Use Schedule AssistantLast updated on 05/24/2023
Schedule Assistant improves margins by suggesting a date, time, and technician for a given job that minimizes drive time. When used during call booking, Schedule Assistant shows your team the optimal day and time to schedule jobs based on drive time efficiency, reducing the amount of time it takes to search for the right technician.
You can also use Schedule Assistant from the Dispatch Board, job record, and on recurring service events. Technician skills, zones, and non-job events are factored into Schedule Assistant’s recommendations.
Things to know
Schedule Assistant requires Technician Shifts, which you can use to manage technician working hours and location. For more, see Use Technician Shifts.
The first stop on each technician card in Schedule Assistant is from the technician’s home address to their first job. The last stop is from their last job to their home address.
For best results, make sure all your customers have verified addresses. Verifying the address attaches latitude and longitude coordinates to the job location. Schedule Assistant then uses the latitude and longitude of jobs to calculate drive time. You can verify customer addresses from Schedule Assistant:
If a technician doesn’t have a verified job address, the address of the technician’s main business unit (BU) is used to calculate drive time instead. If their main BU doesn’t have a verified address, the address of their first job is used.
If a technician doesn’t have a verified job address, you see a notification on their Schedule Assistant card. Click Verify Technician Address to verify their address.
If you book a job without using Schedule Assistant and now want to use it, you can go to the job record, scroll to the appointment you want to use Schedule Assistant on then click More
> Run Schedule Assistant.
Schedule jobs using Schedule Assistant
Answer an incoming call, or go to the navigation bar and click Calls
.
Click an incoming call bubble, search for an existing customer, or add a new customer, then click the location where the job will be performed.
Enter the job details, then click Schedule Assistant.
Note: If you book a job without Schedule Assistant, you can go to the job record, click More next to the appointment
, then select Run Schedule Assistant to start using Schedule Assistant with it.
Schedule Assistant opens. Use the filters to refine the technicians you see. You can filter by:
Date Range: Give a range of dates that Schedule Assistant can schedule the job on.
Earliest Start Time (optional): Give a range of times that Schedule Assistant can schedule the job on.
Weekdays: If searching up to a week, this menu enables selecting specific days that you wish to filter on, such as only Thursdays and Fridays, due to homeowner availability.
Job Type: The job type you selected when booking the job.
Business Unit: Only technicians who are assigned to the selected BU will appear.
Technicians: Filter to see specific technicians.
Use the Only Show Technicians filters to further refine the technicians you see. You can filter by:
With the skill for this job: Shows technicians with skills required by job type.
With unbooked availability: Shows technicians who have enough unbooked time to complete the job.
In this zone: Shows technicians in the same zone as the job. To add additional zones to technicians, add technicians to All Zones from technician settings. For more on zones, see Set up and use zones.
When you’re finished, click Search. Schedule Assistant shows up to 52 technicians based on your filters, sorted by most efficient drive time.
Note: You can sort technicians by Driving Efficiency or First Available.
Click a technician card to select them for the job, and then click Save.
The technician, date, and time you selected appear on the Job Booking screen. Click Book job to complete booking the job.
Want to learn more?
Important note: Some features may not be currently included in your account and additional configuration may be required. Please contact technical support for details.
Disclaimer: Information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and it should not be construed to be legal advice. Information provided in this article may also not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information in this article to meet any compliance requirements without seeking independent legal or other professional advice.