Under 'Company settings', you can find a full list of your users from the 'Users' section. Their individual profiles will contain information for you to view or edit regarding things like their specific skills and the shift patterns on which they work.
In order to take full advantage of this feature, establish their starting point - the address they are primarily based at, by entering this in their 'personal details' section.
You can organise various shift patterns within Commusoft to make your scheduling easier within the system. Access these settings through the 'Shifts' section under 'Users' within your system settings. This will enable you to create and define your engineers' shift patterns. You can use this function to set up things like weekend shifts or night shifts and designate time slots for them here.
Name and describe the shifts firstly, once they have been added (using the button beneath) click 'Setup shift pattern' in order to define them. This will bring up a calendar where you can drag your cursor along the time and date cells in order to specify the parameters of the shift.
You can choose either a 'Normal' or an 'Overtime' shift from the 'Shift type' dropdown. Selecting overtime will allow you to add an overtime rate to this shift to adjust for any payment discrepancies that may occur.
You can also incorporate shift breaks. If for example, your engineers take a 1-hour lunch break, you can configure your settings so that between specific hours (12 pm and 3 pm) a 1-hour slot will be accounted for.
Frequently asked questions
Why would I need to use this?
Got an engineer that only works mornings or afternoons, only works 4 days a week, or always works weekends? No problem, shifts are fully customisable! You can even set up overtime hours and rates for your engineers.
Commusoft shifts are smart too - you won't be able to add jobs for staff if it's outside of their shift hours. Plus, if you're adding a job in an overtime slot, we'll let you know and double-check before you book it. This is really helpful when dealing with large numbers of engineers or a regularly changing team, as office staff can easily track the different shift schedules.
What happens if I add an event in the grey area?
The system will not allow you to add it.
What happens if I add an event in the white/yellow area but it overlaps into the grey area?
The system will not allow you to add it.
What happens if I add an event in the white area and it overlaps into the yellow area?
The job cost will be calculated on both the costings.
How is the overtime cost value calculated?
Please note, that this number is a percentage (%) to be added to the engineer's standard rate. For example, if the overtime rate is 'time and a half' (i.e. 150%), you should type '50' into the box. You'll need to make sure you have the 'cost rate' set up for each user (if you don't already), otherwise, the overtime rate won't have a figure to base itself on. This is accessible from Company settings > User > Business details.
I don't see this in my Commusoft...
This is probably due to your subscription to us. This feature is available on the automation plan and above. If you'd like to use this, please contact Commusoft sales.