Overview of the Dispatch Calendar
Security and navigation
SECURITY Security level with Dispatch Calendar permissions
NAVIGATION Calendar > Dispatch Calendar
BEFORE YOU BEGIN This feature may be hidden in your Autotask instance because it is not activated. If so, you can activate it on the Left Navigation Menu > Admin > Admin Categories > Activations page. Refer to Activations.
The Dispatch Calendar is a customizable multi-user calendar that allows you to see multiple resources' calendars in one place:
The Dispatch Calendar is synched with the users' personal Autotask calendars. Changes or additions made to service calls, appointments, to-dos, or quick calls on either calendar (Dispatch or personal) will update automatically on the other.
How to...
Access the Dispatch Calendar
- To open the page, use the path(s) in the Security and navigation section above. The Dispatch Calendar view opens in a separate browser window.
NOTE Because the Dispatch Calendar opens in a new browser window, you can move around in Autotask and keep it open. It is also possible to have multiple instances of the Dispatch Calendar open.
Menu bar features
The menu bar at the top of the Dispatch Calendar provides access to more features. Refer to the following links for more information:
Setting your schedule view and date range
Selecting resources and workgroups to display
Adding and managing appointments
Schedule features
The Dispatch Calendar uses color coding of scheduled items and utilization metrics along with icons to provide visual information cues. Refer to Quick reference to colors, icons and metrics
For information on date navigation and the single or multi-day schedule display, refer to Setting your schedule view and date range.
You are able to save multiple combinations of schedule display and selected workgroups and individuals as "Views", for example, a 5-day schedule displaying your Dispatch workgroup, and a second view of your Sales workgroup. Refer to Managing saved views.
Item list and item filter
The bottom of the Dispatch Calendar displays a re-sizable list of items (tasks and tickets) available for scheduling.
The list menu bar lets you do the following:
- Select the filter you want to apply to the item list from a drop-down of saved filters in the Filter field.
- Access an Options submenu that lets you edit the current filter, create a new filter, and manage previously saved filters. Refer to Creating and editing search filters and Managing saved search filters in Dispatch Calendar
The item list displays all tickets or tasks that match the selected filtering criteria and do not have a status of Complete. The item list includes the following features:
- A Column Chooser that lets you select the columns to display, and to set the order of the columns.
NOTE The Hours to be Scheduled column, available in the column chooser, lets you know how many hours still need to be scheduled on each listed item. Refer to Adding and editing service calls.
NOTE To help you decide which service calls to schedule to meet your SLA events, you can add any or all of the following SLA-related columns to your item list: Next SLA Event Due, First Response Due, Resolution Plan Due, Resolved Due. Refer to Define SLA objectives.
- An icon in the first column that identifies the item as a task or ticket.
- A right-click menu option for any item in the list that allows you to edit the item, add the item to a scheduled service call, or add the item to a new service call.
NOTE Tasks will only be available for scheduling if Left Navigation Menu > Admin > Application-Wide (Shared) Features > System Settings > Service Desk > Allow user that can view all tickets to see, edit, and schedule project tasks in Dispatch Calendar is checked.
