1. Field Service Guide
  2. Creating Service Regions

Creating Service Regions

A service region is a geographic area with ZIP Codes and a service team. The ABS and the Optimizer use service regions and associated data when scheduling activities.

You can define the employees who are assigned to a service region, geographic coordinates (geocodes and ZIP Codes or postal codes) for a service region, and the operation of the ABS and Optimizer for a service region.

To create a service region

  1. Navigate to the Administration - Scheduling screen, then the Service Region List view.

  2. Create a new service region record, and complete the fields as appropriate.

    Some fields are described in the following table.

    Field Comments

    Parent Region

    Select an existing service region as the parent region for the service region. For more information, see Specifying Parent Service Regions.

    Time Zone

    Select the name of the time zone that the ABS and Optimizer use. Administrators define time zones in the Time Zone Administration view of the Administration - Data screen. For more information, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

    Schedule

    Select the name of the schedule that the ABS uses. For more information, see Defining Schedule Hours.

    Cost List

    Select a cost list for labor. The Optimizer uses this field to calculate overtime costs. Administrators define costs lists in the Cost List view of the Administration - Pricing screen. For more information, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.

    Travel Cost

    Type the cost for each unit of travel. The Optimizer uses this field to calculate the cost function for a schedule.

    Cost Function

    Select the cost function. The Optimizer uses this field to optimize the schedule for the service region. For more information, see Defining Cost Functions for the Optimizer.

    Parameter Set

    Select the set of parameters. The ABS and Optimizer use this field. For more information, see Creating Parameter Sets for Schedules.

    Constraint Set

    Select the constraint set. The ABS and Optimizer use this field to optimize the schedule for the service region. Administrators define constraint sets in the Constraint Sets view of the Administration - Scheduling screen and in the Constraints view of the Administration - Scheduling screen.

    Time Window

    Select the name of a set of time windows. The ABS uses this field. For more information, see Creating Time Windows for Schedules.

    Minimum Travel Time

    Type the minimum travel time. If the calculated travel time between 2 activities is less than this time, then the Optimizer uses this field.

    Average Travel Time

    Type the average travel time (in minutes). The ABS adds this time to the work time for an activity to calculate the duration of the activity.

    Average Travel Speed

    Type the average speed for each hour of travel for field service engineers in the service region. The Optimizer uses this field to calculate costs. For more information, see Defining Cost Functions for the Optimizer.

    Unit of Measure

    Select the unit of measurement for travel. The Optimizer uses this field to calculate the cost function for a schedule. Values include Miles and Km.