Managing Priorities

Owned by Chellie Esters
Last updated: Nov 22, 2023 by Veronika Maishutovich
10 min read

Priorities define the Scheduled Date/Time, which is the number of hours and/or days after the Call Date that the service provider should check in to perform work on the requested service. In other words, the Priority defines the estimated time of arrival (or ETA) that a service provider should check in at a location to perform service. Some examples of Priorities are “Emergency-4 Hours,” “P1,” “Urgent” “Normal-48 Hours,” and “30 Days.”

When a work order is generated, the Scheduled Date/Time is automatically generated based on the Call Date and Priority. Keep in mind, however, that changing the Priority on a generated work order will not change the Scheduled Date. You must update the Scheduled Date on the work order instead should you need to change the Scheduled Date after changing the Priority.

Warning: Priorities are configured to work hand-in-hand with the Dashboard Issue List. Each Area/Problem/Problem Code/Description matrix in the Issue List is configured with a Priority Name and Default ETA. Should you modify a Priority Name and/or Default ETA, you must also modify your Dashboard Issue List to match. A mismatch between the Priority Name and/or Default ETA and the Dashboard Issue List will cause a conflict, and the related work orders will be unsearchable by Priority in the system.

You may add Priorities and edit Priorities, determine whether certain Priorities skip nights and/or weekend scheduling, set overrides to Priorities based on Trades and Locations, and retire priorities when they no longer serve a purpose.

⦿ How to access Priorities
  1. On the top-left of the page, click the menu icon, and select Admin > WO Properties > Priorities. The Priorities page displays the current priorities set up for your organization’s work orders during implementation.

    Below are definitions for each column in the Priorities list:

    Column

    Description

    Priority Name

    The name of the Priority (e.g., Emergency, Urgent, 7 Days, 30 Days).

    Note: While naming your Priority, best practice is to include the timeframe with the Priority name so service providers view that information at a glance on the service request.

    Default ETA

    The estimated time of arrival that the service provider will arrive on location, as configured alongside the Dashboard Issue List. The time entered here is used for calculating analytics and reports.

    Skip Nights

    When selected, work orders entered or with a Scheduled Date/Time between 5:00 PM — 12:00 AM  (local time) are recalculated with a new Scheduled Date/Time. See Skip Nights and Weekends, below, for more information.

    Skip Weekends

    When selected, work orders entered or with a Scheduled Date/Time between 12:00 AM Saturday — 12:00 AM Monday (local time) are recalculated with a new Scheduled Date/Time after the weekend. See Skip Nights and Weekends, below, for more information.

    Actions

    Edit Priorities icons


    Here you may

    • edit a Priority (edit pencil)
    • delete a Priority (red X)
    • manage overrides for Default ETA rules on a Trade/Location level (blue circle). See Managing ETA Overrides for more information.

Adding a Priority

Typically, ServiceChannel configures your initial priorities during the implementation process. You will see that list when you access the page. You may add a priority at any time; be certain to also add the new Priority to your Dashboard Issue List so you can dispatch work orders correctly.

While adding a priority, you may also alter the scheduled date of work orders. You can configure work orders to:

  • skip nights - dispatched work orders with an originally scheduled date of 5:00 PM (local time) to 12:00 AM will automatically move to the next day.
  • skip weekends - dispatched work orders with an originally scheduled date of 12:00 AM Saturday - 11:59 PM Sunday (local time) will move to the next business day.
  • shift scheduled time - dispatched work orders with a scheduled date at any time earlier than the time you configure will automatically move to the time configured.
⦿ How to add a Priority

Adding a priority

  1. Above the Priorities list, click Add Priority. The Priority modal appears.
  2. Enter a Priority Name.
  3. Enter the Default ETA, and determine if the ETA is in either hours or days.
  4. (Optional) Check the Skip Nights button to turn on Skip Nights feature, as appropriate. (See Skip Nights and Weekends, below, for more information.)
  5. (Optional) Check the Skip Weekends button to turn on Skip Weekends feature, as appropriate. (See Skip Nights and Weekends, below, for more information.)
  6. (Optional) Select a time from the Shift Scheduled Time to drop-down menu. (See Shift Scheduled Time, below, for more information.)
  7. Click Save. The new Priority is added to the list.

Skip Nights and Weekends

There may be times when you do not wish the service provider to arrive at your location to perform service. In Service Automation, you may elect to not have service during the nights and/or the weekends. This is called Skip Nights and Skip Weekends. Think of Skip Nights and Skip Weekends as a ‘do not disturb’ time block for service providers.

