Shared description instructions for service channels

Start describing the service channel by clicking the Add new button on the right side of the front page of the user interface for the Suomi.fi Finnish Service Catalogue. Select the service channel type you are describing.

The first page will open, and you on this page you can enter the details of the service channel. First select the language in which you will describe the service channel and enter a name for the service channel.

You can select multiple languages right away and enter names in various languages, or create different language versions of the service later. The language options are Finnish, Swedish, English, Northern Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi.

Note! In this section, language selection refers to the language in which the service channel data is presented on the platforms on which FSC data is utilised. The languages in which the client is provided services in this service channel are selected separately under "Languages in which the service channel provides services".

Example: The wellbeing services county’s client application utilises FSC data and presents the data in Finnish, Swedish and English. The wellbeing services county's FCS User selects Finnish, Swedish and English as the languages in this section. In addition to the aforementioned languages, the telephone service channel the User is describing provides its services to clients in Arabic and Somali. The administrator selects Finnish, Swedish, English, Arabic and Somali as the languages in the "Languages in which the service channel provides services" section of the user interface.

Click the "Add service channel" button.

After the first phase, or when you edit a service channel that has already been created, the "Edit service channel" page will open and you can fill in the details of the service channel on this page. The data fields that are not marked as (optional) are mandatory.

To interrupt without saving click on the "Cancel" button. Nothing you have entered will be saved, and you can start describing the service channel from the beginning.

Name

The system has entered the same name in the field that you gave when you started adding a new service channel. If necessary, you can change the name here.

The name must be client-oriented and it must specifically describe the service channel and not, for example, the service whose service channel it is. The organisation name must not be repeated in the service channel name unless necessary to avoid confusion. Typically, the service channel is as straightforward, easy to understand and concise as possible.

The name of an e-service channel and a web page service channel must be described so that it can be used as link text pointing to the service channel’s URL.

Please note that the service channel name cannot be the same as the service name for another service in your organisation and two service channels of the same type in your organisation cannot have the same name. However, two different service channel types can have the same name if necessary.

The system will show an error message in the name field if the same name is already used in a service channel of the same type. If you see an error message, change the service channel name to a unique one or, if necessary, change the name of the service channel previously created under the same name.

Organisation

The system has added your organisation to the field by default. If the organisation has sub-organisations, they are displayed in the field's drop-down menu, which you can open and close by clicking on the small arrow at the end of the field. Clicking on the field will also open the drop-down menu, but you can only close it with the arrow.

If necessary, you can replace the main organisation with a sub-organisation. If you are describing a sub-organisation’s service channel and there are several sub-organisations, select the correct sub-organisation from the menu.

Note! If you click on the x in the field, this will empty the field completely. If you want to return the organisation name to the field, enter at least three letters from the beginning of the name and select the organisation whose service channel you are describing from the options offered by the system.

Summary

Write a short summary on the service channel with a maximum of 150 characters. The summary can be presented in a variety of search results, and it will helps users select the option from the search results that best meets their needs. A good summary will also help search engines find your content better.

The summary may not be a copy of the name of the service channel, as this would result in two identical texts appearing in some user interfaces, and the client would not get any new information on the service channel from the summary. It is recommended that the summary form a sentence, but this is not mandatory. Sometimes, because of the character limit, you might have to leave out a verb, etc.

The summary should also not contain information that is not included in the Description field of the e-service channel.

Unlike traditional media text, for example, the summary in the Suomi.fi Finnish Service Catalogue is not an introductory text for the actual description, and it is not presented in connection with the description text.

Tip! It may be easier to write the summary after you have written the full description. You will then have an idea of what is most important in the content.

Description

Describe the service channel as clearly as possible and in a manner that is as easy as possible for the client to understand. Use concise standard language and avoid difficult terms.

Only describe the service channel here; you can describe the service or organisation in their own content types. Do not enter addresses, phone numbers or web addresses in the Description field; enter them in their own fields using their own service channel forms. When data is entered in the correct fields this best benefits the client in different digital services in which FSC data is presented.

You can edit the text in the Description field by adding paragraph breaks, subheadings, and lists. Paragraph breaks and subheadings add rhythm to the text and divide the text into sections of appropriate size. Lists, on the other hand, make it easier for the user to understand the content of the text at a glance.

The maximum length of the field is 2,500 characters, but shorter texts usually improve readability.  If the text you write is getting long, add subheadings, use lists, and review the text to determine if you can say the same thing in a more concise manner.

Read more about high-quality content production.

Language and region

Languages in which the service channel provides services

Select the languages to be used in the service channel. Please note that the language does not refer to the languages in which the service channel is or will be described in the FSC, but to the languages in which the client will be provided the service in the service channel.

You can select one or several languages. If you click on the text field, you will see a list of languages with the first most commonly used languages Finnish, Swedish and English, followed by a list of languages in alphabetical order starting from a. A symbol at the end of a row shows that the language in question has been selected.

Region data

If the service channel is connected to a service, the region data provided for the service the service channel will automatically inherit this. In the user interface, this appears as the default selection in the option "Use area inherited from the service (recommended)".

