Getting Started: Setting up and using the Planners

NOTE:  To start using and configure the new Staff and Group Planners, please read Understanding The Group Planner and Understanding the Staff Planner. For existing users of the Staff Planner, Transitioning over from the existing Staff Planner to the Group Planner. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• About the Planner
• Features and Functions
• What are the Steps to Configure The Planner?
  • Step 1. Set up Service Items to Display in the Planner
  • Step 2. General Planner Settings
  • Step 3.Group Planner Settings
  • Step 4. Staff Planner Settings
  • Step 5. Allow Staff to View Their Own Planner
  • Step 6. Allow Staff to Edit their own Planners

About the Planners

The Planners display a count of scheduled services by Staff and Service Item Group. As well as being helpful for walking and pet visit services, the Planners are particularly beneficial to businesses that offer boarding, overnight and daycare services operating within the remits of local authority legislation.  

The Planners also provide an expedited method of assessing the availability of Staff/Sitters to accept a service, where they have no work or have capacity availability indicated on their Planner. 

Features and Functions

The Planners provide color coded maximum capacity alerts at both company and staff level as well as Staff Time Off indicators to ensure services are not scheduled when a Staff/Sitter is on vacation.  Admins and their staff have the ability to check-in and out directly from the Planners, as well as drill into a client account, service orders/invoices and view vaccination status flags.

• Company and Staff Level Capacity for Service Item Groups
• Staff Level Capacity for Scheduled Services
• Max Capacity Color Coding to easily identify when a Service or Sitter has reached or is over capacity.
• Check-in and Check-out directly from the planner
• Vaccination Status Flags

What are the Steps to Configuring The Planners?

To ensure your Planners are set up correctly, follow the steps below to ensure you can access all the features as detailed above.

Step 1. Set up Service Items to Display in the Planner

The first part of setting up the Planner requires you to select which Service Items you wish to track.

• Select the Service Item, in this instance Daycare 1 dog.

• Click the "Advanced" sub menu. 
• Set the Resource Cost based on the following guidelines: 
  • Set resource cost to 1 when the service is for 1 dog. 
  • Set resource cost to 2 when the service is for 2 dogs. 
  • Set resource cost to 1 for an overnight service. Even if the client has more than 1 pet, the resource cost covers the number of homes you are staying at, which can only be 1.
  • Keep Resource Cost set to 0 to not have the service counted on the Planner.
• Click "Update."

• Your service item will then be displayed and tracked in the Group Planner under its relevant Service Item Group.

• Or included in the total count of Scheduled Services by Staff in the Staff Planner.

Tip: Click the pin to lock dates, filters and jump to buttons to the top of your device to enable scrolling, without losing access to key navigation tools. Click the pin again to unlock and view all of your screen.

Tip: Click the cog to jump to Company and Planner Settings.

Step 2. General Planner Settings

The next step is to choose which features of the Planner you wish to enable.

Choose the settings you require:

• Use Check in / Check Out Feature: Toggle ON to to enable Staff to Check in and Out of their services directly from the planner.
• Show Vaccination Status: Toggle ON to show vaccination flags directly from the planner.
• Use Max Capacity Color Coding: Toggle ON to enable color coding indicators to easily identify which Service Item Groups or Staff are at capacity or over capacity.
• Use Add to Staff Total: Toggle ON to add Staff Service Group Totals to the Company Planner Totals. When toggled OFF, Staff Totals can excluded from the Company Planner Totals, but can be viewed for Staff Level Planners. Company and Staff Planner totals can be configured in Group Planners Settings. 
• Display Zeros as Blank: Toggle ON to not show 0's and display the daily count as a blank space if no services are scheduled. Toggle OFF to have 0's displayed in the planners.
• Default Initial Display. Set the default view for your Planners by selecting Weekly or Monthly from the drop down list.

Click "Update."

Step 3. Group Planner Settings

Next move on to the Company Planner Settings, from here you can decide which Service Item Groups you wish to display or "Track" and are available on your Planner to identify which services and Staff/Sitters are at, or are over capacity. 

• ITEM GROUP: Your Service Item Groups
• TRACK: Toggle ON to add a service item group to the Staff and Group Planners and display a total count of all scheduled services. 
• STAFF: Click "Configure Staff". Here you can access the Service Item Group tracking for individual staff/sitters and also enable the Check-in/Out feature. 
• COMPANY CAPACITY: Displays the total company capacity for the service item group
• ADD TO GROUP TOTAL: Only visible when "Use Add to Staff Total" is Toggled OFF in General Planner Settings. Adds the Service Group Totals to the Company Planner Totals.

Click "Update."

To configure the Staff level Planners within the Group Planner, follow Step 4.

Step 4. Configure Staff Level Planners

Now you have configured which service item groups are to be tracked in the planner, configure the staff level planners. Here you can identify which staff/sitters provide the services you have already enabled in Step 3.

• Having enabled the Service Item Groups you wish to track in the Planners, click "Configure Staff" next to each Service Item Group.

• For each Service Item Group, toggle ON "Track" for the staff/sitters who provide these services and then Click "Update."
• Next set the Maximum Capacity the Staff member has for the Service Item
• Toggle ON "Enable Check in " if this function is required
• Toggle ON "Add to Staff Total" if this service is required to be counted in the staff/sitter's Total.  

From the above page you can also configure all the service groups for a Staff/Sitter. 

• Click the staff/sitter name
• Toggle ON all the Service Groups this staff/sitter provides
• Set the Staff/Sitters maximum capacity for the Service Group
• Optional: "Enable Check in" and "Add to Staff Total."
• Click "Update."

The Planner will then show the total Scheduled services by Service Item Group at Company Level, but also by each Staff/Sitter enabling an Admin to quickly view which Staff/Sitter has availability to have services assigned to them.

Step 5. Allow Staff to View Their Own Planner

As a default when the Planner has been configured at company and staff level, they are available to Business owners and Admins.

Admins can also allow individual Staff to view and make changes to their own planners, subject to permissions.

• Toggle ON "My Planner View" to allow the Staff/Sitter to be able to view their own planner in their Staff Interface.
• Click "Update."

When the Staff/Sitter logs onto their interface, they can then view their own Planner from Scheduler > My Schedules > My Planner.

Step 6. Allow Staff to Edit their own Planners

Having allowed Staff/Sitters to view their own planners, additional Permissions can be set to allow Staff to make changes to Services, view Vaccination Status of a Pet and even Check in/Out of Services. 

• Toggle ON "Can Change My Planner"
• Click "Update."

From the Staff Planner, when a Service Count is Selected, the details of the services are shown including Client Name, Service type, Vaccination Status and the Check in/Out feature.

• Select the Service Count

• From the details page, Click "Edit."

Subject to other staff permissions being set, from the "Edit Services" page, the following features can be accessed and/or amended:

• Client Information Pages
• Client Service Orders
• Change Service date, time, Sitter, Quantity, Invoice & Staff Notes
• Service Report
• Activity
• Maps
• Keys

As well as Editing Services, Staff can also Check in and Check out directly from their Staff Planner. 

• Click "Check in" on arrival or start of service - An accurate check in or service start time is recorded
• Click "Check out" - An accurate check out or service end time is recorded