the shopper’s laptop, follow these steps to diagnose the issue and attempt to resolve the problem:
    • {I don’t know what to do…….}
  • If a shopper’s laptop is experiencing problems connecting to the web-based shopping application, follow these steps to diagnose the issue and attempt to resolve the problem:
    • {I don’t know what to do…….}

If you have determined that the network is working but the tablets are unusable, follow these procedures:

  1. The shoppers should bring their laptops outside and conduct the shopping session in the presence of the client. If the client has reviewed the inventory beforehand and has made a list of desired items, the shopper can, while inside, load the client’s cart with a reasonable allotment of items and then bring their laptop outside to review with the client. This will reduce the amount of time they are outside (a plus if socially distancing is called for or if the brightness outside makes seeing the laptop screen difficult).
  2. The movers and the QR person will be able to see the items as they are put into the client’s cart and can do their jobs as normal.

If you have determined that the network is down and there is no near-term fix, follow these procedures:

Day of Network Outage

  1. The shoppers will be unable to use their laptops. They should use their phones selecting to use their mobile data plan rather than wifi. Some volunteers’ phones might perform better on mobile data due to the strength of the signal for their carrier.
  2. Shoppers will need to go outside to work with their clients. Using the shopping application on their phones, the shoppers will load the client’s cart.
  3. The Kitchen and Linens Wish lists will be fulfilled as usual with the exception that the shoppers will not add the kitchen and linens items into the clients’ carts on the shopping application.
  4. The movers and QR person, using their phone on mobile data, will likely be able to see the items being put into the cart. The use of phones on different carriers can introduce some timing issues when making changes to the inventory database. For this reason, a paper approach will be used for choosing the items and no scanning will be done during the outage.
  5. The QR person or the shopper will make a list of each item chosen by the client, listing the client’s name and all the item’s QR numbers and item descriptions (e.g. 11234 Dressers – 2nd or 12434 Art – Animals). This list will include all the furniture to be loaded by the movers plus any items handled by the QR person. It is helpful if the items handled by the movers are grouped together and those handled by the QR person are grouped together on the paper list.
  6. The QR person should confirm that the number of items on the list reconciles with the number of items in the client’s cart (less any items such as the Target gift card which neither the movers or QR person deal with).
  7. A copy of the paper list will be made. The copy is given to the movers and the original is kept by the QR person.
  8. The movers may now start using this sheet to load the client. For each item loaded, the movers should:
    1. Check off the item on their sheet, and
    2. Whenever possible retain the QR slip. QR slips cannot be retained if they are permanently affixed to the item such as in the case of mattresses, boxsprings, platforms, and new bed frames.
  9. The QR person may now start using their sheet to pull the client’s small items. For each item gathered, the QR person should:
    1. Check off the item on their sheet, and
    2. Whenever possible retain the QR slip. QR slips cannot be retained if they are permanently affixed to the item, such as dish sets.
    3. Affix the QR slips to a blank piece of paper. Eight slips can fit on each side of a sheet.
  10. When the movers are done loading the furniture, they should give their paper list with all the furniture checked off to the QR person along with the gathered QR slips.
  11. The QR person will confirm that all items (mover’s items + QR person’s items) have been selected and will communicate this to the movers.
  12. The QR person will affix the QR slips from the movers on the sheet(s) with the others.
  13. The paper list, the sheets with the QR slips attached, and the Kitchen and Linens Wish Lists should be collected for each client.

Once the Outage is Over

  1. Each client from the day of the outage needs to be completed by either the shoppers or the QR person.
  2. In Personal Shopper mode, the Kitchen and Linens Wish List items should be added to each client’s cart. These items should then be picked (Mark Picked-Up). If a Target Gift card was given and has not been picked yet, it should be picked.
  3. In Order Pickup/Mover mode,
    1. Each of the items for which we collected a QR slip should be picked (Pick Item and then scan the QR slip).
    2. Before moving on to the items for which we could not collect QR slips, review which items are left unpicked. Are they all items that could be reasonably expected to have had their QR slip permanently affixed to them (like mattresses, boxsprings, platforms, new metal bed frames, dish sets)? Or are there any “regular” items still unpicked? If the latter, check in the showroom and storage area to make sure the item is not still on the floor and therefore forgotten. Do not assume everything loaded correctly!
    3. For each of the items for which we were unable to collect a QR slip, these items should be picked (Pick Item) and then manually scan the item (Manual Scan). Manually scanning the item (rather than, for instance, scanning an item with an identical QR# on hand) documents that there is not absolute assurance that the correct item was chosen and loaded.
    4. Confirm that all items have been picked. If any items remain, resolve why.
    5. When all items have been picked and any discrepancies resolved, the order may be closed and if appropriate, the referral closed.
  4. Many of the items that QR slips can not be collected for (and therefore we have no proof the correct item was handed out) are items that Fresh Start purchases and therefore it is critical that we keep accurate track of the inventory. These items include mattresses, boxsprings, platforms, and new bed frames. If time allows, it is wise to inventory these items before going forward to confirm the inventory is accurate.
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