Creating a Visit

A Visit represents a scheduled piece of work against an Order, assigned to a resource (operative) for completion. Visits carry the surveys, job codes, and instructions the operative needs to complete the work on site.

Job Management (Connect) provides multiple ways to create visits depending on the workflow required. The most common method is from the Order itself, but visits can also be created in bulk, from the mobile device, via import, through the Subcontractor Portal, or via the API.

Creating a Visit from an Order

Go to Orders > Order Management.
Select the order you want to create a visit for.
Select Create Visit in the header bar.
Choose the Resource (operative) to assign the visit to.
Set the Visit Date.
Select a Planning Mask to define the planning window for the visit.
Optionally set the Planned Start Time and Duration.
Confirm to create the visit.

Once created, the visit appears on the Visits tab of the order and is sent to the operative's mobile device (subject to the queue pull and release process).

Creating a visit typically moves the Order Status from New to Planned.

Creating a Visit from Order Entry

The Add Visit tab on the Order Entry screen allows you to create individual visits for existing orders.

Go to Orders > Order Entry/Appointments.
Select the Add Visit tab.
Search for and select the order.
Choose the resource to send the visit to.
Confirm to create the visit.

Creating Multiple Visits

Use the Add Multiple tab to create visits for multiple customers at once. Search for customers, tick as many as needed, and the system will schedule the visits.

Location: Orders > Order Entry/Appointments > Add Multiple tab

This option schedules the visits so you can only create as many as will fit on the diary. Generally this is about 50 a day at most.

Creating a Visit from the Order Management Dashboard

The Order Management grid allows you to create completed visits directly from the dashboard. Select one or more orders from the grid and use the Create Visit button.

Location: Orders > Order Management > Create Visit button (on the grid)

Once the visit is created you can adjust the Job Code quantities from the visit's Visit Job Codes tab.

Creating a Visit from the Planning Board

Users can drag and drop work onto the Resource Visualiser or Job Planner to create and schedule visits. When the Optimise integration is enabled, visits can also be released to Optimise for automatic scheduling.

Location: Planning > Planning Board / Resource Visualiser / Job Planner

If the Work Category has the Is Inspection setting enabled, the Inspection Visit is automatically selected when a visit is booked via the Resource Visualiser or Job Planner.

Creating Multi-Day Visits

Location: Orders > Order Management > select an order > Multi-Day tab

The Multi-Day tab (previously named Gangs) allows users to book jobs that span multiple days, creating visits for each day within the specified date range.

Go to the Multi-Day tab on the order.
Select Add Multi-Day.
Set the Type (Gang or Resource).
Select the Gang/Resource to assign to.
Select the Work Category from the list of Work Categories associated with the order's job codes.
Set the Start Date.
Set the Duration (number of days).
Select the Days of the Week on which visits should be created (Monday to Friday by default).
Either select a Planning Mask or tick Custom Planning Window and enter start/end times.
Optionally enter Visit Instructions (defaults to Order Comments if left empty).
Confirm to create the multi-day visits.

To enable Multi-Day functionality, contact your Account Manager.

Creating a Visit from the Subcontractor Portal

Location: Configuration > Order Management > Subcontract Update Categories

Subcontract Update Categories can be configured with a Create Visit option that allows subcontractors to create visits against their Subcontract Orders.

The subcontractor selects the relevant update category on the Subcontractor Portal.
Inputs the appointment date.
Selects a Planning Mask.
Optionally specifies a Resource. If no resource is specified, the most suitable candidate is automatically selected.

The visit is created for the specified date with the planned duration being the length of the selected planning mask.

A Resource can only be selected if the resource has a Linked User configured, and that Linked User is assigned in the list of Supplier Users.

A booking type with Default for subcontract visit external booking ticked must exist and will be used as the booking type for subcontract visits.

Subcontract Visit API

Subcontract visits can also be created via the API using the CTR-AP6-CreateSubcontractVisit endpoint. This requires the Subcontract Order ID, Planning Window Start (UTC), and Planning Window End (UTC). The API returns the newly created Visit External ID and Visit Status.

