Appointment Scheduler

The Scheduler permits the maintenance of appointments for the shop  as a whole, by technician, or by work  area  or any combination.  The system is very easy to understand, and operate, and the process  will help to organize the workday.                 

About the Scheduler

Most people have Calendar programs on their computers, but they are not "system wide" unless they have invested in full server technology and costly exchange programs.  The Auto Shop Writer scheduler permits any workstation to view, add, and edit appointments to the master system.  You can also attach a client, or a vehicle plus client to the appointment, and you can create a quote which can be added to a workorder automatically.

The scheduler window shows a browse box of appointments for the current date, and edit boxes to enter, or modify, the data.  Each of the controls is explained below.

Workorder Interface

When creating a new workorder, you will see an Appointment button.  Selecting that will show a list of pending appointments.  Selecting one will then instruct the program to create a new workorder ( Estimate, Invoice, or Counter Sale as instructed on the top part of the Add Workorder screen ), adding the client, vehicle, notes,  plus any parts and labor saved to that appointment.  Only select the type of workorder before pressing the appointment button.

The Scheduler Controls

The buttons will help you move around the scheduler quickly and benefit from its capabilities.  These buttons include:

Adding an Appointment  

First, on the calendar, select the appropriate date for the appointment.  The current appointments are listed.   To add an appointment,  select Add from the menu options.   The computer will display a small dialog box which asks for the following information:

Then the system will place this information in a new record line on the browse box, and the data will be in the display boxes.  You can now add any further notes in box displayed.  Be sure to Save the entry if you make any changes, or add notes.

Reocurring Appointments 

Some appointments are regular, such as  business meetings, and occur at the same time every week, or month.  The Recurring appointments automatically program these into the  Calendar at the appropriate times.  By choosing this selection from  the prompt line menu, the system will ask for the ending date to be processed.  This is the last date, after which you do not want the  appointment generated.  Then the system will ask for the type of  pattern.  Select the one most appropriate, and highlight it,  pressing the ENTER key to have the option then generate the  appointments.  They will automatically be posted to the appointments file. 

Moving Appointments 

To move an appointment, highlight the desired entry, and select the Move button.  The system will ask for the new date to which the appointment  should be moved.  Once the date is entered, the entry will be  automatically transferred. 

Searching 

To search for any data in the Schedule, select the Search key in the  button bar.  The system will first ask if it should search  descriptions, or notes.  Generally this function would be used to  search for a client's name who forgot the date or time of  appointment.  Therefore, most often the Description mode would be  selected.  However, sometimes a statement, or key word, has been  placed in a note section.  For example, perhaps a special part was  ordered, and the number placed in the note field.  A search by  partnumber would locate the appointment for which the part was  ordered.  Once the mode for a search is selected, there is a field to provide the actual text to be located.  Type in the name, or words, that are sought.  When this is finished, press the OK button, and the  system will then conduct the search, and display a list of  'matches' to the word(s) provided.  Scroll the list, and highlight  the appropriate appointment.  By pressing the ENTER key, the system  will move to that highlighted appointment date.                     

Saving Appointments 

It is always important to save your data.  Simply click this button when you finish entering your data so the complete detail will be retained.

Deleting Appointments 

To delete a single appointment, highlight the entry and select the Delete button.  The system will ask  for a confirmation of the action, and if the Yes is indicated, the  appointment will be deleted. 

Viewing Appointment Time Blocks   Daily View or Week View 

The Scheduler will display all appointments in Time Blocks,  scheduled for both daily, or weekly, views.  The blocks are shown  for each employee, or work area, and can be readily compared.  Use  of the Time Block feature makes it easy to determine available  appointment blocks in any given day, or week, for any employee. 

By  comparing the views, it is also possible to more evenly divide the  work among employees if so desired.  The Time Blocks are activated from the Calendar mode.  Selecting Today will provide a display for the highlighted day, while selecting Week  will provide a display for the week (Mon-Fri) in which the  highlighted day appears. 

