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Route Scheduling Screen
- 08 Jan 2024
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Route Scheduling Screen
- Updated on 08 Jan 2024
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The Route Scheduling feature provides a method for scheduling visits on routes and specifying the visit order for property locations displayed on a map.
Using Route Scheduling to determine the order of visits and then establish recurring schedules for each service normally, you will commonly perform scheduling on a similar set of contracts for the first day of the contract period.
Two general methods can be used for Route Scheduling:
- Drag the desired services to a day/route on the Schedule Board to establish the visits, and then go into Route Scheduling to set the visit order.
- Go directly into Route Scheduling without placing visits on the Schedule Board and use the Work Ticket Search List on the Route Scheduling screen to add visits for the specified day before setting their visit order.
To make the Route Scheduling feature available, enable the new Route Scheduling permission to the roles of employees who will use it. If you have Route Scheduling permission is assigned, then Route Scheduling will be available from the More drop-down at the top of the Schedule Board when it is in a weekly view. Note that this is not available in the monthly view.
Below is an example of the Route Scheduling screen.
We will focus on the date of Tuesday, November 17. Observe the three routes and the colors of the visit tiles in the first two. In the Work Ticket Search List, the first four work tickets are scheduled for route AUser2. The next tickets are not scheduled but will be scheduled for AUser1 and ACrew1.
To access Route Scheduling, close the Work Ticket Search List and Route Scheduling from the drop-down. Aspire displays a Select Date screen. You then click on the day you wish to schedule on the map.
When the map is initially displayed, if there are no visits scheduled yet for the specified date, Aspire initially displays the map at the branch location of the route manager’s branch as specified on the Basic Details tab of the Branch screen in Administration. If the route manager is not associated with a branch, the map focuses on the company address specified on the Company tab of the Application Configuration screen.
Screen Elements
The screen elements initially shown on the Route Scheduling screen are described in the following table.
| Screen Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Scheduling Date | Shows the date selected for scheduling. Clicking the Change Date icon next to the date displays a date-picker (shown at right) from which you can select a different scheduling date. When the date changes, the visits' icons represent the newly selected day. |
| Route Manager | Read-only. Shows the route manager that was active on the Schedule Board when the Route Scheduling screen was displayed. |
| Routes | Shows the routes for the selected route manager. The color coding for each route is based on the color defined for the route. This field is a multi-select field that allows routes to be added or removed. Only routes for the selected route manager are available. When a route is added, the visits defined for the route on the specified day are displayed on the map. When a route is removed, the visits defined for the route on the specified day are removed from the map. |
| Work Tickets Search List | The Work Tickets Search List behaves like other work ticket search lists. The primary purpose of this search list on the Route Scheduling screen is to identify and select unscheduled work tickets to be scheduled on a route. The system default search list shows all work tickets with no scheduled visits. Selecting a work ticket in the list adds an icon to the map colored gray with the number zero (0) on it representing that it has not yet been ordered. See Scheduling Visits below. |
| Map | The map displays icons representing properties for which visits have been or are being scheduled. You can move around on the map by dragging it or zoom in or out. When actions are performed to select properties from the list, initiate the setting of route order, or reset the display, Aspire automatically sets the map's zoom level so that all properties on the map are in the view area. |
Property Icons  | Property icons are displayed on the map for each route on the schedule board with scheduled visits on the selected day. Icons are color-coded based on the route with which you are associated. If multiple services are scheduled on the same property on the same day, only one icon is displayed for the property. Clicking on the icon when not in Set Route Order mode (see Set Route Order button below) shows information for the property, including a list of services scheduled for that day. |
Set Route Order Button  | Clicking the Set Route Order button changes the screen to Scheduling mode. See Scheduling Visits below. |
Reset Button  | Clicking the Reset button resets the map zoom level and removes any added property icons after visits were most recently saved. |
| Save | Saves any changes you made to the route schedule and returns you to the screen from which you selected the Scheduling screen. |
Method 1 - add Visits on Schedule Board
| In the example, visits for three properties were placed on the Schedule Board for the AUser1 route. |  |
| Upon entering the Route Scheduling screen, the property icons for these visits are represented on the map, and the numbers on the icons represent the visit order on the Schedule Board. |  |
| Click the Set Route Order button to establish a new desired route order for these properties. The Set Route Order button becomes disabled until the ordering is complete. |  |
| Aspire displays the Select a Route screen where you select the route you wish to set the property visit order – in this case, AUser1 – and click Save. The numbers for the selected route all change to zero (0). |  |
| To set the route order, you successively click the icons in the order that the visits should occur. As each icon is clicked, you will be numbered sequentially, starting at one (1). In addition, the display area below the Work Ticket Search List shows the route being built and increments as each icon is selected to show the total number of selected visits and the scheduled hours. |  |
When the order of the visits is correct, you click Save to save the visits. Any visits with zero visits remaining are removed. The map refreshes to reflect the updates allowing you to set route orders for another route. When you return to the schedule board, you will be able to see that the visits have been added or reordered from the Route Scheduling screen.
