On the Settings > Process > Features page, you'll find the settings for the back office, customer messaging and task timings. In this article we cover the Back office, Customer messaging and Tasks sections.
Go to Settings > Process > Features to view and adjust these settings.
Section: Back office
These settings determine how the back office looks and how scheduling works.
Default number of rows shown in tables
What it does: Determines how many rows are displayed by default in tables (for example, the employee list, case file overview, invoice list).
Setting | Result |
10 rows (default) | For 100 items: 10 pages |
25 rows | For 100 items: 4 pages |
50 rows (recommended) | For 100 items: 2 pages |
Our advice: Set this to 50 rows. This gives you a quicker overview and avoids endless clicking through pages.
Include employees, furniture hoists and removal vans in availability
In the schedule, you'll see a capacity circle for each day. This circle shows the total capacity and how much of it has already been scheduled. When you click on a day, you'll see an overview with:
Available hours - the total capacity (e.g. 10 employees x 8 hours = 80 hours)
Confirmed hours used - how many hours have already been scheduled
Schedulable hours - what's left over
This applies to three categories: Employees, Removal vans and Furniture hoists. With the following three settings, you determine which categories are included in this capacity calculation by default:
Setting | Recommended | What it does |
Include employees by default | On | Employee capacity is shown in the circles |
Include furniture hoists by default | On | Hoist capacity is shown in the circles |
Include removal vans by default | On | Van capacity is shown in the circles |
Our advice: Turn all three on. This way you can see at a glance for each day whether there's still room to schedule a removal, or whether all employees, vans and hoists are already booked.
Don't show back office employees in the schedule
What it does: Hides back office employees from the schedule and excludes them from the capacity calculation. Back office employees are employees who only have the "Administration" or "Planner" skill and nothing else.
Setting | What happens |
On (recommended) | Back office employees don't appear in the schedule and aren't counted towards capacity |
Off (default) | All employees are visible in the schedule, including office staff |
Our advice: Turn this on. Employees who only do administration or planning don't need to appear in the removal schedule. Otherwise, they take up capacity unnecessarily (their hours count as "available hours" even though they never go out on a job).
Switch off automatic travel time by default
What it does: Switches automatic travel time calculation on or off for new events in the schedule.
Setting | What happens |
On (recommended) | Travel time is automatically calculated based on lorry route times via an API |
Off | You need to enter the travel time yourself for each event |
Our advice: Turn this on. Bas automatically calculates the travel time based on actual lorry route times via an API. This is more accurate than manual estimating and saves you time on every event.
Don't show files to employees by default
What it does: Hides all files (documents, photos) from employees in the app by default.
Setting | What happens |
On | Employees don't see any files in the app by default |
Off (default) | Employees can see files marked as "visible in app" |
Our advice: Leave this off. Employees need to be able to view floor plans, parking suspensions and other documents via the app.
Section: Customer messaging
Days before a job to email the customer
What it does: Automatically sends a confirmation email to the customer a number of days before the removal.
Default value: 3 days
The email automatically includes the date, expected arrival time and the names of the assigned employees.
Our advice: Keep it at 3 days. This is early enough for the customer to prepare, but not so early that the information is forgotten again.
Don't include an ICS file
What it does: Determines whether an ICS file (calendar invitation) is included with the confirmation email to the customer.
Setting | What happens |
On | No calendar invitation with the confirmation email |
Off (default, recommended) | The customer receives an ICS file that adds the removal directly to their calendar |
Our advice: Leave this off (so the ICS file IS included). Customers find it convenient that the removal date automatically appears in their calendar.
Section: Tasks
These settings determine when the system automatically creates tasks. Tasks appear on the home page of the responsible employee.
Setting | Default | What happens |
Days before the appointment to schedule staff and equipment | 7 | Task to schedule employees and equipment |
Days after the removal to collect boxes | 30 | Task to collect borrowed boxes from the customer |
Days before the removal to reserve storage | 5 | Task to reserve storage space |
Days before the removal to deliver boxes | 30 | Task to deliver boxes to the customer |
Days before the removal to place signs | 5 | Task to arrange parking suspension signs |
Days before the removal to update the warranty certificate | 7 | Task to request the warranty certificate |
Days before the removal to apply for permits | 30 | Task to apply for parking suspensions |
Day after the appointment by which it must be completed | 1 | Task to administratively close off the appointment |
Days after the removal to send the invoice | -7 | Task to send the invoice |
Please note: For "Days after the removal to send the invoice", the value can be negative. -7 means the task appears 7 days before the removal. This is useful if you want to draw up and prepare the invoice in advance.
Tips
50 rows in tables saves time. You'll click through far fewer pages.
Always include availability. Including employees, hoists and vans in availability prevents double bookings.
Adjust task timings after go-live. After a few weeks of working with Bas, you'll know whether the default values are realistic for your company.
Please note
Permits at 5 days is too tight for most local authorities. Adjust this to at least 14 days, preferably 30 days.
Switching off automatic travel time means you have to manually estimate the travel time for every removal. This takes a lot of time and is prone to errors.
Not including the ICS file means customers have to manually add the removal date to their calendar. This makes it more likely they'll forget the date.
Next step: Features: Time recording