What's New

Update 24B

Revision History

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

The table includes a chronological listing of document changes.

Overview

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Feature Summary

Field Service

Administration

Automatic Configuration Validation

When configuring forms or standard action screens, the application will automatically validate updated configuration upon clicking the 'Publish' button. If there were no validation errors, configuration will be published and distributed to users. However, if there were some errors, the application will show the screen representing them and provide a user with the option to either go back and correct errors or consciously publish configuration changes 'as is'.

The same approach is used when navigating to preview of forms. A dialog displays detected validation errors with the options either to fix them or show the preview anyway.

Menu in configuration of standard screens

The 'Publish' button is always displayed in the screen header. 'Copy to User type', 'Clear', 'Validate' actions are placed under the 'Actions' context menu. 'Undo' button is showed just when this operation can be performed.

Menu in configuration of forms

The 'Preview' and 'Publish' buttons are always displayed in the screen header. 'Clear' & 'Validate' actions are located under the 'Actions' context menu. 'Undo' button is showed just when appropriate.

• Better contol of configuration updates before publishing
• Simplified user experience for configurators

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Display Configuration UI Improvements

Visual representation of the 'Display' screen is now aligned with the Redwood approach. The screen is re-structured into a two-column layout, keeping all the functionality in place.

When selecting time zones for the environment, the application now shows a name and a code for each time zone in the list. It will allow users to identify the required time zone, especially among zones having the same names.

• Consistent user experience across Fusion apps.
• Fewer mistakes in time zones integration with Fusion.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

The 'Time input' setting is deprecated and removed from the application.

Extended Time Zone Support

With the 24B update, OFS now includes additional time zones from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) database, expanding the list of currently supported time zones. It will efficiently maintain integration with backend systems where these time zones are present and necessary for creating resources or activities within OFS.

• For companies operating globally or across multiple time zones, comprehensive support for various time zones is essential. This ensures that services rendered are accurately billed according to the corresponding time zone rates and billing cycles.   
• Businesses offering appointment-based services need to assign time zones to activities and field resources in order to accurately schedule appointments and manage resource availability across various regions.

The table below provides a comprehensive list of the added time zones, including those considered as current by the IANA time zone database.

Business Benefit

• Ensures smooth and accurate data synchronization with backend systems where the time zones are present and necessary for creating resources or activities within OFS.

• Enhances the user experience by enabling users to personalize the interface, adjusting the time zone to their specific location.

Steps to Enable

The time zones can be added to your environment by accessing the Company Time Zones section available in the Configuration > Display screen.

Optimize Statistics Key Configuration

For accurate estimations of activity and travel durations, it is important that the activity and travel duration keys are configured in such a manner that key values thus generated are neither too specific nor too broad. If the key values are too specific, the system will not have enough reported data to estimate durations for each key value. On the other hand, if the key values are too broad, the accuracy of the estimations may be compromised.

For example, if the configured travel key generates travel key values that are too specific, each travel key value will end up covering only a small geographical area. This would lead to a situation where there would be too few activity locations in each travel key, resulting in very little reported data between different pairs of travel keys. The system would take a considerably longer time to generate accurate travel estimations between all different pairs of travel keys and would also use the default travel duration very often since there wouldn't be sufficient activity locations and reported travel data for each travel key.

On the other hand, if the configured travel key is too broad, then each travel key value covers a large geographical area. This will result in a huge variation in reported travel data from one travel key to another. This variation will affect the overall accuracy of the travel estimations.

The same can also be said about activity duration keys if they are too specific or too broad.

Administrators will now be notified if the configured activity or travel duration keys are either too specific or too broad to provide accurate duration estimations. If the configured keys are found to be generating keys that are too specific or too broad, a banner message will be displayed on the main configuration screen. Clicking on the 'Configure' button will take the user to the Statistics configuration screen where the user can modify the keys appropriately.

A similar banner will also be displayed within the Statistics configuration screen.

NOTE: The check to determine if the configured keys are too specific or too broad will be done as part of the daily statistics calculations automatically or if the administrator chooses to apply the configuration changes manually from the Statistics configuration screen.

More details about the corrective actions will be displayed right below the configured keys.

NOTE: The check to determine if the key is too specific or too broad will be done only for the 'Active' Activity duration key. The inactive ones will not be checked.

In addition, the administrator who last modified the key will also get a notification in the notification tab informing about configured keys being sub-optimal.

Conditions for key to be considered sub-optimal

Activity duration key

• The active Activity duration key will be considered to be too broad if it generates five (5) or fewer unique activity duration key values and also shows very high variations in reported durations for the activities belonging to the same key value.
• The key will be considered to be too specific if more than 40% of activities do not have enough reported data (at least 25 activities) for the key they belong to.

Travel duration key

• A Travel duration key will be considered to be too broad if more than 40% of activities use keys that are very large (greater than 200 sq km/75 sq mi).
• A Travel duration key will be considered to be too specific if more than 40% of activities use keys that do not have enough reported data (at least 15 activities) for the key they belong to.

