OUTCO Service Portal User Manual
1. Introduction
Welcome to the OUTCO Client Service Portal. The OUTCO Portal has been designed to provide secure access to real-time service updates and offers full transparency of services provided to your sites. With the ability to see all reported issues, download service reports (where applicable), and also request any additional call-out requests directly from the portal.
The portal is fully mobile responsive so can be used from most devices allowing you to view your service data on the move. The ability to use the portal as a mobile app is also available by following a few simple steps here. To access the portal, go to https://portal.outco.co.uk A summary of the features
- Provide real-time service information on your jobs
- Request additional call-out visits
- Generate downloadable PDF service reports
- Easily view reported issues from any service visit
- Searchable and date filtering of all your jobs for the last 12 months
- View a list of all the sites you are associated to in our system
- Rate our service
- Get in touch with our customer services team
- Create and view support tickets
Coming soon
- Directly update your service notifications preferences
2. Compatibility
The portal can be used with an internet browser, smart phone or tablet device, with the below confirmed version compatibility:
- Google Chrome Browser
- Edge Browser
- Safari Browser
- Android 11 or later mobile operating system
- Apple iOS 15 or later mobile operating system
3. Logging into the Portal
To log in to the OUTCO Service Portal, follow the address: https://portal.outco.co.uk where you will be presented with a log in screen.
Enter your Email address and Password into the appropriate text boxes, including replicating the verification code as displayed, and click Login.
Check the Remember Me box for your device to remember your login details. Not recommended for public and shared devices.
Note: The verification code is added for your safety and ensures our portal, and your data is fully secured.
3.1 New Customers
If you are a new user and would like access to the portal, this will need to be setup in our system. Please email our Helpdesk to request access on helpdesk@outco.co.uk
When access has been granted and setup in our system, you will receive your log in details via email with the portal link and your username. A second separate email will be sent with a temporary password, which we recommend changing after your first log in. Please refer to section 3.2 Change Your Password below for further instructions on changing your password.
3.2 Change Your Password
You can update your password at any time by clicking on the User Settings on the top right corner of any portal page. You will be asked to confirm your current password and then set and confirm your new chosen password, after which you can save for the changes to take effect.
For your security, the below criteria are required for setting a password.
- A minimum of 12 and maximum of 18 characters
- Must contain both upper and lower case letters
- Must contain at least one number
- Must contain at least one special character
3.3 Forgot Password
If you have forgotten your password, use the Forgot Password link on the log in screen to reset it. Add your email address as requested and click Submit. If the email provided, matches an account in our system, you will receive an email with instructions of how to reset your password
4. Home Page
After you have successfully logged into the Portal, you will arrive at the Home screen which provides some shortcut navigation options within the portal.
Guide to the icons menu on the Home page is found below
| Your Sites | Displays a list of all sites and addresses of the properties we look after for you and which you are associated to in our system |
| Your Jobs | This will provide you with three options to navigate to, showing you all relevant jobs per service type for Winter Service, Grounds Maintenance, Asset Maintenance and Surveys |
| New Support ticket | Fill the form to submit a new Service ticket |
| Check Ticket Status | Displays a list of all tickets submitted |
| About OUTCO | Find out at a glance, why OUTCO are Outdoor Estate Compliance Experts |
| What We Do | Want to know more about how OUTCO can help look after your outdoor estate, ensuring you are compliant and safe, find out here. |
| Get in Touch | Complete the form to contact OUTCO Customer service directly |
| User Guide | Up to date user guide for the portal |
5. Your Sites
Your Sites page shows a list of all sites and their address which we look after for you and which you are associated to in our system
5.1 How to Request a Call-Out
Should you wish to request any additional winter service visits other that those which have been scheduled by the weather report, simply select one or more sites, and click Request Call-out from the Sites page or from the Actions menu on the navigation bar. A pop-up will appear giving you the option to specify the service type. Make your selection and click Confirm. You can also request a call out by submitting a ticket and selecting as request type Request Call-out and selecting the site you want associated with the request.
