Create and maintains the service zones that your company serves.
East side, west side, downtown, map coordinates, etc.
Optional for Dispatch; required for TechFinder.
The Service Zone viewer includes the Technicians and Relationships tabs that are required to enable TechFinder functionality. The Technicians assigned to this Zone should be listed on the Technicians tab (note that a technician may be listed under more than one Zone). The Relationships tab defines the proximity relationship between this Zone and other Zones.
Service Zone Id:
A unique Id. This field is required.
Service Zone Name:
This optional field briefly describes the Service Zone.
Obsolete?
If this field is checked, the record is considered Obsolete, and it may not be directly specified during data-entry (either by entering the Id or selecting it from a list). Obsoleted records can be edited and the Obsolete option can be un-done when necessary. When you check the Obsolete field, the following message box will be displayed:
“You have elected to obsolete this record. Would you like to see existing references to this record?”
If you click Yes, the system will display a viewer that provides click-through access to all tables referencing this record: see References List for details.
Tech Id:
Enter the Id of a technician that is assigned to this Zone, or double-click to select from a list. The Technician Name will default when the Id is entered. This field is required to enable TechFinder functionality. Note that a Technician may be listed on more than one Zone.
Note that the Technicians on this tab can also be edited from the Technician Viewer’s Service Zone tab. Click Technician Service Zone Tab for details.
PVal:
The proximity value of the Zone on this line of the table relative to the parent Service Zone defined in this record. This field is used when expanding the search for eligible technicians in the TechFinder viewer. The smaller the PVal, the closer the Zone is to the parent zone. Depending on how you chose to implement this feature, PVal can refer to miles, adjacently, or driving time in minutes.
Zone Id:
Enter a Zone that has a proximity relationship with the parent service zone.
Example:
Suppose Downtown is next to West, South and East, but it takes longer to drive to East from Downtown because of ongoing traffic problems. In this case, the Relationships tab for Downtown might be completed as follows:
PVal Zone Id:
1 West
1 South
2 East
Notice that assigning a Proximity Value of 2 to East reflects the fact that it takes longer to get to from Downtown. In this model, inner-ring suburbs of Downtown might be assigned values of 2 or 3, while outer-ring suburbs might receive values of 4 or 5.
Note: Complete all Relationships Tabs
Remember to complete the Relationships Tab on all Zones. For example, if you add zones West, East and South to the Relationship tab for Downtown, to add Downtown to the Relationship tabs for West, East and South.