This appendix covers the following topics:
The administrator can organize the Oracle Mobile Field Service application in several different ways, depending on how much control a field service technician is given over his schedule. This appendix describes several different levels of control for the field service technician.
The field service technician can only work on one job at a time, and is given a schedule that the dispatcher plans. Take, for example, the following tasks:
task 1: 8:00 a.m Installation at Customer A
task 2: 9:00 a.m. Repair on-site at Customer B
task 3: 10:00 a.m. Installation at Customer C
The field service technician first needs to finish task 1 before going on to task 2. He needs to follow the pre-defined order that the dispatcher has set. The field service technician cannot reschedule a task, but he can reject a task.
This setup gives the dispatcher control over the daily schedule of the field service technician. The dispatcher sets up the tasks, including what time and where the field service technician is to be at all times.
If you need to send more than one field service technician to perform a task, make sure that you schedule only one task assignment at a time, because multiple task assignments can lead to conflicts. For example, suppose you have a task that requires three field service technicians. You set up the task and then you send it to the task lists of all three field service technicians. It now appears on their task list. However, if one of your field service technicians changes the time for his task, that would affect the task list of the other two field service technicians. To avoid this, you would create three tasks, one for each field service technician.
The field service technician can complete his scheduled tasks under different scenarios. Those scenarios are:
In this scenario, the field service technician works on one job at a time and conforms to the dispatched schedule.
In this scenario, the field service technician works on one single job at a time and does not conform to the dispatched schedule.
In this scenario, the field service technician works on multiple jobs at a time and does not conform to the dispatched schedule.
Scenario 2 and Scenario 3 gives the field service technician control over his day. The dispatcher sends the tasks and locations to the field service technician, and the field service technician then decides when to perform each task. These scenarios work well in an environment where each task requires only one field service technician. For example, if a field service technician has a dental appointment, he can arrange the time he wants to be at the customer site near his dentist. The field service technician is expected to complete all the tasks on the day they were assigned. If he is unable to complete a scheduled task, he can reject it and then the dispatcher will re-schedule the task for the next day.
This section describes some of the general operating rules of Oracle Mobile Field Service that may not be obvious. Some of these rules are based on the scenarios found in Order of Task Completion.
The following are the general rules for working in Oracle Mobile Field Service:
You can add notes, but you cannot update notes once they are completed.
You can update and create debrief items for a task that does not have the status of completed or for a task that you have not yet synchronized with the enterprise system.
Important: Synchronized debrief lines cannot be updated.
See Understanding the Task List Screen for a complete description of the task status flags.
You cannot delete report items after they are synchronized.
If several working tasks are synchronized in Scenario 1 or Scenario 2, you can work on both tasks until they are closed. Then you must handle your tasks in compliance to the profile setting.
Scenario 1 will be the default when there is no profile set.
Once you synchronize, you cannot update a signature.
Once you complete or close a task, you cannot add counters.
You cannot update counters.