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Frequently Asked Questions by a New Building Contact

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Jantzen
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Below is a list of common questions asked by Committee Members and Owners as they start to use the Portal. This includes basic troubleshooting for activation and sign-in issues. 

 

Contents

 

What is the Portal?

The Portal is an online platform that brings Owners, Strata Managers and Service Providers together and streamlines the way Strata organisations conduct maintenance work in one simple and efficient system. The Portal has a wide range of features that Building Contacts can use to simplify daily tasks, requests for maintenance and other service transactions, such as asbestos remediation or pest control.

Within the Portal, Building Contacts have access to tools that provide insight into crucial aspects of their business and give them more control over business operations.

 

What does this mean for me as an Invoice approver for my Building?

  • You can chat directly with a Strata Manager and other Committee Members about Invoices that are being reviewed within the Portal
  • You are likely not the only approver required for Invoice processing. The Portal helps to maintain a clear and transparent workflow throughout the approval process
  • You can view old Invoices for the Building and see the History of their review 
  • You can view the balance for the Building's bank account on the Invoice Approval screen
  • You can view General Ledger (GL) codes and descriptions for each Invoice
  • You have the flexibility to review and manage approvals for Invoices uploaded by Contractors. To simplify the review process, sort Invoices by amount, date and other criteria
  • One link will give you access to the most important documents for your Building, Building finances  and Invoices that require approval 

 

Why should Building Contacts that aren't approvers use the Portal?

  • Since Service Providers and all stakeholders use the Portal to regularly update the statuses and progress of Jobs, Building Contacts will always be aware of how maintenance in their Building is going. The Portal enables Building Contacts to oversee the management of maintenance requests from start to finish, from the approval of Quotes to the payment of Invoices
  • Building Contacts can rate Service Providers based on their performance and provide useful feedback
  • The Portal simplifies communications and facilitates meaningful discussions among stakeholders by allowing Building Contacts to chat directly with Owners, Committee Members and Strata Managers about anything to do with a Building
  • Within the Portal, Building Contacts have access to all of the most important documents for the Building, such as levies, by-laws, minutes and Work or Quote Requests
  • Building Contacts can view and post announcements on a virtual Noticeboard for the Building

 

Why do I need to activate my profile?                                          

The Portal is a cloud-based software solution your Strata Organisation is adopting to replace the current approval and communications system. The use of the Portal will simplify all aspects of business operations, including data entry, management of maintenance requests, Invoice review and processing. 

Messaging and chat are integrated with the Portal, allowing Building Contacts to communicate freely with all levels of Strata Organisation employees and reducing the time it would take to browse through an inbox or switch apps.

When Committee Members and Owners sign up and activate their profiles, they can view important documents and the Recent Work History for their Building.

Committee Members and Owners that are Invoice approvers must have an account to review and approve Invoices for payment. 

It's easy to keep track of Invoices for a Building, since the Portal has a designated and visually compelling page where all Invoices are uploaded and stored. It also has an audit trail that Building Contacts can view to determine what actions were taken and when they were implemented. This provides transparency to document storage and updates made to the review and approval process.

There are various ways to view and search for Invoices using the Portal. Building Contacts may choose to search by entering a Plan Number, Creditor or Contractor Name, Invoice Number and more.

Invoices may be filtered by specifying a date range or by limiting results to any Invoices that require your review and approval. Then sort the list of results by the upload date or the payment date.

 

How do I activate my profile?

When a Building Contact has registered for an account, they will receive an email invite with a profile activation link. Click the 'Activate your Profile' link and follow the instructions to complete the Sign Up Process.

 

What should I do if the invitation link in my email isn't working?

It's likely that the invitation link has expired. Please contact the Strata Manager of the Building or the Support Team to send a new invitation.

There's also a chance that there's already an active account registered for the email. If the Building Contact is a Strata Member for more than one Plan, they should try using a different email address. They must be logged out of their other account before the new account can be activated.

 

What should I do if I can't find my email invite?

If the Committee Member or Owner can't find the email invite, it may be in their Spam or Junk folders. If they still can't find it, they may have entered their email incorrectly when registering for an account.

Please contact the Support Team, confirm the correct email address for the account and request that they resend the invitation. 

 

I can’t access the Portal. What should I do?

The preferred browsers to access the website are Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It's recommended to use the most up-to-date version of your preferred browser. 

If there are still issues, reach out to the Strata Manager or the designated Support Team for further assistance.

