1. Administering Oracle Field Service
  2. Activity Duration Statistics Fields

Activity Duration Statistics Fields

You can configure multiple activity duration statistics keys, so that you can compare the quality of keys. Data is collected for all the keys, and the quality ratings of the keys are displayed on the Statistics page.

With multiple activity duration statistics fields you can:

  • Configure up to five keys and choose any one of them to be 'Active' at any point of time.

  • View the quality of each key.

  • View all the configured keys in the 'Work Statistics' report and view the report for specific keys as well.

Only the 'Active' key is used for estimating activity duration. Although the application collects data for all the configured keys, the keys that are not 'Active' are not included in the calculation. The advantage of this feature is that before making a new key 'Active', you can compare the performance of the new key with the existing one. This happens without affecting the current calculations.

The quality of the key is displayed as stars next to each key. More number of stars indicates better quality of estimation. Based on the quality of keys, you may choose to 'Activate' any of the currently inactive keys. When you activate an inactive key, the currently active key becomes inactive. If another key has better quality than the currently active key, the 'Activate' button is displayed beside the key. For all other inactive keys, the Activate option is available within the options menu. You cannot delete an active key; you can only delete inactive keys. To delete a key, first make it inactive, and then delete it.

New or modified keys

Whether you add a new key or modify an existing one, the application considers both of these as new keys. When the application gets a new key, the Activity duration estimation algorithm is run on the next day (or the next time the recalculation process is run). This gives the estimated durations of all keys based on the new key. The application then calculates the quality of the new key based on the historical durations and the calculated estimated durations. Further, when an existing key is modified and the recalculation process is yet to run, the message, "Changes have not been applied yet" is displayed. The key that is currently in effect (previously active key) is also displayed until the new key takes effect.

Existing keys

The estimated durations for all key values and the quality of each key (Active and Inactive) is calculated every day. The Activity durations that are actually used in the application are calculated based only on the Active key. Hence, if you change the status of a key from Inactive to Active (or Active to Inactive), the quality of the keys is not affected. Similarly, since the estimated duration is also calculated for inactive keys, the learning that is applied since the key is created, is still in effect when an inactive key is activated. Similar to other keys, changes in an existing key or activation of a new key comes into effect only when the recalculation process runs the next time (typically by the next day). Similarly, the quality of a new or modified key is displayed only from the next day onward.

Calculating the quality of keys

The application calculates the quality of each key based on how accurate the estimation of Activity durations have been or would have been, if the key was used for calculations. These steps are used:

  • The estimated duration is calculated for each type of activity (Activity key value) using the key for which the quality has to be found.

  • Durations reported by mobile workers, for completed past activities are compared with the estimated duration for that activity using the said key.

  • If the difference between the estimated and reported duration is less, the estimation is considered to be good. If the difference between the estimated and reported duration increases, the quality is considered to deteriorate.

  • The final quality of the key is calculated based on the number of activities that showed good, satisfactory and bad estimations, for that key.

Consider this example:
  • Key 1 = Activity Type (2, case insensitive)
  • Key 2 = Plant Code (2, case insensitive), Problem Code (2, case insensitive)
This table shows the data to demonstrate how the quality of a key is calculated:
Activity ID Activity Duration Key based on Key 1 Activity Duration Key based on Key 2 Estimated Duration based on Key 1 Estimated Duration based on Key 2 Reported Duration Quality of Estimation based on Key 1 Quality of Estimation based on Key 2

1

 AA PP11 50 90 52 Good Poor

2

 BB PP22 75 70 68 Good Good

3

 BB QQ22 75 95 100 Satisfactory Good

4

 CC QQ22 100 95 125 Satisfactory Satisfactory

5

 AA RR11 50 35 45 Good Satisfactory

6

 DD PP11 150 90 135 Good Poor

7

 BB RR22 75 45 30 Poor Satisfactory

8

 DD PP11 150 90 140 Good Poor

9

 AA RR22 50 30 20 Poor Satisfactory

10

 CC QQ11 100 140 110 Good Satisfactory

The quality of a key is calculated based on these formula: Quality of Key = (0.06 * % of Good Estimations) + (0.04 * % of Satisfactory Estimations)

Based on this formula:
  • Quality of Key 1 = 4.4
  • Quality of Key 2 = 3.2

Work Statistics report: All the configured keys appear on the Work Statistics report. The user can select any key (Active or Inactive) and the report displays the updated values based on the selected key.

Activity duration stats fields: The formation of the keys (made up of fields) used for the grouping of work duration values to find the averages. You can define up to five activity keys and have one active key at any time. Data is collected for all the keys, and the keys are rated for their quality. Stars indicate the rating and more number of stars indicate better quality. For more information, see the Activity duration statistics fields topic.