Scheduling Service Agreement Dispatches

Step Three: Scheduling Service Agreement Dispatches

The Schedule tab of the Agreement screen allows you to create a recurring schedule in which dispatches will be posted to the Electronic Dispatch Board (EDB).

Every month/week/two weeks/2nd Tuesday of the month/whenever, you'll head to the Post Schedule to Dispatch window in the Agreements menu and tell it to post all dispatches within the time frame you set. The Schedule tab of the agreement is how ESC determines when that agreement will generate those dispatches and what those dispatches will include (parts, invoicing items, tasks, etc.).

To set the schedule for an agreement, click the Add New Schedule Item button.

In the Task field, select the task that will be performed when a dispatch is posted for this agreement. If the task you want to schedule for this customer is not available, you can add it by heading to the Agreements menu and selecting Enter Tasks.

Once you've selected your task, you have to decide how often that task will be performed. Keep in mind that this is a recurring pattern - meaning that as long as the agreement is still active, the dispatches will still post based on the schedule setup here. For instance, scheduling a "Clean and Check" task for every 6 months can be done by selecting the specific months, or simply telling it the "first" "weekday" of every "6" months. You see the Next Service Date field fill in with the next calendar date that matches your schedule.

As you can see, you also have the ability to schedule visits to your customers on a Daily, Weekly and Yearly basis.

If you know exactly what time your technician will need to be on-site for this customer, then you can enter a time in the Schedule Time field; but this is not mandatory.

At the top of the Schedule Item window, you'll see a tab labeled Task Details. If you switch to that tab, you'll be able to enter notes for this specific task - such as a message to the technician or a reminder for your dispatcher - as well as Parts and Tools. (Note: Sub Tasks are a carry-over from older versions of ESC and are no longer supported.) You can set the Estimated Time for the dispatch by filling in the Task Time field and can also carry parts over to the dispatch by filling in the Parts tab.

When you click OK on that task, you'll see it appear in the Schedule tab of the Agreement screen. You'll also notice that the Next Service Date is bolded in the calendar to the right. This helps you to see what will be happening with that agreement at a glance. When you post your agreements to the dispatch board using the Post Schedule to Dispatch screen, the Next Service Date will automatically advance to the next date in your Recurrence Pattern.