Stop re-typing into client portals

Why it is worth fixing

Many agencies supply larger clients through the client’s own online portal, often called a VMS (vendor management system). The same details already sit in your own system, so someone keys them in a second time: approvals, start dates, worker details and notes. Each update is quick on its own, but they add up across a week, copying by hand is where small mistakes creep in, and it keeps good people away from candidates and clients.

Step by step

1. Write down what your team re-types

   For each portal, list the screens your team works through, what goes into them, where that information comes from and how often it happens. Be specific. “Approve each assignment once the candidate file is complete” is a rule software can follow; “keep the portal up to date” is not. Start with the task that takes the most time or goes wrong most often.

2. Ask for a scheduled report or a file upload

   Before building anything, ask the portal’s support team, or your contact at the client, two questions. Can the portal email us the report we need on a schedule? Can we upload changes as a spreadsheet instead of typing them one at a time? If either answer is yes, use it: a report in your inbox every morning, and a short routine for working through it, is cheaper and sturdier than anything that clicks.

3. Check that automated access is allowed

   Read the portal’s terms of use and ask your client before any software signs in on your behalf. Some portals are happy with it, some want to be told first, and some do not allow it at all. Get the answer in writing and keep it with your notes on the task.

4. If there is no report, use browser automation

   Browser automation is software that opens a web browser and works through a website as a person would: it signs in, opens the right screen, reads what is there, and types or clicks. It runs on a timer, every hour for example, so the portal keeps up without anyone sitting at it, and because it uses the same screens as your team, it works where the portal offers no direct connection.

5. Write the rules before it changes anything

   Decide exactly when the software may act, and when it must not. For example: approve an assignment only when every document in the candidate file is present and in date; never change a pay rate; never touch a record it cannot match to one in your own system. Start with the narrowest rule that still saves time, and widen it once you trust it.

6. Make anything that doesn’t match stop for a person

   This is the rule that matters most. When something doesn’t match, the software stops and passes it to a named person with the reason written down, such as “the start date differs from our record” or “the portal would not allow this”. Your team then works through a short list of real problems instead of every record.

7. Keep a record of every change

   Have the software log what it did, when and why, and send a short summary each day. You can then answer a client’s question about any update, and spot quickly if something starts to go wrong.

8. Plan for the portal changing

   Portals change their screens from time to time. Software that clicks should check that each page looks as expected before it acts, and stop rather than guess if it doesn’t. Agree at the start who updates it when that happens.

Checklist

• Every portal task your team repeats is written down, with how often it happens
• You have asked whether the portal can send a scheduled report or take a file upload
• The portal’s terms and your client allow automated access, and you have that in writing
• The rules for when the software may act are written down, and narrow to begin with
• Anything that doesn’t match goes to a named person, with the reason
• Every change is logged, and someone reads the daily summary
• Someone is responsible for updating the automation when the portal changes

When it is worth getting help

A scheduled report and a tidy spreadsheet routine are often enough, and you can set those up yourself. It is worth getting help when the portal has no report or upload, when the same task runs every day across several portals or clients, or when the rules are detailed enough that a mistake would cause a problem with a client. It also helps to have someone who will keep it working when the portal changes.

Rec Int. builds browser automation like this for UK recruitment agencies, around the systems they already run, so nothing is ripped out and replaced.

Questions people ask

If you would like to talk through which portal tasks are worth handing to software, book a discovery call.