Business Benefit

• Easily identify if the configured key is not good enough to generate accurate and meaningful results.
• Perform corrective actions based on suggestions provided by the system.
• Ensure good quality of duration keys thereby ensuring more accurate activity and travel duration estimations.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

• As soon as a notification saying that the configured key is sub-optimal, ensure that corrective actions are taken based on the suggestions and modify the keys accordingly.

APIs

Time Zone Difference into Booking API Responses

With the 24B update, capacity-related booking operations now includes time zone differences in the response. This feature facilitates the identification of any variations in the time slots for a specific day, considering Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes in the relevant time zone.

Below are various scenarios illustrating the need for integrations to accurately handle time zone changes when validating dates and time slots available for scheduling.

• Companies operating in multiple countries or regions need to ensure that dates and time slots returned are accurately displayed according to the respective time zones assigned to the related capacity area. This helps to avoid confusion for customers or users in different locations.
• Integrations dealing with legal or compliance matters must accurately handle time zone changes for dates returned to meet deadlines or confirm availability without errors or discrepancies.
• Appointment scheduling platforms should account for time zone differences when confirming dates and time slots for appointments booked by users in different regions, ensuring that appointments are scheduled accurately on both ends.

For the capacity areas that have booking options defined, both activityBookingOptions and showBookingGrid API methods responses now contain the 'timeZoneDiff' integer field in addition to timeZone string field.

• timeZoneDiff (optional): integer

Title: Time Zone Diff

Description: The difference between UTC and the resource's local time, displayed in minutes. For example, -180 means that the resource time is 3 hours behind UTC.

Business Benefit

• Improves efficiency in managing bookings across different regions that follow Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes.  

• Facilitates integrations with external systems that require mapping the time information according to the ISO 8601 standard for further processing in the booking workflow.

Steps to Enable

Review the REST service definition in the REST API guides to leverage (available from the Oracle Help Center > your apps service area of interest > APIs & Schema). If you are new to Oracle's REST services you may want to begin with the Quick Start section.

Key Resources

• Capacity REST API for Oracle Field Service.

Secure Access to External / Fusion APIs using OAuth 2.0 authentication

Oracle Field Service now supports OAuth 2.0 authentication to access APIs of external services. With OAuth2.0, you can propagate the user while connecting other applications from Field Service, enabling you to call APIs of external services on behalf of the same user in the external application. Field Service can request access tokens from either Oracle IDCS or a third-party OAuth 2.0 authorization server. The access tokens can be used to call into external systems securely. For example, opening a third-party mobile application using the field service plugin will be more secure using the OAth2.0 application. The option to access tokens from the Oracle Identity Cloud Service (IDCS) can be used to access application APIs such as Fusion APIs from Field Service.

Oracle Field Service already supports OAuth 2.0 authentication to access Field Service Rest APIs by registering an application "Application using REST/SOAP API" on the configuration page. This application is extended to support OAuth2.0 authentication for accessing external APIs from Field Service.

Oracle Field Service supports OAuth 2.0 authentication for external / Fusion APIs, using the OAuth2.0 application you can access third-party applications from field service on behalf of OFS user. To use OAuth 2.0 authentication you have to first register the application with Oracle Field Service. Go to Configuration >> Applications page and select the option 'Application using REST / SOAP APIs'.

API application 1

On the Add Application configuration screen, you have the option to select Field Service API, OAuth User Assertion or OAuth Client Credentials.

Field Service API - You can configure the authentication and authorization to allow access to the Field Service APIs from third-party applications.

OAuth User Assertion - The OAuth2.0 grant type can be used when you want to access external API services without exposing user credentials from Field Service. You can access any external API services that accept tokens issued by an identity provider that supports OAuth User Assertion (e.g. you can connect Oracle Identity Service (IDCS) to access Fusion APIs).

OAuth Client Credentials - You can use the OAuth 2.0 grant type to access any external API services and you don't want to access the service on behalf of a user rather than using client id and client secret, provided that the external system implements the OAuth 2.0 token endpoint, which supports Client Credentials Grant.

API application 2

The Field Service API will navigate you to the authentication/authorization configuration page for field service APIs as detailed here. The OAuth User Assertion option allows you to store authorization server endpoints, client credentials, and token endpoints. This can be used to get the authorization grant and OAuth2.0 token.

Table 1

The External API option provides you with the ability to store OAuth 2.0 credentials for external application API access.

API application 3

Table 2

Based on the configurations provided, you can add a new application to the Configuration page. The application will have the options to modify and/or delete it. In the case of Fusion APIs, an additional option will be available to download the authentication certificate from the application UI.

Application API 4

This application adopts the 'OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials Grant' authentication flow, providing compatibility with any external system that implements the OAuth 2.0 token endpoint supporting Client Credentials Grant. Also, the client credentials (client_id / client_secret) are transmitted within the 'Authorization' header.

