Scheduling vs. Dispatching Overview
Although scheduling and dispatching are very similar actions, within this application they are separate processes to support the different ways a partner is assigned to a task.
Dispatching
Dispatching is intended to handle scenarios where the task is assigned to a partner using the next available time slot.
If your business typically schedules one task at a time, click on the Incidents form or Service Orders form to create the appointment on the Service Schedule Dispatch board.
The Service Schedule Dispatch form tries to identify the best available partner by matching the duration required by the tasks with the next available partner who has the appropriate skills, certifications and coverage area.
Click on the Service Schedule Dispatch form to generate a scheduling appointment record for the specified partner.
Scheduling
Scheduling is used when the scheduler wants to view all the partner schedules and place the appointment for new tasks manually into a time slot.
If your business typically queues multiple tasks and then schedules them across the partner base at a later time, select To Be Scheduled on each incident. Then later open the Calendar Scheduling form to create the appointments.
The Calendar Scheduling form is usually open at all times, and the scheduler drags and drops appointments from the Tasks To Be Scheduled grid onto the calendar grid. After the appointment is on the grid, the partner is assigned and the To Be Scheduled option on the incident is cleared.