❑Automating the Technician Scheduling process will greatly enhance the Service Manager's (and/or the dedicated Scheduler's) effectiveness in managing service operations within your Company's Service Department.
•The stress of having the right people in the right places at the right time - whether tracking 2, 20 or 200 Technicians - knowing who is available, what their Skills are, getting them to where they need to be when they need to be there, servicing the Accounts that need to be serviced, knowing that the Technicians are qualified to perform certain required services, and having a clear view of the status of each service call scheduled for a specific day - can be overwhelming.
•This Technician Scheduling Form provides the tools needed to get that job done, efficiently and effectively.
Technician Scheduling Form - Day View - with Scheduled Work Orders
❑The Technician Scheduling Form is accessible as follows:
a)From the Service Tab on the MKMS Desktop Click the Tech Schedule Icon, or
b)From the Backstage Menu System Select Maintenance and Choose Service Tracking then Select the Tech Schedule option, or
c)From the Quick Access Menu, Select Maintenance and Choose Service Tracking then Select the Tech Schedule option
•Technician Scheduling is one of the most powerful and useful features within MKMS providing (among others) the following features and functions:
a.Displays - in the Pending Work Orders List - all Un-Scheduled Work Orders, or by choice, any Work Order which has not yet been Completed.
b.This Pending Work Orders List may be filtered, rearranged, and/or resorted.
c.Displays a Google Maps® graphic for a Selected Work Order, when needed.
d.Provides a Visible Schedules Grid where any combination of Technicians' Schedules may be selected for display.
e.Can limit the List of Work Orders to only those Subscribers assigned to a specific Technician Service Group.
f.Can limit the Appointments displayed in the Technician Schedules Grid based on the Type of Appointment, the Technicians assigned to a Technician Service Group, and/or those Technicians with a particular set of Skills.
g.Redefine the Technician Schedules Grid format as needed, and instantly make format changes when required.
h.Easily Assigns a Technician to, and Schedules a Technician for, a Work Order using a basic Windows® Drag & Drop process.
i.Define Appointment start and end times and dates for Subscribers' and Prospects' Work Orders.
j.Provides direct access to the Subscriber Form for a selected Work Order.
k.Provides direct access to the Service Request Form for a selected Work Order.
l.Uses a colored-coding system to identify the Appointment Status of each Work Order.
m.May display, as needed, the Schedules for Multiple Technicians and/or for Multiple Days.
n.Prints the Technician's Schedule(s) on demand.
o.Can Email the Work Order related Appointment information to the Technician assigned to that Work Order.
p.Can be Re-sized both horizontally and/or vertically, as needed; with the width of the Pending Work Orders List being expandable/contractible, also.
q.The Technician Scheduling Form may be displayed on any number of computers on your Company's network - with each showing different sets of Technicians and data formatting of the Technician Scheduling data.
•Using this Technician Scheduling Form, the Scheduler may quickly set the Schedule Date(s) to be viewed, identify the Technicians who will be included in the displayed Technician Schedules Grid, select a Work Order for the Pending Work Orders List and Drag & Drop it to the appropriate Time Slot of the appropriate Technician, and instantly repeat this process as many times as needed.
❑Understanding the various sections of the Technician Scheduling Form:
•The Ribbon Menu at the top of the Technician Scheduling Form has three Sub-Sections.
✓Each Sub-Section of the Technician Scheduling Form has its own set of Icons (options), each of which will provide access to the specific functions provided by this Technician Scheduling Form:
Appointment related Icons (options)
1.Appointments Sub-Section's Icons (see image immediately above) - Allows for the Entry of New Appointments, Editing of existing Appointments, Deletion of Appointments, defining which Technician's Schedules will be displayed, formatting of the View of the Technician Schedules Grid, and the Printing of Technician Schedules (see the "Using the Appointments Sub-Section's Icons" section below and the Schedules chapter for additional information).
Filtering related Icons (and options)
2.Filter Sub-Section's Icons, Hide Pending WOs, and the Zip Code field (see image immediately above) - Allows the User to establish a "filter" to identify which Appointments will be displayed based on the Technician Group(s) to which the Technicians belong, the Technician Skills possessed by the Technicians, and/or the Type of the Work Orders (see the "Using the Filter Sub-Section's Icons and the Zip Codes Field" section below and the related Technician Skills ,Technician Group and Technician Group Maintenance chapters), and the Hide Pending WOs Icon which allows the User to quickly close the Pending Work Orders list (once the Pending Work Orders list is closed, this Icon changes to Show Pending WOs).
