Bookshelf v7.5: Scheduling Administration Screen

Siebel Field Service Guide > Scheduling and Dispatch > Scheduling Administration >

Scheduling Administration Screen

The Scheduling Administration screen provides data required to configure and administer the operation of the ABS and the Optimization Engine.

Service Regions View

The Service Regions view defines service regions in terms of the employees assigned to each region, geographic coordinates (in terms of geocode and ZIP Codes or postal codes), and the operation of the ABS and Optimization Engine for the selected service region. The view also lists all activities assigned to a selected service region.

Table 30 describes the fields that define the operation of the ABS and Optimization Engine in each service region.

Table 30. Selected Items in the Service Regions View
Item	Description
Average Travel Speed Per Hour	The average travel speed for field service engineers in the service region, used when the Optimizer calculates the Cost Function.
Average Travel Time (Minutes)	The amount of travel time that the ABS adds to an activity when calculating the duration of an activity (work time + average travel time).
Constraint Set	The constraint set that the ABS and Optimization Engine use in optimizing the schedule for the selected service region, defined in Scheduling Administration > Constraint Sets and the Scheduling Administration > Constraints.
Cost Function	The cost function that the Optimization Engine uses in optimizing the schedule for the selected service region, defined in Scheduling Administration > Cost Functions.
Cost List	A cost list for labor, used for calculating overtime costs. Costs Lists are defined in Pricing Administration > Cost List (see Pricing Administration Guide).
Minimum Travel Time	If the calculated travel time between two activities is less than this time, the Optimizer uses this time.
Parameter Set	The set of parameters that the ABS and Optimizer use, defined in Scheduling Administration > Parameter Sets.
Schedule	The name of a schedule that the ABS uses. Schedules are defined in Applications Administration > Schedules.
Time Window	The name of a set of time windows defined in Scheduling Administration > Time Windows. A Time Windows view defines the interval of time that should be allocated for starting an activity. The ABS uses time windows. See the Time Windows View.
Time Zone	The name of a time zone used by the ABS and Optimizer. Time Zones are defined in Applications Administration > Time Zone Administration (see Applications Administration Guide).
Travel Cost	The cost of travel per unit of travel. The Optimizer uses this value when calculating the Cost Function for a schedule.
Travel Unit of Measure	The unit of travel (miles or KM) that the Optimizer uses when calculating the Cost Function for a schedule.

The Scheduling Administration screen provides the following buttons and commands for the manual operation of the ABS and the Optimization Engine (Table 31).

Table 31. Buttons and Commands in the Service Regions View
Item	Description
Coalesce ABS	This button attempts to improve a selected appointment schedule by removing the time gaps between booked appointments. This asynchronous request is carried out for one service region at a time.
Load ABS	This button erases all data for a service region in the ABS cache and reloads this data from the database. For each service region, this is an asynchronous request to the Siebel server.
Load Optimizer	This button erases all data for a service region in the Optimizer cache and reloads this data from the database. For each service region, this is an asynchronous request. When an optimization is in progress, this request is not sent to the server. The user receives an error message.
Optimize	This button sends a request to the Optimization Engine to run an optimization on the selected service region. The Workflow Manager or repeat requests can start an optimization.
Stop Optimization	This command sends an asynchronous request to the Optimization Engine to stop an ongoing optimization of the selected service region. Stopping an optimization may not be immediate because the Optimization Engine completes the solution that is in process and saves this solution in the database. Stopping an optimization is a manual process; the Workflow Manager or repeat requests cannot send this command.

Activities View

The Activities view displays all activities for the selected service region. This view is read-only. Table 32 describes the button in this view.

Table 32. Button in the Activities View
Item	Description
Load	This button sends an asynchronous request to the Siebel server to load the selected activities into the ABS or Optimizer cache. Based on the values of the Planned Start and Planned End field for an activity and the start and end times for the ABS and Optimizer horizons, the data goes either to the ABS or Optimizer cache. Normally, use the Workflow Manager instead of this button to load activities. The Load request cannot be carried out for a repeating activity.

Employees View

The Employees view lists the employees assigned to a service region. This view is read-only. Table 33 describes the buttons in this view for managing the availability of employees and loading employee data.

Table 33. Buttons in the Employees View
Item	Description
Unavailable	When you select an employee record and click this button, it instructs the Optimizer that the selected employee is unavailable for a time defined in User Administration > Employees > Employee Exception Hours. The button sends an asynchronous request to the Optimizer to load the data for the selected employee, including exception hours, and reassigns or reschedules activities. Before using this command, the administrator may have to add a new record to the Employee Exception Hours view describing the time that this engineer is unavailable.
Load ABS	The button sends an asynchronous request to the Optimizer to refresh the data for one or more selected employees in the ABS cache. This command must be initiated manually or by the Workflow manager; do not use a repeat request.
Unload ABS	The button sends an asynchronous request to the Optimizer to remove the data for one or more selected employees from the ABS cache. This command must be initiated manually; do not use a repeat request.

Zip Codes View

The Zip Codes view lists the ZIP Codes or postal codes that are included in a service region, plus city, state, country, and longitude and latitude for each ZIP Code.

For the Optimizer to schedule an activity, the address of the activity must have valid ZIP Codes and country specified. ZIP Codes must have the corresponding Geocodes specified (see Geocodes and ZIP Codes). The Zip Code value can be a ZIP Code or a ZIP + 4 code.

Cost Functions View

The Cost Functions view defines the function that the Optimizer uses for assessing the success of each iteration of a schedule. This view sets up the general description of each cost function. Cost functions are associated with service regions in the Scheduling Administration screen; see Service Regions View.

Cost Function Details View

The Cost Function Details view defines each variable in a cost function. For more information about the structure of cost functions, see Cost Function.

Service Regions View

The Service Regions view contains read-only records listing the service regions that use a selected cost function.

Parameter Sets View

The Parameter Sets view provides the basic definition of the parameters that the ABS and the Optimization Engine use. Parameter sets are associated with service regions in the Scheduling Administration screen; see Service Regions View. Each service region uses one parameter set.

Parameters View

The Parameters view defines each parameter in a parameter set. For more information about parameters, see Scheduling Parameters.

Service Regions View

The Service Regions view contains read-only records listing the service regions that use a selected parameter set.

Time Windows View

The Time Windows view defines the interval of time that should be allocated for starting an activity. The ABS uses time windows.

The Time Windows field in Scheduling Administration > Service Regions associates a time window with a service region.

Table 34 shows the required fields in the Time Window view.

Table 34. Required Fields in the Time Windows View
Item	Description
Name	The name of the set of time window mappings.
Default Time Window	The time window applied to activities of any duration, if the Time Windows Details view does not have a mapping for an activity of a specific duration.

Time Window Details View

The Time Windows Details view defines specific mappings that make up each time window record. To accommodate activities that vary in duration, this view maps each range of durations to a time window. For example, a work time of 1 to 60 minutes may require a time window of 120 minutes to provide Optimizer the flexibility to change the schedule for optimization.

Service Regions View

The Service Regions view contains read-only records listing the service regions that use a selected time window.