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Rahim Jiwani

Rahim Jiwani

Joined: 10/26/2016

  • Add Est. Arrival Time to Schedule Assistant

    Wed, 26 Oct 2016 21:55:43 GMT – Dynamics 365 Field Service – Completed 

    When using the Field Service Schedule Assistant (with travel times), the filter options only let you set a filter for the Start Time and End Time.  However, with travel times enabled, the Start Time is when the resource begins travelling (not the start time of the booking/appointment with the customer).

    For example, if a customer is on the phone and requests a 10am appointment, there is no way to easily get suggestions where the appointment time (Est. Arrival Time) is 10am.  A user might open the schedule assistant and enter a Start Time of 10am - this will display results where the resource begins travelling at 10am.  So if the travel time is 36 minutes, the assistant recommends an appointment time (Est. Arrival Time) of 10:36am.

    Of course, there are ways to update this after the assistant makes the recommendation, but that causes extra steps and there is a risk you are now violating certain restrictions (work hours, other bookings, etc.) that the assistant takes into consideration.

    I would suggest adding the Est. Arrival Time as a filter option (along with Start Time and End Time) or simply replacing the Start Time filter to drive the Est. Arrival Time.

  • Option to have Schedule Assistant round to nearest half-hour or hour

    Thu, 27 Oct 2016 00:52:40 GMT – Dynamics 365 Field Service – Completed 

    The Est. Arrival Time is the time that is most important to a customer, as that signifies the start time of their appointment.

    When entering a Start Time on the Field Service Schedule Assistant with travel time enabled, the Start Time represents when the resource begins travelling to the appointment - the Est. Arrival Time is then dependent on the travel time that is calculated.  Often this results in very strange appointment times from the customer's perspective.  For example, a CRM user might filter for Start Time as 10am on the Schedule Assistant, and this will recommend an Est. Arrival Time of 10:36 (based on 36 minutes of travel time that was calculated).  This is a strange time to give a customer for an appointment.

    I'm suggesting a configuration option that allows the Schedule Assistant to round the Est. Arrival Time to a certain degree (ex. nearest hour or half-hour) to avoid these situations.