The Blocks display one time line for each employee. Appointment  times are marked with Solid white blocks, while available time is  shown by dotted pattern blocks.  Different styles alternate on the  pattern blocks to help differentiate employees.  The daily block  lines are in 15 minute increments, while the weekly display blocks  represent 1 hour increments.  Obviously the weekly display is for a quick overview, while the daily display provides a great deal of  accuracy.

Printing The Appointment Schedule  

Appointments may be printed for a whole week, or for selected  dates.  Once Printing is selected, the system will prompt for  weekly, or daily, schedules.  Then, the system will ask for the  specific employee name.  The default is ALL, which will then print  schedules for all employees.  If selected dates are chosen, a prompt is provided for the  beginning and ending dates.  To print a single day (ie. the current  active date), simply enter (or leave) the same date in both fields.  The system then asks if the comments (notes) should be included.  On daily reports it is a good idea to print the notes so that they  are a reminder of the client's concerns or special needs.  These  printed copies can then be distributed to the technicians so that  they may effectively organize their efforts during the day.

Data Entry

Selecting the date

The box field  displays the selected working date.  If you wish to change the date view, simply click on the icon to the right of the field and a calendar   will popup.  Navigate to the proper date and click on it.  At that point, the browse box in the lower portion of the display will show all appointments for the selected date.

When the Calendar is first displayed, use the cursor arrow and point  to  the appropriate date.  Click on the date  and see what appointments are scheduled. 

Client and Vehicle

You will probably want to locate the client and vehicle for this service appointment if it is a return visit.  You can type in the data manually, which is appropriate for a new client, but otherwise, click on the lookup icons on the right of the client and vehicle fields.  If you lookup a vehicle, the client information will automatically load.

Assigning the appointment

Appointments can be assigned to individuals, or to work areas.  This permits overlapping time entries.  In the entry space marked  WHO, enter the name, or area, to which the job is to be assigned.  Although some shops like to use codes, abbreviations of real names  will be far easier to understand because they do not require  repeated referrals to a code chart. You can edit the list of assignment codes/names under Tools - Lists - Assign

Entering times

The system works on a 24 hour clock.  Although this may seem  difficult at first, it really is quite easy.  Enter am times in  their normal manner, and add 12 to all pm times.  For times prior  to 10:00 add a leading 0, ie. 07:30.  Enter the time that the job is to be begun, and the time it is  expected to end.  For

scheduling purposes, it is best to schedule  according to the known productivity level of the technicians  involved rather than book rate time.  For a 2 hour job, some  technicians can complete the assignment in 1.5 hours while others  may take 3. 

The Appointment Description

Enter a brief statement about the service to be provided.  Include  the first and last name of the client, and the service, ie.  John  Hawkins, Tune Up - 67 Mercury.  Although some clients may hesitate  to provide their first name, it will help you if you should have to  do a search later.  You may have 100 Mr. Smith's with appointments  still in the future.  However, the search system will locate Mr.  Hiram Smith very quickly. 

Detail Notes

Often there are special considerations for a service to be  performed.  Use the Notes option, after the appointment has been  added to the list, to write down any information provided by the  client.  It is very reinforcing to them that you took the time to  note their concerns before they arrived.  In fact, you may have  sufficient notes to pre-write the estimate before they arrive.  When the client brings in the vehicle, the operator can go to the  computer, bring up the estimate, and ask if anything else is of  concern.  This will clearly impress the client, because the  documentation is ready to print with a keystroke, and they can be  on their way quickly.  The Notes have full word processing ability.  Review the section on  Text Editing for more information.  If an appointment has notes, a  check mark is displayed to the right of the appointment listing. 

Quotes 

You may create a quote for an appointment.  Clicking on the  1st icon ( calculator ) will bring up a box where you can specify the parts and labor to be used.  Each has a lookup button so you can actually find the part in inventory, and the labor items from the glossary.  Once you complete the quote, a number will be posted in the field.  Thereafter, use the magnifying glass icon to actually view the quote.  Be sure to use the lookups because this data can be automatically transferred to a workorder when it is first started.