Crew Planning

Introduction

Crew Planning in FieldFX Schedule & Dispatch is the mechanism used to assign (dispatch) individual crew members to a specific job for a defined time period.

Once a crew member is dispatched, FieldFX treats that person as part of the job’s active workforce and enables downstream behaviors like mobile sync and ticketing.

Crew Planning Features

Role Assignment on a Job

Each dispatched crew member can be assigned a Role on a Job when creating a Crew Planning record. You can define what function the person is performing on that job (for example, operator, supervisor, technician).

This role is stored with the Crew Planning record and travels with the crew assignment.

Date‑Bound Crew Assignments

Start and end dates per crew member per job are supported allowing:

  • Different crew members to be assigned for different time windows

  • Planned crew rotations on longer‑running jobs

  • Controlled sync windows (via Sync Assignments) tied to those dates

Sync Assignment Automation

Sync Assignments can automatically be created, which is a core system feature tightly coupled to crew dispatch and not a manual step.

When a crew member is dispatched, a trigger creates a Sync Assignment. Sync Assignments control whether the job can sync to a crew member’s mobile device. Sync Assignments can be reviewed from the crew member’s contact record.

Job Record Crew Visibility

A Crew Planning related list is provided as part of the core UI experience on the Job record, which allows users to:

  • View all dispatched crew members

  • See their roles and assignment dates

  • Manage crew composition directly from the job

Undispatch a Crew Member (Crew Removal)

You can remove (undispatch) crew members from a job by deleting their Crew Planning record.

This immediately:

  • Removes the crew member from the job

  • Stops further mobile sync eligibility via Sync Assignments

Ticket Integration (Crew → Tickets)

Dispatched crew can be added to tickets, which is a documented feature and outcome of dispatching.

This works in two places:

  • FieldFX Back Office, using the Ticket Scheduling Component

  • FieldFX Mobile, while working tickets in the field

Only dispatched crew members are eligible to be added to tickets.

Lightning Ticket Scheduling Component Support

Crew Planning integrates with the FXL Ticket Scheduling Component in Salesforce Lightning.

This component enables:

  • Scheduling crew onto tickets

  • Associating dispatched crew with ticket labor entries

Multi‑Crew Support Per Job

Multiple crew members per job are supported, each with independent roles and date ranges.

This enables:

  • Full crew dispatch (not just a single technician)

  • Mixed roles on the same job

  • Overlapping or staggered assignments

Other Features Mentioned elsewhere in FieldFX

Crew Planning is used to assign crew members to jobs and enable mobile sync and ticketing.

The following commonly associated capabilities are not part of Crew Planning and are documented elsewhere on https://docs.fieldfx.com:

Related Capabilities Description See Also

Crew qualification, skills, or certification matching

Crew Planning does not evaluate skills or qualifications when dispatching crew.

User configuration
contact configuration
Job setup requirements

Crew availability or scheduling conflict validation

Crew Planning does not validate crew availability or detect scheduling conflicts.

FX Schedule & Dispatch job scheduling workflows

Automatic crew selection or optimization

Crew Planning does not recommend or automatically assign crew members to jobs.

Schedule & Dispatch planning and dispatch processes

Route planning or travel optimization

Crew Planning does not calculate routes, drive times, or optimize crew travel.

Schedule & Dispatch job planning features.

Labor costing, payroll rules, or pay calculations

Crew Planning does not calculate labor costs or manage payroll or pay rules.

Ticketing and Timecards documentation.

Use the FieldFX Doc Site Search function to search for these related topics mentioned above.

Prerequisites

To use the Crew Planning feature, you need to:

Have these user licenses Have these permissions Complete these tasks
and review these topics
before continuing

Sync Assignments

A sync assignment controls whether a job can be synced for crew members. When you dispatch crew to a job, a trigger runs to add a sync assignment for each crew member.

You can view the sync assignments for a crew member by looking at the Job Sync Assignments related list in their contact record.

Crew Planning doesn’t override the Job Sync flag. If Sync is set to false on the Job record, the job won’t sync even when crew members are dispatched.

How Crew Planning Works

Crew Planning controls how crew members are assigned to jobs and how those assignments enable mobile access and ticketing.

Flow of Crew Planning
Figure 1. Crew Planning Flow

Prerequisites and Setup

Before Crew Planning can be used, the following must already be in place:

  • FieldFX Schedule & Dispatch is set up and configured

  • Required FieldFX licenses are assigned

  • Users have the minimum permissions for Schedule & Dispatch

  • Crew members exist as user contacts in FieldFX

Users aren’t created or permissions configured in Crew Planning — it relies on the existing setup.

Job Exists in FieldFX

Crew Planning always starts with an existing Job record:

  • The job is created in FieldFX Back Office

  • The job represents the work to be performed

  • At this point, no crew is yet associated with the job

Crew Planning records are always related to a specific job.