• OAuth2.0 is a secure and standard way of accessing external service APIs from Oracle Field Service. Now you can use OFS functionalities such as Plugins to call any API without the need to transmit or store user credentials in the application. 
• Fine-grained access control - Knowing the user ID, the external system can verify that this user is authorized to perform the action they are trying to perform. 
• Audit - When configuring the application, you have the option to select "identify user based on login". This allows the external system to log the actual user that accessed the API, and not with a static user (e.g. "Field Service"). 
• User-less integrations are often configured with overbroad permissions (e.g. a "Field Service" API client can be registered in an external system with access to functionality that most individual users of Field Service do not need).

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Collaboration

Chat Group Restriction

Administrators will have the ability to restrict chats between members of specific Collaboration Groups. Once restricted, members of the group will not be able to search for or initiate chats with other members of the group. Existing chats will also be restricted and users will no longer be able to continue the chat conversation if permissions are revoked. The same will also be applicable for existing conferences.

Also, the Collaboration configuration has been redesigned based on Redwood styles.

This new capability addresses various use cases aimed at enhancing communication dynamics while ensuring privacy and control.

• Restrictions can be implemented to comply with legal or regulatory requirements regarding the confidentiality of certain discussions or information shared within the group.

• Administrators can configure restrictions to prevent interactions outside the group among participants, ensuring that discussions remain focused on company-related tasks.

For Collaboration groups, there will be an additional checkbox labeled 'Allow chat between members of this group'. The checkbox is enabled by default for new and existing groups. If unchecked, users within this group will not be able to search for other members or initiate chats, unless their visibility is maintained through other configurations, such as belonging to another group with the option enabled or having visibility based on the 'Collaboration with groups' configuration.

For ongoing one-to-one chats, the users will be unable to continue conversations with each other in any of the following circumstances:

• Revocation of visibility permissions by unchecking the  'Allow chat between members of this group' checkbox for the group to which the users belong.

• Disassociation of the respective groups from the 'Collaboration with groups' configuration.

• Deactivation of the collaboration group.

• Deactivation of any of the users.

Whenever one of the Collaboration users tries to send a new message, the message won't be sent and both users will get a message stating that they no longer have permissions to chat with each other 'You no longer have permissions to chat with this contact'.

For ongoing conferences, if, at any time, there is at least one user in the conference who does not have visibility with any of the other users, the conference will be made inoperative. When such a situation arises and a user tries to send a new message to the conference, that message won't be sent and users of that conference will get a message stating that they can no longer send or receive messages in that conferences due to changes in permissions 'You can no longer send or receive messages in this conference since permissions have been modified'.

Users can continue to create and add more members to conferences only if they have visibility to such users.

Changes to the 'Allow chat between members of this group' option will not affect existing broadcasts or helpdesk conversations.  If the options is disabled, this will prevent users from initiating future broadcasts and helpdesk requests with users with whom they do not have permissions to chat.

Business Benefit

• Allows customers to tailor the chat functionality according to their specific needs and workflows.

• Enhances productivity by ensuring that conversations are relevant to the group's goals by preventing users from starting irrelevant  conversations  using official communication channels.

• Minimizes unnecessary distractions in communication channels.

• Unwarranted broadcasts by field resources can be prevented,  as it will be possible to grant access solely to helpdesks to groups of field resource, allowing only helpdesk conversations to be initiate in such scenarios.

• Allow companies to implement security measures aimed to maintain a secure communication environment

Steps to Enable

• The 'Allow chat between members of this group' will be enabled by default for new and already existing groups.

• To disable the  'Allow chat between members of this group' for already existing groups,  go to  Configuration > Collaboration > (group_name)

Tips And Considerations

Ongoing one-to-one chats or conferences could be impacted by losing communication in the event the option 'Allow chat between members of this group' is disabled or the 'Collaboration with groups' configuration is updated.  Before implementing changes to configurations for existing collaboration groups, it is essential to thoroughly evaluate any potential impact on their functionality.

Capacity

Improvements for Quota Screen

The feature provides a list of functional changes along with visual improvements which, all together, provide new look and feel for the 'Quota' screen. In summary, the changes include:

• Unified Quota screen view for time slot and time interval-based booking approaches.
• Consolidated view of Capacity Category and Time Slot quota levels in the time slot approach.
• Columns calculating 'Remaining quota' values have been added allowing users to view the remaining quota available for a specific day, capacity category or time slot.
• Ability to reorder columns using the drag-and-drop capability within the View drop-down menu.
• Preserved columns selection options among capacity areas within an active user session.
• Enhanced keyboard navigation within the Quota Screen table.
• Visual indicator of the cells with the 'recurrent auto-fill' option enabled.

Simplified view and navigation

The 'View' component for time-slot based quota now combines all options, providing the ability to filter data and visualize it on the same screen. Instead of switching between different screen representations for a capacity categories or time slot, you can now select all the required options at once to obtain a comprehensive view of the Quota screen.

