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Queue Management

Mary Joy Manggao
  • Updated

The Operation module takes Job Assignments through Job Creation, Quoting, Dispatching, Service Ticketing, Approvals, and Invoicing. In this article, we will discuss Queue Management which details instructions on Job Creation, Quoting, and Dispatch. These processes may also be performed through the Scheduling view. To learn more about the scheduling view please review Operations Scheduling Management To learn more about Service Tickets, Approvals, and Invoicing please review Approvals Queue (Beta) Management. Please note this article will not discuss at length how to set up Operations. Review Field Services & Operations Administrative Setup for more information on how to set up the platform. Additionally, review iOS Mobile App and Android Mobile App for information on a field user's experience.

Table of Contents

Job Creation

Jobs are created either by manual entry or Web Orders. Select Web Orders to learn more. Manual Jobs are created in either the Day, Pending, or All Job tabs by selecting the "+ Create" button within Operations > Queues. The creation view or modal displays upon selecting the "+ Create" button. This is where various information is included important to the operations workflow. More details on this view and these specific functions are in the Manual Job Creation section.

Web Orders

Web Orders are Jobs created by clients. Clients access a form via a link where they fill in the required details for a Job. This link is found in Company Settings > Client Portal > White Label URL and can be placed on any website or the Client Portal. Review QR Code Management for more information on the Client Portal. Once the job is submitted, it will populate in Operations > Queues > Web Orders Web. These jobs then populate into all other queues to be dispatched once the Job Status is adjusted. This is to mitigate client-requested jobs getting dispatched before approval. 

Manual Job Creation

When manually creating Jobs it is recommended to do so out of the All Jobs queue as your view is not limited to a single day. 

General Information

  • Client: Clients are required for every job. They may be a preset option within the client table or created at the time of job creation.  
  • Job Description: The Job description is typically a summary of the Job Details. These are displayed on email notifications when a user gets dispatched. They are also displayed on Quotes. 
  • Owner: The Job owner is typically the individual who has created the job. They are also automatically assigned to a job that will assign the users to the job on the mobile device.  
  • Job Name: The Job name defaults to the client and Job descriptions. This is what displays within the queues when dispatching.  
  • Job Status: Job Status represents the position of a Job in relation to other Jobs. For example, Confirmed, Estimate, Ready for Quote, and Will Call are defaulted options. Job numbers are sequenced Jobs by status. Every job may also be sequenced together regardless of status if settings are marked as such.
  • Region: For full details on regions please review Company Settings. These may apply specific headers to quotes and invoices. Additionally, they link assigned crews to jobs.  
  • Quoted Amount: This is the estimated quoted amount. Optionally use this field or create a quote.
  • Job Details: Job Details are notes available to the client on a quote and service ticket. 
  • In-House Details: In-House details are notes only displayed on this Job Creation View. 
  • PO: This is the purchase order number. 
  • Assigned Crew: The assigned crew is a field that allows you to assign individuals to a job without assigning them to a specific assignment. These may be preset based on the region assigned to a job. 
  • Special Conditions: Special conditions are all additional tags applied to a job. These tags will be available for any job created. Typically these are used to indicate "Contract Jobs" or "Above Ground" mines however options are not limited and are widely used. These fields often are helpful in account reports. These must be pre-set if desired to be utilized. However, they are optional. 
  • Client Notes: Client notes are specific notes saved to a client. They display only when a client is assigned to a job. They may be pre-set on the client table or created at the time of job creation. 

Job Date Range

  • Travel Time to Job Site: This is the travel time required before starting the job. 
  • Start Date: This is the Start Date of the whole job. 
  • Start Time: This is the Start Time of the whole job. 
  • End Date: This is the End Date of the whole job.
  • End Time: This is the End Time of the whole job. 
  • Job Finished: This toggle allows you to mark the Job as complete. When marked a green checkmark displays within the Job cards in Operations > Approvals Queue (Beta). This does not remove jobs from open jobs on field users' devices. For jobs to be removed from field users' devices each line item on the job must be marked as non-billable or accounted for on a service ticket.  

Contacts

Contacts are clients you assign to a job as the point of contact. Additionally, they may be Vendors. This contact information is available to employees when they are assigned to the job. Commonly these are simply created at the time of job creation. 

  • Contact Name: This is the name of the Contact which displays on the field user's mobile device.
  • Contact Phone: The phone number is saved during job creation if provided. This becomes automatically available on subsequent jobs to which this contact is assigned. This number becomes available to field users for them to call in contact if necessary.
  • Contact Email: The email is saved during job creation if provided. This becomes automatically available on subsequent jobs to which this contact is assigned.
  • Primary Contact: This setting will distinguish multiple contacts on a job. Only the primary contact is displayed for the field user's context. 

