1) Overview
2) Custom entities and appointments
3) Appointment regions
4) Using appointments
5) Appointments on the roster
6) Appointments and integrations
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1) Overview
The appointments feature (also known as 'Sessions') has been designed to provide additional flexibility to the rostering process. This feature allows users to schedule sections of time in shifts to complete certain tasks or visit specific clients. This feature can be used in conjunction with custom entities to provide additional information to employees. This feature can also be used in conjunction with certain CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. Integration specifics are located in section six.
i) Configure appointments
Initial configuration of the appointments feature in Easy Employer may require assistance from a system administrator. Certain settings cannot be configured or updated by end users (such as appointment regions). It is important to correctly configure appointments as each organisation will have different requirements and may use this feature differently.
2) Custom entities and appointments
Custom entities are a highly customisable feature of EE. A custom entity could be, but is not limited to; a person, client, vehicle or funding scheme. Custom entities are used to provide additional information to staff members on a rostered shift or appointment. Please consult the custom entities guide for more information regarding custom entities.
Custom entities can be configured to appear in certain locations or work in conjunction with other features. This can be done by locating the custom entity and then adjusting the settings. In the example below, a custom entity (client) is being configured to appear in on the appointments page.
- Click Organisation.
- Open the custom entity type (in this case click Clients).
- Click Settings on the sidebar.
- Ensure the value for Enable on appointments is set to Yes.
3) Appointment regions
A requirement of the appointments feature is setting up appointment regions. This is a system setting that ensures appointments are created and assigned to the correct section of the organisation. Appointment regions can be created at any level above "role". Multiple appointment regions can be created to make it easier to assign appointments in the roster.
NOTE: Regions can only be set by a system administrator. Please contact the Easy Employer Support Team if appointment regions need to be configured in an account.
To create/view an appointment region:
- Click Organisation.
- Click Organisation structure.
- Open a 'group' that exists above role level (Payroll entity/Site/Area/Container).
- Click Settings on the sidebar and change the value for Enable appointment region to Yes (this can currently only be completed by a system administrator).
- Regions can be easily identified on the organisation structure as a region marker will appear next to any group/s that have been marked as regions.
4) Using appointments
The following example will cover organisations that have custom entities active in the account. The appointments feature can also be used in the roster and through the appointments section.
- Select Scheduling on the navigation bar.
- Click Manage appointments.
- The Appointments page displays today's appointments by default. You can change what's displayed based on the scope options selected.
- To add a new appointment click Create on the top right of the screen.
- The appointments dialog enables users to dictate the date and time an appointment should take place. This can be created as a new shift on its own or added to a shift that has been created already. To add an appointment to a shift simply select a user in the Assigned staff members section.
- It is important to be systematic when creating new appointments as there are many fields that are displayed on this screen that need to be populated. Many of the fields in the create appointment screen are very similar to the options that appear in the create shift dialog from the rosters. These fields should be used in the same manner as the rosters.
5) Appointments on the roster
New appointments cannot be created on the roster. Appointments need to be created and linked to rostered shifts using the appointments page. Appointments can also be linked using the 'Unlinked appointments' feature in the rosters.
- Click Scheduling
- Click Open a roster.
- Open a roster period.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the roster and locate the 'Unlinked appointments' section. Select an appointment, click on the appointment to display the appointment options and click 'Link appointments'.
- The link appointments dialog will be displayed. The appointment can be assigned using the dialog on the right by selecting the employee and shift that the appointment should be linked to.
- Once an appointment has been linked to a shift a new section will appear at the bottom of the shift called '# linked appointments'.
- Clicking on the linked appointments drop down on the box will display a list of the appointments and the times they are scheduled to occur.
- Clicking on the appointment will display 2 options. One option is to manage or edit the appointment and the other is to delete or remove the appointment.
- Clicking the Manage option will cause the edit appointment dialog to appear. This is the same screen that appears when adding an appointment through the appointments section of EE and the unlinked appointments section. This is used in the same way as previously described.
6) Appointments and integrations
A number of integrations work in conjunction with the appointments feature. The programs below have an existing integration with EE.
- CTARS
- Employee connect
- iPlanit
- Lumary
- Skedulo
- SRS
- Subscribe HR
- SupportAbility
Some integrations require additional programs to function. Please contact Easy Employer Support for information and integration maps relating to these integrations.