3.Schedule Date Menu Icon (see calendar image immediately above) - Provides a Calendar field for selecting the Schedule Date for the Technician Schedules Grid (see "Using the Schedule Date Sub-Section's Calendar field" section below).
•In the body of the Technician Scheduling Form there are two sections:
✓These sections are used to view the currently selected Technician's Schedules (in the Technician Schedules Grid), and to view and schedule those Work Orders in the (Pending Work Orders List):
1.The Technician Schedules Grid which has four tabs - one of which will be active at all times (1. Day View, 2. Month View, 3. Data View, and 4. Map View) showing the Schedules of selected Technicians chosen using multiple selection and/or filtering criteria, displaying selected Types of Appointments that are scheduled for those Technicians, and the available Time Slots that may be scheduled - all based on a specified Schedule Date.
Technician Scheduling Form - Technician Scheduling Grid & 4 Tabs
▪For more information relating to the Technician Schedules section, see the "Understanding the Technician Schedules section of the Technician Scheduling Form" discussion below, and the Visible Schedules, Planner View, and Appointment Editor chapters.
▪Radial Right-Click Menu - Right-Click on a selected Appointment displayed on the Day View tab to display the Radial Right-Click Menu dialog.
Day View tab - Right-Click an Appointment to open the radial Circle of Options dialog
2.The Pending Work Orders List - with multiple Actions and Filters capabilities - provides the Service Manager (or dedicated Scheduler) the ability to limit this List of Work Orders to a manageable, definable sub-set of Pending Work Orders.
Technician Scheduling Form - Pending Work Orders grid
Technician Scheduling Form - Pending Work Orders List - Date Range option
▪For more information, see the "Understanding the Technician Schedules section of the Technician Scheduling Form" discussion below, and the Scheduling with the Pending Work Orders Listing and/or Scheduling Multiple Appointments chapters.
•Using the Schedule Date Sub-Section's Calendar field
✓Using the Calendar - Based on the needs of the Scheduler, set the Schedule Date to limit the Technician Schedules Grid to view only those Day(s).
▪Use the Drop-Down Calendar/Date Entry field in the Calendar field on the Schedule Date section at the top right of the Technician Scheduling Form to Select the (starting) Schedule Date to view existing Appointments, and the available Time Slots which may be used to Set New Appointments.
Technician Scheduling Calendar
✓Locate the appropriate Month (and Year), Click on the single left t and right u arrows to move to the previous or next Month.
✓Select the Schedule Date to be activated in the Technician Schedules Grid.
▪This will become the Schedule Date to which Appointments (for Work Orders and other types of Appointments) will be assigned (and/or viewed, if already scheduled).
▪If the (Technician Schedules) Day View is set to display more than one day at the same time (a Multi-Day View), the Calendar field selection will identify for the first day of the series that will be shown (see the Planner View chapter to learn how to setup a Multi-Day View).
•Using the Appointments Sub-Section's Icons:
Technician Scheduling Form - Appointments related Icons
✓When the Technician Scheduling Form is opened, the User should perform these basic "set-up" tasks.
1)Set the Schedule Date for which the (existing) Appointments are to be (displayed) assigned.
oSee the "Using the Schedule Date Sub-Section's Calendar field" section above.
2)Set the Display format of the Technician Schedules Grid displayed in its Day View tab
oSee the Planner View chapter for a discussion of this step.
3)Choose which Technician's Schedules will be visible.
oSee the Visible Schedules chapter for a detailed explanation of this step.
4)Filter which Technicians and/or Appointments will be displayed in the Technician Schedules Grid based on the current need.
oSee the "Using the Filter Sub-Section's Icons and the Zip Codes Field" section below
✓Use the following Appointments related Icons to perform the first three (and other) "set-up" tasks listed above:
▪New - Click this Icon to enter a New Appointment using the Appointment Editor.
▪Edit - To modify Appointment information for a currently selected & scheduled Work Order:
oClick on that Appointment on the Day View tab on the Technician Schedules Grid on the Technicians Scheduling Form.
oClick the Edit Icon.
oUse the Appointment Editor to make the required changes.
