LOU - General Topics

Set Up Users

Once you’ve invited users to your LOU company, and they’ve accepted the invitation, there are several things you need to configure to ensure they can perform their job within LOU.

Before we get started, here are some additional resources that may be useful as you begin to configure your Users.

REMEMBER! The Enterprise Plan is required for companies with multiple Departments (locations), more than 4 POS Stations, and more than 10 Users.

There are several places you need to configure User Profiles and Access before they can work smoothly in LOU. Below, we’ve compiled some helpful tips based on common Job Titles and designations.

IMPORTANT! Everyone who is going to access LOU Web or LOU Retail POS must have their own username and password. You must not share logins as this is not secure and can cause problems with data in the system, including overwriting each other and not saving changes, when logged in on multiple devices. For proper tracking and auditing, every user should have their own unique username and password. Each user should only have one tab open at a time to ensure data is not overwritten or compromised.

Job Titles
Job Titles are not required as part of your LOU setup. However, they can be useful for your own internal tracking. Once you create these Job Titles, they can be added in the Personnel Profiles as part of your User Configuration tasks.

Since every company’s Job Titles may differ from one another, we’re going to use generic Job Titles common in the retail and service industries. You may notice our list below tends to group users by Bundle Access. This is in no way intended to imply these users must only have access to the referenced Bundles. Instead, these are suggestions based on the most common duties for each group. As you set up LOU and configure your Users, you should grant the Access to Bundles and User Permissions most appropriate for each of your Users based on how your business operates.

If you are unsure what Bundles and Permissions a User needs, contact Support and we can help you determine the correct configuration for your User.

Back Office Users
These would be your phone support/customer service staff, accountants/bookkeepers, receptionist, office admins, etc. If you have a warehouse, you may consider certain warehouse staff Back Office users. These users are not typically on the showroom floor, in the field, or at the retail counter.

TIME ZONES MATTER! When you sign up for LOU, you are asked to select your Time Zone. This time zone is used as the default for every user added to your LOU company. Every User may go into their My Account and set their appropriate Time Zone if it differs from the company default. This cannot be done by an admin on behalf of another User.

Time Zones affect Scheduling! To ensure you’re scheduling or viewing the Schedule accurately, you must have the Time Zone appropriately configured in My Account.

Every user you invite to LOU gets access to the Foundation Bundle, but you need to grant access to the Retail and Service Bundles according to need. You will also need to determine if the user needs to be an Admin and grant them access here.
- Bundle Access: The Foundation bundle will be sufficient for most users in this category, but your users may perform tasks that require access to the Retail or Service bundles.
- To Admin or Not to Admin: The Operations (where Reports live), LOU Account, Product Setup, Schedule Dashboard, and Receive Inventory Tiles all require Admin permissions to access. Users who will be running reports, ordering or Receiving Inventory, and managing your LOU Product Setup will need to be Admins.
- TIP! You may have a General Manager, or other Supervisor, who works in the back office but needs access to everything like the Owner. This User should be given access to every bundle you have, as well as be made an Admin. This ensures that someone other than Owner can access all parts of LOU and keep things running smoothly.
If you have multiple Departments, setting Default Departments for Sales Orders and Work Orders on the Personnel Profile can save your Users time when they’re creating new documents. Rather than choosing the Department each time, LOU will default to the Departments defined in the Personnel Profile.
- You can only define one default Department, each, for Sales Orders and Work Orders. For those Users who work with multiple Departments, choose the best Default option. Users can select a different Department during Document Creation.
To schedule Tasks and view the Tasks in the Calendar/Schedule Dashboard view, users must either be a Dispatcher or Primary Personnel in the Schedule Division.
- Dispatchers: Typically not the users who are going out in the field to perform the Tasks. These are the office personnel who are responsible for scheduling and managing the schedules for the Service side of your business.
- Primary Personnel: These are the field technicians, those users who are going out on Tasks in the field.
- REMEMBER! Access to the Schedule Divisions and Schedule Dashboard requires Service Bundle Access.
- TIP! The General Manager or Supervisor who needs access to everything in LOU should be made a Dispatcher in all your Schedule Divisions. This way, they can see the Calendars for each Divisions through the Schedule Dashboard.

