Navigating the Schedule & Dispatch page

Mobileforce FSM has designed the Schedule & Dispatch page to assign, view, and dispatch all dispatcher information on a single screen. From this screen, dispatchers can:

• View and review the service tasks designated for their office. For more information, see Using the Tasks pane.
• Assign and schedule the service tasks as appointments for their technicians. For more information, see Scheduling Service Tasks
• Dispatch technicians to customer locations to service those appointments. For more information, see Routing Service Tasks.

This page displays a calendar and map view in addition to the assigned technicians and service tasks, allowing dispatchers to best determine the most efficient schedule for the assigned work.

Accessing the Schedule & Dispatch page

The Mobileforce FSM Schedule & Dispatch page allows dispatchers to do the following:

• View incoming Service Tasks that need to be scheduled.
• Schedule Service Tasks, assigning tasks to technicians for a specified date and time, creating Appointments.
• Dispatch technicians to customer locations to service their scheduled Appointments.

From the Field Service page, click Schedule & Dispatch.

The Schedule & Dispatch page is divided into three panes:

• The Tasks pane (highlighted in teal)
• The Calendar pane (highlighted in yellow)
• The Map pane (highlighted in purple)

When an office is selected the table view changes to display only those technicians and service tasks assigned to the office.

Filtering Tasks

You can filter the listed service tasks by Service Task Status, Service Task Type, and Proximity distance from their office location.

Using the Tasks pane

From the tasks pane you can view and review the Service Tasks for the selected office. Additionally you can filter the tasks by Service Task Status, or Name to find the Service Tasks you need.

Click the Service Task to select it. Once selected you can do the following:

• Assign the Task
  When the task is selected you can assign the task to a technician associated with your office whose skills match the Service Task. For more information see, Scheduling Service Tasks.

• Open the Task
  When the task is selected the details are displayed at the bottom of the Tasks pane. Click the button to open the Service Task in its own read-only window.

• Lock an Appointment:
  

  When you have created a task by assigning it to a technician for a specified time, Mobileforce FSM allows you to lock the Service Task, so it can't be inadvertently rescheduled. To lock an appointment, select it in the Tasks pane, and click the Lock button.

  To unlock an appointment, select the task in the Tasks pane, and click the Unlock button.

  Example:

  This feature may be useful if you have Service Tasks that need to be done at a specific time, or elite clients whose schedules cannot be moved. Or, dispatchers can simply lock the appointment, when the time has been confirmed with the customer.

• Delete an Appointment
  If you need to delete a scheduled appointment, select it in the Tasks pane, and click the Delete button.

Using the Calendar pane

The Calendar pane allows you to schedule tasks to technicians through a visual calendar.

Changing the Calendar View
By default, Mobileforce FSM displays the calendar in week view. To change the view, click the desired view: day, week, or month.

Additionally, you can display a list of scheduled tasks, by clicking the list view.

• Schedule Appointments
  Mobileforce FSM allows you to schedule tasks by selecting windows of time for the technician (when By Tech is selected) or for the Service Task (when By Task is selected).

Specify the applicable options for the appointment, and click Create to add it to the calendar. For more information, see Scheduling Service Tasks

Hiding the Map Pane
You can hide the map pane from the Schedule & Dispatch page, allowing you to more clearly schedule appointments, by clicking the button.

Click the button a second time to re-display the map pane.

Viewing by Technician

Ensure that the By Tech button is selected to view the technicians associated to the currently selected office. Additionally, Mobileforce FSM displays the Skills assigned to the technician.

From here you can schedule the time when the selected Technican is assigned an existing service task assigned to the selected office.

For more information, see Scheduling Service Tasks.

Viewing by Task

Ensure that the By Task button is selected to view the tasks assigned to the currently selected office. Additionally, Mobileforce FSM displays the Skills required for the Technician to be assigned to the task.

From here you can:

• View the current Service Tasks on the map.
• Schedule the time when the selected Service Task is assigned to a technician associated with the selected office. For more information, see Scheduling Service Tasks.