Update 20A

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Overview

This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in this update.

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Administration

Activity Type Features Allowed Modifications

In the previous releases, a few Activity type features were prohibited for modification in any direction (turn On or turn Off). Starting with 20A, you can modify some of the Activity Type features that could not be modified earlier.  

API Changes:

Starting with Update 20A, more flexibility has been provided for changing the Activity type features from both the REST API and the configuration screen. Considering that changing the features of the existing Activity types could lead to data inconsistency for activities created of that type, such features changes were prohibited in any direction (turn On or turn Off) even if one of the direction was safe. From 20A, changing Activity type features is allowed, if it is safe from the perspective of data consistency.

Auto-Identification of Start Time Fields

Starting with Update 20A, Oracle Field Service automatically detects the fields for 'Activity start-time stats fields' and the 'Resource start-time stats fields'. Hence, these fields are removed from the Statistics screen.

Pre-Calculate Travel Based on Distance

Starting with Update 20A, the algorithm to pre-calculate travel duration between keys, using point-to-point estimations is improved. The algorithm now uses the relative distances between keys, instead of being based purely on the popularity of the keys. This feature also reduces the number of travels used to build statistics, thereby increasing the speed of learning of Oracle Field Service.

Strong Default Complexity for User Passwords

Starting with Update 20A, Oracle Field Service enforces a default complexity for passwords, for all new Login Policies. This means, the Min password length field on the Add policy screen is set to 8 and these options for password complexity are selected by default:

• Min password length = 8
• Password must contain uppercase and lowercase letters = selected
• Password must contain digits = selected
• Password must contain special symbols = selected
• Password must not contain personal details = selected
• Password must differ from old password = selected

Android and iOS Applications

Updated Design of Installed Application with Ability to Change Instance

Starting Update 20A, the updated design makes Installed Application more responsive and usable. New labels such as "Application version" show the version of Installed Application. Messages displayed on the same screen where the instance name is selected or entered lets you identify the issue with application loading and to resolve the issue, if possible.

The Change instance functionality allows you to switch between different instances, using the Installed Application. You can select a different instance using the "Change instance" link on the Sign in page. In addition, you can skip the screen with the instance name selection, when you have configured only one instance with MDM. This reduces the number of clicks to sign in to an instance.

APIs

Find Nearby Activities API

Starting with Update 20A, a new ‘findNearbyActivities’ is added to the Core API. This API function enables searching for available, pending, unassigned, and non-scheduled activities that are within a small distance from a field resource. 

Retrieve Calendars Using Pagination

Starting with Update 20A, two new parameters 'limit' and 'offset' are added to the “GET calendars” operation (/rest/ofscCore/v1/calendars) to retrieve the result by pages. Getting paginated results is especially useful, when the request contains a wide date range, which results in a very lengthy response. The parameters help those results to be efficiently be processed.

Collaboration

User Interface Improvements

As part of Update 20A, these style and formatting updates are made to modernize the look and feel of the Field Collaboration interface:

• The time of the last message received is displayed in the Collaboration chat window.
• The name of the chat initiator is displayed only in the chat header.

Core Application

Calendar Improvements in Core Application

Starting with Update 20A, you can make these changes on Month view and Resource Calendar:

• Add and edit comments for non-working days and for custom working hours
• Remove an on-call shift and restore the earlier schedule

When you make these changes on one screen, it displays on the other as well.

Cancel Activity on Where Is My Technician Screen

Starting with Update 20A:

• Your customers can enable the Cancel button on the Where Is My Technician theme, so that the end-customers can cancel their pending activities through the Where is My Technician screen.
• The 'Communications' section/tab has been renamed as 'Interaction'.

