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Purpose
The Scheduling module of MetaField allows Schedulers to assign Work Orders, which contain one or more Work Items, for a particular project to a Technician or multiple technicians. The creation of a Work Order begins in the Scheduling area.
Working with Scheduling
Permissions
Your administrator will grant you permission to Scheduling. Depending upon the permission level you were given, you will be able to view all Work Orders OR you will be able to view, modify and create Work Orders.
Filter Panel
You can filter what work orders are seen based on several fields found in the filter panel at the top of the screen. Once you have applied your filtering, you must select Search for these screens to refresh with work orders matching your criteria.
| Filter | Description |
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| Project Owning Office |
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| Technician Office |
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| Technician |
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| City |
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| Work Order Number |
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| Recurrence No. |
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| Work Item |
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Start Date / Time End Date / Time |
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| Technician availability |
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| Work Order Times |
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| Status |
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| Currently Selected Project |
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| Unassigned Work Orders |
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Work Order Statuses
| Status | Explanation | Updates to Work Order |
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| Draft | Work Orders that have been created but not yet sent to the Technician |
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| Submitted | Work Orders that have been sent to the Technician for consideration |
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| Accepted | Work Orders that have been Accepted by the Technician |
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| Declined | Work Orders that have been rejected by the Technician |
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| Canceled | Work Orders that have been Canceled by the Contractor |
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| Complete | Work Orders that have been marked Completed by the Technician |
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| Overdue | Not an actual status but a filtering criteria so the schedule can filter on work orders that have not been Declined, Canceled or Completed by their scheduled date/time. |
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Saving Filters
If you find that you are often filtering based on the same criteria, you can save your filter choices for use later. To save filter options, chose your criteria and select Save. Then provide a name for this filter selection.
Once you have saved your filter options, you can access a saved filter by clicking on the filter dropdown.
Time Zones
Choose the appropriate time zone for the projects you are scheduling. When you create a Work Order it will automatically assume the times entered are based on the time zone currently selected. The Field users will see the time according to the time zone on their device.
Project Selection
All work orders are assigned to a project. Before scheduling a work order a project must be selected so the system knows what project to apply the work order to. Select the magnifying glass to open the project search window. Select one of the recent projects or filter on one or more of the search criteria and select search. Once a project is selected you can begin adding work orders to it.
Scheduling: Calendar and List Views
After you select Scheduling from the MetaField home screen, you will be taken to the Scheduling calendar tab. This tab allows you to view all of the scheduled Work Orders in a calendar format, list view, or by technician. To switch between these different views, select the Calendar, List, or Technicians button.
Example Calendar View
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As Field Technicians are Accepting, Completing or Rejecting Work Orders, the calendar and list views refresh. |
Example List View
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If you need to update the status of multiple work orders, you can perform this action form the List View. First selected your Work Orders, then choose Change Status and pick the new status. |
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When a Work Order end date and time has past the current date and time, the Work Order times will display shaded in red in list view. |
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If you would like to refresh the list view to see Work Orders recently modified, click the Refresh button. Selecting this button will refresh the grid without resetting your filters.
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Example Technician View
Overdue Work Orders
When a work order exists that has not been completed by the scheduled end date are considered Overdue. You can filter for overdue items in the calendar. The items will also appear highlighted in red when you are in List view.
Work Order Email Messages
In Administration for each user their is a field for an Alert Email. If this field contains a valid email address, the Technician will receive an email each time a new Work Order is submitted to them. Additionally, if certain items are updated by the Scheduler, the Technician will also receive this updated information via email.
Changes to the following fields will trigger an email message:
- Technician (work order reassigned)
- Start Date / Time
- End Date / Time
- Location
- Address
- City
- Work Items
- Requested By
- Phone Number
- Notes for Technician
Deleting a work order that is in the status of Assigned or Accepted will also notify the Technician that the event has been cancelled.
Reassigning a work order to a different technician will notify the original technician that the work order has been reassigned.
