Scheduling

Table of Contents

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. The creation of a Work Order begins in the Scheduling area.

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.

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

As Field Technicians are Accepting, Completing or Rejecting Work Orders, the calendar and list views refresh.

Example List View

Update Multiple Work Order Statuses

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.

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.

Refresh List View

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.

Example Technician View

Scheduling 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 made your selection, you must select filter for these screen to refresh with work orders matching your criteria. Commonly used filters can be saved for later use.

Filter	Description
Project Owning Office	Filters based on the Project office Allows selection of one or more office Can filter on work orders that do not have an owning office assigned
Technician Office	Filters based on the office assigned to specified technicians Allows selection of one or more office
Technician	Filters based on assigned Technician Allows selection of one or more Technicians
City	Filters based on the City entered in the Work Order Allowed to type in a partial city name
Work Order Number	Filters based on the system assigned Work Order number Allows partial matches
Recurrence No.	Filters based on the system assigned Recurrence number Allows partial matches
Work Item	Filters based on work item(s) assigned to a work order Allows selection of one or more work items
Work Order Times	Allows you to search for only Work Orders with specific times assigned or Work Orders without specified times
Status	You can filter on one or more status selection To select a status click on the color coded box before the status name Work orders will appear in the calendar shaded to match the status filter box
Currently Selected Project	Filters based on the selected project above
Technician Availability	Only available in the Technician view Filters technicians displayed by the filter that is applied: Scheduled Free Free With Generic Users

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.

Work Order Status

Status	Explanation	Updates to Work Order
Draft	Work Orders that have been created but not yet sent to the Technician	Scheduler can update work order Edits to work order are not sent to the Technician
Submitted	Work Orders that have been sent to the Technician for consideration	Scheduler can update work order Updates to certain fields will trigger an email message
Accepted	Work Orders that have been Accepted by the Technician	Scheduler can update work order Updates to certain fields will trigger the Work Order to be resubmitted to the Technician and trigger an email message
Complete	Work Orders that have been marked Completed by the Technician	Scheduler can view the Work Order Scheduler can copy the work order but, editing is prevented
Declined	Work Orders that have been rejected by the Technician	Scheduler can update the Work Order Upon updating the Work Order it is resubmitted to a Technician and trigger an email message

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 him. 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.

Use Drag and Drop To Create a Work Order

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

Field

Description

Example

Work Item

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

Work Item Order

The order in which your Work Items appear is controlled in Administration.

Start Date / Time

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

Recurring

Select this box when the same work occurs across multiple days
If selected, Ends On, How Often, and Repeats Every fields are also required

As Available

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

Location

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

Address

This will default to the Project Address but can be overridden as necessary
Identify the address where the work should take place

City

This will default to the Project City but can be overridden as necessary
Identify the City where the work should take place

Is Free / Is Certified / Previously Scheduled on Project

Select one of these options will filter the list of Technicians

Click the Space bar to view all the Technicians available

Filter

Description

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.

Technician

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

Requested By

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

Phone Number

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

Notes for Technician

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

Notes for Scheduler

Optional field that allows you to enter additional notes for the scheduler
Field technician will not be able to see these notes

Submit to Technician

Use this button to save your work order in the status "Submitted"
Field Technician will be notified once the Work Order is saved

Save as Draft

Use this button to save your work order in the status of Draft
Field Technician will not be notified of this Work Order until the status is updated from Draft

Warnings Upon Saving a Work Order

You may see two different warnings when saving a Work Order.

Warning

Explanation

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.

Sort Order

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.

Creating a Work Order for Multiple Pending Field Actions

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.

Removing Pending Field Actions

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
Density Tests	When a failing density test is saved in the system, a Pending Field Action is added to perform a retest. If a retest is later performed for the failing test, the Pending Field Action will be removed. When creating a Work Order from this action: Density Test - Retest Work Item will default Technician will default to the Technician assigned to the failing density test Notes for Technician will prepopulate with the type of test, test number, original Technician and tested date All default values may be changed by the scheduler as necessary
Concrete / Grout / Mortar Samples	When a concrete, grout or mortar sample is saved in the system, a Pending Field Action is added to retrieve the sample If there are field cure specimens, multiple pending field actions will be added (standard cure vs. field cure) When creating a Work Order from this action: C / G / M - Specimen Retrieval Work Item will default Technician will default to the Technician assigned to the originating Sample record Notes for Technician will prepopulate with sample type, Sample and Set numbers, original Technician and cast date All default values may be changed by the scheduler as necessary
Activity Open Discrepancies	When an Activity is saved with a discrepancy, a Pending Field Action is added to review the discrepancy for resolution (Note: This assumes that the Form was configured to use Discrepancy management field settings. See Form Designer - Field Settings for more information) When creating a Work Order from this action: Activity - Discrepancy Resolution Work Item will default Technician will default to the Technician assigned to the originating Activity record Notes for Technician will prepopulate with associated Group and Form name, Activity number for the discrepancy and original Technician All default values may be changed by the scheduler as necessary
Sample Tracking Samples	When a Sample Tracking sample has been identified as needing to be retrieved, a Pending Field Action is added When creating a Work Order from this action: Sample Tracking - Specimen Retrieval Work Item will default Technician will default to the Technician assigned to the originating Sample Tracking record Notes for Technician will prepopulate with Sample Type, original Technician and Sample date All default values may be changed by the scheduler as necessary

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.