Smart Actions FAQ

Q: Where in the Rentvine platform can I find Smart Actions?

A: Look for “Smart Actions” under Maintenance in the left-hand navigation — this is your inbox of every suggestion across all your work orders, similar to how you'd work through an email inbox.

You'll also see a small suggestion icon directly on individual work orders in your work order list, and a suggestion banner inside a work order itself when you open it.

Q: What exactly is a Smart Action? Does it make changes to my work orders automatically?

A: No — Smart Actions only suggests. It never edits, sends, or changes anything on its own. Every suggestion sits there until you confirm it, edit it, or dismiss it. It's built to sit on top of how you already work, not replace it.

Q: What does the progress bar on my work order list actually show?

A: The progress bar (Assignment → Approvals → Scheduling → Work → Billing) reflects activity happening on the work order — conversations, vendor responses, and scheduling updates — but it doesn't replace your manual status field.

You'll still need to update the work order's status yourself; the progress bar is there to give you an at-a-glance read on where things stand. Since billing and estimates aren't part of Smart Actions yet, the Approvals and Billing steps won't reflect Smart Actions activity for now.

Q: What kinds of Smart Actions will I actually see?

A: Three general categories: Assignment (who to dispatch, reassigning after a decline), Scheduling (catching an agreed time in chat, nudging a non-responsive vendor), and Follow-up (answering a tenant's question, flagging a duplicate or a recalled issue). You can group your Smart Actions inbox by priority to help triage.

Q: When will I actually start seeing suggestions after Smart Actions is turned on?

A: Your inbox starts empty and fills in as new activity happens — new work orders, new messages, new vendor responses. It doesn't scan your history and generate suggestions retroactively, but it will pick up existing open work orders as soon as there's new activity on them.

Q: Will turning this on change my existing workflows, filters, or the way I use the API?

A: No. Smart Actions is additive — it doesn't touch your existing work order fields, filters, or API endpoints. It layers suggestions, indicator badges, and an inbox on top of what you already have. If you use the API, work order state and Smart Actions data are both available there alongside everything else.

Q: Can I filter Smart Actions to just my team or portfolio?

A: Yes, as long as you’ve created Rentvine Pods for these teams.

Q: How does Smart Actions decide which vendor to suggest for a job?

A: It looks at which vendors you've assigned to that property before, similar work orders across your portfolio, and any maintenance notes or alerts you've saved (for example, “always use this vendor for HVAC”). It will also respects any vendor you've blacklisted for a property if a note or alert exists. Rather than giving you a single pick, it shows a ranked list of top vendor options, so you can easily choose the second or third choice instead of the first.

Q: Does it take a vendor's location into account, or let me set my own preferred ranking?

A: Not yet. Today it's based on assignment history and notes, not real-time location or manual ranking rules, and it doesn't yet factor in custom fields you've created (like a "preferred pool vendor" field). Better location-awareness and more customization are on the roadmap, but aren't available today.

Q: How does Smart Actions know a vendor and tenant have agreed on a time?

A: It reads the conversation in chat or email looking for scheduling language (for example, a vendor writing “I can be there Friday at 3”), and suggests updating the scheduled maintenance window to match. Nothing is finalized until you confirm it, and if the time changes later, it will pick that up too. This works best when the conversation happens in Rentvine chat rather than by phone.

Q: When Smart Actions drafts a reply to a tenant or vendor, where does that answer come from?

A: It looks at what's already in the work order — chat, email, and internal notes — and drafts a response using information that's already there (for example, an internal note about an estimate limit). You always review and approve the draft before it sends.

Q: Which channel does Smart Actions use to send a reminder — chat, email, or text?

A: It defaults to whichever channel you've historically used with that vendor or tenant. There isn't a way to manually override that channel choice yet.

Q: What happens if a tenant submits the same request twice?

A: Smart Actions will suggest closing the newer, duplicate work order and linking it back to the original with a note. If it's tenant-submitted, the tenant sees that their request was linked to the one already being worked on.

Q: What's a "recalled work" suggestion?

A: It's the opposite of a duplicate: if an issue comes back after a work order was already closed (roughly within the last 90 days), Smart Actions opens a new work order, keeps the old one closed, links the two, and automatically reassigns the same vendor with a note asking for a return visit.

Q: What happens if my vendor declines the job, or just doesn't respond?

A: If a vendor declines, Smart Actions suggests a different vendor rather than resurfacing the one who said no. If a vendor goes quiet for about 24 hours, it drafts a one-click follow-up reminder for you to send.

Q: Do my vendors need to log into a Rentvine account for any of this to work?

A: No. A vendor just needs to be added to the work order — Smart Actions works over email even if they never log into the vendor portal. A simpler no-login way for vendors to accept and respond to jobs is in the works, but isn't live yet.

Q: I'm seeing two Smart Actions that both seem to be asking for the same thing — what should I do?

A: You've found a known issue. Occasionally Smart Actions will surface two separate suggestions (for example, a follow-up email and a chat reminder) that are really chasing the same underlying need. It's safe to just confirm or dismiss the one you don't need — our team is actively working on consolidating these into a single suggestion.

Q: Can Smart Actions handle billing, estimates, or invoices?

A: Not yet. This is the next major area we're building — things like matching an invoice to the right work order, and flagging tenant vs. owner charges. For now, billing and estimates are handled the way you do today.

Q: My vendor and tenant scheduled an appointment over the phone, outside Rentvine — will Smart Actions catch that?

A: Not automatically today — Smart Actions only sees what happens inside Rentvine (chat, email, notes). If scheduling happens by phone call or text outside the platform, ask your vendor or tenant to confirm the time in Rentvine chat so the system can pick it up. A way to manually update the scheduled time yourself is coming soon.

Q: Is there a dashboard or report that rolls up all my open Smart Actions?

A: Not yet — today the Smart Actions inbox is your best single view. A more visual, at-a-glance dashboard is something we're actively exploring.

Q: A suggestion looks wrong to me — what should I do?

A: Dismiss it. Smart Actions is designed so you're always the final decision-maker, and dismissing an incorrect suggestion doesn't hurt anything. If you're seeing a pattern of incorrect suggestions, let us know — that feedback directly shapes what we fix next.

Q: Who do I contact with questions or feedback?

A: Reach out to [email protected] (Product Manager) or [email protected] (Lead engineer). We read every piece of feedback from this beta and use it to prioritize what we build next.