Method 2 – Add Visits on Route Scheduling Screen
In the example, the services for Mnt Route 3 (Lenny) in the Chesterfield Farms subdivision were not placed on the Schedule Board. Therefore, when the Route Scheduling screen is displayed, those properties are not represented on the map. The Work Ticket Search List can be used to identify the services that should be scheduled.
Once the services have been identified, clicking the checkbox before each service adds the service to the map as a gray property icon numbered with a zero (0), the icon is gray because it has not yet been assigned to a route. The icons are numbered zero because their order has not yet been specified.
Next, click the Set Route Order button to initiate the ordering of visits and select route ACrew1 on the Select a Route screen.
Aspire sets the Route Scheduling screen into Set Route Order mode so that you can add properties to the selected route as it sequences them. As you click each property, the properties are numbered, and their color changes to represent the route you are assigned.
Once all desired properties have been clicked to sequence and added to the route, you can click the Save button to save the newly sequenced visits. Aspire will display a confirmation dialog to verify you are ready to save. To cancel changes instead of saving, click the Reset () button.
Equipment Location Search Screen
The Equipment Location Search screen is available from the More drop-down menu on the top of the Schedule Board. Selecting this displays a map showing an icon for each vehicle assigned to a route. Vehicles associated with routes for the active route manager will be colored based on their route color. Vehicles associated with routes of other route managers will be gray.
Schedule an Event Screen
The Schedule an Event screen provides a search list of opportunity services to support the mass scheduling customer visits based on an event (for example, a snowfall event). This screen is accessed from the Schedule an Event option in the Actions menu of the Scheduling screen. Two primary actions can be performed from this screen:
- Scheduling – Bulk creation and scheduling of as-needed work tickets or scheduling existing work tickets that have not been completed or canceled. A person responsible for scheduling would initiate this mass scheduling in response to an impending or recent event such as snowfall.
- Advanced Preparation – You can prepare in advance for mass scheduling by establishing default routes and sequence numbers for each relevant opportunity service. For example, at the beginning of the snow season, a scheduler can choose to set default routes for all shoveling opportunity services to Shoveler 1 route and Shoveler 2 route; and the default routes for all snow plowing opportunity services to the Snow Plowing 1 route and Snow Plowing 2 route. Furthermore, the scheduler can apply default sequence numbers to each route for each opportunity service. When an actual event is created based on the service opportunity, Aspire will use these defaults to create and schedule the as-needed work tickets or work tickets that have not yet been completed.
The list makes available opportunity services for active won opportunities that have not yet been completed or canceled. Opportunity services for which Aspire has created work tickets will be followed by a number indicating the number of work tickets created for the opportunity service. It is common to filter this search list of opportunity services to display only As Needed opportunity services. The Schedule an Event screen is depicted below:
| Screen Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Check box column | This column allows you to select the opportunity services to be affected by the selection from the Bulk Actions menu. |
| Default Route | This column displays the default route to be used for the selected opportunity service when you perform mass scheduling of visits. |
| Dafault Sequence # | The default sequence number (if specified) for each route is shown next to the route. The sequence number specifies the order in which the opportunity service should be scheduled relative to other visits on the same route when you perform mass scheduling of visits. |
| Bulk Actions menu | Hovering over this menu displays the Bulk Actions menu. |
Print or Export
There is an option to print or export information you filter on the Scheduled an Event search list so that you can print out assignments.
