1.1 Console Swimlanes (Classic)

Overview

A swimlane provides a scheduler with a visual overview of scheduled work; a real-time view of their available resources, and a summary of allocated time–for a defined period.

Contents

• Resource Availability
• Job Cards
• Estimated Travel
• Activities
• Resource Routing
• Job Time Constraints
• Scheduled vs. Actual

Resource Availability

As with other swimlane views, resource availability is reflected in the console swimlane using shading. Gray indicates that the resource is unavailable. Unavailability is set using a combination of the resource's default availability template and submitted unavailability requests. A white swimlane means that the resource is available. The console swimlane can be toggled to display either person or asset resource types.

Figure 1. The scheduling console swimlanes and resource availability.

Job Cards

When a job is allocated to a resource, a job card will be added to the resources swimlane. Job cards reflect the current status of the job using different colors on the left-hand border of each card:

• Pending Dispatch (Orange).
• Dispatched (Light Blue).
• Ready (Dark Blue).
• En Route (Light Purple).
• On Site (Mid Purple).
• In Progress (Dark Purple).
• Complete (Green).

The same color coding is used in the console's job detail list, and on the console's map (for job icons).

Figure 2. A job card identifiable by its orange coloring (or status) which is pending dispatch.

Figure 3. A job card in the swimlane. Right-click on the card to view options.

Estimated Travel

Estimated travel time is calculated when a job is allocated to a resource. It will either be calculated from the resources home address for the first job of the day, or from the previous job to the next job in their daily schedule. Estimated travel is displayed as a thin gray bar attached to the job card in the swimlane.

Estimated travel can be set so that: 

• It is either applied using the resource's default daily starting time (in which case they will be traveling to the first job of the day during company time), or 
• It can be applied so that the resource must arrive at the first job of the day at their expected standard start time (in which case they will be traveling in their own time).

Activities

Activities are used as placeholders for tasks that are unrelated to an external customer, such as meal breaks. They are displayed on the console swimlane using purple activity cards. Once an activity has been created, it will automatically be locked, meaning it cannot be moved on the swimlane. Activity records can be edited or deleted in Salesforce.

Figure 4. An activity in the swimlane (of type meal break). Right-click to edit.

Resource Routing

The "Display Travel Route" icon, located on the available resource list, will display suggested routing for the selected resource. Routing will be calculated using the resource's home address as the first and last stop each day. Each job that has been allocated to the resource, for the specific date, will update the suggested route on the console map.

The "Clear Route" button can be used to clear the selected resource's routing information from the console map. If the resource has connectivity and is logged in to the Skedulo mobile app, their current location can be displayed using the map settings "Show Current Locations" checkbox field.

Figure 5. An example showing the swimlanes, the display travel route button, and the map displaying the travel route itself.

Job Time Constraints

The scheduling console can use time constraints to determine when a job should be scheduled. The application of a time constraint on a job removes the need for a job to have a start date and time set when the job is created. The initial status of a job (with no fixed start date and time) is "Queued." The console swimlane will use green shading to indicate when a job that has a time constraint before which the job must be scheduled.

A time constraint can be applied using the job creation wizard's "Must Start Before Date and Time" fields. The scheduler has the option to set both a start date, time, and time constraint.

The shading becomes visible in the swimlane when the user places their cursor over the applicable job in the job details list. Clicking on the eye icon in the time constraints column will toggle the visibility of a green overlay, allowing the user to perform other actions–while keeping the respective job time constraints highlighted on the swimlanes.

Figure 6. An example showing a time-constrained job, with the constraints highlighted in the swimlanes.

Scheduled vs. Actual

The swimlane also includes a toggle that allows the user to switch between scheduled and actual job information. For example, a job may be scheduled to start at 11:00 am, however, the resource completes their first job early and can start the second job in their agenda at 10:30 am. When the resource puts the job in progress at 10:30 am, switching to "Actual" will show the job as starting at 10:30 am. 

Figure 7. The scheduled and actual job information toggle buttons on the scheduling console.

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