The quota Day view continues to be displayed separately, enabling automatic planning at this level through Recurrent Autofill.

Users have the ability to navigate between cells, rows, and columns, as well as to select and edit data using specific key combinations, mirroring the familiar keyboard shortcuts found in spreadsheet applications such as Excel or Google Sheets.

Another notable enhancement is that the application will now retain the columns and order selected within the view element, eliminating the need to repeatedly choose them when navigating between capacity areas. These settings will persist throughout your active user session.

View remaining quota

The 'Remaining, mins' and 'Remaining, %' columns have been added to the quota table, providing access to remaining quota for a certain day, capacity category or time slot.  It eliminates the need for calculations to determine the quota available for booking.

Visual indicator of Recurrent Autofill status

The Recurrent Autofill feature allows you to schedule the copying of quota parameter values for future days.  Examples of these parameters include 'Quota', '% when booking stops' and 'Daily quota,%', among others, depending on the configuration for the specific capacity area.

To access to the 'Recurrent Autofill' option, right-click on the cell you would like to modify and select the 'Recurrent autofill' menu item.

Cells with 'Recurrent Autofill' enabled display a small 'calendar' icon, providing information about their origin and help to decide whether to modify them or not.

Enhanced User Experience in 'Quota Close Time'

The Quota Close Time feature allows you to set up a closing time for a day, time slot or capacity category. You can either set a closing time for a cell or, when conditions match, define the closing time for a specific work zone.

Navigation to this screen is same as for 'Recurrent Autofill':

1. Right-click on the cell you would like to modify.

2. Select the 'Close Time' menu item.

3. Define the closing time parameters.

4. Once you have completed the configuration, click the 'Modify' button to confirm the selections.

5. To save the changes, click the 'Save' button on the Quota screen.

Enhanced User Experience for Quota status changes

Status is essential for allowing or disabling booking for a day, time slot or capacity category. This feature lets users to easily change the status with a minimum number of clicks.

To update the quota status:

1. Right-click on the cell you would like to modify.

2. Depending on your preference, select the 'Open Quota' or 'Close Quota' option from the menu.

3. To save the change, click the 'Save' button on the Quota screen.

To update the quota status by work zone:

1. Right-click on the cell you would like to modify.

2. Click on the 'Status by Work zones' menu item.

3. Identify the work zones to update: Visually inspect the list of work zones or expedite the process by using the search field to find the work zones you want to update.

4. Ensure that the selected work zones are those you wish to keep open, while the unchecked ones will be considered closed.

5. Click the 'Modify' button to confirm the selections.

6. To save the changes, click the 'Save' button on the Quota screen.

Better visualization of Mass populate

'Mass populate' screen shows fields in a logical order for more intuitive definitions of all settings for the operation.

Business Benefit

• Simplified and consistent user experience allows users to manage quota more efficiently. 
• Facilitates a more efficient decision-making process by enabling users to quickly identify cells with the recurrent autofill option enabled and recognize potential problematic areas based on the remaining quota values. This eliminates the need for repetitive tasks or performing calculations within external tools (e.g., spreadsheets).
• Enhances accessibility by addressing the needs of users who prefer utilizing keyboard shortcuts for selections and editing of data within the table screen.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

• Booking intervals are incorporated in the table for capacity areas where booking is based on booking intervals. This becomes effective when the 'Enter Quota as % of Working Time Plans' setting is selected under the 'Quota by day' section on the 'Quota Configuration' screen. 
• The ability to lock cells was announced as deprecated in the 24A update and has now been removed from all the views available within the Quota screen.

Core Application

Banners on Where’s My Technician screen

With the 24B update, companies can add up to five (5) banners to a Where’s My Technician theme. This new capability presents a versatile array of opportunities for businesses aiming to refine their customer engagement strategies. From promoting complementary products to providing timely updates and engaging customers interactively.

• Banners can be utilized to promote complementary products or services, encouraging customers to consider affordable upgrades or related offerings.   

• Businesses can use informational banners to provide updates, announcements, or important notices to customers in a timely manner.   

• Clickable banners can be employed to engage customers interactively, leading them to explore further information or guiding them to participate in surveys and express their satisfaction with the service provided.   

• Companies can leverage banners to educate customers about new features, benefits, or functionalities of their products or services, aiding in customer retention and satisfaction.   

• Banners can be strategically placed to enhance the visual appeal of the Where's My Tech screens, contributing to a more engaging user experience.

When multiple banners are added to the same screen, they dynamically rotate every 5 seconds.  Users accessing the WMT URL on mobile devices can swipe through the banner. On desktop devices, users can change banners by clicking on the right-left arrow buttons, which become visible once the user hovers  over the banner area.

Business Benefit

• Provides the ability to use an interactive element for marketing campaigns, expanding user outreach.

• Creates Cross-sale and Upsell opportunities.