Locations

Job locations are applied directly to Jobs. These also report to employees where work is performed. While typically you can add an address during job creation you may also provide a list of pre-set locations to choose from. This is helpful for jobs that frequent the same location. These are populated onto a job by filling out the location name.

  • Location Description: This field distinguishes locations with similar names. 
  • Location Name: This field once filled out allows you to prepopulate the location of a job.
  • Country: This is the country where the job is located.
  • State/Province: This is the state or province where the job is located.
  • Street Address: This is the street address where the job is located.
  • City: This is the city where the job is located.
  • Postal Code: This is the postal code where the job is located.

Assignment Collections (Assignments)

  • Filter: This field allows you to search assignments that are already assigned to the job. 
  • Add Assignment: This dropdown allows you to create assignment collections on a Job. To learn more about assignment collections please review Field Services & Operations Administrative Setup
  • Add Job Phase: Job phases represent stages on a job. Assign assignment collections to job phases to organize them.
  • Select (Job) Template: Job templates are preset Assignment Collections to assist in faster job creation. It is recommended to utilize job templates for jobs that repeat the same assignments collections. Select Manage Templates to create Job Templates. 

Quoting

Content > Quotes > New Quote

  • Quote Name: The quoted name will be the .pdf file name once saved, downloaded, printed, and shared.
  • Terms: Terms are optional billing conditions displayed for reference.
  • PO Number: Optionally add a Purchase Order number to the quote.
  • Job Owner: The Job owner is typically the individual who has created the job. They are also automatically assigned to a job that will assign the users to the job on the mobile device.  
  • Job Description: The Job description is typically a summary of the Job Details.
  • Add Line Item: Add additional line items to quotes. This will create new assignments on the Job. 
  • Info: The info field describes distinctions between line items
  • Tax: Optionally apply tax to a line item or the entire quote, to add additional tax options navigate to Admin > Company > Billing Setup.
  • Qty: This is the quantity of the line item to be multiplied by the rate. 
  • Rate: This is the rate of the line item to be multiplied by the Qty.  
  • Convenience Fee: Optionally apply a preset convenience fee. These are created and editing in Admin > Company > Billing Setup.
  • Include terms & conditions toggle: Optionally display terms and conditions on a quote. To update or include terms and conditions they must first be added by navigation to Admin > Company > Documents > Quote. 
  • Customize Quote: These settings allow you to adjust specific fields to either be displayed or not displayed on client-facing quotes. 

Documents

Navigate to Content > Documents > Add Files to apply files to a job. Once these files are added to a job you may "Allow Field Access". Selecting this toggle will display the document on the job for a mobile field user. 

Forms

To view forms submissions on a job navigate to  Content > Forms > Entries. Alternatively to submit a form on a job navigate to Content > Forms > Forms. Please review the Form Management article for more information on building and utilizing forms. 

Share

When a Job is selected at the bottom of the view select Share. This view allows you to send all attached PDFs on this job to various people. The following fields below are all of the features and functions available within the Share view. 

  • Job contacts to Send To: This list is either preset or created on the fly when a job is created. Contacts and their email addresses are managed in Operations > Contacts.
  • Employees to Send To: This list is the list of Employees within the platform. These are all preset in Admin > Employees.
  • Additional Email Addresses (Comma-separated): This field allows you to send the selected documents to additional email addresses. 
  • Email Subject: This is the email subject line to be displayed on the email once sent. 
  • Files (All) & Files (PDFs) & Form Entries (Job, Assignments, and Service Tickets): These are all of the documents available to be shared from a Job. They are within these sections for easier reference and organization.  
  • Name of pdf (optional): This field renames the pdf to be sent. When multiple files are selected to be sent, they will aggregate into a single file. If this field is left blank the file will be called Aggregate PDF. 

Queues

When dispatching a user assigns an employee and asset to a job. Additionally, they may schedule the time when job assignments will occur. These functions are done in the Day, Pending, and All Job Queues. Each queue functions somewhat differently which differences are explained in the following sections.

Day Queue

The Day queue displays all job assignments scheduled on that specific day and their associated jobs. These include non-schedulable job assignments that are within the Job date range. To adjust information on a job assignment in the day queue click the "+" button on the left side of the job status bar. Once the assignments are displayed you may adjust the information in the Start Time, End Time, Employee, and Asset cells. Doing so will update the field user's device. They do not require being notified. Users only need to be assigned. See iOS Mobile App and Android Mobile App for more information on the Field user's experience.

