Field Service Scheduling

With Field Service Management Access Hours Management, you can schedule work order tasks only during the explicitly defined access hours.

You can activate the Advanced Appointment Booking plugin (com.snc.advanced_appointment_booking) for Field Service Management if you have the admin role. The application installs related ServiceNow Store applications and plugins if they are not already installed.

Activate the dynamic scheduling feature by activating the Field Service Management plugin (com.snc.work_management).

Activate the Intelligent Task Recommendation plugin (com.snc_task_recommendations)) for Field Service Management if you have the admin role. If the application does NOT include demo data or it does NOT install related applications and plugins, delete or revise the following sentence:

Activate Intraday optimization by activating the Field Service Management Scheduling Automations plugin (com.snc.sn_app_fsm_scheduling_flows) for Field Service Management. After the plugin is installed, navigate to flow designer to activate the relevant flows to trigger Intraday optimization to run throughout the day as scheduling conditions change.

You can activate the Field Service Management Scheduling Automations plugin (sn_fsm_sched_flws) for Field Service Management if you have the admin role. After the plugin is installed, three flow designer flows and nine subflows are added to your instance.

Activate the Appointment Booking feature by installing the required plugins.

Activate the Task Bundling plugin (com.snc.fsm_task_bundle) for Field Service Management if you have the admin role.

Quickly add work notes or comments to a work order task using the contextual side panel. Save time and add information while staying in Dispatcher Workspace.

Add ad hoc members to a work order task that requires a crew.

Add a default agent schedule so that agents have a schedule assigned to them if their work schedule expires.

Add constraints to Schedule Optimization policies to define the mandatory conditions technicians must meet to be considered for a task.

Add agents to the Field Service crew as needed in Dispatcher Workspace.

As a dispatcher, you can add or update the number of agents required to perform a particular type of work to complete the task.

Assign equipment to a planned crew to ensure they have tools for their work order tasks. Dispatchers can assign equipment through the ServiceNow AI Platform or Dispatcher Workspace. Crew leaders can assign equipment or modify their crews through the Now Mobile Agent application.

Add objectives to Schedule Optimization policies to achieve additional optimization goals.

Add qualifiers to task bundling policies to define whether policies apply for either assignment groups or territories with Field Service Task Bundling.

Add a scope to a batch to include it in optimization runs, or remove a scope to reduce the number of scopes the batch contains.

Add relevant tasks to a work order task bundle or remove tasks if the bundle becomes too large to manage.

Add or update the resource requirements for a task that requires a crew, such as the number of agents with specific skills or equipment required to work on the task.

Enhance appointment booking by adding selection criteria to your recommendation rules. Selection criteria help determine the best appointment slots to recommend to your customers—ensuring optimal scheduling based on factors like proximity, skill availability, or travel time.

Efficiently recommend tasks to agents using Intelligent Task Recommendations, a feature that aligns tasks with agents based on predefined policies and filtering conditions. Determine the applications through which you can access task recommendations.

Advanced filters in Dispatcher Workspace give dispatchers greater control to interact with the resources they use most. Dispatchers can also use advanced resource to personalize the resources they see when they open Dispatcher Workspace.

You can create your own advanced resource filters in Dispatcher Workspace to make complex filtering easy.

Optimize resource allocation and ensure timely service delivery with the advanced scheduling and dispatching capabilities, designed to manage technician workloads and prioritize high-priority tasks.

Dynamic scheduling uses Field Service agent schedules to determine work order tasks to assign to agents. There’s an order in which dynamic scheduling checks agent schedules to see if agents are available.

Create advanced appointment schedules to offer customers specific time slots—like Morning, Afternoon, and Evening—for scheduling appointments. Advanced schedules let you customize availability to meet unique business needs.

Filter the tasks shown on the calendar using criteria such as skill, parts, and SLA breach.

Filter the tasks in the task panel using criteria such as skill, parts, and SLA breach.

Set up appointment booking to allow customers and service providers to schedule and manage service appointments efficiently.

Turn the Appointment Booking feature on or off for an application and its individual services.