• Enhances brand recognition by incorporating additional elements within the WMT screen, including distinctive banner designs, impactful brand messages, and interactive features.

• Increases user engagement through the integration of clickable banners, facilitating the collection of insights through customers satisfaction surveys and review requests.

• Facilitates effective communication by allowing businesses to share with the end-customers important announcements or updates on existing regulations or policies.

Steps to Enable

How to configure the banners on Where’s My Technician screen

1. Open Where Is My Technician Theme screen under Configuration > Themes > Where Is My Technician section.

2. Click on the Banners tab to open the banners configuration screen.

3. To add a new banner, click the 'Add Banner' button.

4. Position :  Select either 'Top' or 'Bottom'. The chosen option will be applied to all banners configured for the WMT theme. If no logo is uploaded into the theme you can also use a banner at the top of the screen instead. 

5. Banner: Choose the image you want to upload from your local device.

   NOTE: The recommended banner height is 48px and width is 768px. Based on mobile phone size it can be trimmed down to 320px.Consider using a scaled up version for high-DPI (Retina) screens.

6. Banner hint: Enter the text that will be used as a description for the image when user hovers over it with the mouse or uses accessibility readers. 

7. Screens: Choose the screen where the particular banner should be visible. If no screen is selected, then the banner won’t be shown on the WMT screens.  

8. Web page: To convert it into a clickable banner, add a URL to the website that should open when a user clicks on the banner. 

9. To add additional banners, Click on the 'Add Banner' button.

10. Use the Preview section at the top of the configuration screen to verify the appearance of the configured banners for the end user. Click on the Preview screen to enlarge and scroll through the banners configured. You can also update the image by clicking on it.

11. Save the changes.

Tips And Considerations

• Users can configure a maximum of five (5) banners per WMT theme.

• When multiple banners are configured, the default setting is for images to automatically rotate every five (5) seconds.

• Banners support images in JPEG, PNG, SVG, or GIF formats, with a maximum size of 150KB.

Bulk Assignment Risk Acknowledgement

Starting with 24B, a clear warning is displayed when assigning a large number of activities via drag & drop. User can proceed with the assignment only after acknowledging the potential impacts of their action. The logic determining when the dialog is displayed has not changed.

• User acknowledgement of potential assignment impacts

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Dispatch Console Activity List User Experience

Previously, the Dispatch Console's list view adapted to the width of the screen sometimes resulting in small column widths and/or non-visible columns.  The behavior has been changed such that dispatchers can now see more data.

1. All configured columns for the list view are always shown. If there is no space to show all data, a horizontal scroll appears.
2. The width of each column can be adjusted by the user and preserved between sessions.
3. Up to 50 columns may be configured to be displayed within the list view at once.
4. "Manage Columns" screen has moved into the page header under the "View" menu.
5. The list view row height will no longer automatically change. The first line of multi-line properties will be shown by default. The user may adjust the row height as desired however this will not be persisted between sessions.
6. Ability to highlight and select data within the list.

It is possible to change the width of the columns by dragging the column header separator or by using the column header context menu. Width change of one column doesn't affect the width of another column.

It is possible to manage which activity properties are shown in the table and in which order they are shown. The "Manage Columns" screen can be found by clicking on the "View" button in the page header and then clicking on the "Manage Columns" link. The dialog will appear where you can select up to 50 columns. There are 2 special columns:

1. Activity - is always shown and can't be hidden. It shows a color bar representing the activity and the travel time.
2. Resource - is shown when the column is selected on the "Manage columns" screen, when the checkbox "Apply hierarchically" is selected in the "View" pop-up, and when the organization unit is selected in the resource tree. It means that activities for more than one resource are shown in the list view. Nevertheless it is possible to hide this column permanently.

The selected columns, their order and width is preserved between user sessions.

If the table cell contains a multi-line string then only the first line is shown with a small part from the second line as a hint that there are more than one line. It is possible to change the row height by dragging the row separator within the first column where the checkboxes are located or by initializing the context menu. The height of the rows is not preserved between sessions or even when selecting another resource from the resource tree or navigating to another screen.

The data from the individual cell of the table can be copied by opening the context menu and clicking "Copy".

1. Less reconfiguration of the activity list view
2. Increased accessibility of pertinent data

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Nearby Activity AI Recommendations

Improve technician productivity by suggesting additional work to fill idle time. Using machine learning, OFS suggests up to 3 jobs that are optimal for the resource's route based on multiple factors including travel time. A user can review the details of each job, their projected and updated route on the map, and details of the next planned activity, including estimated arrival time.

Recommendations do not result in violations or push activities on the route into jeopardy. That means other activities from the current route will not be pushed out of their time slots, service windows, communicated windows or SLAs after a suggested activity is assigned. If a routed activity is already in jeopardy, it will not be further impacted after recommended activity is assigned.

If there are available activities that fit a current route, then activities are proposed for assignment after performing Complete or Not Done actions. Suggestions are available in online mode only.