Dispatcher Adds Crew Planning Records

From the Job record in FieldFX Back Office, the dispatcher assigns crew:

  1. Open the job

  2. In the Crew Planning related section, create a new Crew Planning record.

  3. Specify:

    • Crew Member (user contact)

    • Role on Job

    • Start Date and End Date

      When you add a Contact (crew member) or a piece of equipment to a Job from the declarative Crew Planning section or Equipment Planning section on the Job page, FieldFX automatically copies the Job’s planned start date and planned end date to the new Crew Planning or Equipment Planning record.

      If a specific crew member or piece of equipment is only planned for part of the Job’s date range, you can edit the planned start and end dates on the respective planning record after it is created.

  4. Save the record

  5. Repeat as needed for additional crew members.

Each Crew Planning record represents one crew member assigned to the job for a defined time period.

System Automatically Creates Sync Assignments

When a Crew Planning record is saved, FieldFX automatically runs a trigger:

  • A Sync Assignment is created for the crew member and job

  • The Sync Assignment controls whether the job can sync to that crew member’s mobile device

This step is fully automated and requires no user action.

Job Becomes Available in FieldFX Mobile

As a result of the Sync Assignment:

  • The job is eligible to sync to FieldFX Mobile for the dispatched crew member

  • The crew member can view and work the job on their mobile device

Only dispatched crew members receive the job in mobile.

Crew Is Available for Ticketing

Once crew members are dispatched:

  • They become available to be added to tickets associated with the job

  • This applies in both:

    • FieldFX Back Office, using the Ticket Scheduling Component

    • FieldFX Mobile, while working the ticket in the field

Crew Planning itself does not create tickets—it enables dispatched crew to be used on them.

Dispatcher Can Review and Manage Crew

At any time, the dispatcher can:

  • View all dispatched crew members in the Crew Planning section of the job

  • See roles and assignment dates

  • Add additional crew members

  • Adjust crew composition by removing Crew Planning record

Removing Crew from a Job

If a crew member is no longer needed:

  1. The dispatcher deletes the Crew Planning record

  2. The crew member is removed from the job

  3. The related Sync Assignment no longer allows the job to sync to that crew member

This effectively “undispatches” the crew member.

Sync Assignment Visibility

Sync Assignments created by Crew Planning can be reviewed:

  • From the crew member’s Contact record

  • In the Job Sync Assignments related list

This provides visibility into which jobs are allowed to sync to a given crew member.

Step-by-Step Guides

  1. Access FieldFX Back Office.

  2. Open the Jobs tab.

  3. Open the job.

  4. From the Job tab, you can:

Dispatch Crew to a Job

  1. In the Jobs tab and under Crew Planning, click New Crew Planning.

  2. In Crew Member, select a user contact.

When you add a Contact (crew member) or a piece of equipment to a Job from the declarative Crew Planning section or Equipment Planning section on the Job page, FieldFX automatically copies the Job’s planned start date and planned end date to the new Crew Planning or Equipment Planning record.

If a specific crew member or piece of equipment is only planned for part of the Job’s date range, you can edit the planned start and end dates on the respective planning record after it is created.

  1. In Role on Job, select a role for crew member.

  2. Select a start and end date for the crew member.

  3. Click Save & New.

  4. Repeat the above steps to dispatch another crew member to a job.

  5. Click Save to finish.

View Crew Dispatched to a Job

  1. In the Jobs tab and under Crew Planning, open the job.

  2. Review the crew members in the Crew Planning section.

Remove Crew from a Job

  1. Open the job.

  2. In the Crew Planning section, click Del next to the crew member.

  3. Click OK.

Add Dispatched Crew to a Ticket

You can add dispatched crew to a ticket from either FieldFX Back Office or in FieldFX Mobile.

  1. Use the FXL Ticket Scheduling Component on the Ticketing Scheduling Component Page in Lightning and add the Ticketing Scheduling Component.

  2. To add dispatched equipment to a ticket, use the FX5__Equipment_Planning__c API Object to add the equipment.

FieldFX Back Office

Use the FXL Ticket Scheduling Component on the Ticketing Scheduling Component Page in Lightning and add the Ticketing Scheduling Component.

To add dispatched crew to a ticket, use the FX5__Crew_Planning__c API Object to add the crew.

When you add a Contact (crew member) or a piece of equipment to a Job from the declarative Crew Planning section or Equipment Planning section on the Job page, FieldFX automatically copies the Job’s planned start date and planned end date to the new Crew Planning or Equipment Planning record.

If a specific crew member or piece of equipment is only planned for part of the Job’s date range, you can edit the planned start and end dates on the respective planning record after it is created.

Legacy FieldFX Mobile

  1. Access FieldFX Back Office.

  2. Select Tickets on the sidebar.

  3. Select the ticket.

  4. Select Items on the sidebar.

  5. Select Add (Blue add plus button)

  6. Select Scheduled Crew.

  7. Select crew.

  8. Select Add (Green add plus button)

  9. Enter details before saving.

View the Sync Assignments for a Crew Member

  1. Access FieldFX Back Office.

  2. Open the Contacts tab.

  3. Open the contact for the crew member.

  4. Move down to the Job Sync Assignments section.

Recommended Reading

For more information, see:

FieldFX Documentation PTC ServiceMax Help Center Salesforce Documentation

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