Creating a Visit from the Mobile Device

Mobile operatives can create visits directly from their devices using the Create Visit menu option. Customer master data can be downloaded to the device to enable quick searching and visit creation without an internet connection.

Types of Visit

Type	Description
Service desk visit	Triggered from the mobile device but created on the Service Desk. Pre-populated survey data can be retrieved. Requires connectivity. Use this option if you need pre-populated data on surveys.
Off-line visit	Created completely off-line. Only surveys of type "offline" can be used. Use this option if you do not need pre-populated data on a survey or as a backup when there is no signal.

Create Options

Create visit on service desk: visit is created on the service desk and sent to the device.
Create visit on device: visit is created locally on the device.
Create visit on device and start: visit is created and immediately started (useful for lots of simple jobs).

Configuration Parameters

Allow operatives to create visits on mobile device: determines whether the Create Visit menu option is displayed.
Menu option default text for customers search and create visit: the name of the menu option shown to operatives.
Enable create offline visits: determines whether off-line visits are allowed. Also controls whether customers are sent to the device.
Default visit create type: sets the default from the three create options above.

Creating a Visit from Mobilise (Pull Down from Order Sync List)

Operatives using Mobilise can select an order from a synced list on their home screen and create a visit for it. This is useful for out-of-hours or ad-hoc work where operatives need to pull down orders on demand.

How It Works

An Order Sync List is configured in Configuration > Integration > Order Sync Lists, defining which orders are available based on Contract, Work Stream, and Order Status.
A home-screen form is configured in Mobilise with the external reference 'Connect - Create Visit For Order'.
The operative selects an order from the list and submits the form.
Connect creates and releases a visit for the operative for that order.

When a visit is created and the order moves to Planned, the Order Sync List automatically removes the order so it cannot be selected by another operative.

Order Sync List Configuration

Each Sync List has the following fields:

Field	Description
ID	Automatically set.
Type	Automatically set to Mobilise.
External ID	Sets the Reference of the List in Web Admin.
Description	Sets the Description of the List in Web Admin.
Is Active	Inactive lists will not automatically sync.
Contracts	Only orders on these contracts are included.
Work Streams	Only orders on these work streams are included.
Order Statuses	Only orders at these statuses are included.

The list can be manually synced using the Sync button. A nightly job also syncs all lists overnight. The nightly job (named 'Order Sync List Sync') must be enabled at the account level by a member of Totalmobile staff.

There is a Mobilise API Service section in the account admin settings that a Totalmobile staff member must populate with the appropriate Mobilise details to enable the integration of Sync Lists.

Mobilise Form Requirements

The form has three requirements:

The external reference of the form is 'Connect - Create Visit For Order'.
A field with reference 'PrimaryOrderNumber' is returned (identifies the order).
A field with reference 'ResourceExternalId' is returned (identifies the resource to release the visit to).

The Resource External Id can be automatically mapped to the user's username and hidden, or a list of options can be defined to allow operatives to release visits to others.

Using Multiple Sync Lists in a Single Form

The Create Visit form can only be referenced once in Mobilise. When a customer has multiple order use cases (for example, Out-of-Hours jobs and Roof jobs), multiple sync lists can be used within a single form by adding a selection question that allows the user to choose which list to pull from.

Configuration approach:

Create multiple sync lists in Connect using a consistent naming convention with a common prefix and variable suffix (for example, ConnectSyncListOOH, ConnectSyncListRoof).
Add a selection question to the form that asks which list to pull from.
Update the Order Number question to a List Element where the list source is driven by the selection in the previous question.

Creating a Visit via Bulk Order Import

Location: Configuration > Integration > Import Data (using the Bulk Order Import channel)

The Bulk Order Import supports the creation of visits alongside orders. The following additional columns can be included in the import file:

Column	Description
Resource	The resource to assign the visit to. If provided, Visit Date and Planning Mask must also be provided.
Visit Date	The date of the visit.
Planning Mask	Determines the planning window for the visit.
Planned Start Time	Optional. Defaults to the start of the Planning Mask if not provided.
Duration	Optional. Defaults to the standard time of the job code if not provided. If no job code, defaults to the Minimum Appointment Duration for the contract.
Booked/Planned	Optional. Sets the visit to Booked or Planned status. Defaults to Booked if not provided. Planned status releases the visit to mobile.

