Why share service visit reports with customers?
Sharing service visit reports externally gives customers a clearer view of the work your team carries out at their site. It demonstrates transparency and helps reassure them that the site is being actively managed and that service activities are being documented.
When reports are configured thoughtfully, they can also make the amount and variety of work more visible. Customers may not see every visit or every task in person, so a report can help them understand the care, checks, follow-up, and other activities taking place behind the scenes.
This ongoing communication can support customer retention. When the contract renewal date arrives, the customer has a record of the work your company has been doing throughout the year, rather than having to reconstruct its value from memory. Regular, useful reports help make that value visible before renewal discussions begin.
Set up service visit report sharing
Service visit report sharing is configured for each Service Site. The report is sent as a PDF attachment, and the email contains a cover message that you can customize. Before sending reports to customers, configure the settings, check the branding, and test how the email and attachment look.
In the Back Office, open the relevant Service Site card.
Open the Communications tab above the Service Site card, then press the gear icon to open the settings.
Find Service Visit Reports and use the master switch to activate or deactivate automatic generation of service visit reports for that Service Site.
Under Send reports to, select customer contacts already added to the Service Site, or create new recipients.
If you add an external report recipient who is not already listed as a contact person on the Service Site file, that person will be added automatically to the Service Site contacts. A Service Site can have no more than three recipients for external reports.
Choose the sending mode: automatic or manual. See the “Choose the sending mode” section below for the differences between these options and how each one works.
Adjust the cover message. The service visit report is attached to the email as a PDF; the cover message is the text that appears in the body of the email. Adapt the language to the specific customer. You can also add the site's account manager's contact details and invite the customer to get in touch if they have questions or need anything.
Choose which information to include in the report. See “Choose what to include in the report” below for details about the available content options and how to decide what customers should receive.
Select the information shown in each report
You can choose which details are included in the service visit report. Depending on your company's internal procedures, you may want to share some information with the customer while keeping other details for internal use. Consider what the customer needs to understand the service visit and what your company prefers to keep internal. You can adjust these choices later if your procedures or needs change.
Available options shown in the settings include:
Visit start and finish times
Service visit instructions and report notes
Geofencing information, where available
Customer signature, if collected
Photo evidence, if included
Issues created or resolved during the visit
Assignments created or completed during the visit
Replacement requests created or completed during the visit
Display actions and relevant maintenance history recorded during the visit
Apply your branding and test the report
You can customize the appearance of service visit reports to match your company branding. In the account settings, open Branding and then Organization Branding to adjust the styles. From this section, you can also generate and check a sample of the service visit report using your selected styles.
Do this before sending reports externally so you can check the PDF's appearance and confirm that the report and email look the way you want them to.
A useful test is to configure the report with the intended settings and send it to yourself first. Check the email, cover message, and PDF attachment as they arrive.
Once you are happy with the result, add your customer as a recipient or enable customer sending.
Decide how reports are sent
Automatic
In automatic mode, the report is generated and sent to the configured recipient when the service visit is completed, provided the report has content to send and the sender and recipient details are valid. Use this mode when you are happy with the report settings and do not need to review each report individually.
Manual
In manual mode, a draft is generated after each service visit using your selected report content and styling preferences. The draft is saved with the status To be reviewed and sent. Open the report and check the PDF and email details. If everything looks correct, press the paper plane icon to send it immediately to the configured recipient.
If something is not right, you can adjust the report settings for future reports or amend the cover message for this report. After making the necessary changes, press the paper plane icon to send the report.
Check report status and resolve sending issues
To be reviewed and sent
The report draft has been generated and is waiting for your review. Open it and check the content before it reaches the customer. If everything looks correct, press the paper plane icon to send it. If you want to change something, amend the report or its cover message first, then press the paper plane icon. This gives you control over what is shared with the customer.
Sent
A green Sent status means the report was sent successfully and delivered. The timestamp shown with the status tells you when it was sent.
Delivery failed
A red Delivery failed status means the report could not be delivered, for example because the recipient's email address does not exist. Check the recipient's email address and update the Service Site's communication settings as needed before trying again.
If a service visit contains no noteworthy notes or other report details, the resulting report may be almost empty. When automatic sending is enabled, OBG switches such reports to manual and highlights them for your review. Complete or amend the information before sending the report to the customer.
Practical tips
Before inviting customers to receive reports, send a test to yourself and review both the email and the attached PDF.
Check the sample report under Account settings > Branding > Organization Branding before sending reports externally.
Use a customer-specific cover message and consider including the account manager's contact details.
Select report details that suit your service process and the information you want to share externally.
Remember that each Service Site is limited to three external report recipients.
In manual mode, check reports marked To be reviewed and sent and send them using the paper plane icon only after you are satisfied with the content.
If a report is highlighted because it has no content to send, review the selected report fields and sending mode.
Check sender and recipient details if a report cannot be delivered.