Note: When the call out has been accepted and a job created in our system, you will be able to see the new job in the Your Jobs > Winter Services page
6. Your Jobs
Your Jobs can be accessed from the Home page icon, or from the main menu. There are four job types to choose from in Your Jobs, each with their own page reflecting different report data. Winter Services, Grounds Maintenance, Asset maintenance and Surveys job types are now available with job data visible for the last 12 months.
Note: You will only see the job types available based on your account setup and preferences
In any of the jobs view pages, the following functions are available to use:
| Select |  |
Click the square to select one of more records. Clicking again deselects the record.
Click to top square within the header to select or deselect all records |
 |
The Print button will create a printable layout of only of the selected records | |
| Export |  |
The Export button will provide the option to export the selected records to either an Excel file or PDF which will be downloaded to your computer |
| Show records per page |  |
The default view shows 25 records per page. This can be increased to a max of 1000 records per page |
| Date Filtering |  |
By default, the jobs shown with be the last 30 days. You can adjust the date filtering by clicking and setting both the From and To date as
required. |
| Search |  |
A search button is available and will search fields from any of the visible columns |
| Sort columns |  |
Every column can be sorted in order of the data in the column. Clicking the header will sort from top to bottom, clicking the same header will reverse the sort order |
| View reported issues |  |
In the Reporting column, you will see an orange alert triangle per job wherever there has been an issue reported on site. Clicking the icon will present a pop-up showing the detail of the
reported issue. |
| Service Report |  |
A red PDF icon in the Service Report column is available per job line where a service report is available to download (available for Grounds, Reactive works, Gritting and Snow clearance).
Clicking this icon will download a photographic PDF report of the job |
| How Did We Do? |  |
We are always looking for ways to improve our service. Next to each job you will see 5 black stars which can be clicked to rate the service you have received |
6.1 Winter Services
The Winter service page shows all Gritting, Snow Clearance and Pedestrian jobs that have been completed or that are scheduled to be completed within your set date range.
Note: Completed jobs are only visible in the portal for 12 months following completion date.
An explanation of the columns found in the Winter jobs page can be found in the below table:
| Job Ref | A unique identifier which is generate for each and every job in our system |
| Date | The date the job was created |
|
Site Name |
The name of your property at which we provide the service. Each site is prefixed with a unique code (site reference) consisting of 4 – 6 characters of letters and numbers. |
| Job Type | Displays the type of service that was undertaken at your site |
| Billing | Shows the contracted billing method for the site |
| Warning | Traffic light status showing the forecast level of ice related risk for the night |
| Min RST | The minimum forecast Road Surface Temperature (RST) for the period and the temperature by which we activate service |
| Min Air | The minimum forecast air temperatures for the period which is not directly correlated to the RST. Service is not activated from the air temperature |
| Total Rain | Total forecast rainfall over a 24 hour period from midday to midday, measured in millimetres |
| Snow 12-6 | Total forecast snowfall over a 6 hour period from midday to 6pm, measured in centimetres |
| Snow 12-12 | Total forecast snowfall over a 12 hour period from midday to midday, measured in centimetres |
|
Programming |
This field shows how a site was activated for service. Activated shows that
this has been activated from the weather forecast. Additional and Call Out type are also used for any additional service requests |
|
Helpdesk Ref |
When a call out service has been requested, the ticket reference number
will show here. This provides traceability for invoicing to see who the original requestor of the service was |
| Completed | Date and time showing when the service was completed on site |
| Reporting | If any issues were reported during the service, an orange alert triangle will appear. Click on the icon for more info about the issue |
| Job Status | Displays the current and real-time status update of the job |
| Service Report | PDF copy of the service report available once the job is completed. Click the icon to see the report |
| How did we do? | Rate the service that you received on a job by job basis. Simply click the stars icon and complete the form |
6.2 Grounds Maintenance
The Grounds service page shows all Grounds Maintenance jobs that have been completed or that are scheduled to be completed within your set date range.
Note: Completed jobs are only visible in the portal for 12 months following completion date.