Consistent Values for "Position in Route" Throughout the Activity Lifecycle

As of 20A, the rendering of the "position_in_route" field in Core Application is improved to make it clearer for the user. The following points define the logic for the way the "position_in_route" field is displayed:

• The "position_in_route" field is applicable to all scheduled ordered activities except, canceled (pending, started, completed, not done, and suspended). If in a route there are some completed activities, the started activities could have a higher value for "position_in_route" than the first activity.   
• Not Scheduled Ordered, Not Scheduled Not Ordered, and Scheduled Not Ordered activities don't have a defined position in the route.   
• Setting of order for Not Scheduled activities makes sense only to define the order of the activities, before they are scheduled.   
• The behavior of the "position_in_route" field for activities that are on a bucket is same as the behavior of the "position_in_route" field for non-scheduled activities.   
• The sequence of activities is consistent throughout all activity statuses.   
• Activities in started, complete, and not done statuses display the "position_in_route" field as a number.

Improved Way of Resource Selection

Starting with Update 20A, the Select Resource button added to Core Application simplifies the navigation to the technicians’ route. For dispatchers, Select Resource leads to Dispatch Console, where the resource is automatically selected in the resource tree. For users working in the field and for supervisor users, Select Resource points to the technicians’ landing page.

Link a Segmentable Activity and a Regular Activity

Starting with Update 20A, you can link a segmentable activity with a regular activity, using specific link types such as Simultaneous, Finish to Start, and Start to Start. You can configure these links on the Activity details screen, Links tab.

Route Map: Draw Polygon to Select Activities

Starting Update 20A, a new Lasso icon is available on the Route Map, when you enable the Scheduling Layer. This icon helps you switch to ‘draw’ mode, where you can select activities on the Scheduling Layer. You can select all the activities within a drawn enclosed shape and all the selected activities are displayed in the activity panel. You can add the selected activities to your route. This option is available in Online mode only.

Travel Time Calculation Quality and Alerts

Starting 20A, a new alert is available in the Time View (Legacy Manage) and Activities View and Dispatch Console (Core Application). This alert appears before the resource starts the route, if the route contains any travel-related data that is calculated with lower accuracy and/or the data is not available. The alert also includes items such as, resource start or end location not defined, missing activity coordinates, geocodes having low-resolution accuracy, and activity key not used.

You can now see the geocoding accuracy and travel estimation method in the Activity Details for both Legacy Manage and Core Application. You can also view the travel estimation method history on the Activity History screen.

Unify Activity Presentation on Dispatch Map

Starting with Update 20A, activities that are not assigned (assigned to a bucket) are displayed using the new map markers on the Dispatch Console map. You can configure the map markers on the Business Rules screen.

Integration

Configure Daily Extract Start Time

With Update 20A, Oracle Field Service allows you to configure the time of previous day data extract. The configured start time applies to all configured Outbound Integration channels. The Start Time option is added to the Outbound Integration Channels screen.

Routing

Dynamic Connections to Routing

With 20A, the Execution Summary section of the routing screen has been updated to display the "Priority time left" and "Priority time spent". This is allows Oracle Field Service Professional and Enterprise users to see how much of the daily High Priority queued time remains, allowing for improved routing plan configurations. 

Improve Travel Estimations for Low Accuracy Coordinates

After the activities are routed within a resource's route, the application tries to use better travel estimations between pairs of keys using location services or point-to-point estimations, where the travel is estimated using other methods (expansion, coordinate-based only, or default). This correction in travel estimation was performed, only if the accuracy of the coordinates were provided by the customer when creating the activity, or resolved with an accuracy of address level, or intersection level. With 20A, the logic is being updated to include activities, where the resolved accuracy is at the street level, route level, or zip level.

Improve Travel from Last Activity to Resource End Location

Earlier, the application tried to correct less reliable travel estimations (expansion, coordinate based, or default) using location services only for activity-to-activity travels and for the first travel of the day from the resource's start location to the first activity. Starting with Update 20A, this correction is applied even to the last travel of the day from the last activity of the day to the resource's end location.

Plugin Framework

Create an Activity Through Plug-In API

Starting with Update 20A, a custom plug-in can create scheduled and non-scheduled activities in Oracle Field Service. For example, a custom plug-in that checks the expected delivery date of a part can create a follow-up activity for a repair job using the part.

Reporting

Responsive Headers in Configuration and Reports

The Report screens in Core Application have been enhanced to be more user friendly. For larger screens, most options are displayed upfront. For smaller devices, many of the options are listed under the Options menu at the right.