Bulk Actions Menu
| Menu Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Create/Schedule Visits | Displays the Create/Schedule Visits screen to schedule a visit on the specified day for each opportunity service you selected in the list. You typically do this for each group of visits you want to schedule on a certain day when a snow event occurs. |
| Set Route and Sequence | Displays the Assign Default Routes screen to set the default route and sequence number for each opportunity service you have selected in the list. You typically set these defaults at the beginning of the season to predefine the schedule for any given snow event. The route and sequence number can also be set individually for any line item by clicking the line. The Assign Default Routes screen will be displayed. |
Create/Schedule Visits Screen
The Create/Schedule Visits screen allows you to schedule visits for the opportunity services selected on the Schedule an Event screen. The screen allows you to specify the visit date and the route. The route will only be used for opportunity services for which you have not previously specified default routes. Aspire will schedule visits for all routes specified as default routes for each property service.
Assign Default Routes Screen
The Assign Default Routes screen allows you to set the default route and/or sequence number for one or more opportunity services selected from the Schedule an Event screen. These values will be used when you bulk-schedule actual events. The screen can be displayed from the Schedule an Event screen in one of two ways:
- Clicking on an opportunity service on the search list.
- Selecting multiple opportunity services in the search list by enabling their selection checkboxes and then choosing the Set Route and Sequence # option from the Bulk Actions menu.
The screen allows you to specify default routes and/or sequence numbers for each route to assign to the selected opportunity service(s). Additional routes are added to the list by selecting a route from the drop-down at the bottom. For each route, you can specify the sequence number for the service within the route. You can click the Delete Default Route
icon next to a route to remove the route from the property service.
Clicking Save saves any changes made to the list of routes. Clicking Cancel returns to the Schedule an Event screen without saving changes.
As Needed Exceptions Search List Screen
The As Needed Exceptions Search List screen displays “As Needed” opportunity services with no existing work tickets during the exception period specified at the top of the screen. The report allows you to select opportunity services and schedule visits for them.
Once the desired opportunity services have been selected, visits can be scheduled for them by selecting the Create/Schedule Visits options. The Create/Schedule Visits screen allows you to specify the date on which the visits will be scheduled. The selected route will only be used for selected opportunity services that do not have default routes already associated with them. When you click the Save icon, Aspire creates the requested visits and displays a confirmation message, “The selected services have been scheduled.”
When you click on a row in the As Needed Exceptions search list, Aspire displays the Assign Default Routes screen allowing you to add or modify the list of default routes defined for the service.
Completing Work Tickets
When work is completed for a work ticket, it should be marked as complete within Aspire. When you stop the work, crew leaders commonly specify that a work ticket is complete from the Crew Mobile App. When the office staff accepts the time on the Time Entry screen, the status of the work ticket is changed to Complete. Even if the complete checkbox on the Time Entry screen for a work ticket is not set to Complete, the office staff can explicitly mark it complete by checking the checkbox.
Alternatively, office personnel can change the status of a work ticket to Complete by selecting the Complete option on the Work Ticket screen or the Work Tickets Search List screen.
Note that if the service on which the work ticket was based is marked as Requires Approval on the Service screen, instead of being marked as complete, the work ticket will enter Pending Approval status and must be approved by an authorized system user. For more information, see Approving Work Tickets.
Skipping Scheduled Tickets
When managing a production schedule, there are times when a decision is made to skip scheduled service.
Weekly Ticket Management
It is important to manage tickets to ensure you are properly processed through Aspire. Ticket management includes such things as:
- Ensure that work tickets are properly scheduled.
- Ensure that service schedules are established in standard service definitions.
- Ensure that scheduled work tickets are being completed.
- Ensure that tickets with an anticipated start date of NEXT year are not scheduled THIS year.
- Review recently completed work tickets to verify that actual revenue, hours, and materials appropriately match estimated.
- Verify that work tickets have been invoiced.
The Work Tickets section of the article, Ticket Management, and Month-end Close explains how to make these validations.
Mid-year Contract Cancellation
Sometimes it is necessary to cancel a contract with a customer in the middle of the year. When this occurs, certain considerations and processes must be followed when canceling the contract in Aspire. The article, Mid-year Contract Cancellation Process, provides additional information.
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