For example, if a technician arrives onsite and manages to complete the assigned work 30+ minutes ahead of schedule, or perhaps, their customer was a no-show resulting in a last minute cancellation.  These situations can result in immediate idle time for the technician, especially if their next customer is not expecting them earlier than the currently scheduled time.  When the technician completes (or suspends) their current activity, OFS detects this available time and evaluates all available work in the area to identify what other activities can be completed within the technician's constraints. Based on multiple factors including current location, next activity details, available time, required travel time, activity constraints, etc., recommendations are provided to the technician to pick up additional work without negatively impacting their remaining route for the day.

Nearby Recommendations

Map details include:

1. Blue marker reflects the current resource location
2. Suggested activities. One activity is pre-selected.
   • Activities are displayed using the same map markers as other map views.
   • Each activity contains a hint showing the route impact including how the route will change after adding this activity as well as the duration of the suggested activity and extra travel time required for visiting its location.
   • Hint of selected activity has a dark background.
   • Dark blue route line shows the path from the current location to the suggested activity.
   • Light blue route line shows the path from the suggested activity to the next planned activity.
   • Grey route line reflects the projected route from the current location to the next planned activity.
3. Activities scheduled for the current date are in pending status.
4. End Location

User can select different suggestions from the map. After this route is rebuilt, details of the selected job are updated in the panel.

Panel details include:

1. Details of selected suggested activity, including:
   • Clickable phone number
   • Extra travel time 
   • Activity duration
2. Details of next planned activity, including:
   • Expected arrival time
3. 'Show List' button displays all suggestions in a full page list view
4. 'Skip' button provides the ability to skip adding any recommended activities to their route. If Skip reasons are configured (see below), then a reason must then be selected
5. After clicking the 'Add to Route' button, the selected activity is added to the next position within the route and switched to En Route status (if this functionality is enabled).

Use Real-Time Traffic Data

Travel time is estimated using real-time traffic data when the checkbox 'Use real-time traffic data' is enabled for the User type. It includes 'Extra travel' time and 'Expected arrival' fields.  The current resource position (gathered by the user's device) is used as the starting point of travel. If the resource’s geolocation is not gathered during the last minute, the coordinates of the completed (or Not Done) activity are used as the starting point of travel.

Skip Reasons

When Skip Reasons are configured in 'Reasons for skipping activities suggested when idle' section on the Business Rules screen, then it becomes mandatory to select one when rejecting suggested activities. Only enabled skip reasons are available for selection. The list is pre-configured and it is not possible to add new items. It is only possible to enable/disable specific items.

Dashboard

A new report 'Additional Jobs Accepted' is added. It shows the total number of accepted activities suggested when idle per resource for the selected month.

• Improves technician productivity by filling idle time
• Encourages technicians to pick up additional jobs
• Empowers technicians to self assign activities without jeopardizing planned work
• Reduces travel time by adding activities with minimum extra travel time
• Drive continuous improvement and adoption via analytics

Steps to Enable

Activity is suggested after Complete and Not Done actions when all the following conditions are true:

1. The permission 'Suggest activity when idle' is enabled for the user type
2. Current activity has 'Calculate travel' checkbox marked for the activity type
3. Current activity has coordinates
4. User is signed-in with their resource credentials. It is not applicable when you navigate to routes of other resources.

Tips And Considerations

Permission on User Types screen related to other functionality has been renamed from 'Suggest activity by location' to 'Select activity at the same location to start'

Metadata API: Support Button of Map Layer Asset

Map Layers API methods 'Create a custom map layer', 'Get a custom map layer', 'Populate a custom map layer' and 'Replace a custom map layer' are improved to support:

1. Button of Map Layer hint 
2. Column 'Plugin/Form Field'.  The value of this property is passed to an opened Plugin/Form. 

Map Layer

Example of requests:

GET /rest/ofscMetadata/v1/mapLayers/{label}

Example for response with added fields:

Response Collapse source

{    

"label": "port",

"type": "internal",   

 "status": "active",    

"text": "port name",    

"translations":       [        

{            "language": "en",           

 "name": "port",            

"languageISO": "en-US"        

}    

],    

"shapeHintColumns": [        

{            

"sourceColumn": "CARGOWHARF",            

"defaultName": "cargo",            

"pluginFormField": "cargofields"        

}    

],    

"shapeHintButtonColumn":   {        

"actionType": "form",       

 "label": "mobile_inventory_request#24#"    

},    

"tableColumns"  [        

"ANCH_DEPTH",        

"CARBCHMOOR",       

 "CARGMDMOOR",        

"CARGODEPTH",        

"CARGOWHARF",       

 "CARGO_ANCH",       

 "CARICEMOOR",        

"CHAN_DEPTH",        

"WATER"    

],    

"links": [        

{            

"rel": "canonical",            

"href": "https://frontend.ofsc.team/rest/ofscMetadata/v1/mapLayers/port"        