Adjust the date in the top center of the screen by clicking the date or arrows displayed. Optionally filter by Job Status, Hide Finished, Cancelled Only, and Dispatch Only by selecting Filters in the top right of the screen. Select Filter Regions to filter jobs by region. Optionally Sort by None, Job Number, Client, Region, Status, or Start Time alphanumerically. 

The Status column on an assignment may display various letters or symbols. These symbols include N, O, C, A, and $. The N symbol means that a notification has been sent to the employee assigned to the assignment by email and text. The O means that the employee has opened the email notification for this assignment. The C means that the assignment is complete and a service ticket has been submitted for it. The A means that the assignment is approved for invoicing. The $ means that the assignment has been invoiced. 

Selecting the Checkmark on any assignment displays additional functions. These include copying a job (permissions allowing), Runover, Notify, Cancel, Done, Print.

  • Copying a Job will duplicate a job with another Job number. This will also copy over all job assignment collections.
  • Runover will create an additional assignment in the assignment collection for an extra day on a job when the job runs over for more days than planned.
  • Canceling an assignment will delete it from the job assignment collection. This will remove them from the field user's view.
  • Done will mark an assignment as complete, remove it from the field users view, and move the line item into the approvals queue. This essentially skips the service ticketing process.
  • Print will generate a PDF to be printed and distributed to the assigned employee. This printed document may function as a service ticket. However, once the ticket is signed navigating back to the assignment and marking it as done is required to track that data within the platform.  

Pending Queue

The Pending queue displays all job assignments scheduled on that specific day and their associated jobs. These include non-schedulable job assignments that are within the Job date range. To adjust information on a job assignment in the day queue click the "+" button on the left side of the job status bar. Once the assignments are displayed you may adjust the information in the Start Time, End Time, Employee, and Asset cells.  Doing so will update the field user's device and remove the assignment and jobs from the Pending queue. This is to assist the dispatcher in only reviewing job assignments that have yet to be dispatched. Users do not require being notified to update their devices. They only need to be assigned. See iOS Mobile App and Android Mobile App for more information on the field user's experience. 

Adjust the date in the top center of the screen by clicking the date or arrows displayed. Optionally filter by Job Status, Hide Finished, Cancelled Only, and Dispatch Only by selecting Filters in the top right of the screen. Select Filter Regions to filter jobs by region. Optionally Sort by None, Job Number, Client, Region, Status, or Start Time alphanumerically. 

The Status column on an assignment may display various letters or symbols. These symbols include N, O, C, A, and $. The N symbol means that a notification has been sent to the employee assigned to the assignment by email and text. The O means that the employee has opened the email notification for this assignment. The C means that the assignment is complete and a service ticket has been submitted for it. The A means that the assignment is approved for invoicing. The $ means that the assignment has been invoiced. 

All Job Queue

Adjust filters by selecting Filter. This displays a search bar along with a Date Range, State, Client, Region, and Job Status filter. Once these filters are adjusted select Apply Filter. Additionally, search by job number in the Job # dropdown and Sort by None, Job Number, Client, Region, Status, or Start Time alphanumerically. 

The All Job Queue displays all jobs scheduled within a specific date range and all their associated job assignments. These include all non-schedulable Job assignments. To adjust information on a job assignment in the day queue click the "+" button on the left side of the job status bar. Once the assignments are displayed you may adjust the information in the Start Time, End Time, Employee, and Asset cells. Doing so will update the field user's device and remove the assignments. They do not require being notified for their device to update. Users only need to be assigned. This is to assist the dispatcher in only reviewing job assignments that have yet to be dispatched. See iOS Mobile App and Android Mobile App for more information on the field user's experience. 

The Status column on an assignment may display various letters or symbols. These symbols include N, O, C, A, and $. The N symbol means that a notification has been sent to the employee assigned to the assignment by email and text. The O means that the employee has opened the email notification for this assignment. The C means that the assignment is complete and a service ticket has been submitted for it. The A means that the assignment is approved for invoicing. The $ means that the assignment has been invoiced. 

Activity Queue

The Activity queue logs updates to Jobs, Assignment Collections, and Assignments on any given day. An update to this activity queue is located on any given job within Operations > Approvals Queue (Beta) > Select a Job > Activity Tab. Review Approvals Queue (Beta) Management for more details.

Approvals Queue

The Approvals Queue has been updated and moved to Operations > Approvals Queue (Beta). Please review Approvals Queue (Beta) Management for more details.

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