Scheduling
Table of Contents | Pages |
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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.
Tip
For filters that allow selection of one or more options, selecting the filter so it is highlighted and selecting the space bar on your keyboard will populate all available options in a dropdown list.
Filter | Description |
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Project Owning Region |
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Project Owning Office |
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Technician Office |
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Technician |
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Project Manager |
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Project Name |
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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 |
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Technician Availability |
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Work Order Times |
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Status |
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Overdue |
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Missing Linked Forms |
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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. |
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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 scheduler can filter on work orders that have not been Declined, Canceled or Completed by their scheduled date/time. |
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Missing Linked Forms | Not an actual status, but a filtering criteria so the scheduler can filter on work orders that require a linked form, but that link does not exist yet. |
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.
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. Use this button if you are intending to create multiple work orders for a given project.
Select Add Work Order for Different Project if you would like to add a work order to a project that is not the current selected project. Use this button if you are intending to create a single work order for a given project. You will be prompted to select a different project from the project search screen. After a different project is selected you will be able to add the work order. After adding the work order you are returned to the main scheduling page and the selected project remains the same.
complete the appropriate fields in the Add New Work Order screen. Note that some fields are required.
Field | Description | ||||||||
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Default WBS |
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Work Item |
Work Item Order The order in which your Work Items appear is controlled in Administration. | ||||||||
Require Form Tracking |
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Linked Forms |
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Address |
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City |
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State / Province |
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Postal Code |
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Location |
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Recurring |
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As Available |
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Start Date / Time / Duration |
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Is Free / Is Certified / Previously Scheduled on Project |
Click the Space bar to view all the Technicians available
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Technicians (data grid) |
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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(s) |
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Save as Draft |
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Warnings Upon Saving a Work Order
You may see three 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, list or technician 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.
Likewise, when updating the status of a work order that has been assigned to multiple technicians, you can select to Update Selected or Update All.
The project associated with a work order can be changed as long as the work order is in Draft status.
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. You have the option to copy the work order to the same project or a different project.
Viewing Your Schedule
MetaField allows you to view your schedule in multiple ways depending on personal preference. The three distinct views are: Calendar, List, and Technician. To switch between these different views, select the Calendar, List, or Technicians button. Each view has its own set of features and functions that may make one more preferable, depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
- As Field Technicians are Accepting, Completing or Rejecting Work Orders, the calendar and list views refresh.
- Schedulers can optionally us a monitor in portrait mode if they prefer to have a "taller" versus "wider" view of the scheduling screens (calendars, grids, etc.).
Calendar View
Calendar View | Use / Description / Features |
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Month |
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Week |
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Day |
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List View
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.
When navigating to the list view from a different view, the date range will be pre-filtered based on the page you were navigating from. For example if you navigated to the list view from the Calendar > Month view, the filters and corresponding results will be for the month you just navigated from.
- Hover over the map pin icon in the grid to see location information.
As of the 2023.15.3885 update, the 'Print Selected Work Orders' and 'Print All Work Orders' buttons have been replaced with the Export dropdown menu: https://www.agileframeworks.com/release-notes/2023-15/
Button / Feature / Function | Description |
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Export → Download |
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Export → Send Combined |
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Export → Send Personalized |
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Change Status |
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Change Technician |
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Refresh |
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Technician View
Hovering over a scheduled work order displays the scheduled work items inside the work order.
Unassigned work orders are listed on the top row of the technicians grid so they can easily be assigned to the appropriate technician. You can also hide unassigned work orders by applying the Hide Unassigned Work Orders filter in the filter panel.
- Orders can be dragged and dropped in the technician view as well!
- Hovering over a blank cell will display a pop up of the technician for that row (helpful if the technician column is no longer visible)
Technician View | Use / Description / Features |
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Today |
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Week |
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Day |
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Work Order Email Messages
Technicians will receive notifications when work orders are submitted to them. If the user has an Alert Email defined on their user record, they will receive individual notifications for each work order at that address. If not, the notification will be sent to the regular email address on their user record. The Alert Email is often used to store the mobile carrier's email address for a text message so the notifications come across as a text message instead of an email. If changes to work orders are performed in a batch action and the user is receiving the notification at their regular email address, the notifications will be batched together. Individual messages will be sent to the Alert Email to avoid text messaging platforms truncating the notification in an inappropriate place. 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(s) (multiple technicians assigned or work order reassigned)
Start Date / Time
End Date / Time
Location
Address
City
Work Items
Requested By
Phone Number
Notes for Technician
Work Order / Recurrence Number
Deleting a work order that is in the status of Assigned or Accepted will also notify the Technician that the event has been cancelled. However, if you'd like to keep the work order on the calendar for tracking purposes, the canceled status should be used instead. Reassigning a work order to a different technician will notify the original technician that the work order has been reassigned.
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 Search 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.
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.
Review the details in the notes column to help you when adding a work order for the pending field action.
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.