All your file note questions, answered

Iress product manager Zita White recently jumped onto Advisely to answer all your burning Xplan Doc Notes questions. She covered everything from how to best maximise the search functions to dictation of file notes in Xplan. Here are five of the most interesting conversations that came out of their AMA:

Q: Is there any software or app available yet to allow advisers to dictate directly into a file note in Xplan? Do you have any suggestions on how best to cut down the time it takes to get a written file note into Xplan following review meetings? We are looking at a 'talk to text' system and would love to know if anyone has found anything that works well for them.

Several third-party providers integrate with Xplan, including Voice Recognition, Lumiant and Avanser. We’re also in discussion with additional providers to add them to Iress Open, but there are no confirmations or ETAs at this time.

Jessica Lamb shared an excellent video in a previous discussion about using a Google Chrome extension for voice-to-text in Xplan. You can check it out here.

Additionally, YBL offers a third-party product that uses AI to listen to your meetings, providing prompts for missed questions and assisting in producing meeting notes. While it doesn't automatically save notes to Xplan yet, it can update fields in Xplan based on your meeting. This could be a great tool to increase efficiency.

Q: Is there a way of doing more advanced searches for documents? For example, I would like to search for a document with the subject name that starts with "Record of Advice" (no text before it), or to search for "ROA" (case sensitive), or a subject line that contains both "Record of Advice" and "implementation", but it can have other words in between.

The search functionality for the subject of the document note does have some limitations. The "search by text" field is more powerful and allows you to search for text contained within the document and attachments (although not the subject).

For more detailed guidance on how to perform advanced searches using specific words and phrases using “search by text”, I recommend checking out this article available in the Iress Community. It offers useful tips and criteria to help you refine your searches effectively.

Q: In the UK, True Potential have an automated Review Process that sends out a series of 10 questions directly to clients; and then prints a Suitability Report (ROA) based on the answers. There's minimal adviser input required and it's followed up with the client approving the ongoing annual adviser fees. Is XPLAN looking to invest/roll out this kind of ongoing support option or do we need to turn to AI for this?

Without knowing the specifics of the questionnaire and the output, my initial assumption is that True Potential’s solution has likely digitised a simple process rather than using AI. A digitised process typically applies "if this, then that" logic to control the content of the output, such as the suitability report in this case. I assume the questions are basic, e.g., “Have your circumstances changed?” If the complexity increases beyond a certain point, it would likely be referred to an adviser.

The primary challenge lies not in the technical implementation but in defining the decision logic—understanding what each response signifies and building out the coded document to reflect these decisions. While AI could perform a similar function, it requires a significant dataset to analyse and extract historical patterns to provide answers for future scenarios. For AI to be effective, we need a robust, digitised dataset from which it can learn. For simpler scenarios, a decision tree outlining the advice process could serve as the foundation for automation.

Digitising the process offers greater control over the advice given, but comfort levels, historical data for training, and cost remain significant hurdles in AI adoption. Considerations around contracts, privacy, and data security are also important factors.

Iress’ Digital Advice product currently uses elements of digitised logic but continually evaluates its product strategy. AI in this space is more of a long-term strategy rather than a short-to-medium-term solution. While Xplan has the potential to incorporate such automated processes, leveraging AI effectively requires careful planning and significant data analysis, making it a path worth exploring.

There are parts of the process that can be achieved with current Xplan functionality. The review check-in in Client Portal can be configured with your questions. Once notified that the client has completed it and the results have been entered into Xplan, the RoA could be generated based on the client’s responses. I suggest discussing your desired scenario with your Relationship Manager to see what can be achieved now.

Q: Is there a way to search for documents with a more specific date criteria? I am looking for documents from January 2021, but I can only search for "last year" or "this year", etc.

Absolutely! You can use the 'view notes by' filter to choose from the date options: document created, document modified, or reference date. The second field then allows you to set the range. If you prefer a custom range, select the 'any days' option and a pop-up will appear for you to choose your desired range.

Q: What is the process for updating fields in Xplan relating to Updating FSG Version numbers when we do a bulk client email of the FSG?

Sure! You can update the FSG details for individual clients using the FSG element, usually located on the FSG page. Depending on the Xplan site you use, this is often found within the Admin or Compliance menus. For detailed instructions, refer to this video in the Iress Community.

To update FSG details in bulk, you can use the "Modify All" functionality. This allows you to mass modify data for a selected list of clients. Follow these steps:

1. Use the Advanced Search functionality to refine your list of clients.
2. Run the "Modify All" functionality on the selected client list.

Important things to note:

• The "Modify All" functionality is powerful and irreversible, so please proceed with caution. For more information and instructions, refer to the following Iress Community links for Advanced Search and Modify All
• Depending on your Xplan site and user capabilities, you might need to contact your site administrator for assistance with running these bulk updates.

If you need to add additional FSG Version numbers to the field, this can be done by editing the Field Definition in the interface. This task must be completed by your Xplan site administrator. If you are the site administrator, instructions on how to edit field definitions is available here.

Keep an eye out on the discussions section here for upcoming AMAs.