An explanation of the columns found in the Grounds jobs page can be found in the below table:
| Job Ref | A unique identifier which is generated for each job in our system |
| Week Commencing | Displays the first day of the week on which the job is scheduled to be undertaken |
|
Site Name |
The name of your property at which we provide the service. Each site is prefixed with a unique code (site reference) consisting of 4 – 6 characters of letters and numbers. |
| Job Type | Displays the type of service that was undertaken at your site |
| Billing | Shows the contracted billing method for the site |
| Start | Date and time showing when the service started on site |
| Completed | Date and time showing when the service was completed on site |
| Job Status | Displays the current and real-time status update of the job |
| Reporting | If any issues were reported during the service, an orange alert triangle will appear. Click on the icon for more info about the issue |
| Service Report | PDF copy of the service report available once the job is completed. Click the icon to see the report |
| How did we do? | Rate the service that you received on a job by job basis. Simply click the stars icon and complete the form |
6.3 Asset Maintenance
The Asset maintenance page shows all ad hoc and reactive jobs, that have been completed or that are scheduled to be completed within your set date range. Examples of reactive jobs would be fixing a fence, pothole repair, tree work, bagged salt delivery etc.
Note: Completed jobs are only visible in the portal for 12 months following completion date.
An explanation of the columns found in the Reactive Works jobs page can be found in the below table:
| Job Ref | A unique identifier which is generate for each and every job in our system |
| Work order | Client supplied work order number (where applicable) |
| Week Commencing | Displays the first day of the week on which the job is scheduled to be undertaken |
| Title | Brief description of the work |
|
Site Name |
The name of your property at which we provide the service. Each site is prefixed with a unique code (site reference) consisting of 4 – 6 characters of letters and numbers. |
| Job Type | Displays the type of service that was undertaken at your site |
| Job Status | Displays the current and real-time status update of the job |
| Start | Date and time showing when the service started on site |
| Completed | Date and time showing when the service was completed on site |
| Reporting | If any issues were reported during the service, an orange alert triangle will appear. Click on the icon for more info about the issue |
| Service Report | PDF copy of the service report available once the job is completed. Click the icon to see the report |
| How did we do? | Rate the service that you received on a job by job basis. Simply click the stars icon and complete the form |
6.4 Surveys
An explanation of the columns found in the Reactive Works jobs page can be found in the below table:
| Job Ref | A unique identifier which is generate for each and every job in our system |
| Work order | Client supplied work order number (where applicable) |
| Week Commencing | Displays the first day of the week on which the job is scheduled to be undertaken |
| Title | Brief description of the work |
|
Site Name |
The name of your property at which we provide the service. Each site is prefixed with a unique code (site reference) consisting of 4 – 6 characters of letters and numbers. |
| Job Type | Displays the type of service that was undertaken at your site |
| Job Status | Displays the current and real-time status update of the job |
| Start | Date and time showing when the service started on site |
| Completed | Date and time showing when the service was completed on site |
| Reporting | If any issues were reported during the service, an orange alert triangle will appear. Click on the icon for more info about the issue |
| Service Report | PDF copy of the service report available once the job is completed. Click the icon to see the report |
| How did we do? | Rate the service that you received on a job by job basis. Simply click the stars icon and complete the form |
7. Support Tickets
A Support Ticket can now be raised with OUTCO, direct from the portal. These Tickets can be used to raise Tickets for General, a Sales Enquiry, Invoicing, Request Call-Out and a Reactive Works Quote.
Depending on the request type, the Site field may or may not be mandatory to complete. i.e. Call out requests must have the Site name completed.
Tickets can be accessed from the home page icon Check Ticket Status, or from the main menu Tickets.
On this page you will see all your submitted tickets and their details.
