Service Resource Availability is a Workforce Scheduling work rule type that ensures that a service resource is available to perform a service appointment. You can schedule breaks automatically, account for travel time, or set up short breaks between service appointments. Service Resource Availability work rules are applicable to field and on-site scheduling. A work rule of this type is mandatory for all scheduling policies to ensure that both resource absences and availability are respected during the scheduling process. Service Resource Availability work rules are applicable to field and on-site scheduling.
Required Editions
| Available in: Lightning Experience |
| Available in: Enterprise and Unlimited Editions |
The work rules consider these factors.
- The service resource’s operating hours, which are defined on their service territory member record or—if no hours are specified there—on their service territory record
- Travel time
- Break times
- The scheduled start and end time of other scheduled appointments, shifts, and resource absences.
Service Resource Availability work rules have these settings, relevant for field availability and scheduling only.
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Break Start | Set a single break time that the scheduling engine inserts between scheduled service appointments. For example, if service resources prefer to take lunch at 12:00 PM, enter 12:00. Breaks are scheduled as close as possible to the Break Start time, allowing for flexibility to start and complete appointments. |
| Break Duration | The length of the break. |
| Overtime | Allow service appointments to be scheduled during time slots or shifts of the Extended type. |
| Travel From Home (minutes) | The number of minutes that the resource has available for travel before the start of the work day (at the resource’s expense). If this field is empty or zero, all travel will be scheduled within the work day. If you want travel from home to be at the resource’s expense, enter a high value, for example 5 hours. |
| Travel To Home (minutes) | The number of minutes that the resource has available for travel after the end of the work day (at the resource’s expense). If this field is empty or zero, all travel will be scheduled within the work day. If you want travel to home to be at the resource’s expense, enter a high value, for example 5 hours. |
Travel
Complete the travel fields according to where service resources are expected to be at the beginning and end of their periods of availability.
- Field work: If a service resource is expected to begin work at a specific location at the beginning of their availability, for example, if they start work at 9:00 AM, then travel must occur before that time. In this case, fill out the Travel To and From Home fields and include the duration of expected travel time outside the service resource’s working hours.
- Start driving: If a service resource is expected to start traveling at the beginning of their availability, set the Travel To and From Home fields to zero.
Break Schedules
To set a single break to Service Resource Availability work rules, fill out the Break Schedule fields. If you don’t want to use breaks, leave these sections empty.
When you use the Break Schedule settings, these conditions apply.
- A service resource’s lunch break is created at the time defined in the Service Resource Availability work rule when the first service appointment is scheduled in the day. When you drag an appointment or schedule a new one, the Service Resource Availability work rule ensures that the service resource takes a break either at the set Break Start time or immediately after the last appointment that started before the Break Start. The scheduling engine allows for some flexibility.
- When a service appointment starts before the Break Start time and ends after, then the break is pushed forward to the end of the service appointment. For example, with Break Start set to 12:00 PM, the scheduling engine can schedule a service appointment from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, and move the break to 12:30 PM, so that the service resource’s break starts as soon as the resource has completed that appointment. The lunch break can be moved forward as long as there’s availability.
- If the travel time to the next appointment prevents the break from being scheduled at the set Break Start time, the break is pushed back until the end of the first service appointment scheduled on that day. For example, if the Break Start is set to 12:00 PM and lasts 30 minutes, and a service appointment is scheduled at 12:30 PM to 13:30 PM, but includes a 30-minutes travel time to the appointment, then the break is pushed back and scheduled from 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM.
- If there are multiple service appointments after the Break Start and there’s no room for the break, or if an appointment is extended so that the break after it overlaps with the next appointment’s travel time, the break defaults to the Break Start time set in the availability rule. This overlap results in a rule violation. For example, if a Break Start is set to 12:00 PM and a service appointment is scheduled from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and then you drag another service appointment to 12:00 PM until 1:00 PM, the break doesn’t move to 1:00 PM. A resource availability rule violation is displayed. Also, if you drag an appointment to after the break but its travel time overlaps with the break, the scheduling engine doesn’t move the break, and a rule violation is displayed.
Create work rules from Setup. Find and go to Workforce Scheduling, and under Appointment Scheduling Logic, select Work Rules. To view or add work rule fields open the Object Manager in Setup and select the Work Rule custom object. To add work rules to a scheduling policy, see Create and Manage Scheduling Policies in Workforce Scheduling.