Retail Users
These would be your retail location staff such as store managers and customer service reps.

Every user you invite to LOU gets access to the Foundation Bundle, but you need to grant access to the Retail and Service Bundles according to need. You will also need to determine if the user needs to be an Admin and grant them access here.
- Bundle Access: These users will need access to the Retail Bundle in addition to the Foundation Bundle every user has.

- To Admin or Not to Admin: The Operations (where Reports live), LOU Account, Product Setup, Schedule Dashboard, and Receive Inventory Tiles all require Admin permissions to access. Fewer of these users will need Admin access than your Back Office Users. However, you may determine supervisors and managers need Admin access in order to manage POS Station settings, run reports, and have access to Product Setup features.
- All Retail Personnel who will be processing transactions on a LOU Retail POS Station will need to have their My LOU App PIN. They can get that from their My Account profile.
If you have multiple Departments, setting Default Departments for Sales Orders and Work Orders on the Personnel Profile can save your Users time when they’re creating new documents. Rather than choosing the Department each time, LOU will default to the Departments defined in the Personnel Profile.
- You can only define one default Department, each, for Sales Orders and Work Orders. For those Users who work with multiple Departments, choose the best Default option. Users can select a different Department during Document Creation.
It’s unlikely Retail Users would require access to the Schedule Dashboard. However, if you want your Retail Users to be able to access the Schedule Dashboard and view, add, or update Tasks, you should make them a Dispatcher in the appropriate Schedule Division(s). If they are Retail Users who also go out on service calls, they should be listed as Primary Personnel in the appropriate Schedule Division(s).
- REMEMBER! Access to the Schedule Divisions and Schedule Dashboard requires Service Bundle Access.

Service Users
These would be your Service Managers, Dispatchers, and Technicians or other users who go in the field.

Every user you invite to LOU gets access to the Foundation Bundle, but you need to grant access to the Retail and Service Bundles according to need. You will also need to determine if the user needs to be an Admin and grant them access here.
- Bundle Access: These Users will need access to the Service Bundle in addition to the Foundation Bundle.
- To Admin or Not to Admin: The Operations (where Reports live), LOU Account, Product Setup, Schedule Dashboard, and Receive Inventory Tiles all require Admin permissions to access. Users who will be running reports, ordering or Receiving Inventory, and managing your LOU Product Setup will need to be Admins.
- All Service Personnel who will be using the LOU Schedule Mobile App will need their My LOU App PIN. They can get that from their My Account profile.
If you have multiple Departments, setting Default Departments for Sales Orders and Work Orders on the Personnel Profile can save your Users time when they’re creating new documents. Rather than choosing the Department each time, LOU will default to the Departments defined in the Personnel Profile.
- You can only define one default Department, each, for Sales Orders and Work Orders. For those Users who work with multiple Departments, choose the best Default option. Users can select a different Department during Document Creation.
On the Personnel Profile, you can also set a Service Personnel’s work hours by toggling Override Division’s Scheduling Hours. This allows you to define the specific work hours for the Service Personnel since your Divisions may be open 7 days a week, but your Personnel don’t work 7 days a week.
- LOU will use these hours when assigning techs to Tasks rather than the Division’s hours.
- Schedule Alias: Make sure you populate a name in this field or the Service Personnel will not show up on the Schedule/Calendar.
To schedule Tasks and view the Tasks in the Calendar/Schedule Dashboard view, users must either be a Dispatcher or Primary Personnel in the Schedule Division. This is especially important for Service Users.
- Dispatchers: Typically not the users who are going out in the field to perform the Tasks. These are the office personnel who are responsible for scheduling and managing the schedules for the Service side of your business.
- Primary Personnel: These are the field technicians, those users who are going out on Tasks in the field.
- IMPORTANT! Users who work with multiples Divisions, such as Service Managers, will need to be listed as a Dispatcher or Primary Personnel in each Schedule Division.