Internal collaboration

• Using internal collaboration
  
  • Taking notes
  • Adding annotations
  • Communicating with teammates
  • Assigning tasks
• FAQ
  • Why should I use internal collaboration?
  • How can I access internal collaboration from a quote?

Using internal collaboration

Internal collaboration is located in the sidebar on the right side of the part viewer. If the sidebar is collapsed, select the Chat icon to open it.

There are two tabs in chat: Team and External. 

• Internal collaboration is located in the Team tab. Any messages left in this section will be visible to all users in your Paperless Parts organization. 
• Use external collaboration (in the External tab) to communicate with people outside of your team, like buyers or vendors.  

Taking notes

To capture a note in internal collaboration, click Add Message, type, and press ENTER or click the airplane icon. 

Any notes you take here will live with this part going forward, creating a digital record for you to reference if you ever requote it. 

Adding annotations

Making a note about a specific feature or measurement? Add context to your messages and notes with annotations. 

To annotate a geometric feature:

1. Select the feature or manufacturing warning you want to annotate from the CAD tab. 
2. Click Add annotation from the collaboration drawer.
3. Select Annotate features. 
   
   1. Tip: Give your teammate a good pass by zooming in so the annotated feature is clearly visible before annotating. When they review the annotation, the part will snap to the viewpoint you were in when you made the annotation.

4. Type the associated message and press ENTER or click the airplane icon. 

Similarly, you can annotate part faces, edges, and measurements.

To view an annotation, select the checkbox next to it.  

Communicating with teammates

If the message you're leaving is intended for a specific team member, loop them into the conversation by tagging them. 

To tag a teammate, either:

1. Click Tag teammate and select a recipient from the list.

2. Type @ while making a note to search the list of users on your team. Press ENTER to make a selection. 

The teammate you tag will receive an in-app notification, immediately alerting them if they are currently signed in. If they aren't active in the platform within 10 minutes of being tagged, they'll also be notified via email. 

Assigning tasks

Similar to tagging, tasks allow you to loop a teammate into the conversation - this time with a requested action and due date. 

To assign a task:

1. Type the requested task in the message. 
2. Click Assign task. 
3. Select an assignee and a due date. Click Assign.
4. Press ENTER or click the airplane icon. 

Like tagging, the assignee will receive an in-app notification about the task. All active tasks will also be visible on the dashboard under Tasks assigned to me. 

Overdue tasks will turn red, drawing your attention to important outstanding work. 

Learn more about tasks - including best practices for managing and tracking them - here. 

Note: This feature is part of the Advanced Workflows package and is included in the Enterprise tier.

FAQs

Why should I use internal collaboration?

By taking notes in internal collaboration rather than on printed drawings, you can retain information about a part from the first time or the 5th time you made it. Referencing this data longterm can increase your shop's quoting efficiency and accuracy, mitigate risk for current and future parts you make, and save time. 

How can I access internal collaboration from a quote?

Notes you make on a part via collaboration can be accessed from chat in the Build-a-Quote page.

1. Open the part's quote item from the Build-a-Quote page. 
2. Select the chat icon in the top right corner. 

Note: Only the text from collaboration messages is visible in the Build-a-Quote page. To quickly navigate to the part viewer, click the arrow icon on the annotation.