Work Zones and Calendars by Organization

Starting with update 24D, Oracle Field Service provides improved multi-organization and multi-country support. By specifying Organizations for Work Zones, Work Schedules, or Shifts, companies can effectively manage their resources, optimize operations, and make informed decisions. These improvements contribute to the ability of Oracle Field Service to support complex, diverse, and global resource management needs.

  • Companies with multiple entities or those operating across different countries can now efficiently manage resources, ensuring the right people and assets are allocated to the correct locations and schedules.   
  • Users have the flexibility to associate or disassociate entities with organizations, accommodating dynamic business needs and ensuring optimal resource utilization.   
  • The updated Work Zones Metadata API methods enable seamless integration and automation, allowing for efficient management of large-scale or complex resource structures.

Specifying Organization for Work Zone, Work Schedule, and Shift Entities

An optional 'Organization' field has been added to the Work Zone, Work Schedule, and Shift related pages. This field enables users to associate the related entities with specific organizations, improving visibility and management across multiple entities.

Work Zones, Work Schedules, and Shifts cannot be added to a resource through the user interface when the configured Organizations are different. It is possible to set any Work Zone, Work Schedule, or Shift using APIs.

This screenshot shows the Add Shift page that includes the Organization field.

This screenshot shows the Add Shift page that includes the Organization field.

Adding Work Zones to Resources

When adding Work Zones to a resource, users can now select from the following options:

  • Work Zones not related to any Organization (empty organization field)
  • Work Zones belonging the same Organization configured for the resource   
  • All active Work Zones, when no Organization is configured for the resource

Default and Other Work Zones sections remain unchanged, with the Default Work Zones list continuing to include the item configured for the parent resource.

This screenshot shows the Add Work Zones page that shows the list of work zones available for selection.

This screenshot shows the Add Work Zones page that shows the list of work zones available for selection.

Configuring Work Schedule Items

When configuring Work Schedule Items, users can select shifts from the following options:

  • Shifts not related to any Organization (empty organization field)   
  • Shifts within the same Organization configured for the Schedule   
  • Shifts previously configured for the selected Schedule, even if the Organization in the Schedule and Shift differ

If no Organization is configured for the Schedule, all active shifts are available for selection. This screenshot shows the Add Work Schedule Item with the Shift field.

This screenshot shows the Add Work Schedule Item page that includes the Shift field.

Configuring Resource Schedule

When setting up a Resource Schedule, users can choose from the following options:

  • Shifts and Work Schedules not related to any Organization (empty organization field)
  • Shifts and Work Schedules belonging to the same Organization configured for selected resource
  • Shifts or Work Schedules that are already configured for the resource

If no Organization is configured for the resource, all active shifts and work schedules are available for selection. This screenshot shows the Calendars page from which you add a schedule for a resource.

This screenshot shows the Calendars page from which you add a schedule for a resource.

Organizations Page Enhancement

The Organization page has been updated to show the number of Work Zones, Work Schedules, and Shifts configured for each Organization. This screenshot shows the Organizations page that shows the details of all organizations created in the application.

This screenshot shows the Organizations page that shows the details of all organizations created in the application.

Shape Button Representation Enhancement

The 'Shape' button on the Configuration > Work Zones page has been replaced with a map icon, providing a visual indication of the Work Zone's geographical context. This screenshot shows the Work Zones page that shows the new icon for the Shape option.

This screenshot shows the Work Zones page that shows the new icon for the Shape option.

Work Zones Metadata API Updates

To support the new 'Organization' field, these API methods have been updated:

  • Create a Work Zone   
  • Get a Work Zone   
  • Get Work Zones   
  • Replace a Work Zone   
  • Bulk Update Work Zones   
  • Bulk Replace Work Zones

These API methods now include the 'Organization field, allowing for seamless integration and management of Work Zones via the API.

Create a Work Zone

POST /rest/ofscMetadata/v1/workZones

Request Body:

{

    "workZoneName": "Pleasant Valley",

    "workZoneLabel": "PLEASANT_VALLEY",

    "status": "active",

    "organization": "Sunrise"

}

Response

{

    "workZoneLabel": "PLEASANT_VALLEY",

    "workZoneName": "Pleasant Valley",

    "status": "active",

    "organization": "Sunrise",

    "links": [

        {            "rel": "canonical",

                     "href": "https://<instance_name>/rest/ofscMetadata/v1/workZones/PLEASANT_VALLEY"

        },

        {            "rel": "describedby",

                    "href": "https://<instance_name>/rest/ofscMetadata/v1/metadata-catalog/workZones"

        }

    ]

}

Get a Work Zone

GET /rest/ofscMetadata/v1/workZones/{label}

The response now includes the new  "organization" field.

{

    "workZoneName": "Pleasant Valley",

    "workZoneLabel": "PLEASANT_VALLEY",

    "status": "active",

    "organization": "Sunrise",

    "links": [

        {            "rel": "canonical",

                     "href": "https://<instance_name>/rest/ofscMetadata/v1/workZones/CASSELBERRY"

        },

        {            "rel": "describedby",

                    "href": "https://<instance_name>/rest/ofscMetadata/v1/metadata-catalog/workZones"

        }

    ]

}

Business Benefit

  1. Efficiently manage and allocate resources across multiple organizations, ensuring optimal utilization of resources.
  2. The time and effort required to manage large numbers of resources across different organizations are significantly reduced, freeing up staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
  3. Empowers companies to expand their operations, enabling them to enter new markets or diversify into additional lines of business.

Steps to Enable

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

Tips And Considerations

Work Zones must maintain unique keys, regardless of the Organization they belong to. This means that even if two Work Zones are related to different Organizations, they cannot share the same key.