Customize email and SMS notifications for appointments. These notifications help users stay informed and engaged throughout the appointment scheduling process—providing clear confirmations, reminders, cancellations, and rescheduling notices.

Configure an appointment booking record producer and enable the appointment booking variable set to display the correct fields in that record producer.

Set up an application configuration to manage appointment booking settings across all services within your application. You can either create a new configuration or modify an existing one provided by Field Service Management.

Service-level appointment booking enables customers to easily schedule specific services like installation, AC repair, or configuring printers, by customizing appointment availability, lead times, notifications, and booking rules.

Assign equipment instances to groups.

Assigning equipment to a work order task ensures that crews or assigned agents are properly equipped for the task.

Assign a work order task that requires multiple schedules or days to complete the job to a field service agent. This capability avoids having to create more than one task for the same job.

Quickly add resources to task-specific crews if you forgot to add an agent or piece of equipment when you created the crew.

Assign work order task bundles so agents can plan their work effectively.

Assign work order tasks either automatically within defined access hours through dynamic scheduling or manually outside those hours.

Assign crews to a work order task that requires a crew of agents in Dispatcher Workspace.

Assigning work order tasks to agents from Dispatcher Workspace.

Quickly sort a list of the best agents to assign a work order task based on the criteria that you choose from.

Learn how batches and scopes work together to control when Schedule Optimization runs and which technicians and tasks it considers.

Select and open or bundle multiple tasks with Bulk Actions on Dispatcher Workspace.

View an agent's work status and schedule status as they complete their tasks.

When all of the work order tasks associated with a work order are qualified, you can dispatch the work order tasks. You can dispatch them from either the task form, the task map, or Dispatcher Workspace.

The auto assignment feature can be enabled for requests or tasks, depending on the Service Management (SM) application's configuration settings.

View details about an agent at a particular location by selecting the agent icon on the Dispatcher Workspace map.

Adjust the calendar zoom level in Dispatcher Workspace to view task details more clearly.

Change the order of subtasks in a bundle if you want the subtasks to be completed in a different order than the one originally assigned.

Fine-tune the amount of time that determines whether an agent has acted when scheduled.

You can change the time zone that shows on the calendar or hybrid view in Dispatcher Workspace to move between the time zones that agents are working in.

Update a work order task bundle’s details, such as its schedule, assignment, or dispatch settings, so agents and dispatchers stay synchronized.

Check whether a break on a work order task has been taken or is still planned, without leaving Dispatcher Workspace.

Intraday schedule automation updates agents schedules to maximize productivity during their shift.

Advanced Appointment Booking allows you to configure flexible schedules, holidays and appointment window durations for a territory.

Set up appointment booking to allow customers and service providers to schedule and manage service appointments efficiently.

Configure dynamic scheduling to let dispatchers to easily assign, change, or cancel work tasks. Optimize work order task assignments and streamline field service operations by setting up dynamic scheduling according to your organization's requirements.

Configure prioritized event optimization to enable schedule adjustments in response to critical, same-day events.

Continuously run schedule optimization at selected intervals throughout the day to efficiently reassign tasks and maximize productivity. Additionally, enable dispatchers to run optimization on demand.

Enable dispatchers to respond to unexpected changes by configuring on demand intraday optimization, giving them the ability to run Schedule Optimization ad hoc directly from Dispatcher Workspace.

Create scheduling attributes to specify which tasks to optimize and define the rules to perform the optimization. You can create different scheduling attributes configurations for each policy.

Add optimization features to the policy, enabling dispatchers to assign preferred Field Service agents to specific work order tasks, ensuring the right technician handles each task efficiently. Additionally, dispatchers can exclude agents who are not well-suited for certain tasks.

Incorporate optimization features into the policy to allow dispatchers to prioritize work orders, establishing the importance of each task.

Use a third-party travel estimate provider, such as Beans.ai, to improve the accuracy of travel time estimates in Schedule Optimization.

Use the straight-line travel estimate provider in Schedule Optimization that provides built-in time and distance travel estimates based on latitude and longitude.

