Finding and Booking the Right Slot

Use Find slot when you know a job needs scheduling but you do not want to choose the engineer and time by guesswork. Deucalion checks the current planner window, the job requirements, engineer profiles, site access, availability, capacity, and nearby work, then shows ranked options you can book.

Find slot is a planning aid. It helps you find a suitable option, but deployment is still a separate final step.

When to use Find slot

Use Find slot when:

1. A job is in the work queue and needs an engineer and exact date.
2. A job has a target month but is ready to become a booked visit.
3. You need to avoid assigning specialist work to the wrong engineer.
4. You want to check route fit before booking a slot.
5. A planner has moved work around and needs a cleaner option.

Use manual editing instead when you already know the exact engineer and time, or when you need to update booking status, visibility, customer notification details, notes, priority, or duration before choosing a slot.

Before you start

Find slot depends on good field-resource and job data. If suggestions look wrong, check the source data before assuming the planner is broken.

Check field-resource details

1. Open Scheduling.
2. Select Field resources.
3. Open the engineer.
4. Review their scheduling profile.
5. Save any genuine corrections.

The profile should reflect the engineer's real working setup:

Do not add a skill or equipment item just to make an engineer appear in suggestions. Add it only when it is true for that engineer.

Check the job details

Open the job in Planner quick view when the card looks incomplete.

Check:

1. Estimated duration.
2. Site and system.
3. Required competencies.
4. Required equipment.
5. Site access notes and access windows.
6. Booking status.
7. Whether the job is already deployed.

A job marked Do not move, already deployed, completed, cancelled, or on hold may not be suitable for ordinary slot searching.

Find a slot from the work queue

1. Open Scheduling.
2. Set the visible date range to the period you want to plan.
3. Find the job in the Work queue.
4. Select Find slot.
5. Wait for Deucalion to check available engineers and dates.
6. Review the suggested slots.
7. Select Book on the option you want.

After booking, the job appears in the planner with the suggested engineer and scheduled time.

Find a slot from Planner quick view

Use this route when you are already looking at the job.

1. Click the job card.
2. Review the job summary and warnings.
3. Select Find slot.
4. If there are unsaved edits, decide whether to save or discard them first.
5. Review the suggestions.
6. Book the preferred option.

This route is useful when a warning, booking status, or duration needs checking before you trust a suggestion.

Read the suggestions

Each suggestion shows the engineer, date, start time, score, and reason chips.

Prefer suggestions that combine the right skills, the right equipment, enough remaining time, and a practical route.

Why an engineer may not appear

Find slot does not list every engineer. It lists engineers who can take the job in the selected window.

An engineer may be missing because:

1. Their profile does not include a required competency.
2. Their profile does not include required equipment.
3. They do not work that weekday.
4. The visit would run outside their shift.
5. They are on leave.
6. Their day is already full.
7. The site does not allow access at the proposed time.
8. The job is locked, deployed, completed, cancelled, or on hold.

If a skilled job has no suggestions, start by checking field-resource competencies. An empty competency list is not a match for specialist work.

Understand warning badges

Warnings help you decide whether a job is ready to move, book, or deploy.

Do not treat a warning as a decoration. If a warning appears, read it before sending work to the field.

Booked work still needs final checks

Booking a suggestion is not the same as deploying a job.

After booking:

1. Open the job in the board or timeline.
2. Check the warning badges.
3. Open Planner quick view if booking status, customer notification, duration, or visibility still needs work.
4. Use the Ready pipeline filter to confirm the job is ready for field handoff.
5. Deploy only when deployment preview shows no blockers.

Target-month work is useful for planning, but it is not ready for engineers until it has an exact date and time.

Use drag-and-drop for quick changes

Drag-and-drop is still useful when you already know the target day or engineer.

1. Drag the job to the engineer or day.
2. Read any blocked-drop reason.
3. If the move succeeds, check the warning badge.
4. Use Planner quick view for anything more detailed than assignment and timing.

If you are not sure which engineer should take the work, use Find slot instead of dragging.

Use bulk preview before changing several jobs

Bulk preview is the safer path when several jobs need the same change.

1. Select the jobs.
2. Choose Bulk edit.
3. Turn on only the fields you want to change.
4. Select Preview Changes.
5. Review valid, warned, and blocked jobs.
6. Open blocked reasons before applying.
7. Apply only when the preview matches the intended plan.

Bulk preview is especially useful for reassigning work during absence, shifting a group of visits, adding required equipment, or preparing a deployment batch.

Use day-run planning for one engineer's route

Use Build day run when the question is not just "who is free?" but "what makes a practical day?"

1. Select Build day run.
2. Choose the engineer and date.
3. Review existing booked stops.
4. Review suggested additions.
5. Check blocked nearby work.
6. Apply the route only when it makes operational sense.

The day-run builder helps with route shape and daily load. It does not replace checking warnings before deployment.

Example: book a skilled fire damper visit

1. Open Scheduling.
2. Set the date range to next week.
3. Find the fire damper job in the work queue.
4. Select Find slot.
5. Look for a suggestion with right skills.
6. Prefer a suggestion that also has right equipment and a useful route chip.
7. Select Book.
8. Open the booked job in quick view.
9. Set booking status to Date offered or Confirmed when the appointment state is known.
10. Check warnings.
11. Deploy only after the job appears in Ready and deployment preview is clear.

If no engineer appears, check whether the relevant field resources have the fire damper competency recorded.

Example: explain a missing suggestion

When someone asks why a specific engineer was not suggested, check:

1. Does the job require a competency the engineer profile does not list?
2. Does the job require equipment the engineer profile does not list?
3. Is the engineer already full that day?
4. Is the engineer off, outside shift, or on leave?
5. Does the site block the proposed day or time?
6. Is the job locked, deployed, completed, cancelled, or on hold?

Most missing suggestions are caused by profile data, site rules, capacity, or job state.

Troubleshooting

Good planning habits

1. Keep field-resource profiles current.
2. Use Find slot for uncertain engineer/time choices.
3. Use quick view when the job details need checking.
4. Use timeline for capacity.
5. Use map for geography.
6. Use bulk preview for groups.
7. Use deployment preview before field handoff.
8. Treat warnings as work to understand, not noise to ignore.