Communication - Slack

Purpose

To learn about proper communication through Slack, and how to best use Slack on a daily basis. Slack is UPCC's primary method of communication. It is a live chatroom style communication platform split into channels for organizational purposes. You may use Slack in your browser, or on your smartphone with the Slack app.

Usage

Slack is meant to be used for instant, transient communication. The messages do not persist indefinitely and so you may not be able to reference a message that was sent more than a couple of months ago, depending on how much activity has occurred in Slack since.

Communication and notes that needs to be persisted should be handled elsewhere, such as via email or tech notes on the work order. If a message you post in Slack might need to be referenced in the future (such as “Customer brought in hard drive for data transfer”) then persist the message elsewhere in addition to communicating via Slack (in this example, make a work order note).

Etiquette

Slack is designed to be a form of rapid, instant communication. As such, it is important that you follow some simple rules in order to keep everyone's experience optimal:

Post in the appropriate channel. Some conversations are best left to direct messages, while others may need to address a broader audience.
Be brief unless your situation requires more detail- being a technician can be a busy job, and brevity is key.
Answer in a timely fashion. You don't need to stare at the Slack screen all day waiting for a message, but checking for new messages regularly can make the difference in getting a job done today versus getting it done tomorrow.
Enable notifications. Whether on your computer or on your phone, you've got the option to enable sound and popup notifications to alert you to new messages. Use this to your advantage.
Be respectful. Keep the language mild, and the off-topic banter to a minimum.
Use your official work picture as your Slack profile picture.

Channels

Slack is split up into several channels in order to better facilitate effective communication. Channels are referenced using a hashtag/pound sign (#). By default, we have the following channels:

#upcc: Most discussion will take place here. As the name implies, this is the "catch-all" channel.
Store channels (#greenville, #newbern): Discussion about repairs and topics relevant to each store, respectively.

Additional channels are available for more specific topics. You will be added to these channels as the need arises.

To pin a channel to the top of your list, click on the channel name in the Channels list, then on the small star icon next to the channel name at the top of the page.

Direct Messages

If you have a message directly pertaining to another employee, you may instead send them a Direct Message (DM). If you have not exchanged a DM with this employee before, you may need to click the circled '+' sign next to the "Direct Messages" section in Slack. On the resulting window, you can then search for the employee by name and begin a new conversation.

A green circle next to someone's name indicates that they are online. An empty circle indicates that they are offline.

To pin a person to the top of your list, click on their name in your DM list, then on the small star icon next to their name at the top of the page.

@slackbot

Slackbot is our automated chat bot. If a device gets assigned to you, you will receive a DM from @slackbot with some details and a link to the relevant Work Order. The bot is a one-way communication- currently, there are no plans that would require communicating back to @slackbot.

CommanderBot - Making your life easier

We needed a bit more functionality than what @slackbot could provide, so we created CommanderBot to fill the void. The primary function of this bot is to integrate the PC Repair Tracker with Slack.

Authorizing CommanderBot to integrate with your PCRT account

Go to https://pcrt.care/repair/user.php and click the green “Add to Slack” button to begin the authorization process. You will be taken to Slack (and prompted to sign in, if you aren’t already) to complete the authorization. When successful, you will be returned to the User settings page where you will see a list of permissions that CommanderBot has been granted.

Automatically linking Work Orders and PCIDs

CommanderBot will automatically create a link for any WO or PCID that you post. Simply type 'WO ####' or 'PC ####' and CommanderBot will link to the appropriate page in PC Repair Tracker. CommanderBot can handle multiple WOs and PCIDs in one message, as well as text that doesn't need to be linked. For example, if you typed:

Hey guys, what is the status with PC 1234? Also can you clarify the charges on WO 4321, please?

CommanderBot would intelligently handle the message, creating a link for bot the PCID and the WO while leaving the rest of the text alone.

The bot will also handle invoice numbers and receipt numbers in the same fashion.

Posting images, files, links, and text snippets

Slack has built-in integration to handle a wide variety of media formats.

Pasted links (to most websites) will be presented with some additional text (usually, a title, title picture, and a text blob) to help give context on the link, without other users having to click on it.
Pasted direct links to images will display the image in-line on Slack, removing the need to open the image in another tab.
Pasted images (so, directly pasting an image from the clipboard) will be uploaded as a file and also displayed in-line.

Additionally, you may choose to create either a text snippet or a post, usually for longer text selections or excerpts of code. Simply use the '+' arrow to the left of the chatbox for a list of options.

Snippet: Designed for sharing sections of code, complete with syntax highlighting for a variety of languages.
Post: Designed for sharing long messages. The post may be named, shared, and commented on. This is a great way to have more important messages stand out from the rest of the usual conversation in a channel.

If you need to share a file, you can do so in one of two ways. You can use the '+' arrow to the left of the chatbox and use the "Upload a file" option to browse for and upload your file- or, you can simply drag and drop the file anywhere on the Slack page.

Search Functionality

Slack has a powerful search feature that lets you search across channels and direct messages that you're a part of. Results are presented in a list format, with your search terms highlighted. If you need more context, you can easily jump to the original time a post was made by clicking on the time stamp next to the poster's name.

Additional Information

The team behind Slack are constantly introducing new features. For any new features not listed here, or for more help, you can always check Slack’s online documentation or get in touch with them via a support ticket.