Multiple visits can be created per order by including multiple lines in the import file.

The Visit Date and Planned Start/End dates are set based on the Visit Date, Planned Start Time and Duration provided. The Visit Planning Window is determined by the Visit Date and the Planning Mask.

The new visit columns are not mandatory. The import file continues to work without them.

Creating a Visit via API

A Job Management (Connect) API endpoint allows visits to be created and released programmatically. The API accepts a Primary Order Number and Resource External ID and creates and releases a visit.

The Planning Window and Planned Times of the visit are set to the processing time of the request plus the expected duration of the visit.
Visit Actual times are set by the standard integration once the operative progresses the visit.

This API is used internally by the Mobilise form integration to create visits when an operative submits the 'Create Visit For Order' form.

Scheduling Recurring Visits via Events

Location: Customers > select a customer > Events tab

Events are rules for automatically creating visits based on weekly cycles. You can target particular days of the week or set the visit for any time during the week.

Go to the Events tab on a customer record.
Add a new event and define the weekly cycle and target days.
The event creates a Queued Item which does not immediately go to the mobile device.
Queued events are turned into visits (and sent to devices) via the queue pull process.

Against each resource on the Mobile tab you can set how far ahead the system will look when pulling visits. This can be configured as a number of visits at a time, working days, days of the week, or a combination.

A Peekahead Window can be set to pull the next day's work early (for example, by end of business the previous day). Configure this at Configuration > Planning > Configuration.

Creating Follow-On Visits

Mobile operatives can create follow-on visits at the end of any visit. Whether this option is presented is controlled by a flag on the Visit Result.

If the follow-on visit is for today or tomorrow, the visit is cloned from the original and created immediately on the device.
If the follow-on visit is for several days' time, it is created on the Service Desk as it is not required immediately.

Follow-on visits copy all relevant surveys and pre-populated data from the original visit.

Summary of Visit Creation Methods

Method	Location	Use Case
Create Visit button (Order)	Orders > Order Management > Order > Create Visit	Creating a single visit for a specific order from the back office.
Add Visit tab	Orders > Order Entry/Appointments > Add Visit	Quickly adding visits to existing orders from Order Entry.
Add Multiple tab	Orders > Order Entry/Appointments > Add Multiple	Creating visits for many customers at once.
Order Management Dashboard	Orders > Order Management > grid > Create Visit	Creating completed visits in bulk from the dashboard.
Planning Board / Job Planner	Planning > Planning Board	Drag-and-drop scheduling of visits onto resources.
Multi-Day	Order > Multi-Day tab	Jobs spanning multiple days with visits per day.
Subcontractor Portal	Subcontractor Portal > Update Category	Subcontractors creating visits against their orders.
Mobile Device (Ad-Hoc)	Mobile App > Create Visit	Operatives creating unplanned visits in the field.
Mobilise Form (Order Sync List)	Mobilise > Home Screen Form	Operatives pulling down orders on demand (e.g. out-of-hours).
Bulk Order Import	Configuration > Integration > Import Data	Mass creation of orders with visits via file import.
API	Connect API endpoint	Programmatic visit creation from external systems.
Events (Recurring)	Customers > Events tab	Automatically creating visits on weekly cycles.
Follow-On	Mobile App > Visit Result	Operative scheduling a return visit after completing work.

What Happens When a Visit is Created

When a visit is created:

The order status typically changes from New to Planned.
The visit appears on the order's Visits tab.
If the visit is at Planned status, it is released to the operative's mobile device (subject to the queue pull window configured on the resource).
If the visit is at Booked status, it remains in the system until released.
If the Optimise integration is enabled, a busy-time entry is added to the operative's Optimise diary so that Optimise does not schedule other work during that time.
If customer communications are configured (e.g. Appointment Confirmation - Initial Booking), SMS and email notifications are sent to the customer.
The Order Sync List (if applicable) is updated to remove the order from the list.
The Message Bus is triggered with the appropriate visit data for any configured integrations.