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Siebel Field Service Guide > Scheduling Using Siebel Scheduler > About Running Contract SchedulingContract Scheduling is a feature of the Optimizer for rapid scheduling of service appointments while maintaining the critical Optimizer requirements: enforcement of contractual deadlines and use of constraints when searching for solutions. When Contract Scheduling is called, the Optimizer does not unschedule any other activities. However, the Optimizer attempts to create available time before inserting an activity. For example, if there are 2 half-hour spaces in an employee schedule, and a user wants to schedule a 45-minute appointment, then the Optimizer attempts to move the other appointments to create a contiguous 45-minute space for the appointment. The Optimizer is multithreaded and can handle multiple requests at the same time. For example, 2 users can call Contract Scheduling at the same time. However, because the Optimizer can process only 1 request at a time, simultaneous requests are queued so that multiple users can submit requests to the Optimizer. While the Optimizer performs optimization, users can still submit requests. The Optimizer queues the requests and processes them at the level for the Optimizer - Save Interval parameter or when optimization completes. Companies with the following business requirements can use Contract Scheduling:
Users can run Contract Scheduling by clicking the following buttons in Siebel Field Service:
Insert Activity ButtonThe Insert Activity button either obtains a confirmed appointment from the ABS or runs the Optimizer to schedule the selected activity. The Insert Activity button is similar to the Contract Schedule button in the Schedule view in the Activity List view of the Activities screen. Before clicking this button, make sure the following conditions apply:
The choice of sending the Insert Activity request to the ABS or Optimizer depends on the values in the Earliest Start field and the Latest Start field. These values determine whether the activity is in the ABS or the Optimizer horizon, as follows:
Contract Schedule ButtonThe Contract Schedule button functions like the Insert Activity button. For more information, see Insert Activity Button. Load ButtonThe Load button for activities synchronizes data in the cache if there are manual changes to an activity. For more information, see Loading Activity Data for Service Regions. The choice of sending the activity to the ABS or the Optimizer cache depends on the following conditions:
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