Schedule Optimization travel estimate providers

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Schedule Optimization travel estimate providers

    Schedule Optimization in ServiceNow relies on accurate travel time estimates between agents and work order tasks to efficiently allocate work. It supports two travel estimate providers: Straight-line and Beans.AI. Administrators must select a travel estimate provider for each qualifier-level group to ensure proper scheduling performance.

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    Travel Estimate Providers

    • Straight-line:

      This method calculates travel time based on direct distance between locations as a fallback option. Administrators configure it via Scheduling Attributes by setting a regional speed multiplier and time-based multipliers to adjust estimates. For travel times under 15 minutes, multipliers greater than 1 increase estimated time; for times over 15 minutes, multipliers less than 1 reduce it.

    • Beans.AI:

      Beans.AI is the supported map provider for dynamic travel time estimates. Administrators create connection and credential records within IntegrationHub to enable Beans.AI integration. Schedule Optimization queries Beans.AI during each run, sending a matrix of locations representing agents and tasks. To manage performance and cost, admins can limit the maximum number of location points per query; if exceeded, the system falls back to straight-line calculations.

    Configuration and Limits

    • Maximum location points per Beans.AI query can be adjusted in Schedule Optimization Properties, with a default of 300.
    • Beans.AI settings such as request threshold limits and max location element counts are configurable in Map Provider Configuration. Default values support high-volume daily runs with large matrices.
    • Straight-line remains the fallback logic if customers opt not to use a map provider.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By selecting and properly configuring a travel estimate provider, customers can optimize agent task allocation based on realistic travel times, improving scheduling accuracy and operational efficiency. The ability to tune multipliers and query limits provides flexibility to balance estimate precision and system performance according to organizational needs.

    Travel estimate providers used by Schedule Optimization.

    Efficient allocation of work order tasks to agents depends on accurate estimation of travel time, taking into account both the agent's location and the task's location. Schedule Optimization supports two options to calculate distances between agents and task, Straight-line and Beans.AI. An administrator is required to select a travel estimate provider for all qualifier-level groups. See, Create a scheduling attribute for Schedule Optimization for more information on where the options are located.

    Straight-line

    To enter straight-line travel estimate configuration properties, an administrator can navigate to All > Schedule Optimization > Configuration > Scheduling Attributes and open the travel estimate configuration record.

    In the General tab, you can add the speed limit for the region in the speed multiplier field.

    In the Multipliers tab, the multipliers defined in the straight-line calculation, are the values that the estimated straight-line travel time is multiplied by, depending on the time bracket the estimate falls in. If the travel time is less than 15 minutes, multiply by a value greater than 1, to increase the estimated travel time. If the travel time is greater than 15 minutes, multiply by a positive value smaller than 1 to decrease the estimated travel time.

    Note:
    Straight-line distance calculation is a fallback logic in case a customer doesn’t want to choose a map provider for travel time estimates.

    Beans.AI

    Beans.AI is the map provider that Schedule Optimization supports for travel time estimates.

    To create a connection and credential record for Beans.AI, an administrator can navigate to All > IntegrationHub > Connection and Credentials > Connection and Credentials Aliases.

    Travel estimates are obtained every time Schedule Optimization runs. An administrator can limit the number of locations that are queried from Beans.AI. For example, if optimization runs for two agents and two tasks, a 4x4 matrix is sent to Beans.AI to find the shortest distance to the new location. A 4x4 matrix sends 16 location elements to Beans.AI. If the number of locations queried exceeds the set value, the query defaults to straight-line. To change the maximum number of location points allowed in a provider call, an administrator can navigate to All > Schedule Optimization > Configuration > > Properties > and change the value in the Travel Time Estimates field. The default value is set to 300.

    To change the configurations for Beans.AI, an administrator can navigate to All > Map Integrations for Field Service > Map Provider Configuration.

    By default, the Inputs field is set to Beans.AI. By default Decision table is set up as follows:
    Table 1. Fields in Beans.AI configuration for travel time estimates
    Field Value
    Request Threshold Limit 5000 [considering 50 runs a day with 100 groups in each run]
    Max Location Element Count 250,000 [considering 500 x500 matrix support per Map Provider call]
    Note:
    Straight-line distance calculation is a fallback logic in case a customer doesn’t want to choose a map provider for travel time estimates.