Add Work Order
To add a new Work Order, make sure the desired project is populating in the upper left of the screen. If you need to switch projects, select the Change Project button. Once the correct project is selected, click Add Work Order.
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You can also add a Work Order by clicking on the main calendar. This will open the Add Work Order popup with the date and time prepopulated based on where you clicked on the calendar. |
Then complete the required fields in the Add Work Order popup
- Choose one or more work items to be completed for a specific date and time range
- The list of Work Items is maintained by your MetaField Administrator
- This is a required field
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The order in which your Work Items appear is controlled in Administration. |
- Enter the starting date and time for when this work is to be performed, optionally you can provide a duration of the work
- Start Time is a required field unless you select As Available
- Select this box when the same work occurs across multiple days
- If selected, Ends On, How Often, and Repeats Every fields are also required
- Select this box when the work does not have a set start and end time
- Technician will be notified that the work should be preformed on the selected date only
- Option field that allows you to enter a location specific to the work to be performed
- Field technician will be able to view the Location entered here when accessing his Work Orders
- This will default to the Project Address but can be overridden as necessary
- Identify the address where the work should take place
- This will default to the Project City but can be overridden as necessary
- Identify the City where the work should take place
- Select one of these options will filter the list of Technicians
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Click the Space bar to view all the Technicians available |
| Filter | Description |
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| Is Free | Filters list to Technicians who are not previously scheduled during the same Time Frame Not available when you choose "As Available" |
| Is Certified | Filters list to Technicians who hold the necessary certification(s) |
| Previously Scheduled on Project | Filters list to Technicians who have been scheduled for a Work Item for the selected job. |
- Select the desired technician who will be performing or overseeing the work
- All Active Technicians are available for selection
- This is a required field for every status except Draft
Requested Date and Time
- Enter the date and time the Work Order was requested
- This is an optional field
- Enter the person who requested the work
- This is an optional field
- Distribution lists can be referenced when selecting names to be added to this field
- Information will be available for the Field Tech in Field > My Assignments as well as on work order emails
- Enter the phone number of the person who requested the work
- This is an optional field
- Information will be available for the Field Tech in Field > My Assignments as well as on work order emails
- Optional field that allows you to enter additional notes for the technician
- Field technician will be able to view these Notes when accessing his Work Orders
- Optional field that allows you to enter additional notes for the scheduler
- Field technician will not be able to see these notes
- Use this button to save your work order in the status "Submitted"
- Field Technician will be notified once the Work Order is saved
Adding a Work Order
To add a new Work Order, make sure the desired project is populating in the upper left of the screen. Select Add Work Order for Current Project.
Then complete the required fields in the Add Work Order popup
| Field | Description | Example | ||||||||||||
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| Work Item |
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| Start Date / Time |
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| Recurring |
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| As Available |
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| Location |
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| Address |
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| City |
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| Is Free / Is Certified / Previously Scheduled on Project |
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| Technician |
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Requested Date and Time |
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| Requested By |
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| Phone Number |
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| Notes for Technician |
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| Notes for Scheduler |
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| Submit to Technician |
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| Save as Draft |
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Scheduling: Calendar and List Views
After you select Scheduling from the MetaField home screen, you will be taken to the Scheduling calendar tab. This tab allows you to view all of the scheduled Work Orders in a calendar format, list view, or by technician. To switch between these different views, select the Calendar, List, or Technicians button.
Example Calendar View
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As Field Technicians are Accepting, Completing or Rejecting Work Orders, the calendar and list views refresh. |
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You can also add a Work Order by clicking on the main calendar. This will open the Add Work Order popup with the date and time prepopulated based on where you clicked on the calendar. |
Example List View
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If you need to update the status of multiple work orders, you can perform this action form the List View. First selected your Work Orders, then choose Change Status and pick the new status. |
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When a Work Order end date and time has past the current date and time, the Work Order times will display shaded in red in list view. |
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If you would like to refresh the list view to see Work Orders recently modified, click the Refresh button. Selecting this button will refresh the grid without resetting your filters.