The inherited region data is not visible in the FSC user interface. Instead, the information is relayed to the services using FSC information in the interface.

If the service channel is not connected to any service, no region data is inherited from this.

You may also provide the region data to the service channel yourself, in which case your manually entered data will automatically replace the data inherited from the service. Only provide the service channel with its own region data if you want its region data to differ from the region data of the service(s) connected to it.

Enter the region data yourself by selecting the option "Enter region data manually for the service channel". The options that open with this selection are:

• All of Finland
• All of Finland with the exception of Åland
• A limited region.

Important! Region data helps the client find the service channels available in the area they have defined in the search for services. For example, a person looking for service channels in the Sipoo region will not want to see service channels located in Rovaniemi in their search results.

Region data is not related to the customer’s right to use the service channel on the basis of the municipality of residence, for example. In other words, do not provide too extensive region information just in case.

Select "All of Finland" or “All of Finland with the exception of Åland" only when the service channel is intended for clients in all of Finland.

The correct region data for most organisations’ service channels is “Limited area”. When you select this option in the user interface, you can limit the service channel’s region data by different area types, i.e. municipality, county, wellbeing services county or business sub-region. You can select more than one option at the same time.

More detailed selection options will open in the user interface depending on the region type you select.

Select whether you will allow other organisations to connect your service channel to their own service or block them from doing so.

The default option chosen by the system is that the service channel can be connected to the services of all organisations. This is a recommendation in the Suomi.fi Finnish Service Catalogue so that the same service channels used by many organisations are not described unnecessarily several times.

However, you can reserve the service channel for your own use by selecting the option "Service channel can only be connected with the services of your own organisation".

Accessibility information only applies to the Suomi.fi Finnish Service Catalogue's e-services and webpage. The Act on the Provision of Digital Services defines which parties are subject to accessibility requirements.

Read more about the scope of the Act on the provision of Digital Services (Regional State Administrative Agency).Opens in a new window.

Select from the four options how well accessibility has been taken into account in your e-service or webpage service channel.

The options are:

• No information
• Accessibility has been well considered
• Accessibility has been partially considered
• Accessibility has not been considered.

If your service channel does not fall within the scope of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services , select the option “Not known” unless a voluntary accessibility survey has been carried out on the service channel.

If your service channel does not fall within the scope of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services , select the option “Not known” unless a voluntary accessibility survey has been carried out on the service channel.

If accessibility requirements apply to your service channel and an accessibility survey has been carried out, select one of the three other options.

If you do not know whether an accessibility survey has been carried out, select the “Not known” option.

If no accessibility survey has been completed for the service channel and it falls within the scope of the Act on the Provision of Digital Service, commission the survey or do it yourself and update the data in the FSC.

If customer support is available for use of the service channel, enter the details here. User support refers to the telephone number or email address that the client can contact when they need support in using the service channel.

It is not sensible to give the organisation’s switchboard number or the registry’s email address as contact details for user support, unless they have been assigned the task of providing advice on the service channel. In other words, provide the most direct contact information possible for user support.

User support information can be provided for all service channel types except for a service location.

Press the "Add new contact" button to start providing user support information. Select whether to enter a phone number or an email address.

If you enter a phone number, select whether the phone number is

• a standard number with a country code , which can also be called from abroad and which always contains an area code, or
• a nationwide helpline that cannot be called from abroad A nationwide number can usually identified as it does not have an area code, e.g. 020202.

For a standard phone number with a country code, select the country-specific area code (default is + 358 Finland) from the drop-down menu and enter the phone number in its own field without the first zero.

f you selected the national phone number option, the country-specific area code field does not appear. Enter the phone number in its own field.

In both cases, you can see what the number you entered looks like in the preview below the field. If necessary, you can specify the type of support number in the Additional information field, such as "Customer service", "Digital support", etc. The field can hold up to 150 characters.

Next, fill in the details on call prices:

• The Payable option means that a local network fee is charged when calling from a landline, a mobile network fee is charged when calling from a mobile phone, or an international fee is charged when calling from abroad.
• The Other option means that a charge other than a local network fee, mobile phone fee, or international phone fee will apply.
• The Free option means that the call is completely free of charge (e.g. a call to the national emergency number).

When necessary, you can give the details of the fees charged for the call in the Call charges in detail text field. For example, you can specify here if the waiting time is subject to a charge. The field can hold up to 150 characters.

If support for service channel use is available by e-mail, enter the e-mail address of the support service in the field. E.g. do not enter the e-mail address of the entire organisation’s registry unless it has been assigned the task of providing advise on the service channel.

Finally click "Accept".

Service times can be given for three different service channels: e-services, telephone services and service locations. It is also possible to provide service times in the additional connection information between the service and the service channel. The service times are given in the same way in all these cases.

There are several options for indicating service times, and you should familiarise yourself with their features before you start entering data in the fields.

Note! Only enter the hours of service of an e-service channel if the services are not available 24/7. Opening hours related to normal service breaks or other short exceptions do not need to be given.

You can enter service times when you are on the "Edit service channel" page and scroll to the "Service hours" section.

First, select whether you want to add so-called regular service times ("Add new service time" button) or service times for holidays ("Add holiday service times" button).

