Work Order scheduler is a necessary tool for companies that complete their work by planning client work orders in advance. It allows you to work with records effectively and estimate the employee workload and location resources.
The Work Order Scheduler helps you solve three main issues:
Search for a free specialist at a convenient time for the client.
Find available time for a master that the client needed.
Control and distribute a location resource workload.
Add the Scheduled for compound system field in at least one Work Order Form to activate the Work Order Scheduler. After that, as soon as you create an estimate or an order and fill in this field, such a record will be displayed in the Scheduler.
Let's start adding the Scheduled for field. You can skip these steps if your Scheduler already appears on the page.
Step 1. Go to the Settings > Forms editor > Work Orders page.
Step 2. Choose the work order type.
Step 3. Click the Add field button. Choose the Scheduled for field in a group of system fields. After that, the following fields will appear in the form: Scheduled from, Scheduled to, Duration and Resource (if you use location resources).
As for the Scheduled from, Scheduled to, and Duration fields, you can set default values and make them required. Add the appropriate variables to the templates to use the information from these fields in printed documents and notifications. These include but are not limited to the following: {Order Scheduled To}, {Order Scheduled For}, {Order Duration}, {Order Resource}.
As soon as you add the Scheduled for field to at least one work order form, a switch between the Table and Scheduler buttons appears on the Workflows page.
What is displayed in the Scheduler?
The scheduler looks like a calendar with blocks in which work orders are arranged in the form of “blocks” within one working day with hours, week, or month.
The following buttons are located above the scheduler:
The first one is the button to change the mode.
By employee - in the calendar mode, the workload of the employee's work orders will be displayed.
By resource - this is a unique functionality that allows you to schedule your work orders not only by performers, but also by available resources.
Calendar - a button to select the desired day of the week or month.
Today - a button for quickly selecting the nearest days of the week.
Forward or Backward - buttons that help you change the date.
Magnifying glass (in Timeline, Day, Week modes) - Use the magnifying glass to change the duration of one appointment: 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes. Clicking on the magnifying glass with a “+” sign decreases the appointment duration, and with a “-” sign increases it. When you click on the slot in the scheduler, the order will be created with the duration that you set with the magnifying glass.
Settings - here you can edit the display of information in the order slot.
The background value of the Scheduler slot corresponds to the information specified in the schedule :
Gray shading - non-working hours of the Location or an employee;
White - working time of the employee;
Green - vacation time;
Red - sick leave;
Orange - day off.
Display modes
Timeline mode
The timeline is a special display of the scheduler in the form of a horizontal timeline, where each line corresponds to an executor or resource. In this mode, the time is displayed horizontally, and the performers or resources are displayed vertically.
Day mode
In this mode, each column represents a separate employee or resource. This allows you to quickly view the employment of each employee or object on a particular day.
Main features:
When the Scheduler is switched to"Day ”,a red line is displayed, indicating the current time limit. The icon of the reason for the absence (sick leave or vacation) is also displayed next to the employee.
Vertically arranged timeline adapts to the 12h/24h format (defined in the company settings).
The timetable shows only those employees who have access to the current location and who have the “Show employee in the list of performers” option enabled in the role settings.
Work orders are placed in the appropriate time slots, which allows you to quickly navigate the schedule.
Week mode
Weekly mode allows you to view the schedule of one employee or resource for seven days. It is convenient for planning the work of a specialist for a week in advance.
Main features:
Each column represents a separate day of the week (Monday through Sunday).
The week display format takes into account regional settings.
A specific employee or resource is selected through the appropriate filter in the top panel.
Work orders are placed according to the time at which they are scheduled.
Month mode
This mode provides an overview of the scheduled work orders for the entire month. It is useful for long-term work planning.
Main features:
The schedule of one employee or resource for the whole month is displayed.
All events are displayed as blocks in the corresponding calendar dates.
To view detailed information about a particular work order, you can click on an event to open its card.
The use of color coding for different types of work orders makes it easy to navigate the monthly schedule.
Weekly overview mode
Weekly overview mode allows you to view the schedule of all employees or resources for seven days. It is convenient for planning the work of specialists for a week in advance.
Main features:
Each column represents a separate day of the week (Monday through Sunday).
The week display format takes into account regional settings.
Work orders are displayed according to the day of the week and opposite the employee who is responsible for the document or resource.
Interactive features of the Scheduler
As soon as you create a work order or an estimate with the Record Time, Duration, and Responsible person/Resource fields filled in, it will immediately appear in the Scheduler.
You can change the hour or date of the recording in all modes by simply dragging the recording to the desired location. You can also change the duration of the appointment manually - just drag the lower (for the Day and Week modes) or side (for the Timeline mode) border of the block. To do this, move the cursor over the edge of the appointment, hold down the mouse, and drag the block until the desired duration is reached.
In the Month and Weekly overview modes, you cannot change the duration in this way. In these modes, the order is created with the duration set by default in the Forms Editor.
In addition, you can quickly navigate between modes:
Clicking on an employee's name in the timeline or day mode will switch to the week mode for that employee.
Clicking on a specific date in the week mode will switch to the schedule for that day.
How is the work schedule taken into account?
The scheduler now takes into account the work schedule of the location and employees:
If the employees' schedule is not set, the location's working hours are displayed.
If the employee's schedule falls within the location's schedule (for example, 10:00-17:00 with 9:00-18:00), the range remains for the location - 9:00-18:00.
If there are employees with a different schedule, the range is expanded:
For example, a location is open from 9:00 to 18:00, but there is an employee with a 6:00-15:00 schedule → the scheduler will show 6:00-18:00.
If the duration of the order exceeds the location working hours, the remaining time is transferred to the next day.
Creating work order in the Scheduler
Hit the desired time on the timeline of the specialist or resource. This will open a work order with the Scheduled for and Assigned technician / Resource already filled.
As soon as you create a work order in the Scheduler, the system will display it in the Work Order Table.
Please note that you can only select the work order type for which the recording time and duration are set.
Setting up the Work Order Scheduler slot
You can change the display of work order information in the Scheduler slot by going to Settings.
In the Settings you can configure the display of information in the work order slot (if necessary, you can add a new field, delete or select other information to be displayed).
After the settings are complete, click the Save button. You're done!
Order card
When you click on a slot, the order card opens, which contains the following data: Order number, Type, Client, Asset, Asset serial number, Manager, and Order amount.
In the card, you can change the status of the order by selecting the desired one.
Remember: The Work Order statuses list only contains ones that the current employee can transfer the work order to from the current status. Configure your status transfer rules and employee permissions on the Settings > Statuses > Work Orders page.
If you hover the cursor over the customer's name, a pop-up window with contact phone numbers will appear, allowing you to choose a convenient way to contact the customer.
Also, you can open the asset profile by clicking on the asset name.