 

My computer is taking a long time to load the Portal.

Try clearing the browser's cache and cookies. Click the links below for instructions on how to do this using a preferred browser.

Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox

 

What should I do if my password isn't working?

To reset a password, go to smata.com and click the ‘Forgot Password?’ link. An email will be sent to the email address on file for the account. Look for the email and click the ‘Update Your Password’ link to set a new password.

 

What is the Building Profile?

The Building Profile is a hub where Building Contacts and other stakeholders can find up-to-date information for a Building, such as a Directory, Building Rules, Items to Action (for approvers), Recent Work History, Popular Documents, Upcoming Work and a Noticeboard.

For more information, please see Functions and Features of the Building Profile.

 

I'm an Invoice approver. Where are the Invoices that I need to review and approve?

When an Invoice is ready for review, an approver will receive in-app and email notifications.

Building Contacts can also check the ‘Items to Action’ section of the Building Profile, which is located under 'View Directory' and 'Building Rules'. If there are Invoices or other files that require review, there will be a red banner that says 'You have [#] actions'. 

To dismiss the notification, click the 'X' in the right corner of the red banner.

For more information, please see Overview of Invoice Review and Approval.

 

I want to request work and/or get a Quote. What should I do?

Committee Members and Owners can request maintenance work and other services for their Building by submitting a short request form within the Portal. This can be found by clicking the 'Create Work Request' Button on the Building Profile.

For more information, please see How to Create a Work Request.

Another option that doesn't require signing in to the Portal is to create a Work Request externally by going to smata.com and clicking the ‘Submit a Work Request’ button on the toolbar.

 

Can I view the documents for my Building?

The Document Management System (DMS) allows Committee Members to view documents for their Building. To access the DMS, click the Documents Icon from the toolbar at the top of the screen.

For more information, please see Overview of the Document Management System.

 

Why am I getting so many email notifications?

Notifications help Building Contacts learn of recent status changes and real-time updates for Jobs in addition to other essential functions and responsibilities like Invoice review and approval.

Building Contacts have control over the notifications that they receive and can easily make changes to a specific type of notification (Push, SMS or Email) or to the frequency that they receive notifications.

To change notifications settings, go to the icon with your initials or profile photo then click the drop-down arrow and select 'Settings'. Next click 'Notifications Settings'.  Basic Settings, the master control for all notifications, will be listed. To apply a change in the type or frequency of notifications to all notifications within the Portal, select this option.

Choose 'Instantly' to receive notifications in real time, 'Hourly' to receive one notification per hour or 'Daily' to receive one notification per day. Selecting 'Weekly' will reduce notifications to one notification per week. 

Click 'Advanced Settings' to view more options for setting notifications based on different workflow tasks.

 

Is there a chat or messaging feature in the Portal?

Building Contacts can send messages to Strata Managers, Building Managers, other Committee Members and Owners. They can do this in three ways: using the ‘Send Message’ feature in the Building Directory, using the 'Message Stakeholders' button from the page where a document or Invoice is viewed, or by going to the 'Messages' tab and using the green '+' button to start a new chat. 

On the Building Profile, click ‘View Directory’ then click the ‘Send Message’ option. If a contact doesn't have a link under their name, it means that either they do not have an active Strata Connect account, or they have requested not to be contacted.

When a document is opened from the Document Management System, there will be a ‘Message Stakeholders’ option on the bottom left corner of the page. Clicking this option will link the file to the message.

Click the Message Icon from the toolbar at the top of the screen to view all recent chats. Click the aqua '+' button to start a new chat and complete the required fields: Address or Plan Number, Contacts, Subject and Message. Click 'Get Started' to open the chat.

 

I don’t want to use the Portal.

Committee Members and Owners can reach out to the Strata Manager of a Building they manage if they do not want to use the Portal.

 

If I need help using the Portal or have questions and concerns, who do I contact?

The Support Team is online Mondays to Fridays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM AEST.

Committee Members and Owners can reach out in a couple of ways:

Live Chat from the website. The Chat bubble is located on the bottom left of the screen when logged in to the portal. 

'Submit a Request' from the Help Centre. Click the Help Icon from the toolbar to access the Help Centre. 

 

Email: support@smata.com

Phone: 0488 -839-500

Chat: Click the Support Icon on the website

 

Additional Resources

Videos:

Online Learning Course:

 

Organisation Admins should contact us with any further questions regarding this process.

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