Creating & Managing Work Orders in Merlo AI

Overview #

Our Work Orders feature allows you to raise, assign, track, and complete maintenance jobs across your strata portfolio; all from Microsoft Teams and the Merlo AI Dashboard.

There are 2 ways to create a new work order in Merlo AI, you can either create it by:

• Dragging a work order-related email into the Merlo AI chat, or
• Describing the job in plain english and ask Merlo to create it

Merlo AI will:

• Extract and structure job details
• Generate a professional PDF work order
• Prepare a draft email to the contractor with Accept, Message, and Decline action links

Once sent, the entire job lifecycle is tracked in the Merlo AI Dashboard, including status updates, contractor responses, messages, and a full audit timeline.

Creating a Work Order from an Email #

Turn incoming maintenance request emails or quote emails into structured work orders in under a minute.

Before you start #

• Go to Merlo AI in Microsoft Teams
• Drag and drop your email from Outlook (Windows Outlook) to Merlo AI Teams App. If not you may also save the email as an .msg file (.msg is the extension of an email within Outlook)
• Ensure the supplier/contractor has an email address (or you can provide one)

Steps #

1. Open Merlo AI in Microsoft Teams

2. Drag and drop the .msg file into the chat (or upload via the paperclip icon) as ask prompt

• create a work order using the message attached for supplier <supplier name> in plan 12345

3. Merlo AI extracts key details, such as:

• The strata plan number (extracted from the email body or subject)

• A suggested job title (usually derived from the email subject)

• A job description (pulled from the body of the email)

• The priority or urgency level (if mentioned)

• The estimated due date (if mentioned)

• The contractor’s name and email (if identifiable)

4. Review and correct any details in plain language:

• “The strata plan should be Plan 98765, not Plan 12345.”

• “The estimated completion date is 15 May 2025.”

• “The contractor is XYZ Plumbing, not ABC Maintenance.”

You must ensure the contractor is correct and has correct contact information within your strata system.

Confirm to proceed:

• “Yes, create it”

5. Merlo AI will:

• Create the work order (Status: Pending)
• Log the action in the timeline
• Generate a PDF work order
• Prepare a contractor email draft

6. Review the draft email:

• Includes PDF attachment
• Includes Accept / Message / Decline links
• Includes extracted attachments from the original email

7. Request edits if needed, then confirm to send

Important Notes

• Missing plan number: Merlo will ask before proceeding
• Unknown contractor: You will be prompted to provide details
• Attachments: Files from the original email are automatically included

Creating a Work Order via Chat #

You can also create work orders without an email.

Example request

“Create a work order for Plan 12345. Repair roof leak above Unit 4. Contractor is ABC Roofing. Complete by 30 June.”

How it works

1. Provide job details in plain language
2. Merlo asks follow-up questions (only if needed)
3. A summary is shown for confirmation
4. Once confirmed:
   • Work order is created
   • PDF is generated
   • Email draft is prepared

Tip: Include urgency directly; “This is urgent”

Reviewing and Sending the Contractor Email #

Merlo never sends automatically; you always review first.

What you’ll see

• Recipient email
• Subject line
• Email body with action buttons
• Confirmation of PDF attachment

What to check

• Correct contractor
• Clear job description
• Relevant attachments

Make changes if needed

• “Add URGENT to subject”
• “Ask for confirmation within 24 hours”
• “Remove attachment”

Send

“Send it”

Contractor Actions (Accept / Decline / Message) #

Contractors interact via secure one-click links; no login required.

Accept

• Status → Accepted
• Logged in timeline

Decline

• Status → Declined
• Optional reason captured

Message

• Opens message form
• Stored in Messages section

Each link is secure and tied to the specific work order and contractor.

Viewing Work Orders in the Dashboard #

1. Open Merlo AI Dashboard
2. Go to Work Orders

KPI Summary

Metric	Description
Open	Active jobs
Due Soon	Due within 14 days
Overdue	Past due date
Pending	Awaiting contractor response
Declined	Needs reassignment
Paused	On hold

Work Order List Includes #

• Job number
• Plan
• Title
• Contractor
• Status
• Due date
• Urgency

Searching and Filtering #

Filter by:

• Plan number
• Contractor
• Keywords
• Status

Results update instantly.

Viewing Work Order Details #

Click View to access:

• Job details
• Timeline (full audit trail)
• Messages (all communication)

Updating Work Order Status #

1. Click Edit
2. Update Status

Status	Use Case
Quote	Awaiting quote
Pending	Sent, awaiting response
Accepted	Contractor confirmed
In Progress	Work started
Completed	Finished
Declined	Reassign needed
Paused	On hold
Cancelled	Not proceeding

3. Save changes (auto-logged in timeline)

Reassigning a Declined Work Order #

1. Filter by Declined
2. Click Edit
3. Change contractor
4. Set status → Pending
5. Save
6. Click Email Work Order to Contractor
7. Review and send

Resending a Work Order #

Use if links are lost or expired.

