Workforce for ArcGIS Improvements

[DakotaDorn1]

I think it would be really useful to be able to create work orders in the field if you are in a dispatcher role, as well as complete workorders in the office. Sometimes when I am in the field I find something that needs to be a work order, but am then forced to write it down and create it back at the office. The paper trail continues...

I think it would also be useful to have a print button for the work order for in office use. Not everyone in our field crews has a city phone so print outs are how they get their work from their supervisor. The print out would need to contain both the details of the work and the map, which isn't possible right now.

Searching for features in the search bar would also be very helpful as opposed to searching for a certain address.

Notifications of incoming assignments or completions of assignments. I know this is possible when the app is running in the background, but it also drains battery. A better way to receive those or maybe an email would be nice.

[DakotaDorn1]

The ability to archive completed workorders or delete them would also be useful as the map gets cluttered with those unless you filter. 

[BrianFausel]

"I think it would be really useful to be able to create work orders in the field if you are in a dispatcher role, as well as complete workorders in the office."

Critical improvements for our organization as well.

[CraigGillgrass]

Hi Dakota,

While Workforce does not provide the ability to delete or archive assignments, we do provide a set of Python scripts that demonstrates how to automate this:

GitHub - Esri/workforce-scripts: A set of scripts to help administer Workforce projects. 

We are looking at how to best incorporate this capability into Workforce or ArcGIS, but that is not part of the short term roadmap.

Craig

[UlfBecker]

The original post sited notifications via email.  I agree that this would be hugely valuable especially for companies or municipalities working with third part contract companies.   I would also advocate for an option for a text alert in additional to an email. 

[PatrickFilyer]

Yep, our dispatcher spends 90% of his time in the field looking for work. 

You can edit the assignments layer in collector but as of the latest collector update the editing of this feature causes collector for iOS to crash. 

[CraigGillgrass]

Patrick and others who've requested the ability to create assignments.

Would it useful to provide certain Workers with the ability to self-assign or pick-up already created, but unassigned work assignments?  Are you able to describe how useful this would be to people in the field?

With respect to creating new assignments in the field; are you concerned with duplicate Assignments being created, e.g. A worker sees an issue and creates a new assignment, not knowing it's already been reported and someone else was assigned to complete it.

Thanks,

[PatrickFilyer]

Hey Craig,

It would be great if certain users could self assign work or pick up unassigned work. We use workforce for road maintenance so if one of our workers happens to already be in an area with an unassigned job it might be more efficient for them to pick it up. 

As for creating new assignments in the field, it's likely that our road supervisor will identify a job in the field and assign it right away. I guess what I am trying to say is that it would be great if the dispatcher had a mobile app that is similar to the web app.

Thanks for the response. 

Pat

[XanderBakker]

There is a possible work around by using the assignments hosted feature layer in a Collector project and add assignments in the field:

I have blogged about how to accomplish this in Spanish, but using Google Translate you get something that is almost "readable":

https://translate.google.nl/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fcommun... 

[PatrickFilyer]

Hey Xander, 

Thanks for the reply. We actually already do this. However, as of lately, whenever we try to update the workerid field in collector the app crashes (only on iOS). If this can be fixed it would be perfect. 

Additionally, it would be great if the workerid field would handle the name of the worker instead of the worker id code. A drop down menu would be best. 

[CraigGillgrass]

Patrick, thanks for the reply and feedback.

It would be great if certain users could self assign work or pick up unassigned work. We use workforce for road maintenance so if one of our workers happens to already be in an area with an unassigned job it might be more efficient for them to pick it up. 

This is the exact workflow we plan to target with the Self-Assign or Pick-up work functionality that we're planning.  It will allow workers to see unassigned work so they can self-assign it.

As for creating new assignments in the field, it's likely that our road supervisor will identify a job in the field and assign it right away. I guess what I am trying to say is that it would be great if the dispatcher had a mobile app that is similar to the web app

This is great feedback thank you, unfortunately, we don't have any plans for a Dispatcher mobile app.  We are working on improving the Workforce web app for use on mobile devices, both phone and tablet.  Our solution for this workflow going forward would be to use the Dispatcher web app.

Are there any concerns with the Road Supervisor creating duplicate assignments while in the field?