Appendix: FAQ¶

Using the Advanced Resource Planner¶

The Advanced Resource Planner (ARP) is able to store data that does not frequently change. It is the ideal place to store Appointment_Templates, and there are equivalent entities RAM_Appointment_Template and RAM_Appointment_Template_Item which may be used to keep a set of templates for long-term use. Each day, when a new load is sent to the DSE, any appointment templates in the ARP are automatically imported.

Frequently Asked Questions¶

When should an initial load be sent?¶

It is recommended that an initial load is sent into the system at least every 24 hours. The load will determine when the schedule window ends, and this can only be updated once another load is sent, so it is essential to send initial loads in order to advance the end of the scheduling window. The initial load is also used for database maintenance purposes. The load needs to pass in all necessary information about all activities and resources to be scheduled by the DSE.

It is assumed that the external system keeps track of all this information.

What is the purpose of the appointment_window_length parameter on Appointment_Template?¶

When the Appointment Booking Engine offers an appointment slot, it actually chooses an optimum time for the appointment to happen. If a customer requests an appointment on Monday morning, say, then the ABE may decide that the best time (given the currently-known workload) for the appointment is 10:42. If an appointment window length of 1 hour and a granularity of 15 minutes are specified, then the appointment offer will be made for the period 10:45 to 11:45. This allows the customer to know more precisely what time to expect the service engineer to call, increasing the quality of the service provided.

The tighter these constraints are made, the less flexibility there is in accommodating future appointment requests, so there is a balance to be struck between the narrowness of the appointment window, and the number of appointments that can be made.

Why does the Appointment Booking Engine offer appointments that cannot be guaranteed?¶

The ABE operates on the latest plan produced by the DSE, and therefore is making offers based on information that is slightly out-of-date. However, it does take account of any other offers being made at the same time: each offer slot reserves that time period until the offer is accepted, rejected, or times out.

The reason for using the latest plans, and also for choosing an appointment without fully optimising the schedule, is in order to get an offer quickly. If a 100% certain appointment is required, the activity should simply be submitted to the DSE in the normal way.

It is always possible that, following the acceptance of an appointment, a skilled resource goes off sick, or some other unexpected event occurs. In these circumstances, some accepted appointments may become unallocated in the DSE, and that is why it is important for the Service Management System to check for such exceptions.

Can the Appointment Booking Engine make appointments for times outside the DSE's scheduling window?¶

Yes and no. The ABE can make appointments in the time period from the input reference datetime, to the input reference datetime plus the input reference duration plus the input reference appointment window duration. If appointment requests are made outside this period, then appointment offers will be returned as unavailable.

If the input reference appointment window duration is greater than zero, the DSE will have produced an optimised plan for the period up to the input reference duration, but an approximate plan thereafter.