Customize the starting day of the week on your appointment booking calendar to match your organization's scheduling preferences. By default, the calendar week starts on Sunday, but you can easily set it to any day (e.g., Monday) or revert it if needed.

Bundle work order tasks to keep similar tasks together.

Schedule Optimization logs provide detailed information about each run, allowing you to gather specific information as needed.

Field Service Multi-day task scheduling helps dispatchers manage tasks that require more than a single workday to complete.

Route optimization is essential for improving resource allocation in field service management. It strategically reorders tasks to reduce travel time for field agents, enhancing both productivity and customer service.

Duplicate the three intraday schedule automation flows installed with the Field Service Management Scheduling Flow Designer Flows plugin so if something breaks in the flows you activated, you can copy the originals again.

Create a connection and credential record to use Beans.ai for your travel time estimates.

Create ad hoc filters directly from Dispatcher Workspace.

Create a task bundling policy to apply various rules for dynamically bundling tasks with Field Service Task Bundling.

Create a task bundling rule to bundle tasks dynamically according to the selected parameters with Field Service Task Bundling.

Assign equipment to an ad hoc task crew to ensure they have the necessary tools to complete the work order task.

Create ad hoc filters from existing filters from Dispatcher Workspace.

Create ad hoc crews for a task if no existing crews are available to work on the task or the task requires specific skills to complete the job.

Create an optimization batch to determine the interval at which Schedule Optimization should run. Set the start date, batch start time and end time, and run frequency for the related scope.

Create a scope to define which technicians and tasks a Schedule Optimization batch includes.

Configure appointment booking rules for a service configuration, for example, Point-of-Sale-Installation, to enable varying duration of appointments for this service.

An appointment schedule override modifies default slot configurations for specific dates or scenarios, providing flexible appointment management.

An appointment schedule represents available slots as defined by its appointment window and service mapping configurations. Appointment schedules can be overridden for specific dates or slots to allow custom availability or capacity.

An appointment service configuration mapping contains the service configuration, service configuration rule, and territory for use in an appointment schedule.

An Appointment window configuration defines the daily schedule for appointments, including start and end times, slot duration, breaks, and slot repetition intervals.

Automatically generate appointment records from catalog item variables using a business rule. Creating this automation ensures the appointment details provided by users through the Service Catalog appear on the appointment calendar.

As a dispatcher, you can create crews in Dispatcher Workspace to which you can assign work order tasks.

Dynamic Scheduling enables automatic task assignment to field agents based on predefined rules and configurations. This feature helps streamline task distribution by verifying the correct tasks are assigned to the most suitable agents, optimizing travel time, skill matching, and task priority.

Define a filtering constraints or a ranking criteria for a task recommendation policy. Filter the best matched tasks for the agent based on the filter ordering rules.

Create a schedule for regular maintenance or downtime for an equipment instance.

Create matching rules to specify which tasks and technicians to include in prioritized intraday optimization runs.

Create an operational note for a user, crew, equipment, or work order task so that other dispatchers can see it in Dispatcher Workspace.

Create modify a appointment booking slot recommendation rules to categorize the appointment booking slots into recommended slots and available slots.

Create a part requirement for a work order task in Dispatcher Workspace.

Block time on agent calendars for events that aren’t related to work orders.

Create policies to promote factors like the travel time and an agent's availability. Policies determine how to optimize an agent’s schedule based on defined objectives or constraints.

Create planned or ad hoc crews faster and more efficiently using a single interface in Dispatcher Workspace. The single interface helps dispatchers view the agent schedule and availability while creating crews and adding crew members.

Define recommendation criteria that policies can use to rank or evaluate tasks for agents.

Map applications to task recommendation policies. Provide access to these policies within those applications.

Create policies to recommend the best available work order tasks for agents based on the specified rules and conditions.

Create specific variables in a Service Catalog record producer to capture essential details such as location and contact information when users book appointments.

Bundle tasks to enable agents to track multiple tasks in one work order task rather than individually. Minimize drive time by combining unplanned site visits with scheduled maintenance.

Delete ad hoc filters saved in Dispatcher Workspace.

You can delete an advanced filter in Dispatcher Workspace to remove it after you create it.

