When a staff member views their Dashboard, they can see their schedule of a list of assigned services for today (or for any time period they choose).
From this list, they can select a service to view it in more detail and to access more functionality so they can complete their work.
All the options when viewing a Service are explained below:
- acknowledge one or more services
- mark services as completed one by one or in bulk
- check-in and out of a service
- view the client's location and see how to get directions
- view and manage the client's keys
- complete and send a service report to the client
- view the client and pet details for the service
Note: Staff members will only be able to view and/or edit the areas that you have granted them permission to.How Do I Select an Assigned Service to See More Detail on My Dashboard?
Navigation: Staff Interface > My Dashboard
- Tap on one of the services on your list in the dashboard.
Below is a description of the options you may see on a service screen.
Note: You don't have to offer all of these options to your staff. You may "show" or "hide" functions you don't need. To see which functions you can hide, see Staff Settings.
What Can I See on a Service Screen?
Below is an explanation of all of the options you may see on the service details screen:
Check-in and Check-out
The "Check-in" button can be tapped to record the time and location that a staff member arrives at a visit.
Once this has been tapped, another button for "Check-out" will appear. This can be tapped when the sitter has completed their visit.
The times and GPS locations recorded are "live" and can be viewed in the Admin's Schedule screen, and on the Monitor and Staff Activity Report. You can also allow the client to access this information in their Client Portal.
Acknowledged
Tapping this switch allows the sitter to "acknowledge" they have seen their assigned service and will carry it out. There are restrictions as to when you can "acknowledge" a service, see How and When Can My Staff Acknowledge Their Services? for more information.
Completed
Tapping this option allows the sitter to "mark" an assigned service as "completed" once they have finished the work. There are restrictions as to when you can "complete" a service, see How Do Staff Mark a Service as Completed on Mobile? for more information.
Notes
Any staff notes that have been added to a service will be displayed here for the staff member to read before a visit. For more information on creating notes, see How Do I Add Scheduling Notes to a Service Order?
Time and Timeblocks
The time of the service is displayed here so the sitter can see whether they have been:
- given a specific time for the service to take place, or
- they have a timeblock with an allowance of 1 or 2 hours to complete the work, or
- there is a specific time of day, or
- there is a specific time, but also a tolerance either side eg. 15 mins or 1 hr, or
- it is empty, indicating there is no specific time the service has to take place that day.
See What is a Timeblock? and How do I give a Service a Timeframe? for more information.
Service Descriptions
At the top of the service screen, the date and "long description" of the service is displayed.
The service item "short description" is displayed with the service detail.
Note: it's a good idea to ensure your long descriptions are self-explanatory so your staff understand exactly what they are being asked to do and how long the visit/walk is for. See How Do I Edit the Short or Long Description? to understand more about how these are used within the software.Elapsed and Remaining Time
If you choose to display these options, they are there to assist staff to check they are carrying out services for the specified amount of time. The options to display elapsed time and time remaining are designed to assist staff who carry out home visits or who collect dogs individually for private walks. However, they may confuse staff who do group walks as the timings would not be relevant for this type of work. If this is the case, you can choose whether you want to offer this function to your staff. See How do I show the Visit Time Remaining in the Staff Dashboard?
Map and Refresh Location
BEFORE staff check in or out, they should always check the GPS map shows their correct location as this is what will be recorded in Pet Sitter Plus. If they feel their phone has not recorded the most accurate position, they can tap "Refresh Location" to "ask" the phone to get another - hopefully more accurate - GPS location. However, this can be affected by network signal and access to GPS. See GPS Accuracy at Check-In and Check-Out for more detail.
What are the tabs at the bottom of the screen?
Below is an explanation of the additional functions the staff member can access from the service screen:
Service Information tab
This tab will bring you back to the service detail screen.
From here you can access certain scheduling functions (see above), such as acknowledging and completing services, checking-in and out and refreshing the location map to ensure the GPS location is correct for when you check-in or out.
Client Location tab
By accessing this menu, the staff member can see the client home address in full, as a hyperlink, as well as on the Google map.
Tapping on the address will take the staff member to Google Maps where they can choose the navigation option to "Get Directions" to the client's address.
Key Management tab
If the key icon on the service detail is green, the assigned key in the staff member's possession will be shown here.
If the key icon on the service detail is red, the staff member will need to obtain the key, then click "Assign" to tell the system that they now have the key in their possession.
Service Report tab
At any time during the dog walk/home visit, a staff member can send a Service Report (feedback) to the client about how their pets have been, together with the option of sending one or more photos. The content of your service report is fully customizable - you can include as much or as little detail from your staff as you wish to.
For more information see How Do I Send a Client the Service Report from My Staff Dashboard on Mobile? and Introduction to Custom Fields.
Client & Pet Details tab
If this option is visible, you have granted the sitter permission to see – and optionally make changes to – the client and pet record.
Tapping on the Client tab will display the full client and pet(s) record including all information on the property security access, feeding instructions, locations of pet food etc, which is essential to carrying out a service.
The staff member can also access the full Client Schedule from here to view when there were previous or future services booked and which other staff member was assigned to these services.
For further help on how to change these settings, see Staff Settings.
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