Welcome to the Fieldcode Manual

Tip: Start typing in the input box for immediate search results.

Last updated:

How to configure dispatch groups

Copy the URL link to this section to share

Dispatch groups are used to define workforce areas for engineers, where the service can be provided. They are helpful in better organizing the work on the field. In the dispatch groups tab, you can assemble a team of engineers for a specific geographic area. The purpose is to focus the workforce on one area because having a dedicated group for your location is essential in the dispatch organizing process.

  • You need at least one created and active dispatch group to use the optimizer with success.
    If there is no active dispatch group set, the Ticket Pool in the Fieldcode work place (Dispatch tab) won’t display tickets and won’t display any engineers in the Timeline.
  • It is necessary to have at least one engineer assigned, otherwise, group creation will not work.
  • It is necessary to have at least one area generally defined, otherwise, group creation will not work.
  • Please avoid creating groups with more than 30 engineers as it can negatively impact overall performance, rather try to create more groups in this case.
  • An engineer can be used for multiple dispatch groups, Fieldcode admin panel therefore also offers the possibility to assign one engineer for multiple dispatch groups.

You will see engineer home bases with different colors inside the zone when defining or editing dispatch group zones.

RED HOUSE: Engineers home base is far from the defined zone (calculated outgoing from the border of the selected zone).
YELLOW HOUSE: Engineer is some what close to the defined group zone (calculated outgoing from the border of the selected zone).
GREEN HOUSE: Engineer is inside the defined group zone (calculated outgoing from the center of the selected zone).

How to create & edit dispatch groups

Copy the URL link to this section to share
  1. Inside the Fieldcode Admin Panel go to  Dispatch → Groups
  2. Click on the plus button to open the New group form.
  3. Fill in the Basic, Area Definition, Filters, and Engineers tabs.

1. Basic tab

Copy the URL link to this section to share
  1. Toggle the Active toggle to the right to mark the user as active (that means the group is displayed inside Fieldcode work place).
  2. Insert the name of your new or existing group.
  3. (Optional) Insert a description of your new or existing group for better recognition.
  4. Select the timezone your new or existing group operates within.
  5. (Enterprise only) – Activate or deactivate fully automated dispatching
  6. (Enterprise only) – Activate or deactivate just-in-time publishing
  7. Click Save.

2. Area definition tab

Copy the URL link to this section to share

The next step is to define the operational zone of your new dispatch group.
You have the option to define the area either manually or automatically.

You will see engineer houses with different colors inside the zone when defining or editing dispatch group zones.

RED HOUSE: Engineers home base is far from the defined zone (calculated outgoing from the border of the selected zone).
YELLOW HOUSE: Engineer is approximately close to the defined group zone (calculated outgoing from the border of the selected zone).
GREEN HOUSE: Engineer is inside the defined group zone (calculated outgoing from the center of the selected zone).

How to define the area manually

Copy the URL link to this section to share
  1. Select the country and city where your group operates to make the map zoom to the area you want to select manually.
  2. Delete the preselected area by clicking on the top-right trash button inside the map to deselect the automatically inserted area.
  3. Confirm the deletion of the automatically inserted area by clicking the YES, DELETE button when prompted.
  4. Click inside the map to start selecting an area manually and to make a point appear.
  5. Connect the points.
  6. Close the area by clicking on the start point again from the last point.
  7. Confirm the area by clicking SAVE.

Tips for manual area definition

You can delete individual points by clicking on a point and clicking on the trash button or go back to the last step at any time by clicking the revert button in the top-right corner of the map. Check out Example 1 (GIF).

You can delete individual points by clicking on a point and clicking on the trash button or go back to the last step at any time by clicking the revert button in the top-right corner of the map. Check out Example 1 (GIF).

You can easily add another point to the area by clicking the point in the middle of two points and dragging it to your desired spot. This will automatically add another point. Check out Example 2 (GIF).

Example 1

Example 2

How to define the area automatically

Copy the URL link to this section to share
  1. Select the country where your group operates within.
  2. (Optional) Select the state where your group operates within.
  3. Select the city where your group operates within.
  4. Click on the orange SHOW LOCATION button.
  5. (Optional) Click on one area if you are prompted to select between areas.
    Important: Your group can only operate within one area.
  6. Confirm the area by clicking SAVE.

3. (Optional) Filters tab

Copy the URL link to this section to share

Fill in the filters tab to specify tickets that are displayed for this specific dispatch group.
You can add filters (eg. status, project, country, etc.) to further customize which tickets are displayed for the dispatch group.
The trash symbol right next to a filter lets you delete a filter.

Filters: Allows fine-tuning criteria for dispatch groups with the use of comparison and logical operators. Click on the plus button to add a filter.
Condition: Defines a condition for your filter criteria.
Operator: Compares the condition with the comparison (IS EQUAL TO, IS NOT EQUAL TO, IS LIKE, IS NOT LIKE, IN).
Comparison Value: Defines with which value the condition is compared.
Connector: Allows you to combine a monitored field with another monitored field (AND, OR)

(Optional) Filter examples

Copy the URL link to this section to share

Example 01: You want to have one dispatch group for complete Germany, but you can’t draw complete Germany with the draw-points-button inside the map, so you have decided to draw a wider area, where Germany is within. You can add a Country filter for Germany in this case, so only Germany is defined for your dispatch group, so you give the system more precise input. The IS EQUAL comparison is case-sensitive.
Your filter would be: affectedCountry is equal to Germany

Example 02: You want to display tickets that belong to a specific company, let’s say for example BetterClimate Corp. Instead of giving it the IS EQUAL operator you could also give it the IS LIKE operator. The IS LIKE operator considers values that aren’t necessarily case-sensitive. This means a ticket that would contain the name betterclimate would also be taken into consideration because it contains something from the original value.
Your filter would be: affectedCompany is like BetterClimate Corp

4. Engineers tab

Copy the URL link to this section to share

The next step in the group configuration is to assign some engineers for your dispatch group. You will see all available resources in a list view with a kilometer sign next to their name on the left side.

The number of kilometers displays how far a technician is from the defined zone. This should simplify the selection of matching technicians for you.

RED: The engineer is far away from the defined zone (calculated outgoing from the border of the selected zone).
YELLOW: The engineer is approximately close to the defined group zone (calculated outgoing from the border of the selected zone).
GREEN: The engineer is inside the defined group zone (calculated outgoing from the center of the selected zone).

  1. Click on the engineer you want to assign to your group to transfer the engineer over to Selected engineers.
  2. Repeat Step 1 for every other engineer you want to assign to your group.
  3. Click Save.

You also have the possibility to quickly move all resources from one side to another.  Click on ADD ALL on the left side or REMOVE ALL on the right side to do so.

5. Dispatchers tab

Copy the URL link to this section to share

The next step in the group configuration is to assign some dispatchers for your dispatch group. You will see all available dispatchers in a list view on the left side. 

  1. Click on the user you want to assign to your group to transfer the dispatcher over to Selected Dispatchers.
  2. Repeat Step 1 for every other dispatcher you want to assign to your group.
  3. Click Save.

You also have the possibility to quickly move all engineers from one side to another. Click on ADD ALL on the left side or REMOVE ALL on the right side to do so.

Was this article helpful?
How can we improve this article?
Please submit the reason for your vote so that we can improve the article.
Tags:
Table of Contents