▪Delete - To remove an Appointment from the Technician Scheduling Form for a currently selected & scheduled Work Order (this will Delete the Appointment, but will not delete the actual Work Order itself):
oClick on that Appointment to be Deleted from the Day View of the Technicians Scheduling Form.
oClick the Delete Icon.
oConfirm you want to Delete this Appointment and it will be removed from the Technician Schedules Grid.
Delete Appointments? message
oThe Delete Appointments? message will be displayed if you have more than one Technician scheduled for the Work Order for which you are deleting an Appointment:
Delete Multiple Appointments? message
a)Yes - Click the Yes button to Delete all Appointments for this Work Order.
b)No - Click the No button to Delete the Appointment for this Work Order Only (no other Appointments for this Work Order will be affected).
c)Cancel - Click the Cancel button to abort the Delete process altogether.
oClick the Refresh button (see Refresh below) to update the Pending Work Order Listing - the result of this Refresh is dependent on any Filters placed on the Pending Work Order Listing and what was deleted (i.e., All or One Appointment) - See the Scheduling with the Pending Work Orders Listing chapter additional information.
▪Schedules - Click Schedules (which lists those Employees with an Employee Type of Technician - or All) to Choose the specific Technician(s) (or the Technician Group Members) who should be displayed on the Day View Technician Schedules Grid of the Technicians Scheduling Form.
▪View - Click View to set up the Planner View of the Day View.
oThe Planner View allows you to specify what, and how the Schedule is to be displayed within the Technician Schedules Grid section's Day View format on the Technicians Scheduling Form.
oSee the "Schedule Views" and the "Schedule Date" sections immediately below.
▪Refresh - Click the Refresh Icon to "pull" the most recent Technician Schedules Grid data from the file server database.
oTo get the latest data for all the outstanding Work Orders, Click Refresh.
Technician Scheduling Form - Refresh Icon
oAutomating the Refresh process - Although the User may Choose to Refresh the Technician Scheduling data whenever appropriate, this process may be automated within the Company Settings dialog accessed in the Company tab of the User Options Form:
i.Auto Refresh Schedule - When the AutoRefreshSchedule option is set to True ("T") an Auto Refresh Process will be run on the Technician Schedule Form regularly (based on the number of Seconds specified in the AutoRefreshScheduleInterval below.
ii.Auto Refresh Schedule Interval -When the AutoRefreshSchedule option above is set to True ("T"), the AutoRefreshScheduleInterval value that is set here will determine the time (in Seconds) between each Auto Refresh Process.
✓Print - There are two ways to produce a printed document containing Technician Scheduling information:
1.Click Print (not the Down Arrow q to the right of the Print Icon) to produce a screen print of the Technician Schedules Grid that includes all of the Technician Scheduling information currently displayed on the screen's View.
oThe resulting document is formatted appropriately, depending on whether you have the Day View or Month View format currently displayed (no printout is provided when viewing the Data View format).
oThere is no Preview option, the Technician Schedule from the Day View or Month View format is immediately printed to the default printer of the current workstation.
2.Click the Down Arrow q to the right of the Print Icon (from within the Day View or Month View format) and Select Technician Schedules to open the Print Schedules dialog shown below (this is the only option provided when viewing the Data View format and the Print Down Arrow q is Clicked).
Print Schedules dialog for Technician Schedules Report
▪Print Schedule - Options:
oPrint the schedules for All Technicians, or Select and print One Technician.
oBy default, both the Starting and Ending Dates for the Date Range offered will be Today,
oHowever, the Technician Schedule(s) printed may be for more than one day by resetting the Starting and/or Endings Dates using the Drop-Down Date/Calendar Selection Boxes provided, if required.
oClick the Print button to View and/or Print the Selected Technician Schedule(s).
➢Notes: This report is also available using the Service Tracking Reports menu's Technician Schedules option.
There are no Print options for the Map View format.
•Using the Filter Sub-Section's Icons and the Zip Codes Field:
Technician Scheduling Form - Filter Icons
✓When the Technician Scheduling Form is opened, the User should perform these basic "set-up" tasks.
▪Set the Schedule Date for which the (existing) Appointments are to be (displayed) assigned.
oSee the "Setting the Schedule Date" section above.
▪Set the Display format of the Technician Schedules Grid as displayed in its Day View tab.
oSee the Planner View chapter for a discussion of this step.
