To book a job, click it in To schedule, choose a date, a start time and how long it takes, pick a person, and select Schedule. You get an Undo for a few seconds. New to the planner? Start with What is the Resource Planner? A tour for new users.
For planners and office staff. You need Edit on the Resource Planner permission.
How do I book a job for a technician?
Jobs that still need a time wait in To schedule on the left. Use the chips, the search box or Filter to find yours.
Click the job's card. The Assign panel opens on the right.
Choose a Date. It starts blank on purpose, so a job is never booked on a day you did not choose.
Choose a Start time and Duration, or tick All day.
Choose who does it. Once a date is set, Best matches lists the people who are free.
Check the line that says when the job ends, then select Schedule.
The booking appears on the person's row, dashed for a moment while it saves. The person gets a message, and an Undo strip shows for 8 seconds.
Field | What it means |
End date (optional) | For work over several days. Colobbo books one visit for each working day, up to 14 days. |
All day | A booking with no set time. |
Start time | Type a time like 9, 9:30 or 1pm, or pick one. |
Prefer dragging? Hold the grip (⋮⋮) on a job card and drop it on a person's row in Day view, or on a cell in Week view.
What are Best matches and how do I use them?
Once you have chosen a date, Best matches lists the people who are free for that job's length, nearest first. The first person who is free and has the skills is marked Best. Someone already on the job is marked On it now.
Each row says how far they are from the job (for example 6 km from Home), or from where they are now when their live location is on. The nearest few show drive time, such as 18 min drive. Missing and a skill means they lack a skill the job needs.
Select Use to fill the form with that person, or Show more to see everyone who is free.
Where working hours are not set, the planner counts 8:00 am to 5:00 pm as a normal day.
Best matches rely on start locations and working hours; see How to set up the Resource Planner (admin).
How do I assign several jobs at once?
In To schedule, select Select and tick the jobs and bookings you want (Select all ticks every one).
At the bottom of the list, select Assign… (or Schedule… when everything ticked already has a person).
Choose the person. For jobs, also choose the Date for the job, First starts and Each job takes, or tick All day. Then select Schedule (jobs) or Assign (bookings only).
Ticked bookings get the person and keep their own day and time. To plan many people's days in one go, see How to plan a technician's day with Colobbo route optimisation.
How do I book something that isn't a work order?
Use New booking at the top right for site visits, training, toolbox talks and anything else that needs someone's time.
Select New booking, then choose Site visit or Activity. For an activity, pick the Kind of activity or add a New kind of activity….
Enter a Title.
Under Who goes, add people with Add person. Unassigned is fine: it waits in To schedule.
Under When, choose At a time or Any time that day, then the Date and Takes.
Add a place, Contact, linked job or Priority & notes if you need them, then select Book.
The planner checks for clashes first. If it says Please check before booking, use Book anyway only when you know the overlap is fine.
How do I repeat a booking?
In the New booking form, open Repeats and choose Repeats. Choose Daily, Weekly or Monthly, Every how many, the days (for weekly), and when it Ends: After a number of times, or On a date. It runs for at most a year.
Check dates shows every date before anything is saved, with clashes listed.
A booking linked to a job cannot repeat yet.
When you change one date of a series, choose Only this booking or This and future. You can also skip a single day.
For repeating inspections, actions and work orders, see How to repeat Work Orders, Inspections and Actions on a schedule.
How do I move, shorten or cancel a booking?
Select the block. The person's panel opens on the right.
Drag a block left or right to change the time, up or down to give it to someone else, and drag its right edge to change its length.
Move… opens a short filled-in form. Change what you need, then select Move.
Cancel booking asks for a Reason, then confirms. Only the booking is cancelled, not the job: the job goes back to To schedule.
Anyone booked, moved or cancelled gets a message.
How do I hand a person's whole day to someone else?
Use this when someone is off sick. Open the person's panel and select Reassign today's bookings…. Choose who takes over and select Reassign. Each job keeps its time and moves to the new person after the usual checks, and both people get a message. Bookings that are not jobs stay as they are.
What do I do about a warning?
If something looks wrong the planner says Please check before scheduling: with the reasons and a Schedule anyway button, which saves it and marks it as needing attention.
The planner says | What it means |
The technician has a day off. | They are on leave that day. |
It is outside the technician's working hours. | It starts before they start or ends after they finish. |
It overlaps a booking-page booking this technician already has. | A customer has booked them at that time. |
It falls on a public holiday. | The day is a public holiday. |
It is after the work order's due date. | The job is due earlier than the day you chose. |
It starts in the past. | The start time has already gone. |
Some things cannot be overridden, such as This technician already has a booking at that time. Anything that needs a look shows an orange edge and is counted on the summary line; select the count to jump to each one, or choose Ignore.
How do I undo a mistake?
Select the Undo strip that appears for 8 seconds after any change, or press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac). After that, move or cancel the booking.
Tips for getting the most out of it
Pick the date first in Assign: Best matches only appear once the planner knows the day.
Related: What is the Resource Planner? A tour for new users, How to plan a large workforce on the Resource Planner, How to use the map on the Resource Planner, Planner and schedule notifications: what gets sent and who gets it.
What does the technician receive?
For field technicians, in short. When you book, move or cancel, the technician gets a message. A route plan sends one message for the whole plan. See Planner and schedule notifications: what gets sent and who gets it.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the Date in Assign blank?
On purpose. Pick a date and Best matches appear.
Why was a person greyed out or missing from Best matches?
Best matches only list people who are free for that length of time. Select Show more, or choose anyone from the person list and read the warning.
Why is a job still in To schedule after I booked it?
Check the chip you are on. Unassigned lists jobs with no one on them. No date yet lists jobs with someone but no date, for example after a cancellation.
What happens to bookings customers make on booking pages?
They are marked From booking page and cannot be dragged; change them on the Scheduler. Hide or show them in Board settings. See How to Create and Edit a Booking Schedule (One To One vs One To Many).
Why can't I drag in Week view?
You can drop a job on a cell, or move a booking to another cell. For an exact time, use Day view or Move….
Can a booking run over several days?
For a job, use End date in Assign (up to 14 days). For a booking that is not a job, use Repeats for regular dates.