What opens when clicking the Add new service time button?

You can first select the type of service time

1. Always open
   When a service channel is available 24/7 every day of the week.
2. Open by appointment
   When the service channel is open by appointment.
3. Exceptional service time
   When so-called regular service times have exceptions to to their hours open or closed.
4. Days of the week and times
   To mark the exact times on each day of the week.
5. Service time exceeding the 24-hour period
   For example, on-call hours where opening hours begin on one day and end on another day.

Always open service time type
Open by appointment service time type

First select whether the service time is valid until further notice or valid for a fixed period.

If you chose "Valid during the period", please indicate the start and end dates. You can enter the dates for the period yourself in the "Starts" and "Ends" fields in the format d.m.yyyy, or you can select the dates from the calendar that opens from the calendar icon. The system will notify you if you enter a date in the wrong format.

You can enter a detailed heading for both service time types in the text field. A possible heading could be “Only in autumn 2024”. The field can hold up to 150 characters.

Exceptional service time service time type

Exceptional service times refer to a date or period during which the opening hours indicated in other sections do not apply temporarily, for example due to maintenance or personnel training.

Start by selecting Open to indicate the non-standard opening hours by period of days and time.

• You can enter the dates for the period yourself in the "Starts" and "Ends" fields in the format d.m.yyyy, or you can select the dates from the calendar that opens from the calendar icon. The system will notify you if you enter a date in the wrong format.
• Enter times in their complete form, for example at 12.00 (not 12). The system will report an error if there is no point in the time expressing on the hour and the zeros after the point are missing. Also note that the system will not accept a colon when entering times.

Start by clicking Closed if you want to report the time the service channel for a certain period. You can enter the dates for the period yourself in the "Starts" and "Ends" fields in the format d.m.yyyy, or you can select the dates from the calendar that opens from the calendar icon. The system will notify you if you enter a date in the wrong format.

You can enter a detailed heading for the service time in the text field. The field can hold up to 150 characters.

Days of the week and specific times and service time type

This is the most typical way to indicate normal service times.

• First select whether the service time is valid until further notice or valid for a fixed period. If you chose "Valid during the period", please indicate the dates for this period. You can enter the dates for the period yourself in the "Starts" and "Ends" fields in the format d.m.yyyy, or you can select the dates from the calendar that opens from the calendar icon. The system will notify you if you enter a date in the wrong format.
• You can enter a detailed heading for the service time in the text field. The field can hold up to 150 characters.
• Next, select the days of the week on which the service channel is open, i.e. tick the days of the week for which you will give opening hours. 1) Enter service times for each day. The system default is 8.00–16.00, but you can edit the times in the fields both in hours and minutes. 2) Enter times in their complete form, for example at 12.00 (not 12). The system will report an error if there is no point in the time expressing on the hour and the zeros after the point are missing. Also note that the system will not accept a colon when entering times. 3) You can enter several service times for the same day of the week using the "Add new interval" button. For example, the service time for Wednesday could be 9.00–12.00 and 13.00–16.00.

Service time type crossing from one 24-hour period into another

You can use this type of service time to report service times e.g. when continuous on-call time continues for several days.

Select whether the service time is valid until further notice or for a certain period.

• If the service time is valid until further notice, indicate the day of the week and the specific time the service starts and ends.
• If the service time is valid for a fixed period, enter the start date, end date and specific times.
• You can enter the dates for the period yourself in the "Starts" and "Ends" fields in the format d.m.yyyy, or you can select the dates from the calendar that opens from the calendar icon. The system will notify you if you enter a date in the wrong format.
• Enter  times in their complete form, for example at 12.00 (not 12). The system will report an error if there is no point in the a time expressing on the hour and the zeros after the point are missing. Also note that the system will not accept a colon when entering times.

You can enter a detailed heading for the service time in the text field. The field can hold up to 150 characters.

What opens from the "Add holiday service times" button?

• A list of holidays and their eves will appear in the order of the annual cycle.
• The holiday service times reported by the organisations are valid until further notice. Remember to check annually whether your organisation’s official holidays and their opening hours are correct.
• If you click on the "Select all holidays" button, all holidays will be selected at once, and the default selection is that the service channel will be closed on all holidays and their eves. You can change the default selection to "Open" for each holiday separately and enter any service time information.
• If you do not click the "Select all holidays" button, you can indicate whether the service channel is closed or open individually for each holiday and enter any service time information. This method is practical if the service times of the service channel vary on different holidays and their eves.
• Enter times in their complete form, for example at 12.00 (not 12). The system will report an error if there is no point in the a time expressing on the hour and the zeros after the point are missing. Also note that the system will not accept a colon when entering times.

Tip! Utilise various types of service hours

Please note that you can enter several different types of service times for the same service channel.

Example: Use the "Days of the week and times" option to indicate the typical opening hours of the service channel. If the service channel is closed due to such things as maintenance work or personnel training, report this information using the "Exceptional service time" option. In addition, report the service times for holidays with their own service type. If there are several different opening hours, write a heading for them that makes it easy for the client to distinguish the pieces of information from one another.