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Booking Appointments for Activities Using Siebel Scheduler (End User)

Customer service representatives can click a button to obtain a list of appointment choices for a selected activity. Clicking this button runs the ABS.

Before booking an appointment, make sure that the activity is associated with a work time and service region and that the activity is not repeating.

NOTE:  Do not use the ABS to schedule appointments that are far in the future (for example, preventive maintenance activities that are 6 months in the future). For more information about ABS horizons and long-range appointments, see About Schedule Horizons and Time Zones.

Booking appointments and optimizing the schedule for activities requires the following data:

This topic contains the following information:

• Booking Appointments from the Activities Screen
• Booking Appointments from the Service Screen

This task is a step of Process of Managing Schedules Using Siebel Scheduler.

Booking Appointments from the Activities Screen

The Schedule view in the Activity List view of the Activities screen provides the Book Appointment and Cancel Appointment buttons for interactively running the ABS and Optimizer. For more information about canceling a scheduled appointment, see Canceling Appointments for Activities (End User).

To book an appointment from the Activities screen

1. Navigate to the Activities screen, then the Activity List view.
2. Drill down on the Type field for a selected activity.
3. Click the Schedule view tab.
4. Click Book Appointment.

   A synchronous request is sent to the ABS for time slots in which to book the selected activity. The available appointments are returned in a dialog box.

   NOTE:  If you do not specify values in Earliest Start or Latest Start fields for the activity, then the ABS - Days to Start and ABS - Days to End parameter values, and the schedule for the service region, are used for these values. For example, if today is March 16th, the ABS - Days to End parameter is 1, and the start time for the service region is 8:00 A.M., then the earliest start is 8:00 A.M. on March 17th. Unless the service region is extremely full, the value of the ABS - Days to End parameter does not apply. The activity does not have to end before the time for Latest Start field, but it must start before that time.

5. In the dialog box, complete either of the following steps:
   • To confirm an appointment, select an appropriate record, and click Confirm.

     A server request is sent to confirm the selected appointment and release the lock on the remaining appointment slots.

   • If you do not want to select any of the available appointments, then click Cancel.

     A server request is sent to reject all proposed appointment slots and to release the lock on these slots.

     TIP:   You do not have to cancel an activity before rebooking it for another time. Instead, you can click the Book Appointment button. When you confirm a time slot, the old time slot is automatically released in the ABS. You click the Cancel Appointment button when you want to cancel an appointment and not rebook it.

Booking Appointments from the Service Screen

The Activities view in the Service Request List view of the Service screen provides the Book Appt and Cancel Appt buttons for running the ABS. The Activities view displays the activities associated with service requests.

To book an appointment from the Service screen

1. Navigate to the Service screen, then the Service Request List view.
2. Drill down on the SR number (#) field for a selected service request.
3. In the Activities list, select an activity record.
4. Click Book Appt.
5. In the dialog box, select and confirm an appointment, or cancel if no appointments are appropriate.

   For more information about using the Book Appointments dialog box, see Step 5 in Booking Appointments from the Activities Screen.