  • Skip Nights: Occurs between 5:00 PM — 12:00 AM, 7 days a week, in the local timezone of the location (for example, between 5:00 PM Tuesday night — 12:00 AM Wednesday morning).
  • Skip Weekends: Occurs between Saturday, 12:00 AM (midnight) — Sunday, 11:59 PM, in the local timezone of the location.

Note: These time intervals cannot be adjusted, and are hard-coded in Service Automation.

Service Automation looks at three pieces of information to reschedule the new Scheduled Date/Time after the ‘do not disturb’ period: the total number of hours for the priority (for example: 4 hours, 72 hours, 7 days, 30 days), the Call Date/Time, and the Scheduled Date/Time

Using Skip Nights and/or Skip Weekends adds additional time to an original Scheduled Date/Time, since the ‘do not disturb’ hours are not calculated.

  • Skip Nights adds up to 14 hours of ‘do not disturb’ time whenever the adjusted ETA falls between 5:00 PM and 12:00 AM. The system will continue to recalculate and add these 14 hours until the adjusted ETA is no longer within ‘do not disturb’ time.
  • Skip Weekends adds up to 48 hours of ‘do not disturb’ time whenever the adjusted ETA falls between Saturday, 12 midnight and Monday, 12 midnight. The system will continue to recalculate and add these 48 hours until the adjusted ETA is no longer within ‘do not disturb’ time

Important: The Skip Nights and Skip Weekends features essentially stop the Scheduled Date/Time clock. In other words: the ‘do not disturb’ hours are not included in the calculation for the new Scheduled Date/Time. This is by design; otherwise, most of these work orders would be rescheduled to either 12:00 AM (when Skip Nights turns off) or Monday at 12:01 AM (when Skip Weekends turns off).

Note: Skip Nights and Weekends will calculate all work orders entered after the feature is configured. It will not recalculate existing work orders.


Here is a table that illustrates approximate adjustments to Scheduled Date/Time when Skip Nights/Skip Weekends is turned on. Note: This is an approximate timetable; your Scheduled Dates/Times will vary based on the actual Call Date/Time and Priority setup.

Feature

Priority

Call Date/Time

Original ETA

Adjusted ETA

Skip Nights

Emergency (P1)
(4 Hours ETA)

Between 2PM — 5PM

Between 6PM — 9PM

Next day, between 8AM — 12 noon


Emergency (P1)
(4 Hours ETA)

After 5PM

After 9PM

Next day, between 12 noon — 4PM


Normal
(48 Hours ETA)

Between 2PM — 5PM

2 days later, between 2PM — 5PM

Between 5 — 6 days later


Normal
(48 Hours ETA)

After 5PM

2 days later, after 5PM

Between 6 — 7 days later


7 Days

Between 2PM — 5PM

1 week later, between 2PM — 5PM

Between 18 - 19 days later

Skip Weekends

Emergency (P1)
(4 Hours ETA)

Friday, after 8PM

4 Hours after Call Date/Time

Monday, between 8AM — 12noon


Emergency (P1)
(4 Hours ETA)

Between Saturday, 12midnight — Monday, 12midnight

4 Hours after Call Date/Time

Monday, between 12noon — 4PM


Normal
(48 Hours ETA)

Anytime on Friday

Sunday

Between Tuesday — Wednesday (depending on when call was placed, morning/afternoon/evening)


Normal
(48 Hours ETA)

Between Saturday, 12midnight — Monday, 12midnight

48 Hours after Call Date/Time

Wednesday (depending on when call was placed, morning/afternoon/evening)


7 Days

Between Monday — Wednesday

7 days after, Monday — Wednesday

9 days after, Wednesday — Friday


7 Days

Between Thursday — Friday

7 days after, Thursday — Friday

11 - 12 days after, on Monday — Tuesday


7 Days

Between Saturday — Sunday

7 days after, Saturday — Sunday

11 - 12 days after, Wednesday — Thursday

Shift Scheduled Time

Shift Scheduled Time allows you to push the scheduled time of work orders to earlier or later in the day, based on your business needs. In other words, should you not want work orders in certain priorities to have scheduled times during your peak hours, you can configure this feature and it will automatically move the scheduled time to when you desire. You can configure this feature on any priority in your configuration.

