How to Choose an Engineer by Their Availability
The Engineer box in the Schedule engineer dialog drops down every active engineer with their next three days drawn as lines, so you can see who is free before you choose. Open it by selecting Schedule engineer at the top of the call screen (or in a row of the Calls list) and clicking in the Engineer box.
What does the Engineer list in the Schedule engineer dialog show?
The Engineer list shows every active engineer as a row: their picture or initials, their name, and three day columns headed Today, Tomorrow and the day after, each drawn as a line across the working day from 08:00 to 18:00. It opens when you click or tab into the Engineer box of the Schedule engineer dialog, and when nobody is picked yet it opens by itself as soon as the dialog appears.
The list is split into two groups. Been here before comes first and holds the engineers who have been to this customer's site recently, most visits first. Everyone else follows, in alphabetical order. Each heading carries a count.
At the foot of the list you will see Click a line for with the duration pills 30 min, 1 h and 2 h, the words or hold and drag along a line to mark out a longer one, a key (scheduled, proposed slot · free, clash, past) and the number of active engineers, for example Active engineers · followed by the count.
The list opens at the top every time, with the search box empty, even when an engineer is already picked, so you can look for somebody else straight away. When you close it, the picked engineer's name goes back in the box. For a moment after it opens, the rows are grey placeholders; the real lines replace them as soon as they are drawn.
This helps you avoid promising a customer a time before you know the engineer can make it, and it puts the engineers who already know the site in front of you first.
What do the lines under each day mean in the Engineer list?
Each line in the Engineer list is one engineer's day, from 08:00 at the left to 18:00 at the right. The time an engineer is already booked is drawn as a bar in the scheduled colour; free time is the plain line. The key at the foot of the list names each mark.
- scheduled — a visit already booked for that engineer. A small tick at either end of the line means they have work before 08:00 or after 18:00 that day.
- past — on today's line, the time before now is hatched, and clicking or dragging along the line will not pick it. A past date and time typed into Due yourself is still accepted.
- The now line — while the current time is inside the working day, a single line runs down the Today column at the current time, with the time shown at the top.
- proposed slot · free and clash — as you move the pointer along a line, an outline shows the slot a click would pick. It is marked free where it fits, and as a clash where it overlaps a visit already booked. A small label under it gives the times and says free, or clash · followed by the customer it collides with.
The picked engineer's line also shows the current proposed time on the due day, even when the pointer is elsewhere.
The lines in the Engineer list always run from 08:00 to 18:00, even when you have chosen a different Working day in the Scheduler's settings. They show only engineers' visits on calls, and every visit counts whatever its status, so a cancelled or finished visit still shows as scheduled and can show a clash. ABM Service knows nothing of holidays, sickness, training or time off, so a free line does not mean the engineer is working that day: check who is in before you promise a customer a time.
A screen reader reads each line as the engineer, the day and their busy times, or nothing scheduled for a free day.
What does Been here before mean in the Engineer list?
Been here before is the group at the top of the Engineer list holding the engineers who have visited this customer's site in the last 12 months, with the most visits first. Beside each name a small badge shows how many visits and how long ago the last one was, in words such as yesterday, a number of weeks or a number of months.
A visit here means a day on site: two jobs on the same day count as one, and cancelled visits are not counted. Hover over the badge or the heading to see that rule written out. Engineers who know a site, its access and its equipment are often the best choice, which is why they are listed first; the list does not pick one for you.
When nobody is in the group, the heading says why instead:
- Pick the customer to see who has been to this site. — the call has no customer yet.
- Looking up who has been to this site… — the history is still on its way.
- Engineers who have been here could not be loaded. — the history could not be read; every engineer is still listed under Everyone else.
- Nobody has been to this site in the last 12 months. — nobody has visited in that time.
Searching keeps the two groups, so a name you type is still shown under Been here before if they have been to the site.
How do I pick an engineer and a time from the Engineer list?
Click a free spot on an engineer's line in the Engineer list and you pick that engineer, that day and that time in one click. The slot is as long as the pressed duration pill at the foot of the list, 30 min, 1 h or 2 h; press a different pill first to change it.
- Open the Engineer box in the Schedule engineer dialog.
- Press 30 min, 1 h or 2 h beside Click a line for to choose the length.
- Move the pointer along an engineer's line until the outline sits where you want it and says free.
- Click to take it. The list closes and Due, End and Duration fill in.
The slot moves in steps of its length, up to an hour: a half-hour slot lands on the half hour, an hour or longer on the hour. For any other length, hold and drag along a line instead: press, pull across the time you want and release. A drag moves in quarter hours, sets the duration to what you drew, and shows that length after the pills. Clicking an engineer's name, rather than a line, picks the engineer and keeps the time already in When.
How do I search the Engineer list or use the keyboard?
Type in the Engineer box of the Schedule engineer dialog, where it says Search the engineers, to search: it matches any part of an engineer's name, ignoring capitals, so part of a first name or surname is enough. The list keeps its Been here before and Everyone else groups while you type, and says No engineer matches. when nothing fits.
From the keyboard:
- Down arrow or Enter opens the list when it is closed.
- Up arrow and Down arrow move through the engineers in the order shown.
- Enter picks the highlighted engineer, keeping the time already in When.
- Escape (Esc) closes the list and puts the picked engineer's name back in the box.
With a line focused, pressing Enter or the Space bar picks that engineer and that day at roughly the time already in Due, which is the keyboard's way of choosing a day without a pointer. The time is rounded to the step for the visit's length and kept inside the working day, and on today it is moved on past the current time; it does not look for a free time, so the slot can still land on another booking. Check Due and the clash line under the engineer's day before you press Done. Nothing is booked until you press Done.
How do I see an engineer's availability for later days?
Use the arrows at either end of the day headings in the Engineer list: Next three days moves the three columns forward by three days, and Previous three days moves them back. The list never shows days before today, so Previous three days is greyed out while today is the first column.
The list shows three days at a time, and it opens on today every time, however far you stepped on the last opening. Stepping through the days does not change the visit you are proposing; only a click or a drag on a line does. When you want a longer look at one engineer, pick them first: their full day appears under the dialog's fields, where Previous day, Next day and Today step through their diary one day at a time.
What do the messages at the foot of the Engineer list mean?
The corner at the foot of the Engineer list says how many active engineers there are and whether their availability has arrived.
- Active engineers · and a number — the engineers and their availability have loaded. The lines show the bookings as they were when the dialog fetched them, and they do not refresh while the dialog stays open; if a colleague may have booked someone since, close the Schedule engineer dialog and open it again to see the latest bookings.
- loading availability… after the count — the engineers are listed but their bookings are still on their way.
- availability could not be loaded: and a reason — the bookings did not arrive, so the lines cannot be trusted. Close the dialog and open it again.
- Loading the engineers… — the list of engineers is still on its way.
- The engineers could not be loaded. — the list of engineers did not arrive. Reopening the dialog on the same call screen does not ask again; reload ABM Service and open the call again.
- No engineer matches. — nothing matches what you typed in the box.