Configuring Dynamic Scheduling

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configuring Dynamic Scheduling

    Dynamic Scheduling in ServiceNow enables dispatchers to efficiently assign, change, or cancel work order tasks by automating task assignments based on real-time conditions. This feature optimizes field service operations by prioritizing tasks, selecting the best-suited agents, and adapting to changes such as agent availability or task priority shifts.

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    Key Features

    • Task Selection and Prioritization: Define task filters to select eligible tasks and create ordering rules to prioritize tasks, such as assigning high-priority (P1) tasks first.
    • Automatic Assignment and Reassignment: Use rules to unassign lower priority tasks to free resources for higher priority ones and reassign tasks when agents are unavailable.
    • Agent Selection Criteria: Incorporate agent skills, travel time, and schedules to assign tasks to the most appropriate field service agents.
    • Customization and Flexibility: Adjust system properties and components to tailor dynamic scheduling to your organization’s needs, including handling customer preferences, technician exclusions, and proximity-based assignments.
    • Support for Planned and Dynamic Crews: Assign tasks to either pre-created planned crews or dynamically created crews, requiring the Field Service Crew Operations plugin and proper crew setup.

    Implementation Steps

    • Activate the Dynamic Scheduling plugin (com.snc.dynamicscheduling).
    • Understand the process engine that monitors tasks and agent statuses in real-time.
    • Define roles and personas (administrators, dispatchers, agents) involved in managing dynamic scheduling.
    • Set up agent schedules to enable optimal task allocation.
    • Configure dynamic scheduling as the scheduling mechanism to automate assignments.
    • Review and customize system properties and components to fit organizational workflows.
    • Create task filters, ordering rules, and unassignment criteria to guide task assignments effectively.
    • Validate the configuration to ensure smooth performance and address potential misconfigurations.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By implementing Dynamic Scheduling, ServiceNow customers can expect streamlined dispatch operations with automatic, priority-based task assignments that optimize resource use and improve service responsiveness. This reduces dispatcher workload by focusing only on exceptions and ensures tasks are handled by the most qualified and available agents promptly. Additionally, support for crew-based assignments enhances coordination for field service teams.

    Configure dynamic scheduling to let dispatchers to easily assign, change, or cancel work tasks. Optimize work order task assignments and streamline field service operations by setting up dynamic scheduling according to your organization's requirements.

    Dynamic scheduling enables dispatchers to auto assign tasks and adapt to changing conditions, as well as needing to focus only on exception cases. Using this feature, you can:

    • Select a set of tasks for scheduling.
    • Prioritize the tasks in the set based on ordering rules (for example, assign P1 tasks first).
    • Use ordering rules and unassignment constraints to unassign previously assigned tasks to allow the assignment of higher priority tasks.
    • Use selection criteria such as agent skills and travel time to select agents.
    • Reassign tasks for agent time off.

    Configuration overview

    The steps to set up Dynamic Scheduling are:
    1. Activate dynamic scheduling: Activate the Dynamic Scheduling plugin (com.snc.dynamic_scheduling) to enable the dynamic scheduling functionality in your system.
    2. Learn Dynamic Scheduling process engine: Dynamic Scheduling optimizes and assign work orders to field service agents in real-time. It involves continuously monitoring the status of tasks and available agents and making intelligent decisions to ensure that tasks are assigned to the most appropriate agent at the most appropriate time.
    3. Roles and personas required for Dynamic Scheduling: Manage dynamic scheduling process with administrators, dispatchers, and field service agents.
    4. Set up agent schedules for dynamic scheduling: Set up agent schedules so that dynamic scheduling systematically ensures optimal task allocation.
    5. Set up Dynamic Scheduling as scheduling mechanism: Select dynamic scheduling as the preferred task assignment method. This ensures that tasks are automatically assigned to field agents based on predefined criteria and rules.
    6. Review system properties and components for Dynamic Scheduling: Review the properties and other installed components related to dynamic scheduling. Customize the settings to align with your organization's specific requirements and business processes.
    7. Configure dynamic scheduling: Create Dynamic scheduling such as task filter, task ordering rule, and unassignment criteria to ensures tasks are allocated to agents with the right expertise who are nearby. This optimizes agent utilization and guarantees that assignments are handled by the most qualified individuals.
    8. Create a task filter for dynamic scheduling: Define criteria to select eligible tasks for dynamic scheduling. Factors like task types, priorities, and attributes determine task eligibility. Task filters help focus on specific tasks for efficient scheduling.
    9. Create a task ordering rule: Create rules to determine the order of task assignments from the selected set of tasks. For instance, designate Priority 1 tasks as the top priority, ensuring swift attention to critical work. These rules enhance task assignments by aligning them with organizational priorities.
    10. Set task unassignment rules for flexibility: Create unassignment rules to make task assignments more flexible. This guarantees that service remains uninterrupted by either unassigning or reassigning tasks. It ensures that all tasks are attended to even if someone is absent. For example, if a more important task comes up, you can unassign less critical ones to make room for it. This optimizes resource use and ensures high-priority tasks get the attention they need.
    11. Validate configuration to identify any potential issues or misconfiguration that may impact the performance of dynamic scheduling.
    12. Optionally, you can also use the advanced configuration options for dynamic scheduling include assigning the same agent to all tasks, priority assignment for critical high-priority work orders, customer preferences for technicians or exclusions, proximity, and more.

    Dynamic Scheduling for Planned Crews

    Use Dynamic Scheduling to optimize task assignments to planned crews. There are two types of crews: planned crews, which are pre-created, and dynamic crews, which are dynamically created as needed. Dynamic Scheduling supports both planned crews and dynamic crews. To ensure task assignment to crews, the Field Service Crew Operations plugin must be active, planned crews must be created in the system, and each planned crew should have a designated location and schedule.