Let's look at an example:

Frances is a facilities manager at CS Restaurant. A work order she entered on February 27 at 10:30 am has an Urgent - 8 hours priority. Normally, the scheduled date/time of that work order would be February 27 at 6:30 PM. However, Frances has configured Shift Scheduled Time to 9:00 PM; therefore, the scheduled time of that work order (and all work orders with that priority) has automatically shifted to 9:00 PM that day.

Note: Shift Scheduled Time will calculate all work orders entered 

Editing a Priority

Modifying a Priority

Take special care when modifying your Priorities, especially when modifying the Priority Name or the Default ETA.

Warning: Should you modify a Priority Name and/or Default ETA, you must also modify your Dashboard Issue List to match. A mismatch between the Priority Name and/or Default ETA and the Dashboard Issue List will cause a conflict, and the related work orders will be unsearchable by Priority in the system.


⦿ How to edit a Priority
  1. To the right of the desired Priority, click the edit pencil. The Priority modal appears.
  2. Edit the Priority Name, Default ETA, and/or Skip Nights/Weekends information, as necessary.
    • Note: When changing the Priority Name or Default ETA, you must also edit the same information as configured in your Dashboard Issue List. Please contact your account representative should you need assistance.
  3. Click Save. The changes are reflected in the Priority list.
  4. Download your Dashboard Issue List and modify the Priority Name and Default ETA where necessary. (Note: Please contact your account executive immediately should you need assistance.)
  5. Save and Upload your Dashboard Issue List.

Managing ETA Overrides

The Default ETA sets the Priority for all Trades at all Locations. However, you may create an ETA Override so some Trades could have a different ETA than others.

For example: Say you have an “Urgent - 24 Hours” Priority, however you want the ETA for restroom Trade to be earlier, 16-hour ETA. Instead of creating a separate priority just for one trade, you may set an override under the Urgent Priority.

You may create an ETA Override for

  • one Trade over one Location,
  • one Trade over many Locations, or
  • many Trades over one Location.


Note: Consider creating a new Priority should you want to configure one for most Trades over all Locations.


⦿ How to add an ETA Override:

ETA overrides modal

Important: Once you save an override you cannot edit it. You must delete it and add a new override instead.

  1. To the right of the desired Priority, click the blue circle. The override list appears listing the Default ETA.
  2. Click Add ETA/Skips. The Add ETA/Skips modal appears.
  3. Select the desired Trade (or select All Trades, as appropriate).
  4. Select the desired Location ID (or select All Locations, as appropriate).
  5. Enter the desired ETA, and determine if the ETA is in either hours or days.
  6. (Optional) Check the Skip Nights button to turn on Skip Nights feature, as appropriate.
  7. (Optional) Check the Skip Weekends button to turn on Skip Weekends feature, as appropriate.
  8. Review your selections carefully. Once you save the override, you cannot edit it.
  9. Click Save. The override will appear in the list.
⦿ How to delete an ETA Override
  1. To the right of the desired Priority, click the blue circle. The override list appears.
  2. To the right of the desired override, click the red X. A dialog box will appear, asking you to confirm your selection.
  3. Click OK. The override is removed from the list.

Retiring a Priority 

You can retire a priority without having to remap old work orders to a new priority by checking Non-Selectable. Once you've retired the priority, it will no longer show up as an option while creating work orders, but you will see the retired priority in historical work orders.

⦿ How to retire a Priority
  1. Click on the pencil in the row of the desired priority you wish to retire.
  2. Check the box Non-Selectable in the Edit Priority pop up menu.
  3. Click save.

Retired Priorities

If you retire a priority, make sure you modify any templates (excel spreadsheets) regarding:

  1. issue list 
  2. priority overrides that might have been associated with that priority
  3. Bulk Work Orders
  4. Proposals
  5. Planned Maintenance set up and Bulk Templates
  6. Refrigerant Tracking set up

Deleting a Priority

Once a work order is dispatched for a Priority, you cannot delete said Priority. You may only delete Priorities for which work orders have not been submitted and dispatched, even if the service provider did not accept the work order, or if you edit the work order to change the Priority.

⦿ How to delete a Priority:

Note: You cannot delete a Priority once a work order with that Priority has been submitted in Service Automation.

  1. To the right of the desired Priority, click the red X. A dialog box will appear, asking you to confirm your selection.
  2. Click OK. The Priority is removed from the list.

In this Article

Related Articles