The Dispatch Console is the heart of Zoho FSM where the bulk of service appointment scheduling and dispatching takes place. Here, the dispatcher has at their disposal all the information required to assign the right technician to the service appointments based on availability, proximity, and skill. The Dispatch Console comprises of the following views:
- Gantt: It provides a timeline view of the service appointments. Each service appointment is represented by a horizontal bar that spans the duration of the service appointment, making it easy to see when jobs start and end. Thus, it provides you with a real-time view of the progress of service appointments.
- Map: Each work order or appointment is represented by a marker on the map, making it easy to visualize where service calls are located. Technicians' locations are tracked in real-time using GPS, allowing dispatchers to see where each technician is at any given moment. This allows for real-time tracking and efficient resource allocation.
- Calendar: Here, you can view all the appointments to which service resources have been assigned, Holidays in the organization, and the Time Off taken by the resources. You can view all the service appointments on a day irrespective of the service resources or territories. You can also see the details using the Month, Week, Day, and List views.
In addition to these, we are introducing a new view - Grid
In the Grid view of the Dispatch Console, you can view all the service appointments assigned to a service resource on each day. This enables you to assess technician availability, allowing for informed job assignments that maximize efficiency. This view also enables you to make deductions such as the resource utilization for a day, territory-based work density, etc.
Why a new view?
It has spawned from the need to have a different calendar view where the dispatcher can see the prominent details of the appointments at a glance. Although the Gantt view also provides a comprehensive view of the appointments, as the size of the service appointment bars is proportionate to the duration of the job, it is sometimes difficult to quickly grasp appointment details. The user will also have to scroll to view all the appointments. Thus, a new view was created by combining the desirable elements of both the Gantt and Calendar views.
Optimal Job Assignment
As the Grid view gives you a clear picture of the service appointments assigned to a service resource for a day, you can assign new jobs to them based on their workload. Click on a cell in the Grid that corresponds to the day for which you want to schedule the appointment. In the Create Appointment overlay, choose the work order for which you want to create the appointment, modify the necessary details, and click Schedule or Schedule and Dispatch to continue.
Apart from the availability-based assignment, the filters in this view also facilitate skill and territory-based assignments.
Skill-based Assignment
This ensures the right technician is assigned to the right job based on their specific skills, qualifications, and experience. This can reduce the time spent on service calls and minimize the need for follow-up visits. Customers are more likely to be satisfied when their service requests are handled by qualified professionals who can address their specific needs.
Territory-based Assignment
This ensures that technicians are dispatched to jobs within their designated areas, optimizing travel time, reducing costs, and improving service efficiency. With this, organizations can not only leverage technicians' familiarity with the area but also minimize travel distances, leading to faster response times and lower fuel costs.
Comprehensive View of Appointments
To quickly view an appointment's details, simply hover over the entry. For a more comprehensive look, hover over the entry and click on
. A bird's-eye view of the grid view also lets you assess the statuses of the service appointments as indicated by the
color of the header of each entry.
Filter And View Relevant Information
Apart from skill and territory, there are other filters to fetch the desired data:
- Using the Service Resources List, filter the appointments based on whether they are assigned to an agent or crew.
- If you want to see the entries based on Scheduled/Actual Date/Time, choose Schedule or Live from the Appointment Date/Time filter.
- Use the Time Range filter to choose a Day, a Week, or 4 days for which you want to see the service appointments.
- If a service appointment does not belong to the territory chosen in the Service Resources List, then the service appointment entry will have grey background with an orange tip on the top left corner.
Refer to our help documentation for more details. Feel free to contact at us support@zohofsm.com for any queries.
Recent Topics
Tracking new lead response time
Hi, I have a team of Sales Development Reps, who have a KPI of responding to a lead within 20 mins or less once it hits the system. I seem to recall that Zoho CRM had the capability to track this in a previous version, but don't see it anywhere. It's
Search function not working anymore
Hi! The search function is not working anymore. How can we solve this problem?
When converting a lead to an account, the custom mandatory fields in the account are not treated by zoho as mandatory
In my Account module I have a number of custom fields that I have set as mandatory. When I enter a new customer as a new account they work, I can't save the record without populating them. However when I convert a lead, my CRM users are able to save the
Expand Zia's Language Support and AI Capabilities
Dear Zoho Desk Support, I would like to submit a feature request to improve Zia, the AI-driven support assistant in Zoho Desk. Currently, Zia only supports the English language, while other AI agents such as Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude can work with a
get gettting the days number between two dates with deluge
I am trying to calculate the days number between 2 specific dates but its not working. PLease help me.