▪Choose which Technician's Schedules will be visible.
oSee the Schedules chapter for a detailed explanation of this step.
▪Filter which Technicians and/or Appointments will be displayed in the Technician Schedules Grid based on the current need.
oBy default, All Appointments for All Subscribers will be included in the Technician Schedules section based solely on having an Appointment scheduled on the selected Schedule Date (see the "Setting the Schedule Date" section above).
oThe Technicians displayed in the Technician Schedules Grid are (normally) those who were Selected using the Schedules Icon on the Appointments Menu (see the "Using the Appointments section Icons" section above and the Schedules chapter for a detailed explanation).
✓The following Filter Sub-Section's Icons may be accessed to perform the Filtering "set-up" task for the Technician Schedules:
▪Tech Groups - This Icon provides a shortcut to Choose the Technicians who will be included in the Technician Schedules.
oIf appropriate, Click on the Tech Groups Icon to display a list of the previously defined Technician Groups.
oCheck the desired Technician Groups whose Members (i.e., those Technicians assigned to each selected Technician Group) are to be included in the Technician Schedules section - whether or not they (the Members) have existing Appointments entered for the selected Schedule Date.
▪Tech Skills - By default, any Technician chosen to be included within the Technician Schedules section, is selected without regard to their Technician Skill(s).
oThis Tech Skills Icon provides a shortcut to identify those Technicians with specifically identified Technician Skill(s)
oIf appropriate, Click on the Tech Skills Icon to display a list of those previously defined Technician Skill(s)
Tech Skills List
oCheck the needed Technician Skill(s)
i.Only those Technicians with the selected Skills will be included in the Technician Schedules Grid - whether or not they have existing Appointments entered for the selected Schedule Date.
ii.To revert the listed Technician Schedules Grid to those Technicians previously selected from the Visible Schedules dialog, Un-Check all of the selected Technician Skill(s) in the Tech Skills list.
oIf a Work Order is assigned to one of these Technicians, those identified Skills will be inserted into the Required Technician Skills tab on the associated Work Order Form automatically.
▪Appt Type - By default, All Appointment Types are displayed within the Technician Schedules Grid for the selected Technicians and selected Schedule Date.
1)All - All Appointments - regardless of type - will be displayed.
2)Installs - Appointments for Service Requests that have been assigned a Work Order Type of Installation Order (to identify all of the Inventory Components required for a new, or add-on type of installation).
3)Jobs - Appointments for those Service Requests that were created by the Job Costing System as a Job Task on the Job Costing Form.
4)Other - Appointments that have been assigned the Other Appointment Type (a miscellaneous catch-all category for any other reason to visit a Subscriber) and is not a Service Request.
5)Work Orders - Appointments for those Service Requests that have been assigned a Work Order Type of
a)Standard Work Order - For general service work that is to be performed at a Subscriber's premises.
b)Fire Alarm Test - For a system wide Fire Alarm Test.
c)Fire Extinguisher Inspection - For performing a Fire Extinguisher Inspection procedure.
oA specific Appointment Type may be chosen and only those Appointment Types will be displayed in the Technician Schedules Grid.
Appointment Types (Appt Type) List
oIf appropriate, Click on the Appt Types Icon to display a list of those Appointment Types.
oCheck the Appointment Type(s) to be included (those Appointment Types not Checked will be excluded from the Technician Schedules).
oSee the "Choosing the Appointment Types to be Viewed" discussion immediately below.
▪Hide Pending WOs (Show Pending WOs) - Click on the Hide Pending WOs Icon to close the Pending Work Orders Grid
oAlternately Click on the Show Pending WOs Icon (which will replace the Hide Pending WOs Icon after it was selected) to re-display the Pending Work Orders Grid.
▪Zip Codes - Enter a Zip Code which will be compared with the Zip Codes defined in the Coverage Area tabs of Employees who are Technicians
oThe result being that those Technicians who are assigned to that (Coverage Area) Zip Code will be included on the Technician Schedules Grid (see the "Understanding the Technician Schedules Grid of the Technician Scheduling Form" discussion below) of the Technician Scheduling Form.
oSee the Employee's Type, Security, Schedule & Coverage Areas chapter for additional information.
