How to Schedule an Engineer from the Calls List
On the Calls list, a call nobody has been given yet shows Schedule engineer in its Engineer column. Pressing it opens the same Engineer for this call dialog the call screen uses, so you can book a visit without leaving the list.
How do I schedule an engineer from the Calls list?
Press Schedule engineer in the Engineer column of the call's row on the Calls list, pick the engineer and the time in the Engineer for this call dialog, and press Done. The visit is booked as soon as you press Done.
- Choose To schedule under Which calls at the top of the filter rail, to list only the calls that still need an engineer. Schedule engineer also appears on those calls under All.
- Press Schedule engineer in the Engineer column of the call you want. Hovering it says which call it will schedule.
- Pick the engineer in the dialog. Engineers who have been to this customer's site before are listed first, under Been here before, followed by Everyone else.
- Check Due, End and Duration under When, or click a free time on the engineer's day shown in the dialog.
- Press Done.
The dialog opens in the middle of the screen, over the list. Its heading says Engineer for this call, with a reminder that the visit is booked as soon as you press Done, and the call number. It starts at the next whole hour, one hour long. It is the call screen's own dialog, so choosing an engineer and setting the time work exactly as they do there.
If something is missing, the dialog says so and stays open with what you typed, for example "Pick the engineer to schedule.", "Say when the engineer is due." or "The appointment needs a duration." A visit must also start and end on the same day.
The Engineer column only offers Schedule engineer on calls with no visit yet, so there are none under Scheduled. To add a second engineer to a call that already has one, open the call and use Schedule another engineer on the call screen.
What happens on the Calls list after I press Done?
The dialog closes, the Calls list refreshes, and a short message at the foot of the screen says who is booked for which call and when, for example the engineer's name, "is booked for", the call number and the time of the visit. The message goes away on its own after a few seconds.
What happens to the row depends on Which calls:
- To schedule — the call leaves the list, because it now has an engineer, and the count at the foot drops by one.
- All — the call stays on the list, now showing the engineer's name in its Engineer column instead of Schedule engineer, as long as it still matches your other filters. If booking the visit moved the call to Active and your Call Status ticks do not include Active, the call leaves the list.
No row is highlighted afterwards, because the booked visit is a new row of the list. If you want to check the booking, open the call from its number.
The message has no Undo, and a booked visit cannot be taken off the call in ABM Service. If you booked the wrong engineer or the wrong time, open the call, open the visit from the engineer pill at the top of the call screen and change it with Change this visit, or drag the appointment on the Scheduler.
Why does the dialog say booking a visit will put the call back to Active?
Because booking a visit reopens a call that is not currently being worked. If the call's status is Web, Open, Closed or Cancelled, ABM Service moves it to Active when an engineer is booked, and records the change on the call.
The Engineer for this call dialog warns you before you press Done, for example "This call is Closed. Booking a visit will put it back to Active." After the booking, the message at the foot of the Calls list adds "Call reopened", with the old status and the new one.
If you did not mean to reopen the call, press Cancel instead of Done; nothing is booked and the call's status does not change.
What does "Someone has already given this call to an engineer" mean?
It means another person scheduled an engineer for this call after your Calls list was loaded and before you pressed Done. ABM Service refuses your booking so that the call is not booked twice by accident.
The dialog closes, the message "Someone has already given this call to an engineer." appears at the foot of the screen, and the Calls list refreshes. Under To schedule, the call leaves the list, because it now has an engineer.
Nothing is booked for your engineer. If the call really does need a second engineer, open the call and use Schedule another engineer on the call screen, where you can see the visit that is already booked. The check is made because Schedule engineer on the Calls list is for calls nobody has yet (the To schedule column on the Scheduler makes the same check); the call screen lets you add as many engineers as a job needs.
To keep the list up to date while several people are scheduling, press Refresh on the toolbar from time to time.
Why can't I schedule an engineer for a call with no customer?
Because the Engineer for this call dialog leads with the engineers who have already been to the customer's site, and a call with no customer has no site. On the Calls list, Schedule engineer on such a call looks quieter, and hovering it explains why.
If you press it anyway, a note appears where you pressed: "This call has no customer. Open the call and give it one first — the engineers who have already been to this site are what the list leads with." The note goes away when you click anywhere or press Escape.
In this version a saved call's customer cannot be changed: the call screen offers a customer to pick, and Change beside it, only while a new call is being logged. So a saved call with no customer cannot be given one in ABM Service, and cannot be scheduled from the Calls list. Ask your system administrator for help if the call's customer needs correcting.
How do I close the Engineer for this call dialog without booking?
Press Cancel at the foot of the dialog, the × in its heading, Escape, or the dimmed area outside it. Nothing is booked, the call's status does not change, and the call stays on the Calls list exactly as it was. Focus goes back to the Schedule engineer button you pressed, so a keyboard user can carry on from the same row.
If the engineer list is open inside the dialog, the first Escape closes that list and a second one closes the dialog. While a booking is being made, after you press Done, the button reads Booking… and the dialog cannot be closed until the answer comes back. It then closes by itself once the visit is booked, or when somebody else has already given the call to an engineer; if the booking fails for any other reason, the dialog stays open and says why.
The Tab key moves only between the dialog's own controls while it is open, so you cannot accidentally open a call behind it.
What does "Not scheduled" mean in the Engineer column?
"Not scheduled", in grey, appears in the Engineer column of the Calls list on a visit whose engineer can no longer be found in your company's engineer list, for example because the engineer's record has been removed. The visit itself still exists, so the row does not offer Schedule engineer, and its Action status and Due columns can still show the visit's details. Open the call to see the visit and schedule another engineer if the work still needs doing.
This is different from a call nobody has been given: that row shows the Schedule engineer button instead, and it appears under To schedule. A row showing "Not scheduled" does not appear under To schedule, because it does have a visit.