Record of Conversation — ROC — is a shared timeline of every conversation about a site, kept inside Colobbo.
A site is rarely one person's job. A technician attends a work order, someone else does an inspection, a third person handles a booking, and a task gets picked up by whoever is free. Each of them has conversations — a tenant confirming access, a building manager agreeing a date, an owner refusing the work — and right now those live in individual heads and inboxes.
ROC gathers all of them into one timeline that runs across work orders, inspections, tasks and bookings, so the next person on site already knows what they are walking into.
It is switched off until someone turns it on. If you cannot see it anywhere, start with Part 1.
How does it work, in plain terms?
1. It is one timeline for the site, not a note on your record. An entry added from a work order and an entry added from an inspection land in the same list. Read it top to bottom and you have the story of the site.
2. Add a conversation from wherever you are. Work order, work package, inspection, task or booking — you do not navigate somewhere special to write something down.
3. Each entry remembers where it came from. So the timeline shows you that this conversation happened during an inspection and that one came off a booking. Context, not just a flat list.
4. It belongs to the site, not to you. Colleagues see it, and it is still there when you are on leave or have left.
Part 1 — Turning Record of Conversation on
Done once per project, by someone who can edit project settings.
Step 1. Go to Settings → Projects, open your project, and choose the ROC Settings tab.
Step 2. Turn on Enable ROC. This is the master switch for the project.
Step 3. Enable at least one Work Order Type in the list underneath. This catches people out: the master switch on its own is not enough. ROC only appears on work orders whose type — or one of its parent types — is turned on. Only top-level types are listed, and every type beneath one inherits its setting automatically, so you do not have to work through them all.
Step 4. Choose the Default ROC level — where entries are anchored:
Level | What it means | Choose this if… |
Work Package | One shared timeline for the whole site, whichever record an entry was added from. | …you want the site's full history in one place. This is the usual choice, and it is what makes the timeline useful to the next person attending. |
Work Order | Each work order keeps its own separate timeline. | …your work orders are large, self-contained jobs and combining them would be noise. |
Step 5. Under Show ROC on, tick where the panel should appear — Schedules, Tasks, Inspections, Bookings. Leave one unticked and no ROC panel appears there.
Step 6. Choose Save Project.
Part 2 — Adding a conversation
Step 1. Open the record you were dealing with — a work order or work package, or an inspection, task or booking if you enabled those.
Step 2. Go to the ROC panel.
Step 3. Choose Add New.
Step 4. Fill in what you have and save. Only two fields are required, so a quick note takes seconds — and a quick note is far better than none.
What goes in an entry?
Field | What to put in it | Required? |
Contact Name | Who you actually spoke to — for example Marion Doyle. | Yes |
Contact Number | The number you reached them on, so the next person does not have to hunt for it. | No |
Contact Type | Tenant, building manager or owner. It matters: a tenant refusing access and an owner refusing the work are different problems. | No |
Summary of Conversation | What was discussed, agreed or found on site. | Yes |
Attachment | A photo or document — a signed form, a photo of a meter, a forwarded email. | No |
Write the summary for someone who was not on the call, because that is exactly who will read it.
Can I get the timeline out of Colobbo?
Yes. It exports, so you can hand it to a client, attach it to a claim, or produce it in a dispute. That is usually the moment everyone is glad the calls were written down.
Who can see what I write?
Anyone working on that site. Entries are deliberately shared — a record only its author can see solves nothing. Write what was agreed, not opinions about the caller.
Frequently asked questions
I turned on Enable ROC but still cannot see it.
Almost always the Work Order Types list. The master switch needs at least one top-level type enabled underneath it. Check the record type too — ROC can be on for work orders and off for bookings.
Should I choose Work Package or Work Order level?
Work Package for most people. It is what gives you a single timeline for the site, which is the point of the feature. Work Order level only suits jobs big enough to warrant their own separate history.
Do I have to set up every work order type?
No. Only top-level types are listed, and every type beneath one inherits its setting at any depth.
Can I change the fields?
Not in this release — the five fields above are the set.
Someone has left the company. Are their notes still there?
Yes. Entries belong to the site, not the person.