You can use the Dispatcher Workspace map to track, manage, and analyze agent assignments and work order tasks in specific locations. The map is found in the Dispatcher Dashboard and Dispatcher Workspace.

Reduce the number of pins displayed on the map in Dispatcher Workspace by displaying either tasks or agents.

Determine what is displayed in the Dispatcher Workspace so you only see the information most relevant to your work.

Domain separation is supported for Appointment Booking. Domain separation enables you to separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logical groupings called domains. You can control several aspects of this separation, including which users can see and access data.

Select dynamic scheduling to automatically schedule and dispatch work order tasks.

When using the dynamic scheduling feature, the Confirm Assignment pop-up window displays the task assignment recommendations.

Set up properties to customize the behavior and functionality of the dynamic scheduling process according to your organization's needs.

Dynamic scheduling uses work order task Window start and Window end dates to schedule tasks.

Dynamic scheduling streamlines the allocation of work orders and tasks to field service agents in real-time. This intricate process ensures that each task is matched with the most appropriate agent at the most suitable moment, thoughtfully considering a range of variables, including agent availability, location, skills, and workload.

You can create policies and rules to bundle tasks automatically with Field Service Task Bundling.

Dispatchers can change or delete a non-work order personal event if the event's details change after its creation.

Appointment Booking slot recommendation rules assist in identifying the optimal appointment times for customers. These recommended slots enable customers to efficiently choose the most suitable available appointment times.

Appointment booking slot recommendations help users quickly select the best available appointment times based on your configured scheduling rules.

Display information from the task assignment debug log in the Confirm Assignment pop-up window.

Use the seismic appointment booking calendar across all user interfaces to ensure a consistent and seamless scheduling experience.

Explore how Dynamic Scheduling prioritizes the best agent for a task, focusing on key matching criteria.

An example of Schedule Optimization validation messages.

Automatically assign preferred Field Service agents to work order tasks so the correct technician is assigned to the task. If a Field Service agent isn't a good fit for a task, you can also exclude them.

Export ad hoc filters saved in the Dispatcher Workspace.

Filter the map view, hybrid view, and schedule view of Dispatcher Workspace to display only the items that interest you.

Flag tasks that you want to work on later.

Flag tasks from the list to track their progress. Flagged tasks appear in Dispatcher Workspace.

Use the response evaluation flow to set the criteria for automatically assessing contractor responses.

If you have configured more than one way of assigning tasks, choose which task assignment option to use when assigning tasks that overlap.

Choose to show only agents that are on shift so it’s easier to view who’s available when you assign work order tasks. You can also choose to show all the agents to see everyone that's on and off shift.

Dispatchers can hide the time zone label that shows on the time indicator on the calendar for a cleaner look.

You can choose to assign work order tasks to the highest ranked agents without taking into account travel time.

Install the Field Service Multi-Day Task Scheduling application to enable scheduling of work order tasks across multiple days. You can activate the Field Service Multi-Day Task Scheduling plugin (com.snc.fsm_multiday_tasks) for Field Service if you have the admin role. If the application does NOT include demo data or it does NOT install related applications and plugins, delete or revise the following sentence:

You can change who receives notifications related to intraday schedule automation, so only the necessary recipients receive the notifications. For example, if an agent is late for a task, you can configure notifications to only be sent to the dispatcher.

Change the value that determines whether an agent is early or late.

View all operational notes together in a list, and manage them from there.

Edit or delete an operational note.

Track and monitor the real-time state of work order tasks. You can auto-assign tasks, record time, request more information, and cancel the work order task.

Create ad hoc filters in Dispatcher Workspace to filter work order tasks with custom criteria.

As a dispatcher, you can create, source part requirements and requests from Dispatcher Workspace.

Some updates to work order tasks (WOTs) can cause conflicts when they occur during a scheduled task run. You can use a table to track these scheduling conflicts as they arise. Tracking conflicts helps you monitor and resolve issues efficiently, ensuring that WOTs and agent schedules remain up-to-date and aligned.