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Example Technician View
Overdue Work Orders
When a work order exists that has not been completed by the scheduled end date are considered Overdue. You can filter for overdue items in the calendar. The items will also appear highlighted in red when you are in List view.
Work Order Email Messages
In Administration for each user their is a field for an Alert Email. If this field contains a valid email address, the Technician will receive an email each time a new Work Order is submitted to them. Additionally, if certain items are updated by the Scheduler, the Technician will also receive this updated information via email.
Changes to the following fields will trigger an email message:
- Technician (work order reassigned)
- Start Date / Time
- End Date / Time
- Location
- Address
- City
- Work Items
- Requested By
- Phone Number
- Notes for Technician
Deleting a work order that is in the status of Assigned or Accepted will also notify the Technician that the event has been cancelled.
Reassigning a work order to a different technician will notify the original technician that the work order has been reassigned.
Warnings Upon Saving a Work Order
You may see two different warnings when saving a Work Order.
| Warning | Explanation |
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| Technician Double Booked | If a Technician has already been assigned a Work Order that overlaps the current Work Order, you will receive a system prompt. You can still save the Work Order. The prompt is for informational purposes only. |
| Technician Does Not Have Necessary Certification | In Administration, Work Items can be associated with one or more certification groups (with one or many certifications within each group). If the Technician you are scheduling a work order for does not hold the certification(s) within one of the associated certification groups assigned to that work item, you will receive a warning message. You can still save the Work Order. The prompt is for informational purposes only. |
| Technician's Certification Has Expired | If the Technician has the necessary certification for the Work Item, but the expiration date has passed, you will receive a warning message. You can still save the Work Order. The prompt is for informational purposes only. |
Editing an Existing Work Order
After a work order has been saved, a Scheduler can edit the work order by selecting the item from the calendar or list view. However, once a work order has been saved as Complete the item is no longer editable.
When editing a recurring work order, you can select to edit the single instance or the whole series.
Copying an Existing Work Order
After a work order has been saved, a Scheduler can copy the work order by selecting the item from the calendar, list, or technician view and click on the Copy Work Order button. This action copies the contents of the work order, but clears the dates and times.
Work Order Number
After your work order has been created, it will be assigned a Work Order number. This is a unique number across all Work Orders.
Recurring work orders will also be assigned a Recurrence No.
Work Order Report
You can print a list of Work Orders from the Scheduling List view. Select the Work Orders you would like to add to a Report and then choose Print Selected Work Orders. Optionally, you can select Print All Work Orders.
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Work Orders will show on the report in the same order that they display on the screen. To change the sort order, select one of the columns on the List view grid. |
Pending Field Actions Queues
Upon saving specific field transactions this system may automatically insert a Pending Field Action if future work needs to be performed. These Pending Field Actions display in the Pending Field Actions tab of Scheduling. A Scheduler can create a Work Order based on one or more of these Actions.
Pending field actions are broken up by context. You can see the count of items after each context area on the screen.
You can filter the Pending Field Actions by choosing various criteria in the top panel and then choose the Filter button. Selecting Clear will remove any filter selections. Commonly used filters can be saved for later use.
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If there are multiple activities you want your field staff to perform on a job site based on more than one Pending Field Actions, you can select all of the items you want to schedule and then choose the Add Work Order button. |
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You can remove a Pending Field Action by selecting creating Add Work Order or by choosing to delete the item by selecting the Delete icon |
| Pending Field Action | Explanation |
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| Density Tests |
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| Concrete / Grout / Mortar Samples |
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| Activity Open Discrepancies |
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| Sample Tracking Samples |
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Deleting / Moving Records in Administration
Sometimes a Technician will add records for the incorrect project. These records can often be adjusted (moved to the correct project or deleted) in various Administration screens. Note that if a Work Order is created from a pending field action and the originating action is later moved or deleted, the work order or pending field action will remain unchanged in the system. You will need to manually update these records.