How do I add more schedules to Zoho Creator?
At the moment, the number of schedule calls we have in Zoho Creator are 1800 per month and I was wondering if it was possible to upgrade that amount to something higher. I'd like to know my options as well as the pricing.
Conexion CREATOR x CRM
Buenas tardes, Tengo un problema con un código que crea un registro en CRM. Revisé el CRM para eliminar los campos obligatorios, pero cuando ejecuto el programa, aparece el siguiente mensaje de error: {"code":"MANDATORY_NOT_FOUND","details":{"api_name":"data"},"message":"required
Invoices with billable time and expenses
I cannot seem to get a straight answer. We are looking to create an invoice to send to our clients, but it needs to have the following on it: 1. Billable hours for each employee. All hours for the pay period on one line, by employee. 2. Expenses for each
Search Bar Improvement for Zoho Commerce
Hey everyone, I've been using Zoho Commerce for a bit now, and I think the search bar could really use an upgrade. Right now, it doesn't show products in a dropdown as you type, which would make finding items a lot faster. On Shopify, for example, you
Send Whatsapp with API including custom placeholders
Is is possible to initiate a session on whatsapp IM channel with a template that includes params (placeholders) that are passed on the API call? This is very usefull to send a Utility message for a transactional notification including an order number
Can't get form response to populate custom PDF template
I've created a template and set it to default but can't figure out how to get the response to populate that template. It keeps giving me the default summary.
Zoho Sheets not compatible with Excel/Google Sheets
In order to share a copy of a Zoho sheet with someone that does not use Zoho, it must be downloaded as MS Excel format and then added to an email. This is a labor intensive, and frankly confusing process. I have forgotten to do this before, only to
Add Ability to Designate Decision Branches as "Error Branches"
Zoho Flow gives the ability to track down, troubleshoot, and fix errors with the Status and Filter dropdowns in the History tab. This works well for when a "normal" Flow action registers with an error. However, there are other times where it would be
Visitors sending message via Whatsapp are not saving on contacts
Visitors who sends me messages from Whatsapp when i finish the chat do not populate on contacts, how can I add them as contacts?
ChatGPT only summarize in English
Hello i' v enabled chatgpt in salesIQ, it works great inside conversation (revise, Rephrase etc) add tags works well with another language than English. But when I want to summarize it render only in English, despite sales IQ is set to another language.
Brand with multiple facebooks pages
HI, We are a small publisher that has different FaceBook pages for each of our product lines. All are within the same FB account. Is it possible to add all of these pages to our one brand in zoho social so I orchestrate the posts between the different products? Cheers, Joe
How do I connect Sales IQ to Shopify
How do I connect Sales IQ to Shopify.
DORA compliance
For DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) compliance, I’ll want to check if Zoho provides specific features or policies aligned with DORA requirements, particularly for managing ICT risk, incident reporting, and ensuring operational resilience in
Create Ticket from Chat with Rest API
Hi to everyone, is possible to create a ticket from Chat with Rest API? In user interface is possible by clicking on the button "Convert chat as a ticket". Anyone know how to do that? Thanks
How to send binary data in invokeurl task?
Hello, I am using Adobe's Protect PDF API. Source: https://developer.adobe.com/document-services/docs/overview/pdf-services-api/ Everything works fine in Postman. But for some reason after encrypting the file, it is empty after password protecting the
How Can I Customize Sales Reports in Zoho CRM to Better Track Our Sales Team's Performance?
Hello everyone, I'm new to using Zoho CRM and need some help with customizing our sales reports. We want to track our sales team's performance more effectively and visualize trends that can inform our strategy. What specific customizations or features
Items should display under specific warehouse
I have configured the multi warehouse but it show all the items under all warehouse which is not correct according to our business logic, so i want that items should only display under that specific warehouse not under all the warehouses not even with zero quantity. Some items should be common but not all so is there any option for that purpose so i can specific the items to its warehouse. Regards
Package Dimensions
Packages need to have dimensions that are sent to carriers in addition to just the weight. Without the package dimensions being transmitted to carriers, the correct dimensional weight is not calculated for the label price, which results in corrections
Theft Prevention Sensor Integration in Zoho Inventory
Is there a way to integrate a theft prevention sensor with Zoho Inventory, so items cannot leave the store unless they've been scanned at checkout? Any insights or existing solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Zoho Workplace gets yet another security boost: The addition of Zoho Vault
Hello Community, Passwords are often the first line of defense, yet they're also one of the most common weak points. We're thrilled to announce that Zoho Vault is now integrated with Zoho Workplace! Zoho Vault Standard is now included at no extra cost
"notes"-field in a task to full width?
