Configuring Dynamic Scheduling
Summarize
Summary of Configuring Dynamic Scheduling
Dynamic Scheduling in ServiceNow enables dispatchers to efficiently assign, change, or cancel work tasks by automating and optimizing work order task assignments in real-time. This feature helps streamline field service operations by allowing dispatchers to focus mainly on exceptions while the system handles routine task allocation based on predefined criteria and business rules.
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Key Features
- Task Selection and Prioritization: Allows creation of task filters to select eligible tasks and ordering rules to prioritize tasks, such as assigning Priority 1 tasks first.
- Unassignment Rules: Enables flexible reassignment or unassignment of tasks to accommodate high-priority work or agent availability changes without interrupting service.
- Agent Selection Criteria: Utilizes agent skills, availability, travel time, and schedules to assign tasks to the most suitable agents, optimizing utilization and service quality.
- Support for Planned and Dynamic Crews: Integrates with the Field Service Crew Operations plugin to assign tasks to pre-created planned crews or dynamic crews created as needed.
- Advanced Configuration Options: Includes features like assigning the same agent to all tasks, managing customer preferences, and handling exclusions and proximity rules to further tailor scheduling.
Configuration Steps
- Activate the Dynamic Scheduling Plugin: Enable the com.snc.dynamicscheduling plugin to access dynamic scheduling capabilities.
- Set Up Agent Schedules: Configure agent availability to ensure optimal task allocation.
- Select Dynamic Scheduling as the Scheduling Mechanism: Choose dynamic scheduling as the preferred task assignment method for automatic task allocation.
- Create Task Filters and Ordering Rules: Define criteria to select and prioritize tasks effectively.
- Define Unassignment Criteria: Establish rules to unassign or reassign tasks to maintain flexibility and prioritize critical work.
- Review and Customize System Properties: Adjust system settings and components to align dynamic scheduling with your organization's business processes.
- Validate Configuration: Test the setup to identify and resolve any issues impacting scheduling performance.
Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
Implementing dynamic scheduling helps ServiceNow customers improve field service efficiency by automating task assignments based on real-time data and business priorities. It reduces manual dispatcher workload, ensures high-priority tasks receive timely attention, optimizes agent utilization, and maintains service continuity even during agent absences. Integration with crew management further enhances scheduling flexibility and operational effectiveness.
Configure dynamic scheduling to let dispatchers to easily assign, change, or cancel work tasks. Optimize work order task assignments and streamline field service operations by setting up dynamic scheduling according to your organization's requirements.
Dynamic scheduling enables dispatchers to auto assign tasks and adapt to changing conditions, as well as needing to focus only on exception cases. Using this feature, you can:
- Select a set of tasks for scheduling.
- Prioritize the tasks in the set based on ordering rules (for example, assign P1 tasks first).
- Use ordering rules and unassignment constraints to unassign previously assigned tasks to allow the assignment of higher priority tasks.
- Use selection criteria such as agent skills and travel time to select agents.
- Reassign tasks for agent time off.
Configuration overview
- Activate dynamic scheduling: Activate the Dynamic Scheduling plugin (com.snc.dynamic_scheduling) to enable the dynamic scheduling functionality in your system.
- Learn Dynamic Scheduling process engine: Dynamic Scheduling optimizes and assign work orders to field service agents in real-time. It involves continuously monitoring the status of tasks and available agents and making intelligent decisions to ensure that tasks are assigned to the most appropriate agent at the most appropriate time.
- Roles and personas required for Dynamic Scheduling: Manage dynamic scheduling process with administrators, dispatchers, and field service agents.
- Set up agent schedules for dynamic scheduling: Set up agent schedules so that dynamic scheduling systematically ensures optimal task allocation.
- Set up Dynamic Scheduling as scheduling mechanism: Select dynamic scheduling as the preferred task assignment method. This ensures that tasks are automatically assigned to field agents based on predefined criteria and rules.
- Review system properties and components for Dynamic Scheduling: Review the properties and other installed components related to dynamic scheduling. Customize the settings to align with your organization's specific requirements and business processes.
- Configure dynamic scheduling: Create Dynamic scheduling such as task filter, task ordering rule, and unassignment criteria to ensures tasks are allocated to agents with the right expertise who are nearby. This optimizes agent utilization and guarantees that assignments are handled by the most qualified individuals.
- Create a task filter for dynamic scheduling: Define criteria to select eligible tasks for dynamic scheduling. Factors like task types, priorities, and attributes determine task eligibility. Task filters help focus on specific tasks for efficient scheduling.
- Create a task ordering rule: Create rules to determine the order of task assignments from the selected set of tasks. For instance, designate Priority 1 tasks as the top priority, ensuring swift attention to critical work. These rules enhance task assignments by aligning them with organizational priorities.
- Set task unassignment rules for flexibility: Create unassignment rules to make task assignments more flexible. This guarantees that service remains uninterrupted by either unassigning or reassigning tasks. It ensures that all tasks are attended to even if someone is absent. For example, if a more important task comes up, you can unassign less critical ones to make room for it. This optimizes resource use and ensures high-priority tasks get the attention they need.
- Validate configuration to identify any potential issues or misconfiguration that may impact the performance of dynamic scheduling.
- Optionally, you can also use the advanced configuration options for dynamic scheduling include assigning the same agent to all tasks, priority assignment for critical high-priority work orders, customer preferences for technicians or exclusions, proximity, and more.
Dynamic Scheduling for Planned Crews
Use Dynamic Scheduling to optimize task assignments to planned crews. There are two types of crews: planned crews, which are pre-created, and dynamic crews, which are dynamically created as needed. Dynamic Scheduling supports both planned crews and dynamic crews. To ensure task assignment to crews, the Field Service Crew Operations plugin must be active, planned crews must be created in the system, and each planned crew should have a designated location and schedule.