View real‑time traffic and other map overlays in Dispatcher Workspace to assess conditions that may affect technician travel.

Understand how matching rules identify and filter tasks and technicians affected by prioritized events.

Monitor Schedule Optimization runs to verify your configuration is working correctly and understand assignment decisions.

With the Field Service multi-day task scheduling capability, you can schedule work-order tasks spanning multiple schedule entries or days.

Quickly open tasks from the form and see them in Dispatcher Workspace to act on them.

Quickly open tasks from the Work Order Task list and see them in Dispatcher Workspace to act on them without searching.

Quickly open tasks from the list in CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace and see them in Dispatcher Workspace to act on them without searching.

Operational notes are day-specific notes that dispatchers add for a technician, crew, equipment, or work order task. Other dispatchers see the notes in Dispatcher Workspace, but technicians can't.

Reassign tasks and maximize productivity by running Schedule Optimization on demand when scheduling conditions change.

Efficiently reassign tasks and maximize productivity by continuously running schedule optimization at selected intervals throughout the day.

Customize the fields that appear on the task cards and agent cards to display certain information in Dispatcher Workspace.

Dispatchers can personalize the resources they see in Dispatcher Workspace by creating an advanced resource filter that applies every time they open Dispatcher Workspace.

Preferred agents are agents who are most familiar with the context of tasks they've been assigned and are preferred by customers. For example, they could be agents who work on-site at a customer premise or are associated with the customer contracts or entitlements.

Add dynamic scheduling task filters to ensure that work order tasks are not assigned to agents who are excluded from the customer account.

Perform a work order task action for a technician who can't act themselves. The action is logged as performed by you on the technician's behalf, and the task stays assigned to the technician.

Create a marketplace request and push to contractors using Field Service Marketplace.

Quickly edit work order tasks directly from Dispatcher Workspace without opening the work order task form.

Quick task filters narrow the tasks in the task panel and the calendar in Dispatcher Workspace using criteria such as skill, parts, and SLA breach.

Refreshing Dispatcher Workspace reloads resources, work shifts, personal events and work order tasks that are shown on calendar.

You can remove an agent from Dispatcher Workspace that you temporarily added.

Respond to or decline requests on Field Service Marketplace.

Review contractor responses then assign the task to a contractor on Field Service Marketplace.

Key responsibilities of individuals involved in optimizing task assignments and resource management.

Dynamic task bundling policies can be manually run from the policy record with Field Service Task Bundling.

You can activate the FSM Scheduling AI Agent plugin (com.snc.fsm_scheduling_ai_agent) if you have the admin role.

Schedule dynamic bundling to run at a specified time with Field Service Task Bundling.

Activate the Schedule Optimization plugin (com.snc_schedule_optimization) for Field Service Management with the administrator role.

Use Schedule Optimization to automate task assignment, create efficient schedules, and respond to changing conditions as they occur throughout the day.

This example shows three different ways admins can configure the optimization engine to schedule tasks.

Use Schedule Optimization to assign tasks efficiently to planned crews, ensuring alignment with crew schedules and locations.

Schedule Optimization uses technician schedules and event attributes from Workforce Optimization for Field Service to automatically assign tasks and improve scheduling accuracy.

As a dispatcher, you can move scheduled tasks to the Assigned state or move them back to the Pending dispatch state in Dispatcher Workspace.

Send agents to work on the tasks.

Guidelines for creating scripts in recommendation criteria for an Intelligent Task Recommendation policy.

Search for agents with specific attributes in Dispatcher Workspace so you can make appropriate assignments.

Search for work order tasks that require a crew in the Dispatcher Workspace task panel.

Search for crews with specific attributes on Dispatcher Workspace so you can make appropriate assignments.

Use keyword searches to quickly find resource and agents. Understanding this functionality can greatly reduce the time it takes to find what you’re looking for.

Minimize scrolling and filter tasks that show in the task panel. Quickly search by keyword, or see all the tasks assigned to a group or territory.

Select assignment groups in Dispatcher Workspace to see a list of agents in the assignment group.

Dispatchers can select multiple tasks on which to run dynamic scheduling.