},        

{            

"rel": "describedby",            

"href": "https://frontend.ofsc.team/rest/ofscMetadata/v1/metadata-catalog/mapLayers"        

}    

]

}

json

Support full integration with map layers via API.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Routing

Bulk Routing Improvements for Bundled and Linked Activities

Allow parallel execution of particular activities with the same bundle key

As a general rule, routing doesn't allow activities with the same bundle key to be performed in overlapping time periods. However, some activities may be eligible to be performed at the same time, for example:

• activities that are linked with the start simultaneously link
• activities that are linked with the start-start link type with different resources constraint
• activities with overlapping Service and Communicated Windows where both activities cannot fit without a constraint violation

Please note that even if the activities are considered eligible to be performed in parallel, the optimization engine may sequence them if this provides better optimization according to the chosen optimization goal.

Routing to follow the dynamic team created

Two (or more) resources, assigned to a set of activities, linked as "start simultaneously", are considered a "dynamic team". Routing prefers to follow the once created dynamic team, assigning the next set of similarly linked activities to the same resources, if such an assignment isn't against the chosen optimization goal.

Respect Communicated Window of segmentable activity which includes pre-assigned segments

Track if any part of a segmentable activity is assigned (whether it is a pre-assigned or non-distributed segment). If no part of segmentable activity is assigned - apply Communicated Window, otherwise apply Service Window, if present. To maintain compatibility with other parts of the system, routing now uses information about the segmentable activity Communicated Window for the first segment only if such activity has no pre-assigned segments. If there is one or more preassigned segment, the Communicated Window value is ignored for any newly created segments.

Improve assignment of interlinked activities when there is a large volume of preassigned activities

The number of assigned activities now is considerable higher for datasets containing thousands of the activities which are linked together with links having "same day" constraints.

Improve routing assurance calculation

The algorithm of assurance calculation is improved to better reflect the quality of the obtained solution.

Routing provides even better solution quality, especially for datasets containing activities with the same bundled key values or linked by same day, start to start or simultaneous activity link types.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Bulk Routing SLR for HERE Maps

Street Level Routing for HERE maps is now supported for bulk routing.

Improved route solutions for customers using HERE maps

Steps to Enable

To enable usage of SLR in bulk routing, enable the Use SLR checkbox under the Travel Time section of the bulk routing plan settings.

Plugin Framework

Improved support of workflows with plugin

When starting an activity from a plugin, OFS will dynamically determine the associated workflow based on configured conditions; similar to the behavior when starting activities directly within OFS.  A workflow may also be set by a plugin for activities in "Pending" and "En Route" statuses.  Previously, plugins could only set the workflow for an activity via an incoming API call.

Configuration

As the very first step, customers should properly configure the application. It is required add the 'Activity workflow' into the 'Available properties' for the plugin which will deal with workflows.

The application will use this field to store a label for a workflow, hence keep the activity to workflow association.

Dynamic workflow calculation

To realize the advantage from this feature, clients have to simply use a plugin to start activities and configure workflow conditions. Then the application will automatically do the following:

• It will calculate workflows based on values of activity fields, properties and updates passed from the plugin when performing the action.
• It will associate a workflow with an activity as it is set to Started.

Supported actions

The following actions via Plugin API Framework are supported:

start activity

create started activity

Info

The application will dynamically calculate the workflow and establish the activity to workflow association when the 'Activity workflow' field (which maintains this association) is empty.

Set workflow from plugin

It is possible to directly set the workflow label from the plugin. For this, you'll need to implement the logic to define the workflow and pass the workflow label to the application. Similar to how it works for other APIs, it will be possible to set the workflow for activities in 'Pending' and 'En route' statuses.

Supported actions

The following actions via Plugin API Framework are supported:

update activity

create activity 

start activity

create started activity

The feature will reduce integration effort and decrease 'time to production' for workflows via the embedded 'no code' capabilities of the application.

Another benefit of the feature is that now customers can encapsulate the logic related to workflows within plugins and, as a result, directly set the workflow from the plugin.

Steps to Enable

To enable the feature it's required to add the 'Activity workflow' field into the "Available fields' within the configuration of the plugin.

If the field is not added, then the system won't be able to associate a workflow with an activity, neither when it's dynamically calculated nor when specifying it from the plugin.

Tips And Considerations

The functionality to set workflows via public APIs within activity 'create/update' commands will remain the same for now. Therefore customers won't have to change their integrations upon the update to the new release.

Simplified access to REST API in Mobile Plugin Framework

With the 24B release customers will get an opportunity to access the Field Service REST API, Fusion REST API or External API from their custom plugin via JWT Access Token. The plugin configuration screen has been extended with the new ‘Applications’ section that allows to choose the available application. Once it’s configured, the Mobile Plugin Framework sends all configured applications to the plugin on ‘init’ stage. The new “getAccessToken” procedure returns the JWT access token that is used for authorization of direct API calls.

