Managing Groups

A group can be a Dispatch Center or a Dispatch Team, both of which can be designated as CAT.

You can create and define a Dispatch Center (name, territory, assignment duration, expertise, and hours of operation), and then assign resources to it. Doing so allows you to group assignments and resources into queues so you can separate and track the work.

In addition, if you use WorkCenter Dispatch for your field appraisals, you can set up scheduling boards to more efficiently manage this work within the system.

To help manage the work of large Dispatch Centers, you can create teams of resources (Dispatch Teams), associate them to the Center, and then assign a Dispatcher to manage the teams and assignments. Since both Centers and Teams can be designated CAT, you can send only CAT assignments to these defined groups, allowing you to be very specific in your assignment and resource management.

How to

  1. On the Manage menu, click Groups. The Group window appears.

  2. Click Create New Group. The New Group window appears.

  3. In the Group Details section, complete the required information.

  4. In the Group Type list, click Dispatch Center. Enter the Center Name. Identify its Status. Enter the ZIP or postal code. (Enter a full address if known, and click Validate. With a valid address, maps and directions to the site are available.)

    Note: When you create or edit a Review Dispatch Center by selecting the Review Group Designation, you will see a Group Category along with two selection buttons, Public and Private. Private is the default selection.

  5. Complete the remaining information as needed. For example, you can designate this group as CAT, enter Assignment Duration, select Expertise items that apply to the group, select a Manager, define Territory, and enter Lunch Break information.

  6. Click Save.

  7. Next, enter the Hours of Operation.

  1. In the Hour of Operation section, select the check boxes for the days of the week the center is open.
  2. In the From and To text boxes, enter the time of day the center opens and closes. Use the 12-hour format with AM and PM.
  3. Click Save.
  1. On the Manage menu, click Groups. The Group window appears.
  2. Click Create New Group. The New Group window appears.
  3. In the Site Details section, complete the required information:
  4. In the Group Type list, click Dispatch Team. Enter the Team Name. Select the Dispatch Center associated with this site.
  5. Complete the remaining information as needed. For example, you can select a Manager and enter the Address information. (Click Validate to validate the address. A complete address is required. With a valid address, maps and directions to the site are available.)
  6. Click Save.
  1. In the Associated Resources section, click Add Resource(s). The Resource Lookup dialog box opens.
  2. Enter the Search Criteria, and click Search. The search is limited to the resource types associated with the selected dispatch center.
  3. In the Search Results list, select the check box for each resource you want to associate to this site, and click Select. The resources are added to the resource list. (The number of associated resources appears in the section's title bar.)
  4. If this is a Dispatch Center, you can associate a Dispatcher. Click the Associated Dispatcher tab, and repeat this procedure.
  5. Click Save.
  1. Locate and open the dispatch team or dispatch center with the associated resources you want to remove.
  2. In the Associated Resources & Schedule section, select the check boxes of the resources you want to remove.
  3. Click Remove from Team or Remove from Center, and at the confirmation message, click Yes, Remove. The resources no longer appear in the list of Associated Resources.
  4. Click Save.

Reference

Site Details

Group Type

Select Dispatch Center or Dispatch Team. (Read-only after the group has been created.)

Center / Team Name

Enter a name for the group. (Read-only after the group has been created.)

Dispatch Center

Select the Dispatch Center to associate this group to. (Dispatch Team only.)

Status

Select Active or Inactive. When you mark an active site as inactive, the site moves to the Inactive tab. The associated resources and their shifts become available for other uses but remain associated with the inactive site. In this way, the site can be quickly reactivated with resources already associated to it.

Group Options

Options to further define the group:

• Designate as CAT (Read-only after the group has been created.) (Dispatch Center only.)

Time Zone

The time zone where the group is located. (Dispatch Center only.)

Assignment Duration

Select the duration of appointments/tasks.You can select duration times in 5-minute increments, up to 3 hours. (Dispatch Center only.)

Expertise

Special appraisal attributes of a site, group, or resource. (Dispatch Center only.)

Manager: Choose Resource

Assign a manager to the site. Click Choose Resource or the Resource Lookup icon to locate and select a manager, or enter the contact information.

Territory

Defined by ZIP/Postal Code: Enter a ZIP or postal code(s) to define the territory.

Defined by Radius: Enter the number of miles from the address to define the territory. The address is the center point of the radius.

Address: Choose Shop

Enter the site address. To use a shop's address, click Choose Shop or the Resource Lookup icon to find the shop.

Click to validate the address. (A complete address is required.) With a valid address, maps and directions to the resource and/or location are available.

Lunch Break

 Select the length of time for the lunch break and the window of time within which the break must be taken.

Click to delete the site. The site cannot have had prior usage: activity, associated resources, or assignments. A confirmation message appears before the record is deleted. You can continue with the operation or cancel it.

Click to save the site information and continue working in the window.

Click to save the site information and close the window.

Click to close the window without saving the information. A confirmation message appears before the window closes. You can continue with the operation or cancel it.

Hour of operation

(Dispatch Center only)

Sunday . . . Saturday

Select the check boxes for the days of the week the service center is open, and enter the hours of operation (12-hour format with AM and PM).

Associated Resources

Associated Appraisers / Dispatcher

(Dispatch Center only)

Click this button to use the resource lookup tool to add resources to the group. Appraisers associated with the group are available to add. If you don't see a particular resource, you can modify the resource profile so they are associated to the Dispatch Center.

Resource Name / Resource Type / Contact / Workload Factor / Territory / Expertise

Information from the resource's profile.

Removes selected resources.

Associated Dispatch Teams

(Dispatch Center)

 

Dispatch Teams associate with this Center. If a Dispatch Team you want associated is not listed, you can create a new team or modify an existing team to select this Center as the associated Dispatch Center. See To Create a dispatch team on this page.

Associated Staffed Inspection Sites

(Dispatch Center)

 

Staffed Inspection Sites associate with this Center. If a site you want associated is not listed, you can create a new site or modify an existing site to select this Center as the associated Dispatch Center. See Staffed Inspections Sites.