Planner
From the Planner page, you're able to take control of scheduling and dispatching to ensure that business runs smoothly.
In this article, we will cover the different sections of the Planner page:
Schedule
This page gives you a bird's eye view of events, from upcoming to overdue. Use the filters at the top of the page to narrow the scope of what appears on this page. You can see different events of any status—from Estimates to Reminders and Work—and different services. You can even narrow it down to just show specific technicians. Toggle between the different tabs to see events from Today, Overdue, Upcoming, and Completed.
Calendar
The calendar page is another way to view upcoming events but now in a familiar calendar layout. You can quickly see upcoming scheduled Estimates, Work, and Reminders. Reminder events will have a thumbtack icon, Estimate events will have a clipboard, and Work events will have a wrench. Complete Work events will have a checkmark icon and also a faded appearance.
You can customize the colors of the service types by going to Settings –> Services –> the pencil icon next to each service type. You can also drag and drop events to easily adjust their times and dates, and you can click and drag into the calendar to schedule new events.
Narrow the calendar down by using the filters at the top of the page, and expand your calendar view by selecting between the day, week, month, and times displayed by using the clock icon right below the filters.
Integrating with Google Calendar
It's easy to sync your Kickserv account to your Google Calendar. Any events added to your Kickserv calendar will be pushed to your Google Calendar.
To set up the Google Calendar sync:
Navigate to Planner –> Calendar in your Kickserv account.
Select the Calendar settings button, then select Set up Google Calendar sync.
Select the Connect to Google Calendar button and follow the steps to sign in to your Google account. Complete the steps via Google to finalize the sync to your Google Calendar.
Note: This sync only pushes information from Kickserv to Google. Changes made in Google will not be reflected in Kickserv.
Dispatch
The dispatch map is another fast and easy way to schedule technicians. With a unique combination of a map and a timeline view, you can quickly see where your employees will be at any time. For any Estimate, Work, or Reminder event that belongs to a contact with a valid street address, you’ll see a marker on the map with two pieces of information: employee initials and the starting time of the appointment. From the timeline view, you can quickly see what the upcoming events are based on their color and icon.
It’s often helpful to see appointments relative to an employee’s home, especially if they drive a company vehicle home at the end of the day. You can view employees’ addresses (entered on their user profile) on the map if you have the ‘Show employee locations’ option enabled.
You can also add events to the timeline by double-clicking into the desired date and time. Any unassigned events will live at the bottom of the page, and they can be assigned to technicians by double clicking into them.
Resources
If you prefer a more straightforward display, the Resources page shows the timeline view of the Dispatch page but without the map. Other than that, this page includes all of the same functions as the Dispatch page.
Map
Alternatively, if you want to see just the map without the timeline view, the Map page gives a snapshot of the upcoming daily events. Use the filter in the top right corner of the page to see all upcoming events or select a specific employee to narrow the scope.
Depending on your plan, the map is also where you can see GPS check-ins and live GPS tracking. Check out our pricing page for more information on the features available for each plan type.