Setting up shifts in Commusoft is crucial for managing your team's availability. It's a required setting for our Scheduling engine, which helps you schedule jobs faster and smarter. It also powers features like self-service portals and suggested appointments.
By clearly defining when an engineer is available or unavailable, you save time on admin tasks and keep your workflow running smoothly, ensuring your calendar always shows accurate engineer availability.
How to access the Shifts setting
➡️ Go to your Profile icon → Choose Settings → Locate Schedule and dispatch in the Categories menu → Click View next to Shifts
Setting up a shift pattern
There are 2 steps to setting up a shift, Add a new shift and then configure the days and times, with any breaks.
Adding an new shift
The form to add a new shift is located on the left side of the settings screen.
Enter a Shift name.
Enter a Shift description.
Click Add engineer shift.
Once it's added, the shift will appear on the list on the right.
Setting up the shift pattern
➡️ Click Setup shift pattern
Select Time Frame: Drag to choose the desired time frame for the shift on the calendar grid.
Define Shift Type: After selecting a time frame, a side panel will appear where you can choose the shift type.
Normal Shift: This represents regular working hours.
Overtime Shift: If you select 'Overtime', an 'Overtime cost' field will appear where you can enter the percentage of the user's assigned labour rate.
Click Save.
Manage breaks: Click the 'Manage breaks' button. A side panel will appear where you can define break periods.
Click the + button to add a new break.
Set time: Use the dropdowns to set the start and end times for the break period. For example, if you set a 45-minute time slot, the available durations will adjust accordingly.
Set duration: Choose the duration of the break from the available options. The user is expected to take the selected break duration within the designated time slot.
Add more breaks: If the user will take multiple breaks in a day, you can add more by clicking the + button and setting the time and duration.
Click Save.
Click Save.
❓ What's next? Assign your shift to your users on their user profile. Check out the Users article for more information.
Managing Shifts
Editing shift details
This will allow you to edit the basic shift details, name, and description.
➡️ Click Edit → Make your changes → Click Save engineer shift.
Editing the shift pattern
➡️ Click Setup shift pattern
To edit an existing shift pattern, you will need to delete the current time slot and re-add it with the new details.
Click on the time slot you wish to edit on the calendar.
Click Delete at the bottom of the side panel.
Re-add the shift pattern with the desired changes by following the steps in the "Setting up a shift pattern" section.
Click Save.
To edit breaks within a shift pattern:
Click 'Manage breaks' at the top right of the calendar view.
Adjust the 'Time' or 'Duration' for an existing break, or click the 'Delete' button next to a break to remove it.
Click Save to apply your changes to the breaks.
Click Save again to apply all shift pattern changes.
Deleting a shift
➡️ Click Delete → Type "delete" to confirm → Click Delete.
⚠️ You cannot delete a shift that is currently assigned to a user. You will need to unassign the shift from the user profile(s) before the shift can be deleted.
Common questions
💭 Are AM/PM events supported within shifts?
No, AM/PM and All day events are not supported within shifts. This is because the scheduling engine needs to be able to schedule appointments in specific timeslots, and these broader timeframes are not compatible.
💭 Can I assign multiple shifts to a user?
No, users can only have one shift assigned at a time. If there's a change to their regular shift pattern, you will need to change the shift assigned in their user profile.
🎓 For further training on configuring the scheduling engine, check out our Self service course in the Commusoft Academy.