# Follow Up

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/feedback-and-complaints/follow-up

> Follow up on feedback and complaints.

Astalty Premium - This feature is part of the Astalty Premium plan. See What Premium includes.

## Overview

Open an entry from the Feedback & Complaints register to review the submission, assign it to a team member, record investigation and resolution notes, and update its status. The same workflow applies to feedback and complaints.

> **Important**
>
> An assignee can normally view and update their assigned entry. However, if the source Feedback & Complaints Form restricts **Who can view form submissions?**, only the listed users and groups plus the Account Owner can access the entry. Assignment and the Admin or Manager role do not override that list. See [Form Settings](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/forms/manage-forms/settings#who-can-view-form-submissions).

## Navigating the Register

When you open the Feedback menu from the main navigation, you will see two tabs:

- **Feedback** - displays all entries submitted as feedback.
- **Complaints** - displays all entries submitted as complaints.

Each tab shows a table with the following columns: **Reference**, **Status**, **Assigned To**, **Submitted By**, **Subject**, **Details**, **Created At**, and **Updated At**.

You can filter entries by **Status**, **Assignee**, and **Archived** status. The Assignee filter appears when Participant filters are enabled for your account. You can also search across entries using the search bar.

![The Feedback register with Feedback highlighted under Insights in the main menu and the Feedback and Complaints tabs highlighted. The table has a Status filter and Status, Reference, Assigned To and Submitted By columns, showing one Acknowledged entry.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/feedbackpage1-guide.png)

## Viewing a Feedback or Complaint Entry

Select an entry in the register to open its follow-up page. It shows:

- **Reference** - the unique reference number Astalty generates for the entry (e.g. FB-2026-00001).
- **Type** - whether the entry is Feedback or a Complaint.
- **Status** - the current status of the entry.
- **Sentiment** - the submitter's experience rating (Positive, Neutral, or Negative). This only appears for Feedback entries.
- **Assignee** - the team member currently assigned to follow up.
- **Submitted By** - the name of the person who submitted the entry (or 'Anonymous' if no name was provided).
- **Contact Email** and **Contact Phone** - the submitter's contact details, if provided.
- **Subject** - the person, team, or service the feedback or complaint relates to.
- **Details** - the full details provided in the submission.
- **Follow-up & Resolution Notes** - any notes recorded during the follow-up process.

Below the summary, the full form submission is displayed for reference.

![A Feedback Details page for a Feedback entry, showing Reference, Type, Status, Sentiment, Assignee, Submitted By, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Subject and Details, with Actions and Edit buttons. The Action Items card and the start of the form submission appear below.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/feedbackdetailspage-guide.png)

## Menu Options

Within the entry detail screen, you have the following options:

- **Actions > Update Status** - change the status of the entry.
- **Actions > Export as PDF** - download a PDF of the entry for audits, evidence, or stakeholder reporting.
- **Actions > Delete Permanently** - permanently delete the entry and its source form submission.
- **Edit** - open the edit panel to update the entry details.

## Status Update

To update the status of a Feedback or Complaint entry, select **Actions > Update Status**. You will see the current status and a dropdown to select a new status. The available statuses are:

- **New** - the entry has been submitted and not yet reviewed.
- **Acknowledged** - the entry has been reviewed and acknowledged.
- **In Progress** - the entry is currently being investigated or actioned.
- **On Hold** - the entry has been paused for further information or review.
- **Resolved** - the matter has been resolved.
- **Closed** - the entry has been finalised and closed.

Select the desired status and click **Update** to save the change.

## Editing a Feedback or Complaint Entry

To assign a team member, update contact details, or record follow-up information, click the **Edit** button. In the edit panel you can update the following:

- **Assigned To** - assign a team member to follow up on the entry. When you assign someone, they will receive a notification letting them know.
- **Submitted By** - update the name of the person who submitted the entry.
- **Contact Email** and **Contact Phone** - update the submitter's contact information.
- **Subject (person, team, or service)** - update who or what the entry relates to.
- **Details** - update the details of the submission.
- **Follow-up & Resolution Notes** - record any follow-up actions, investigation notes, or resolution details.

Select **Update Feedback** to save the changes.

![The Update Feedback drawer with Assigned To, Submitted By, Contact Email, Contact Phone and Subject fields, rich text editors for Details and Follow-up & Resolution Notes, and the Update Feedback button highlighted.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/updatefeedback.png)

> **Use a note template to standardise follow-up**
>
> The **Details** and **Follow-up & Resolution Notes** fields both support note templates, so your team can record entries consistently. Create templates with the *Feedback Details*, *Feedback Follow Up*, *Complaint Details* or *Complaint Follow Up* usage type, then insert them using the note template icon in the field's toolbar. See [Note Templates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/tasks-notes-settings/note-templates) to set these up.

> **Track follow-up work as Action Items**
>
> Record what needs to happen after feedback or a complaint, who is doing it and by when on the **Action Items** card. See [Action Items](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/action-items).

## Archiving an Entry

Once a feedback or complaint entry has been marked as **Resolved** or **Closed**, you can archive it. To archive an entry:

1. Click into the entry from the register.
2. Click **Edit** to open the edit panel.
3. Select **Archive** at the bottom of the panel.
4. Confirm the action in the dialog that appears.

Archiving an entry also archives its linked form submission. To restore it, open the entry, select **Edit**, then **Unarchive**. To find archived entries, set the register's **Archived** filter to **Archived**.

> **Archiving Entries**
>
> You can only archive feedback or complaint entries that have a status of Resolved or Closed. Entries with a status of **New, Acknowledged, In Progress, or On Hold cannot be archived**.

## Deleting an Entry Permanently

You can permanently delete a Feedback or Complaint entry, removing it and the form submission it came from. By default, only Admins can do this. Unlike archiving, a deleted entry cannot be recovered. To delete an entry:

1. Click into the entry from the register.
2. Click **Actions > Delete Permanently**.
3. Confirm the action in the dialog that appears.

![The Feedback Details Actions menu open with Update Status, Export as PDF and Delete Permanently, and an arrow pointing to the highlighted Delete Permanently option.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/feedback-delete-permanently-guide.png)

> **Prefer archiving if you may need the entry back**
>
> Archiving is reversible and keeps the entry and its form submission. Only delete an entry when you need it, and the form submission it came from, gone for good.

## Exporting a Feedback Entry as PDF

You can export a Feedback or Complaint entry as a PDF directly from the register. To export:

1. Open the Feedback register from the main menu.
2. Select the relevant entry.
3. Click **Actions**.
4. Choose **Export as PDF**.

The PDF contains the full entry in one file for review, audit evidence or stakeholder reporting.

> **Exporting multiple entries at once**
>
> To bulk export feedback or complaints as an Excel spreadsheet or PDFs - for example, a complete set for an audit - use the [Feedback Export](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/exports/feedback-export) or [Complaints Export](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/exports/complaints-export) on the Exports page.

## Setting Up Feedback Notifications

You can configure notifications to alert team members when a new feedback or complaint entry is submitted. To set this up:

1. Open **Notifications** from the main menu.
2. Select **Feedback** under **Forms**.
3. Click **Create Notification** and configure who should be notified.

See [Feedback Notifications](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/notifications/feedback-notifications) for the recipient and delivery options.

![The Notifications page with Feedback typed in the Search notifications box and the Feedback notification under Forms highlighted.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/feedbacknotifications.png)