Working with 11-Service Receivables > 11-3 Dispatch Board

11-3 Dispatch Board

Service Receivables features are available only if you have purchased the Service Receivables Add-On Module.

In the 11-3 Dispatch Board window, you can view appointments in the calendar, view the travel time, view the properties of a work order, add new employees to the employee list, set preferences, add email addresses to technicians in the employee list, and configure the email setup information.

If you enter work orders in the 11-2 Work Orders/Invoices/Credits window without assigning technicians, the Dispatch Board displays those work orders in the Unassigned column. You can then assign the appointments to technicians by moving them to the appropriate times and technicians, and Sage 100 Contractor adds that information to the records for you.

Zoom In or Out

The zoom slider is by default set at 100%. If you have a lot of technicians scheduled for the day, you can zoom out by using the slider and going to the left, or by clicking the [Ctrl] button and clicking the [-] button. The white area in the grid is the regular working hours (start and finish times) set by selecting Preferences in the Settings menu.

Note: Note that grid lines will draw in the grid beyond midnight, but that time is not available to schedule.

Viewing appointments in the schedule

You can view appointments in a 1 Day view or a 5 Days view.

1 Day view: In the 1 Day view, the time is shown in hour blocks. The amount of information displayed in the hour block, as well as column size and width, are set by selecting Preferences in the Settings menu.

5 Days view: At a quick glance, you can see the availability of a technician for today and the next four days by clicking [5 Days]. To see one technician's schedule in an expanded view in the 5 Days view, click the double arrow icon centered under the technician’s name. Clicking on it when the arrows point to the right expands the column and clicking on it when the arrows point to the left collapses the column.

You can move an appointment to a different day.

When you click Refresh on the menu bar, Sage 100 Contractor updates the Dispatch Board to reflect all recent changes made to appointments.

Creating new work orders from the Dispatch Board

Service Receivables features are available only if you have purchased the Service Receivables Add-On Module.

To create a new work order from the Dispatch Board:

1 Open 11-3 Dispatch Board.
2 Using the data control, select the day you want to view.
3 In the column of the technician to whom you want to assign the work order, drag your cursor to select the duration of the appointment.
4 Click New Work Order.
5 Enter the work order.
6 On the File menu, click Save.

Setting up employees and vendors for the Dispatch Board

Service Receivables features are available only if you have purchased the Service Receivables Add-On Module.

To display a list of service technicians (employees and subcontractors) in the Dispatch tab, you must set up the dispatch list.

Configuring the Dispatch Board email settings

Emailing work orders to technicians

Service Receivables features are available only if you have purchased the Service Receivables Add-On Module.

There are several ways to email work orders to technicians.

Note:

Tip: You must set the Warn me when previously sent information becomes invalid checkbox in the Dispatch Board, by going to Settings, then selecting Email Setup. How?

About prioritizing work orders and employees

You can assign a priority number to each work order and to each employee assigned to that work order. The priority lets a dispatcher assess how important a work order is, or how important it is for an employee to go out on a particular job.

Important! If the priority of the employee is different from the priority of the work order, the Dispatch Board displays the employee's priority.

Customizing the priority dropdown list

You can customize the 8 selections in the priority dropdown list in 11-2 Work Orders/Invoices/Credits to make it applicable to your workflow. When you look at the appointment on the Dispatch Board, its priority appears as a color in the upper right corner.

More resources

For additional online resources for Sage 100 Contractor products, visit the Sage Customer Portal. Use the portal to access the knowledgebase, chat online with customer support, or enter a customer support ticket.

For additional training on Sage products, visit Sage University.