Access Schedule Support for Field Service Work Orders

You can now set technician access schedules for a customer account and account service profile. An access schedule includes access hours and access exception dates. The access hours define the intervals in which an asset such as a building or an equipment is accessible for resources to be on site.  Access exception dates override the access hours defined for a specific date and makes the date unavailable for a resource to be onsite. Access exception dates can be based a specific date or a rule such as the 25th of December or the fourth Thursday of a specific month. The Access Schedule time zone is the customer timezone identified on the work order. After the work order is assigned to a resource, the Access Hours field is calculated in the time zone of the resource.The access schedule can be updated for a specific work order if required. The work order schedulers also utilizes the access schedule to identify time slots available for scheduling. The access schedule is sent to Oracle Field Service and used when scheduling resources through direct assignment and routing.

Access schedules consist of set of access schedule intervals (up to two intervals per week day), and a set of exception dates. The exception dates are treated as non-working. For Example: You can set this Access Schedule:

• Monday: 8AM-12PM, 13PM-17PM
• Tuesday: 8AM-12PM, 13PM-17PM
• Wednesday: 8AM-12PM, 13PM-17PM
• Thursday: 8AM-12PM, 13PM-17PM
• Friday: 8AM-12PM, 13PM-17PM
• Sat: 10AM-12PM
• Exceptions: 01/01/2024, The fourth Thursday of November

This means that the resources can access the asset from 8 AM till 12 PM and from 13 PM till 17 PM, Monday to Friday and from 10 AM till 12 PM on Saturday. It is closed on Sundays. The non-working days are January 1st and The fourth Thursday of November each year.

The following rules are used to interpret a schedule:

• Empty schedule (or no schedule at all) and empty exception dates (or no exception dates at all) means no restriction, or 24x7 availability.
• Empty schedule (or no schedule at all) and some exception dates filled means 24x7 availability except exception dates, and not available on exception dates.
• Schedule includes all seven days (and may be some exception dates filled) means the availability is defined by the schedule for the given week day, and the asset is not available on exception dates, if any.
• Schedule includes some, but not all seven days (and may be some exception dates filled) means the availability is defined by the schedule for the given week day, if it is defined. The asset is not available on the week days for which no schedule is defined; also, the asset is not available on exception dates, if any.

Customers typically have certain hours at each location that they are available for resources to come on site to perform work. Access schedules can be used to ensure resources are only scheduled to go onsite during customer identified hours.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

• Access schedules are only available for Oracle Field Service Work Orders in Redwood UI
• You must have one active access schedule that applies to an account to create an access schedule for a service profile
• Access schedules can be defined for the following and when used in a service profile, the schedule used is based on the first active scheduler in the following order:
  1. Account/country combination
  2. Account
  3. Country
  4. Primary schedule
• Access scheduled for service profiles and work orders can be over ridden which includes adding, modifying or removing any day interval or exception date
• Access schedule impacts the availability shown in the work order scheduler
• Access schedule for a work order is passed to Oracle Field Service activity and used in routing and scheduling 

Key Resources

For details about using access scheduled in Oracle Field Service work orders, see the following:

• Using Access Schedules in Oracle Field Service Work Orders

• Overview of Access Schedules in Oracle Field Service

Access Requirements

The following roles are required:

• Service Administrator or Customer Service Managers to create access schedules 
• Customer Service Representative for updating access schedules on Oracle Field Service work orders