What are milestones? How do I use the status note? Can I set up my own status codes? The Traffic FAQ has all the answers:

Q. How do I start using the trafficking features?

Start with status codes. Status codes categorize and track a job based upon its progress; they give an overview of where the job is in its development. It's a "herding" feature that groups jobs together that are at the same stage of their development. Status codes are also used in selecting what jobs appear on many reports. For both of these reasons, status codes are the place to start.

There are two status codes, production and billing, available for each job ticket. Each has their own place on the job ticket. This way, production and accounting departments can track jobs in ways meaningful to each of them, and not interfere with each other.

Q. Can I set up my own status codes?

Status codes are setup automatically for you in Clients & Profits ASAP. Production and billing status codes share the same status code table.

Q. How do I update status codes for one job?

To update status for one or two jobs, choose Production > Job Tickets. Find the job whose status you wish to edit. Click on the Traffic link. Here you can edit both the production and billing status codes for this job ticket. Click Save when finished updating.

Q. How do I use the status note?

The status note a brief, user-defined description that supplements the job's status codes. It's entered in the job's Traffic web page. It appears on some traffic reports and job lists, as well as at the bottom of the Job Ticket page.

Q. What are traffic assignments?

Traffic assignments are the initials of the creative/production people most responsible for getting work done. Each job can have up to six traffic assignments. These traffic assignments can then be used when printing traffic reports. This feature allows traffic reports to be personalized to a great degree. As a key staffer in the agency, you can quickly review many jobs with which, in some capacity, you are involved.

Q. After implementing status codes and traffic assignments, what's next?

Where you go from here depends upon the individual situation at your agency. Some agencies use milestones instead of job scheduling. Whether you choose milestones or task scheduling, or both, start with new jobs. Don't spend time on jobs already in progress. Let work already in progress move through the agency as it always did.

Q. How do I use client status notes/next steps?

This area is a user-defined description that supplements the job's status codes and/or milestones. They let production staffers track information about the job in one shared, easy-to-access location. To print this job's client status notes/next steps, choose Snapshots > Production, then select the Traffic by client report and click print. Status notes/next steps appear on the traffic report.

Q. What are milestones?

They are key events in a job's progress that a traffic manager (or other responsible person) needs to keep track of so that work on a job continues to progress in a timely fashion. There are twelve milestone headings available for each job type, so they could be a combination of task-related activities that are critical to a job's development (like the date when the copy is due) and non-task related activities (like whether or not the client has approved the estimate or the date of a client meeting.) All milestone reports are like big checklists. Used in conjunction with status codes and traffic assignments, they provide a comprehensive overview of many jobs.

Q. I can't find anywhere on the job ticket to set up milestone names?

That's because milestone names (called headings) apply only to certain types of jobs. They are part of the job type/spec sheet. For example: the milestone headings for the job type "brochure" apply to every brochure job you've opened. The actual milestones for each job will vary, but the headings -- the key phases of a brochure job -- won't change from job to job.

Space is limited, so milestone headings must be concise or abbreviated. For example, "client presentation" can be abbreviated as CL PRES. An "internal creative meeting" could be shown as CRE MTG. After saving, every job ticket that has this job type will display these milestone headings. Milestone headings are always interactive with job tickets. Any change to the headings is immediately reflected on all job tickets with this Job Type.

To have milestones on a job, two things must happen: the Job Type must have milestone headings and the job ticket must be associated with a Job Type. When opening a new job ticket, you'll be prompted to choose a Job Type.

Q. How do I update milestone dates on a job?

To update milestone information (text fields, not headings) for a job, choose Production > Job Tickets. Find the job you wish to edit. Click on the Traffic link. Here you'll be able to edit this job's milestone information. Click Save when finished updating.

Q. Why can't each job have its own milestones?

Because the events that milestones represent are the same or similar based upon the work being done; so milestones headings are tied to Job Type/Spec sheets.

Q. What are some examples of milestones?

Here are some commonly-used milestone headings: Concept (Concept); Initial Development (Init dv); Copywriter's Revisions (Copy rv); Artist's Revisions (Art rv); Art Director's Approval (AD ok); Account Executive's Revisions (AE rv); Creative Director's Approval (CD ok); Rough Drafts (Roughs); Mechanicals (Mech).