Use this activity to define specific patterns of availability for a resource skill that can be considered when the resource is being scheduled.
When a skill is defined for a resource, that skill is applied without any initial scheduling time constraints. For example, if a resource is rostered to work Monday 14:00-22:00 and has been defined a particular skill, then that resource skill will be available for scheduling between the hours defined on the roster. Using this activity, an additional layer of availability can be defined for the resource skills which may be considered during scheduling. For example, applying an Availability Pattern of every Monday 14:00-16:00 to the resource skill, will ensure that the scheduling engine will only consider that resource skill to be available during the 14:00-16:00 part of their shift and not in the remaining hours of 16:00-22:00.
A series of parameters specific to scheduling can also be applied to the Availability Pattern. In Use/ Not In Use Cost and In Use/ Not in Use Multiplier can be defined to determine the cost and multiplying value that is applied when the skill is available and in use.
An Availability Pattern is applied to a resource skill which can be considered when the resource is being scheduled.