Quickly select territories to filter resources in Dispatcher Workspace. You can also save default territories to load each time you open Dispatcher Workspace.

Field service agents can indicate their status from the desktop and let dispatchers know if they are ahead of schedule, behind schedule, or on time.

Field service agents can indicate their status from the mobile UI and let dispatchers know if they are ahead of schedule, behind schedule, or on time.

Adjust the logging level settings to specify the detail included in the Schedule Optimization logs.

Configure prioritized intraday optimization to use matching rules that narrow job assignment decisions. Matching rules deliver focused, efficient job recommendations.

Set up a travel estimate provider in Schedule Optimization for each of your technician groups to streamline and enhance the travel planning process.

In Field Service Management, a scheduling method is the process used to assign tasks to field technicians. As an administrator, you can choose the scheduling method that best meets your organization's needs.

Soft Booking allows dispatchers to schedule tasks without triggering immediate notifications or downstream workflows. This feature provides dispatchers with a "planning buffer" to optimize agent schedules before confirming tasks.

View agent records, agent schedules, and view or optimize the scheduled task route of an agent for that day. You can help them manage their schedules and tasks more efficiently.

Identify the most eligible crew and agents based on crew skills and distance to assign them to work order tasks that need a crew.

Source parts from your preferred stockrooms or assignment groups to complete the work order task promptly.

Run Schedule Optimization as multiple jobs for large workloads.

Assign agents to unassigned work order tasks using the Dispatcher Workspace map.

Logically grouping similar tasks into a bundle enables agents to track, start, and complete related tasks at once instead of individually with Field Service Task Bundling.

You can add agents to Dispatcher Workspace. Adding agents makes it easy to quickly assign tasks to an agent who is part of the assignment groups or territories that you manage.

Enable the Field Service Territory model to focus optimization on territories rather than assignment groups.

There are a few ways that dispatchers can choose to control the time zones that show on the calendar in Dispatcher Workspace.

Resolve urgent scheduling changes quickly and efficiently by configuring prioritized event optimization. Prioritized event optimization responds immediately to critical events and targets only the specific technicians and tasks affected, without reoptimizing all tasks and qualifiers.

Unbundle work order bundles if you want to group the subtasks differently or divide the work in another way.

Update ad hoc filters saved in Dispatcher Workspace.

Save time and update multiple work order tasks at once in the calendar in Dispatcher Workspace.

Dispatchers can use Dispatcher Workspace to quickly and efficiently send messages to Field Service agents through the Microsoft Teams mobile application.

Dispatchers can show multiple time zones on the calendar in Dispatcher Workspace that are stacked on top of each other. Showing multiple time zones makes it easier to see every agent’s schedule in their local time zone at a glance.

Use the Dispatcher Workspace to create, modify, and enable crews and assign work order tasks to the crews.

Dispatcher Workspace is a configurable scheduling application that enables you to efficiently route work to field service agents and monitor their performance.

Dynamic scheduling increases the efficiency of Field Service Management by automatically assigning tasks to the agents.

Field Service Marketplace optimizes contractor management, improves communication, and streamlines task allocation processes.

Learn about different ways to view tasks in the Scheduled state​.

As a dispatcher, you can view the tasks that require crew and are assigned to a crew.

View the operational note for a technician, crew, equipment, or work order task on the day you're viewing.

View run summaries to monitor the status and results of Schedule Optimization runs.

View the Schedule Optimization logs to gather insights from each optimization attempt.

View the history of the scheduling method of work order tasks that are assigned and scheduled.

Dispatchers can view any task on the calendar to navigate to the scheduled time and date of the task they chose.

Quickly view tasks or events on the calendar from the map in Dispatcher Workspace.

Dispatchers can save time and quickly view tasks or events on the calendar from the task panel or contextual side panel.

You can view an agent's schedule, availability, personal events, and tasks that are either assigned or work in progress.

You can view the crew's schedule, availability, and tasks that are assigned to the crew or their work in progress.

View the results of Schedule Optimization runs to understand how tasks were processed and assigned.

Withdraw from a request you responded to on Field Service Marketplace.