7.1 Submit a ticket
This option can be found from the ticket page New Ticket or from the homepage menu New Support Ticket or from Actions New Ticket.
| Subject | Ticket title and quick description |
| Request Type | Select the type of request for this ticket. The options are: General, a Sales Enquiry, Invoicing, Request Call-out and a Reactive Works Quote. |
|
Site |
Select the site you want associated to the ticket. This field is mandatory
for submission if the request type selected is Request Call-out otherwise it will remain optional. |
| Description | Description of the request |
| Attach a file | Insert an image or document |
7.2 View a ticket
| Table filtering |  |
The default view will be Open and Pending tickets, but more options can be found to filter the
table under this option |
| New Ticket |  |
This option will open a form for a new ticket to be submitted |
| Export |  |
The Export button will provide the option to export the selected records to either an Excel file or PDF which will be downloaded to your computer |
| Show records per page |  |
The default view shows 25 records per page. This can be increased to a max of 1000 records per page |
| Date Filtering |  |
By default, the tickets shown with be the last 30 days. You can adjust the date filtering by clicking and setting both the From and to date as required. |
| Search |  |
A search button is available and will search fields from any of the visible columns |
| Sort columns |  |
Every column can be sorted in order of the data in the column. Clicking the header will sort from
top to bottom, clicking the same header will reverse the sort order |
| How Did We Do? |  |
We are always looking for ways to improve our service. Next to each job you will see 5 black stars which can be clicked to rate the service you have received |
An explanation of the columns found in the Tickets page can be found in the below table:
| Created On | Date the Ticket was submitted |
| Ticket No. | Reference number of the ticket |
| Subject | The subject added upon ticket submission |
| Department | Department assigned depending on the request type |
| Group | Group Assigned depending on the request type |
| Assigned | It will show if the ticket was assigned to a agent |
| Status | Displays the current and real-time status update of the ticket |
| Last Updated | Last time the ticket was updated |
| Actions | Will offer the option to close the ticket |
| How did we do? | Rate the service that you received. Simply click the stars icon and complete the form |
When clicking on a ticket from the table this will open a window with the details and reply to options
| Reply | Reply to the message |
| Forward | Forward message to another recipient |
8. Mobile Application Installation & Setup
The OUTCO Service Portal can be used through a normal browser as a web page on any device, as a mobile app on your smartphone or as a separate desktop application. Instead of creating a separate application for each of these instances, OUTCO have created a single app that can perform on all of these applications, known as a progressive web app (PWA).
Advantage to users
- Can be easily installed as an app on a wide range of devices
- Fully responsive, adjusting to any device screen size
- Performs just as a normal mobile application
- Is accessed like a mobile application by clicking an icon on the home screen of the device
To use the portal as a mobile app, a PWA needs to be installed rather than a regular app download from the app stores. Please follow the instructions below based on your operating system:
8.1 Apple iOS device
- Open the Safari browser app on your phone (this can only be setup from Safari)
- Navigate to the portal website (https://portal.outco.co.uk) and log in
- At the bottom of the screen, click the share icon (square icon with an arrow) and select Add to home screen
- On the next popup simply click Add. You will now see the OUTCO Portal icon on your phone home screen and can be used like a normal mobile app
8.2 Android device
- Open a browser on your phone and navigate to the portal (https://portal.outco.co.uk) and log in
- A message should appear at the bottom of the screen asking if you would like to add the Service Portal to your home screen.
- If the message is not visible on the screen when logging in, click the 3 dots on the right of the address bar and choose Install App
- Click Install on the next pop-up message. You will now see the OUTCO Portal icon on your phone home screen and can be used like a normal mobile app
9. Desktop Application Installation & Setup
Installing the portal as a desktop application will allow you to use the portal like an installed software application without going through a browser each time. This will allow quick and easy access to your service data.
The PWA can be installed from any browser, but instructions differ slightly for each. Please follow the instructions for your chosen browser below.
9.1 Installation
- From Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browser, navigate to the portal (https://portal.outco.co.uk) and log in
- In the address bar of the browser, click on the install icon on the right hand side
- For Microsoft Edge, 3 squares with a + icon
- For Google Chrome, a square with a diagonal arrow icon
- For Microsoft Edge, 3 squares with a + icon
- A pop-up will appear asking if you would like to install the Service Portal Click Install
- After installation the app will be accessible from the created shortcut on your desktop
Note: With Edge browser you will be asked where you would like to create your shortcut during installation
- To run the application, simply click the icon and the new portal app will run