✓Choosing the Appointment Types to be Viewed:
▪In large companies, there may be several Users accessing the Technician Scheduling Form at the same time, but for different reasons:
a.The Service Manager may want to be able to view All Appointments.
b.The Installation Scheduler may only want to view Installs.
c.The Job Foreman may only want to view Appointments for Jobs.
d.The Service Call Dispatcher may only want to view Work Orders.
e.And someone else may only want to view the Appointments classified as Other.
▪To accommodate this issue, the User may use the Appt Type Drop-Down Selection List provided to restrict the Appointments that will be displayed on the Technician Scheduling Grid to a specific Work Order or other Appointment Type by Selecting that Type from the list presented.
Appointment Types (Appt Type) List
▪Once a specific Appointment Type selection has been made, two changes occur in what the Users can View on the Technician Scheduling Form.
1.The Technician Scheduling Form will only display the selected Appointment Type regardless of which Planner View has been chosen.
2.If a New Appointment is created with a different Appointment Type than the Appointment Type that is currently selected to be viewed, it will not appear on the Technician Schedules section of the Technician Schedule Form until either All or that Appointment Type is Chosen.
•To view the data for the Work Orders matching the filters established above, Click the Refresh Icon.
Technician Scheduling Form - Refresh Icon
❑Understanding the Technician Schedules Grid on the Technician Scheduling Form
•The Technician Schedules Grid on the Technician Scheduling Form has four tabs available (each of which is illustrated below) to provide various "views" of the existing Appointments for the designated Technicians, and theTime Slots that are available for scheduling new Work Orders for those Technicians:
1. Day View - Displays a Technician Schedules Grid with the selected Technicians - chosen using multiple selection and filtering criteria, and displaying the selected Types of Appointments scheduled for those Technicians - for a one, three, five or seven day period (as explained in the Planner View chapter) commencing on the specified Schedule Date.
Technician Scheduling Form - Technician Schedules Grid - Day View tab with 2 Technicians
2. Month View - Displays a full month's Calendar showing the Scheduled Work Orders - those Work Order Appointments being displayed on bars that provide "fly-over" information (similar to Tool Tips in Windows® applications) about each Appointment.
Technician Scheduling Form - Technician Schedules - Month View tab
3. Data View - Displays an easier to view (tabular chart) for when multiple Technician's schedules are activated at the same time (see example below).
Technician Scheduling Form - Data View tab - two Technicians' Schedules
4. Map View - Displays the location(s) of each of the Work Order Appointments on a Google® Map and provides a tabular list of these Work Order Appointments based on what is currently listed on the Day View tab.
Technician Scheduling Form - Map View tab
✓Unscheduled Work Orders will be identified with a Teal Flag and Scheduled Work Orders with a Red Flag.
✓Multiple Work Order Appointments scheduled at the Same Location are only Flagged once.
❑Understanding the Pending Work Orders List section of the Technician Scheduling Form:
Technician Scheduling Form - Pending Work Orders List
•Pending Work Orders List section contains a Menu with three buttons offering specific Actions, special Filters, and Column options.
✓Using these Actions, Filters, and Column options - alone or in concert with each of the others - the contents of the Pending Work Orders List may be searched, mapped, filtered to limit the list in a host of different ways, and sorted in any order required.
✓Additional information for the selected Work Order appears below the Pending Work Orders List
❖See the Scheduling with the Pending Work Orders List chapter for complete information about using the Actions, special Filters, and Column Icons, and the process of Scheduling Work Orders.
❑Understanding the relationship between the Employee Calendar and the Technician Scheduling Form:
•Each of your Employees are assigned an Employee Type of either Administrator, All, Technician or Operator.
•All Employees are included on the Employee Calendar's Visible Schedules list.
•Only Employees assigned an Employee Type of All or Technician are available to be viewed on the Technician Scheduling Form.
•All of your Technician's schedules on the Technician Scheduling Form are automatically displayed on the Employee Calendar if they are selected to be displayed. The same is true in reverse in that if a Technician is scheduled on the Employee Calendar, she/he would not be available for a Service Call within that time period.
•So, if an Employee that is assigned the Employee Type of All or Technician is scheduled within the Employee Calendar, those appointments will also be shown in the Technician Scheduling Form.
•Conversely, those Employees who are not assigned an Employee Type of All or Technician are only available to be scheduled within the Employee Calendar Form, and are never available to be shown on the Technician Scheduling Form at all.