How to Use the To Schedule Column on the Scheduler
The To schedule column lists the calls nobody has been given an engineer yet, oldest first, beside the Scheduler board. It helps you work through the queue of waiting jobs and book each one into an engineer's free time. Open it with the To schedule button on the Scheduler's toolbar.
How do I see the calls waiting to be scheduled on the Scheduler?
Select To schedule on the Scheduler's toolbar, beside the map button. A column opens between the filter rail and the board, headed To schedule, with the number of waiting calls beside the heading.
- Open Scheduler from the navigation menu.
- Select To schedule on the toolbar. Its tooltip reads Calls waiting to be scheduled.
- Read the count beside the To schedule heading: it is the total number of waiting calls for the column's filters, not just the cards loaded so far.
- Scroll down the column to load more. Cards arrive 50 at a time, and the column says Loading 50 more… while it fetches them.
The column is closed the first time you use the Scheduler. After that, the Scheduler opens with the column as the layout it opens on has it: with the star on Last Used Layout, which is how ABM Service starts, that is open or closed as you last left it. The To schedule button carries no number, so the board opens as quickly as it always did; the count only appears once the column is open.
To close the column, select To schedule again (its tooltip then reads Hide the calls waiting to be scheduled), or select the × in the column's heading, named Hide the calls to schedule. Closing the column also puts back any call you were in the middle of scheduling.
While the column is loading for the first time it says Loading the calls to schedule…. If nothing matches its filters it says Nothing is waiting to be scheduled. If the calls cannot be read it says The calls to schedule could not be loaded.
What does each card in the To schedule column show?
Each card in the To schedule column on the Scheduler is one waiting call, and it shows what you need to decide where the job goes. From top to bottom a card shows:
- The call number, the call's type in its colour, and the call's status.
- How long it has waited since it was logged, in the largest unit that still says something: just now, hours (h), days (d), months (mo) or years (y). Hover over it to see Logged and the exact date and time.
- The customer's name, with the first line of the customer's address under it when there is one.
- The call's comment, the one line the call is filed under.
- logged and the date and time the call came in.
Cards are sorted oldest first, so the call that has waited longest is always at the top, and the order cannot be changed. A card never shows an engineer or a job length, because a waiting call has neither yet.
Selecting a card picks the call up for scheduling: the card is marked as the one in hand, and the board shows where it can go. Selecting the same card again puts it back. See How to Book a Waiting Call into Free Time on the Scheduler for the rest.
How do I filter the To schedule column by call type, status or date logged?
Use the three buttons at the top of the To schedule column on the Scheduler: Type, Status and Logged. Each button shows what it is set to, for example Type all or Status Open, Active, and each one changes only the column, never the board.
- Type — opens a Call Type list of your company's call types. Tick the ones you want and select Apply. With nothing ticked the column shows every type.
- Status — opens a Call Status list of your company's call statuses, and works the same way.
- Logged — how far back to look, by the date the call was logged: Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last 90 days or Last 365 days. A choice applies as soon as you select it.
Each Type and Status list has Select all and None, a count of how many are selected, and, when the list is longer than eight entries, a search box. Nothing changes in the column until you select Apply. Once a Type or Status filter has been applied, the list also offers Clear filter, which goes back to showing every type or status. When more than three are ticked, the button at the top of the column says how many are selected instead of naming them.
When you first use the column, Status starts on the built-in statuses Open and Active, where your company has them, and Logged starts on Last 90 days. There is no "any time" choice: a year is the furthest back the column can look.
The To schedule column also has no search box. To find one waiting call by its number or its customer, or one logged more than a year ago, use the Calls list instead: choose To schedule under Which calls, set the date window to the dates you want, then type the call number in the search box or choose the customer under Customer in the filter rail. You can schedule the engineer from there with Schedule engineer in the call's row.
Why does the To schedule column show different calls from the Scheduler board?
Because the To schedule column asks its own question. The filter rail on the left of the Scheduler goes on filtering the board, and the column's Type, Status and Logged buttons filter the column. Ticking a call type in the rail does not narrow the column, and changing the column's Status does not change the board.
This is deliberate. The board shows the work already booked, and you often want to see all of it while you look for room; the column is the queue of work nobody has, which you usually want to narrow to the kinds of call you plan. Keeping the two apart lets you do both at once.
The column never filters by engineer, action status or customer, because a call that nobody has been given has no engineer and no visit yet.
Why did a call disappear from the To schedule column?
A call leaves the To schedule column on the Scheduler as soon as it has an engineer, whoever gave it one and wherever they did it. The column only lists calls nobody has been given.
- You booked it. The call leaves the column and the count beside the heading goes down by one. The column reloads from the top and keeps as many cards on screen as you had, so no waiting call is skipped.
- Somebody else booked it. The column finds out the next time it asks: when you select Refresh, when the Scheduler refreshes itself automatically, or when you book a call. While it checks, the cards stay on screen and the column says Checking for new calls….
- It no longer matches the filters. A call logged earlier than the Logged window, or whose type or status is not ticked, is not listed.
New calls logged by colleagues also appear on the next Refresh, the next automatic refresh, or your next booking.
Does ABM Service remember the To schedule column?
Yes, in two ways. A saved layout of the Scheduler, and Last Used Layout, remember whether the To schedule column is open and its Type, Status and Logged settings, so picking the layout brings the column back as it was. Picking a layout saved before the column existed leaves the To schedule column exactly as it is, open or closed. Picking any layout puts back any call you had in hand.
When you leave the Scheduler to open a call or a customer and then go Back, the Scheduler comes back with the column, its filters, the call you had in hand, the job length you had chosen and any placement still waiting to be booked, even if that call was far down the column.