To set up the Resource Planner, ask the Colobbo team to switch it on for your company, then give people the Resource Planner permission, check the planning time zone and new-job defaults under Settings âș Organisation âș Organization Details, switch on Technician Availability and save each person's working hours. This article is for admins. Planners should start with What is the Resource Planner? A tour for new users.
How do I get the Resource Planner?
Colobbo switches it on for your company; it is being piloted with some companies. Contact the Colobbo team. Route optimisation, Colobbo AI, live technician locations, personal booking pages and repeating schedules are also switched on per company. Usage limits apply to route optimisation and Colobbo AI.
Who can use it?
Once it is on, what each person can do comes from the Resource Planner permission on their role.
Permission | Lets them |
View | See the planner, its jobs, bookings and alerts. |
Edit | Book, move and cancel work, create bookings, move due dates, and change the company's planner settings. |
A subcontractor's admin sees only their own company's people and the work given to them.
A technician whose role has access sees only their own row. They also get a message whenever they are booked, moved or cancelled.
If Resource Planner is missing from the menu for someone, check their role first.
How do I set the planning time zone?
Open Settings âș Organisation âș Organization Details and find the Resource Planner panel.
Choose the Time zone your planners plan in. The default is Australia/Melbourne, and it covers daylight saving.
Select Save for everyone. If you changed the zone, Colobbo asks first and you select Yes, save for everyone. Undo changes goes back.
If you change the zone later, bookings do not move; the planner shows them in the new zone. People can still choose Show times in My time in their own Board settings.
How do I set how new jobs start?
In the same panel, New jobs start as sets what happens when a planner drops a job on the board:
Choice | What it does |
Hours | A new job gets a start time and a length. Set the Length. |
Whole day | A new job takes the whole day, with no set time. |
Each planner can choose their own in Board settings, so this is only the starting choice. Only an admin can change the company's settings.
What is the lunch break setting?
Where route optimisation is on, Lunch break in route plans keeps a break free in every route plan. Choose No break, or set the break and when it starts. See How to plan a technician's day with Colobbo route optimisation.
How do I set working hours?
With working hours on, the planner shows each person's capacity (for example 6 / 8.5 h) and warns about late or overbooked days.
Go to Settings âș Organisation âș Technician Availability and switch it On. The same switch shows at the top of Settings âș Users & Roles.
Open a field technician in Settings âș Users & Roles âș Users and scroll to Working hours.
Set the hours for each day, or mark a day Not working. Copy Monday to TuesdayâFriday fills the week in one go.
Select Verify and save (or Save hours when you have changed something).
In the editor | What it sets |
Each day | The hours worked, or Not working. |
+ Add hours | A second block on the same day, for split shifts. |
Repeats | Every week, or alternating weeks. |
One-off changes | A single date that is different, with an optional note. A whole day off is leave: add it under User Day Off. |
What does "Hours not verified" mean?
A person's hours count only once an admin has checked and saved them. Until then their row says Hours not verified (or No hours set) and the planner never calls them over capacity. Select Verify and save to confirm the old hours as they are. Leave is unaffected.
How do I set where each person's day starts?
Best matches and route plans start from where a person's day starts. Open the person's panel on the planner and find Start location.
Select Set start location (or Change).
Choose Same as their home address, Their company's office, or Another address.
For another address, name it, search for the address and select Save.
People can also set their own in My Profile or in the Colobbo app. Ask them to finish it in their panel asks them to complete their profile. Only the people who plan someone see their start address.
How do I add skills?
The planner uses the skills your company already records against people, under Skills in Filter people, on a booking's Needs skill (optional), and in Best matches. If you do not see Skills, none are recorded yet; contact the Colobbo team.
How do I set up booking pages?
A personal booking page is a link customers use to book time with one person, only when that person is free on the planner. Open the person's panel and select Booking page, then Set up a booking page. Bookings customers make show on the planner as From booking page, and are changed in the Scheduler. See How to Create and Edit a Booking Schedule (One To One vs One To Many).
How do I turn on route optimisation, Colobbo AI, live location and schedules?
You do not switch these on yourself; ask your Colobbo contact. Once on, they appear for the people who have access: Ask and the ⯠menu on the planner, Share my location while working in the Colobbo app, and Schedules on the lists. This arrives with the next Colobbo app update. See How to plan a technician's day with Colobbo route optimisation, How to use Colobbo AI in the Resource Planner and How live technician locations work (and how to turn sharing on).
What do technicians need to do?
Open My Profile and add a photo, a phone number and where their day starts.
In the Colobbo app, turn on Share my location while working if live locations are on for your company. It shares only while the app is open and they are on shift.
If a card says Finish your profile, select Finish profile.
What is a good launch checklist?
Step | Where |
1. Colobbo switches the planner on | Contact the Colobbo team. |
2. Give planners View and Edit | Their role, Resource Planner permission. |
3. Check time zone and new-job defaults | Settings âș Organisation âș Organization Details âș Resource Planner. |
4. Switch on Technician Availability | Settings âș Organisation âș Technician Availability. |
5. Save working hours for each technician | Settings âș Users & Roles âș Users. |
6. Set start locations | A person's panel, or their My Profile. |
7. Set up booking pages if you use them | A person's panel, Booking page. |
8. Send planners the tour |
Tips for getting the most out of it
Set working hours before you train your planners; capacity bars only mean something once hours are verified.
Set start locations early. Best matches are only as good as the start place.
Frequently asked questions
Does switching on working hours change leave?
No. Leave stays where it is and the planner shows it either way.
Which users get the Working hours editor?
Field technicians and subcontractor technicians.
Can a subcontractor's technicians have working hours?
Yes. Set them the same way.
Why is a person never flagged as over capacity?
Their hours are not verified, or none are set. Save their working hours in Settings âș Users & Roles.
What happens if I change the planning time zone later?
Bookings do not move. The planner shows them in the new zone.
Where do my planners learn the planner?