Hi, Is there someone that can tell me how to adjust the "notes"-field in a task, to full width? I already played around with 1 or 2 columns, but this has nu effect on the standard width. Thx in advance for your help. Cheers, Ralph.
How to download Job Sheets in Zoho FSM?
Hello, I'd like to download copies of completed job sheets as PDF's for upload to a workdrive to keep an audit record of completed Job checkout sheets. I do not see download of this file type as an option - any help is appreciated!
[Webinar] Zoho Writer for law firms and legal professionals
Are manual processes slowing down your legal practice? Are you ready to simplify document management and free up more time for your team to focus on what truly matters? Join us on January 16, 2025, for an exclusive Zoho Writer webinar designed specifically
Introducing Bin Locations In Zoho Inventory
Hello users, We are excited to let you know that your wait for the Bin Locations feature has now come to an end! Yes, you heard us right! We are here to introduce the much-awaited Bin Locations now in Zoho Inventory. But before we dive into the feature
How to send mail with js SDK
Hell o I'm using https://live.zwidgets.com/js-sdk/1.2/ZohoEmbededAppSDK.min.js, for my widget in CRM (built with sigma) Is it possible to send email from js file, I try ti use that ZOHO.CRM.API.sendMail({ "Entity": "Accounts", "RecordID": sharedVariableEntityId,
Cannot add Zoho Forms link to LinkedIn
Hello, We have encountered a problem where we are unable to share a Zoho Forms link on LinkedIn. This is what we got from LinkedIN, but we have not heard back from Zoho Support as yet, and we are meanwhile stuck... "It seems the URL does not scrape the
Feature request - pin or flag note
Hi, It would be great if you could either pin or flag one or more notes so that they remain visible when there are a bunch of notes and some get hidden in the list. Sometimes you are looking for a particular name that gets lost in a bunch of less important
i keep see there is a connetion issue connecting 3rd party api on zoho when using zia
hi there , i have set up open ai api to zoho zia (copied and pasted to zoho zia) but I keep getting notificaiton "there is a connetion issue connecting 3rd party api on zoho" when using zia on top when click zia and try to type in word there
SendMail in CRM Deluge function rejects a validated email address
In a CRM Deluge function, the email address is considered invalid. Is there another method by which it can be validated? It's unacceptable in my current situation to use either the zoho.loginuserid or adminuserid as the From address.
how do i remove a specific Zoho Service from my account
I no longer need Zoho CRM, ZRM Assist nor ZRM BugTracker. How do I remove them from the list of apps for my account?
Build custom AI solutions with Catalyst’s QuickML capabilities in CRM
Hello everyone, We’re thrilled to announce an improvement for our Zoho CRM Enterprise users: the ability to create custom AI solutions using Catalyst’s QuickML directly from Zoho CRM. As you may already know, Zia, Zoho CRM’s AI-powered assistant, offers
Unveiling Cadences: Redefining CRM interactions with automated sequential follow-ups
Last modified on 01/04/2024: Cadences is now available for all Zoho CRM users in all data centres (DCs). Note that it was previously an early access feature, available only upon request, and was also known as Cadences Studio. As of April 1, 2024, it's
Pay Contractor Timesheets
I have contractors that fill out a timesheet. Each hour must be assigned to a current client. I need the easiest way to get the contracts paid. They are paid on an hourly bases. How can this be done?
Set up slack alert based on a field changing from one option to any other
Hi, I'm trying to set-up a workflow to send a slack alert if a field changes from one option to any other. I've set-up a workflow to trigger on Edit and when a specific field gets modified but the only option I have 'is modified to' when really it should
Better UI more user friendly
Hello everyone, I think all finance apps, especially Zoho Books, would benefit from the following suggestions/ notes: 1. Grouping Fields in Zoho Books: Unlike Zoho CRM, Zoho Books does not seem to have an option to create sections or group fields. This
Next Page