Capacity Points View
Points integrations with systems such as ICOMMS are a common standard among field service organizations looking to better manage their capacity. While ICOMMS is an old system, it provides significant benefits by helping field service teams plan and process technician availability for work order bookings.
The Points View module provides a basic points implementation that shows available “points” (time to be used for tasks execution) for a particular date and Region/Task type combination and allows you to view and adjust capacity using the points framework. In this module, you can take the following actions so you can better meet anticipated or actual demand:
View capacity in a points representation
Add additional points (manual / in bulk)
Reallocate resources
Zinier also comes with points-related APIs that allow you to integrate with external systems such as ICOMMS.
Viewing Capacity Using Points
Points in Zinier are used to measure the availability of appointment time slots for customers booking appointments using the Customer Portal. Once the Total Points points for a particular time slot reach zero, customers will no longer be able to book an appointment during that time slot.
By increasing or decreasing points, you can take full control of your available capacity by increasing or decreasing the time slots available for appointment bookings.
Points and Work Groups
Work Groups play a critical role in determining Capacity and should be configured before using the Capacity modules. When you select a Region or Task Type from the filter, you are selecting the Work Group associated with (that has been “filtered” by) that Region and Task Type. Points are calculated based on the tasks and technicians assigned to a Region and Task Type combination of the Work Groups.
Filtering Points
The data grids below the chart show the points by day for 7 days based on the filters selected at the top of the screen.
Date: Selecting a Date from this field will update the data grids below and show 7 days' worth of points for the Region and Task Type starting from the date selected here.
Region: Filters the points for the next 7 days to the Region selected.
Task Type: Filters the points for the next 7 days to the Task Type selected
Points Calculations and Glossary
By default, Zinier converts points to time in a technician’s calendar as 1 Point = 15 minutes of availability/capacity. For example:
4 forecasted points = 4 blocks x 15 mins of available time
3 used points = 3 blocks x 15 mins of blocked time for a task execution
Points Glossary
Available Points: Available Points = Forecasted Points - Used Points. They represent the available capacity of your workforce at a specific time to perform the Task Type selected in the points filter in the Region selected in the points filter.
Used Points: Shows your workforce's capacity at a specific time. Used Points are calculated by taking points associated with all the Tasks completed of the Task Types selected in the filter in the Region Selected in the filter.
Forecasted Points: Shows the forecasted capacity of your workforce at a specific time. In other words, in the Region selected in the points filter, x points of capacity are expected to be available to perform the Task Type selected in the points filter at that given time. Forecasted points are calculated based on the working hours of a technician coming either from a shift, override, or overtime and matching that to the Task Type and Region selected in the filter. For example:
Technician A has a default Shift with working hours between 9 am and 10 am and no leave or overtime
Technician A is a member of a Work Group filtered by the selected Region in the Points filter (i.e. Technician A is part of the filtered Region)
Technician A is a member of a Work Group filtered by the selected Task Type in the Points filter (i.e. Technician A can perform the filtered Task Type)
Technician A’s Forecasted Points = 1 hour (the working hours between 9 am and 10 am) / 15 mins = 4 Points
Manual Points: Adding points here allows you to manually open up capacity at the given time so more customers can make appointment bookings during the time slot.
Total Points: Total Points = Available Points + Manual Points. Once the Total Points points for a particular time slot reach zero, customers will no longer be able to book an appointment during that time slot.
Points and Work Groups Example Setup
To better illustrate the relationship between Points, Regions, Task Types, and Work Groups, let’s look at an example of how Work Groups would be set up and the resulting points calculations based on Work Group configurations:
Workforce: Let’s assume I have a workforce consisting of 20 technicians, split evenly between 2 Regions (Region 1 and Region 2). Let’s further assume I have 2 Task Types (Task Type 1 and Task Type 2) and that 5 out of the 10 technicians per Region can do each Task Type.
Assigning by Region: To assign your workforce to a Region, I would create 2 different Work Groups, each filtered by the regions above, and then assign the appropriate technicians to each Work Group. This links the technicians to those Regions.
Assigning by Task Type: To assign your workforce to a Task Type, I would create 2 different Work Groups, each filtered by the Task Types above, and then assign the appropriate technicians to each Task Type (so in total, 10 technicians are added to each of the Task Type filtered Work Groups). This links the technicians to those Task Types.
Shift / Working Hours: Let’s assume technicians all share the same work schedule (Shift) and work 5 days a week for 5 hours a day (8 am - 2 pm with a 1-hour break). with working hours between 9 am and 10 am and no leave or overtime.
Availability: Let’s further assume that no tasks have been assigned to anyone in the workforce.
I now wish to view the Available Points at 8 am on Monday, November 1st for Task Type 1 and Region 1. To answer this question, I would do the following:
Points Filter: Select Task Type 1 and Region 1 in the filter
Date Filter: Select Monday, November 1st in the date filter. The timeslots for this date will then appear in the first datagrid in the lower left of the screen.
Number of Technicians: Based on the filter, I have 10 technicians in Region 1 but only 5 technicians that can perform Task Type 1 in that region.
If I navigate to the November 1 data grid and look at the 8 am timeslot, it would show the following:
Forecasted Points = 5: 5 technicians can perform the Task Type in that Region
Used Points = 0: No tasks have been assigned
Available Points = 5 (Forecasted Points) - 0 (Used Points) = 5
Manual Points = 0: I have not assigned any points manually
Total Points = 5 (Available Points) + 0 (Manual Points)
Re-allocate Resources
This functionality gives field managers a way to find and reallocate available resources to a Region or Task Type where the capacity might be running low.
Add Additional Points in Bulk
This capability lets you increase demand in bulk by manually adding points. Doing so opens additional time slots for Appointment Windows. Note that this is NOT based on the technician’s capacity. End-users will be able to book appointments if the capacity has been completely consumed and additional points have been added for the required date.
