All about Scheduling in TimeTec Patrol

Thursday, October 19, 2017 TimeTec 0 Comments



Introduction
Scheduling guards is not an easy feat because different sites may require different schedules and timings. TimeTec Patrol caters to that complexity by automating the whole scheduling process. Thus, a lot of time and money can be saved instantaneously.
Furthermore, with this cloud solution, guards can view their upcoming routes easily via smartphone. 
This article covers some basic questions regarding scheduling and provides a step-by-step guide on how to configure a schedule.

General Questions
1. Can I create scheduled patrol routes for my guards?
Yes, you can do it through TimeTec Patrol web application.

2. How can the guards view the scheduled routes?
They can view the assigned routes in TimeTec Patrol App whenever they sign in.

3. If a supervisor alters the patrol schedule, will the guard be informed instantly?
Yes, the changes will be reflected on the guard's Mobile App immediately.

4. If a staff fails to follow a schedule, how would TimeTec Patrol handle it?
If Admin uses ‘Notify if routes not start after xx mins’ in Schedule settings, the system will send an alert message via emails and push notifications to the personnel-in-charge and the Admin could then assign another guard to replace the schedule.

On Route & Schedule Timing
1. When exactly can guards start the patrol?
a) Can they start earlier than the scheduled time of 10.00 am? For instance at 9.00 am, if there are exceptional circumstances?
For each Route, in the ‘Patrol Route’ module settings there is one option for “Cannot start tour __ min before schedule starts”. If your security policy does not allow for major changes in schedule, you can enable this option and set it at 10 minutes. With that, the guard(s) on duty can only begin patrol tour from 9.50 am and not any earlier.
However, if you do not enable the above function, then the guard is only allowed to start tour from the exact scheduled time, i.e. 10.00 am.

b) What if they are late to start their round which is supposed to begin at 10.00 am and end by 12.00 pm?
For each Route, in the ‘Patrol Route’ module settings there is one option for “Cannot start tour __ min before schedule ends”. If you choose to enable this option and set it at 90 minutes, the guard can only start the tour via the Patrol App latest by 10.30am. Also, if you skip this, then the guard is allowed to start duty latest by 12.00 pm.

Step-by-Step Guide on Creating Schedule
1. Scheduling is the last setup step before guards can commence patrol duties. Therefore, please ensure all the previous stages are completed, including creation of your required Patrol Routes and NFC tag registrations. For more details on the previous setups, please refer to here.

2. Select Patrol Location. Ensure that you’ve already configure Route for that Patrol Location.
3. Click Add button > Add Schedules & Guards. Insert schedule ID and Name.

4. Select Weekly or Customise the types of schedule.

- Weekly      - Default schedule.
                     - Automatically provides 7 days.

- Customise        - Click ‘add more’ to create additional days.
- For special sequences, e.g. compulsory to switch routes schedule every 3 days


5. In this example, we use a Weekly schedule. Key in the time for your patrol rounds accordingly. Click the + sign to add another slot for that day. If there are 3 rounds, set the time for 3 slots.

6. Next, click on the guard icon to assign patrol routes and guards. Only routes that do not exceed the time range within your patrol schedule will be available (e.g. 07:00 to 08:00 - only routes that take 60 minutes or less can be chosen).

7. Assign guards to this route during this patrol round (07:00 to 08:00). Click ‘add more’ if there is another route to patrol within the same time range. Once you are done, click ‘Save’.
Note: If you assign 3 guards to one round, all 3 are expected to carry out the patrol duty. There is no option for setting the condition for having at least one guard to patrol the area. However, you can remove guards from particular schedules in the ‘Patrol Schedule Details’ tab later on.   

8. Repeat Steps 5 to 7 for all of the days. Finally, configure the remaining settings and click ‘Save’.
Information on the other settings options:

a. ‘Roll the schedule for coming’
Use this to repeat the same schedule if it does not need to be rotated.  
b. ‘Notify if routes are not start after’ & ‘Person to notify’
If guard(s) fail to start their tour, TimeTec Patrol will send an alert message via e-mails and push notifications to the personnel-in-charge.
c. ‘Keep user modified data’
Checked by default. Keep edited data if Admin has made any changes on the schedules.

9. Please note that a schedule cannot be deleted until it has already been completed (i.e. passed the last scheduled date) and it is not regenerated within one month after completion. You can create up to a maximum of 999 schedules in the system.

10. Once you completed the configuration, you can refer to the ‘Patrol Schedule Details’ tab for full details. Click Edit if you want to change the guards or route assignments for a specific date.

11. You will see the scheduled item(s) on Today Patrol Schedules at the Home page Dashboard.

12. When the duty begins, the assigned guard(s) can then log in to the App and begin their tour.

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