1. Open work order
2. Click Email Work Order to Contractor
3. Review draft
4. Send

Previous links become invalid once resent

Messaging a Contractor #

1. Open work order
2. Go to Messages
3. Click Send Message
4. Enter message → Send

Stored and tracked automatically.

Marking as Urgent #

1. Click Edit
2. Enable Urgent
3. Save

Querying Work Orders via Teams #

You can ask Merlo AI in Teams to pull up any slice of your work order data without opening the Dashboard.

View work order/job listings #

• “View jobs for a specific strata plan”
• “Show me all work orders for Plan 12345.”
• “What open jobs do we have for Plan 98765?
• “Show me all Pending work orders for Plan 11111.”

The assistant will return a summary table of matching jobs with job numbers, titles, statuses, contractors, and estimated completion dates.

You can ask Merlo AI to share these with committee members, owners or even contractors by asking Merlo to:

• “Send these work orders to the committee“
• “Email these suppliers asking for an update on progress“

View jobs by status #

• “Show me all Declined work orders.”
• “Which jobs are In Progress right now?”
• “List all work orders with status Pending.

You can ask Merlo AI to share these with committee members, owners or even contractors by asking Merlo to:

• “Send these work orders to the committee“
• “Email these suppliers asking for an update on progress“

View jobs by contractor #

• “What work orders does ABC Maintenance have?”
• “Show me all jobs assigned to XYZ Plumbing with status In Progress.”

View jobs by date range #

• “Show me all work orders due between 1 March and 30 June 2025.”
• “What jobs are estimated to complete in the next 30 days?”
• “List work orders with a completion date in April 2025.”

You can ask Merlo AI to share these with committee members, owners or even contractors by asking Merlo to:

• “Send these work orders to the committee“
• “Email these suppliers asking for an update on progress“

Get the list of available contractors #

• “Show me all our contractors.”
• “Which contractors do we have in the system?”

Note: The assistant returns up to 50 records per query. If there are more results, it will tell you how many are remaining and suggest adding a filter to narrow the search.

Running a work order from start to finish (Life cycle of a Work Order) #

The following is a complete walkthrough of the full work order lifecycle:

Step	What happens	Who does it	Where
1	A maintenance need is identified, either from an incoming email or a direct request	You	Teams or Dashboard
2	Work order is created with status **Pending**	You (Merlo AI assists)	Teams Assistant
3	PDF is generated with Accept / Message / Decline links; email draft is prepared	Merlo AI	Teams Assistant
4	You review and send the draft email to the contractor	You	Teams Assistant
5	Contractor receives email and PDF, clicks **Accept**	Contractor	Email / PDF
6	Status automatically updates to **Accepted**	Automatic	Dashboard
7	Work begins on site; you update status to **In Progress**	You	Dashboard
8	Contractor or your team sends progress updates via Messages	Contractor / You	Dashboard / Email
9	Work is completed; you update status to **Completed**	You	Dashboard
10	Job is retained in the audit history with full timeline	Automatic	Dashboard

If a contractor declines at step 5; The status updates to Declined.

Edit the work order, assign a new contractor, reset status to Pending, and resend. (See [Reassigning a Declined Work Order])

If a job needs to be paused at any step; Edit the work order and set the status to Paused. The job will appear in the Paused KPI card on the Dashboard. Change the status back to In Progress when work resumes.

Frequently Asked Questions #

1. What file format does the email need to be in for drag-and-drop to work?

It must be a `.msg` file –  this is the standard format when you save an email from Microsoft Outlook. To save an email as `.msg`, open the email in Outlook, click File → Save As, and choose Outlook Message Format (.msg).

2. Can I attach documents to the work order other than the original email attachments?

When creating via drag-and-drop, any documents already inside the `.msg` file (PDFs, Word docs, spreadsheets) are automatically extracted and included. If you need to add separate files, tell the assistant in the chat and attach them to your message.

3. What happens if I create a work order but don’t send the email yet?

The work order record is created in the system with status Pending as soon as you confirm. The email draft is held in Teams. You can send it whenever you’re ready; there is no automatic timeout.

4. Can two team members work on the same work order at the same time?

Yes. The Dashboard and Teams Assistant both read from and write to the same records. The timeline logs every change with the name of the person who made it, so there is always a complete audit trail.

5. The contractor says they can’t find the Accept button. What should I do?

The Accept, Message, and Decline links appear both in the email body and inside the PDF attachment. Ask the contractor to check both. If they still can’t find them, resend the work order from the Dashboard (see [Resending a Work Order]). The new email will contain fresh links.

6. Can I create a work order without a contractor assigned?

A contractor email is required to send the work order PDF. However, if you don’t yet know which contractor to use, you can set the status to Quote in the Dashboard and leave the contractor field blank until a contractor is selected, then create the work order through the Teams Assistant once you have those details.

7. How many work orders can the Teams Assistant return in one query?

Up to 50 records per query. If there are more, the assistant will tell you how many are remaining and suggest narrowing your filters.