Schedule

Use this guide to learn how to work with Schedule in FORGE. Schedule helps dispatchers and coordinators review appointments, place unscheduled service calls, open related records, and use planning tools to build a workable schedule.

Schedule Workflow

1. Open Schedule Board to review appointments by time and resource.

2. Filter the view by date and the resources you want to review.

3. Drag an unscheduled service call onto a resource lane when you need to create the first appointment.

4. Right-click an appointment when you need to open the appointment, open the related service call, or create another appointment from that service call.

5. Use Smart Planner when you want the system to propose appointments for selected unscheduled service calls.

6. Open Schedule Map when you want to visualize scheduled and unscheduled work by location.

Part 1: Understand Schedule
Schedule is made up of the Schedule Board and the Schedule Map.

What Schedule Supports

• Viewing appointments across resources and time.

• Reviewing unscheduled service calls that still need appointments.

• Creating appointments from scheduling views.

• Opening related appointments and service calls quickly.

• Generating a proposed plan with Smart Planner.

• Visualizing appointment locations on a map.

Use Schedule Board

The Schedule Board is the main dispatcher view for reviewing and placing work.

To use the Schedule Board:

1. Click Schedule.

2. Review the active date range.

   • Start Date: Select the date you want to begin viewing. The shared date picker includes a Today action.

   • Date Range: The board displays appointments in the active day or week window.

3. Review the resource lanes and appointment cards.

   • Resource Lanes: Each lane represents a technician or crew being scheduled.

   • Appointment Cards: Cards show the service call, time window, and current appointment status.

   • Appointment Status: Status values appear as a color status for the appointment card.

4. Review unscheduled service calls.

   • Unscheduled Call Filter (Optional): Narrow the queue by priority or search using common service call information such as number, name, customer, location, call type, problem type, or description.

   • Unscheduled Service Calls (System list): These are open service calls with no appointments.

5. Right-click a schedule about to view the shortcut menu:

   • Open Appointment: Opens the existing appointment record.

   • Open Service Call: Opens the related service call.

   • New Appointment: Available only when the related service call is not Closed and the user has permission to create appointments.

Create an Appointment from Schedule Board

Dispatchers can create the first appointment by dragging an unscheduled service call onto the board.

To create an appointment from Schedule Board:

1. Find the unscheduled service call in the queue.

2. Drag the service call onto the correct resource lane.

3. Review the appointment form that opens.

4. Complete the following fields.

   • Service Call (Required): The service call is required to create the appointment. When you drag from the unscheduled queue, this value is prefilled.

   • Resource (Required): At least one resource is required. The dropped resource is preselected, and you can add more resources before saving.

   • Start Time (Required): Enter the appointment start time.

   • Status (Required): Select the appointment status.

   • Estimated Duration (Required unless Status is Complete): Enter the planned duration for the appointment.

   • End Time (Required when Status is Complete): Enter the appointment end time when the appointment is being completed.

   • Actual Duration (Required when Status is Complete): Enter the actual duration when the appointment is being completed.

5. Save the appointment.

Key Rules

• Appointment length cannot exceed 24 hours.

• Multiple resources can be added before saving when the workflow supports multi-resource creation.

• If you open New Appointment from an existing appointment, the Service Call defaults from the selected appointment.

• In right-click quick create, Resource defaults to the location's Preferred Technician when one exists. Otherwise, Resource remains blank.

Use the Smart Planner

The Smart Planner helps build a proposed schedule for selected unscheduled service calls.

To use the Smart Planner:

1. Click Schedule to open the Schedule Board.

2. Click Smart Planner.

3. Complete the planner settings.

   • Resources (Required): Select one or more resources to include. Resources default to all unchecked.

   • Skill Filter (Optional): Narrow the available resources by skill level before selecting them.

   • Start Date (Required): Select the beginning of the planning window. Past dates are not allowed.

   • End Date (Required): Select the end of the planning window. The end date cannot be before the start date.

   • Default Estimated Duration (Optional if your process uses it): Provide a planning duration when needed.

   • Unscheduled Service Calls (Required to process a plan): Select the service calls to include. The list defaults to all selected.

   • Priority Filter (Optional): Narrow the unscheduled service call list by priority before selecting or clearing calls.

4. Select Process Plan.

5. Review the proposed appointments and any locked existing appointments in the preview.

6. Select Commit Plan when the proposal is ready to save.

Key Rules

• The planner uses the selected resources, appointment constraints, and unscheduled service calls to build the proposal.

• Preferred technician, skill filtering, and priorities can influence planning results.

• The planner limits the planning window to the current maximum supported span.

Understand Loading and Refresh Behavior

Schedule keeps the page usable while data refreshes.

What to Expect

• The command bar stays visible during refreshes.

• Loading masks apply only to the board, list, or map panels that are reloading.

• Refresh keeps the current map layout mounted.

• Schedule Map refresh preserves the current zoom level while recentering on the current appointment set.

Best Practices

• Review the date range before assigning work so appointments are placed in the correct window.

• Confirm the resource before saving a new appointment.

• Use the unscheduled queue and map popups to reduce duplicate navigation.

• Review planner results before committing so you can catch conflicts or unexpected placements.

• Use Schedule Map when location and travel context matter more than time-grid context.

Common Reminders

• New Appointment is not available from an appointment when the related service call is Closed.

• Service Call, Resource, Start Time, and Status are required to create an appointment.

• End Time and Actual Duration become required when the appointment status is Complete.

• Unscheduled service calls are open service calls with no appointments.