Companies have an opportunity to access the Field Service REST API, Fusion REST API or External API from their custom plugin via JWT Access Token. The “getAccessToken” procedure returns the JWT access token that is used for authorization of direct API calls. The procedure is listed in the "allowedProcedure" collection that is sent in the "open"/"wakeup” method and says that the procedure is available.

{

"apiVersion": 1,

"method": "open"/"wakeup",

"entity": "...",

...

"buttonId": "...",

"openParams": {},

"allowedProcedures": {

...

"getAccessToken": true

}

}

On init stage, OFS returns the data of the configured Application for the particular Plugin in the "init" method.

The "resourceUrl" field is populated with the URL of the resource server. In case of Field Service API application, it is populated with the URL of the Plugin in order to use it in direct REST API requests. In the case of OAuth User Assertion or OAuth Client Credentials application, it is retuned the same as it is configured on the Modify Application screen.

init method

{

"apiVersion": 1,

"method": "init",

"attributeDescription": {},

"buttons": [],

"applications": {

"ofs_rest_api": {

"type": "ofs",

"resourceUrl": "https:// plugins-0-ofsc-xxxx.test.fs.ocs.oc-test.example.com",

},

"fusion_rest_api": {

"type": “oath_user_assertion",

"resourceUrl": "https://fa-xxxx-pintlabfadev.fa.ocs.oc-test.example.com"

},

"external_rest_api": {

"type": "oauth_client_credentials"

"resourceUrl": "https://external-rest-api-url.example.com"

}

}

init method with application that is not configured on Plugin Edit screen

callProcedureResult method - fail case

For call procedure error handling reference - https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/field-service/fapcf/c-errorhandlingcallprocedure.html#ErrorHandling-225CDFAF

Provide Key and Comments of required API to plugin Configurator

Developer can prepare an XML file of a plugin where they can specify the Key and Comment of the application which is required for Plugin to request API. So, once a configurator imports the plugin XML, they can see the ‘Applications’ section on the Plugin Edit screen with applications that should be assigned to a plugin to provide access to the required API.Key could be hardcoded in the Plugin's code.  Configurator will choose some application from the list that will be used for it.Comment is used to give to Configurator more details which application should be chosen.

Plugin Configuration Screen

The new "Applications" section has been added to the screen for hosted and external plugins.

Each Application in this section has the following attributes:

• Key - identifier of an application that's used in plugin code that should be associated with the existing application in Field Service.
• Comment - description of the required application that can provide more details about this API (e.g. "for obtaining inventory list from Fusion SCM”).

Once the plugin is imported with XML file and the required applications were specified there, then configurator will see keys and descriptions in the list of ‘Application’ section, then they can select an appropriate application from the drop down list.

In case the application is not associated, then the API access is not provided to the plugin. In case the selected application is not of a supported type, then the mobile plugin framework will return an Error.

screen 1

If the plugin was added from the Forms & Plugins screen, the Application section is empty by default and the Configurator can add it from scratch, by clicking the ‘Add’ button, specifying the application identifier in the Key field and adding necessary Comment.

screen 2

Control Field Service REST API calls according to current user visibility

In case you want to restrict access to the REST API calls by JWT access token to the visibility of the current user, the checkbox “Application details" should be enabled.

If a REST API call tries to obtain data from a resource outside of the Visible Resources list of the current user, it will be denied.

screen 3

• Simplified configuration of access to the REST API of Field Service, Fusion applications and other External applications.
• Connections standardization in line with other Oracle products.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Service Logistics

Register Parts Catalog using Fusion Item Catalog or Organization

Registering a Parts Catalog using the Item catalog or Organization provides the ability to import Items from a (Fusion) Item Catalog or Organization and use them as a Parts Catalog in Field Service. During registration it is possible to define the structure of the future Parts Catalog by selecting specific fields to be synchronized.

Described feature provides the ability via the Parts Catalog screen to register a (Fusion) Item Catalog or Organization and use their Item data as a Parts Catalog in Field Service.

Catalog

It is possible to define the structure of the future Parts Catalog by configuring what fields of the Items to use as shown below:

structure

After registering a Catalog, the Field Service system would create a Parts Catalog of the defined structure and automatically import Items data from the Source Items Catalog or Organization, including any related Items.

Once the import is complete, the Parts Catalog would be periodically updated with the new added Items to the source Item Catalog or Organization while also deleting any items no longer present there.

This feature allows for an easy integration from an existing Item Catalog or Organization data into Field Service, making it available for field resources in offline mode. It is also possible to separate data access between different User Types by registering Parts Catalogs of different structures from the same source and assigning them to the appropriate User Types.

Steps to Enable

The only precondition for the feature to be available to use is to have added and properly configured an Application of type 'Oracle Fusion Service and Service Logistics' with the parameter 'Use Fusion catalog' enabled.

Tips And Considerations

• Synchronizing data items can take some time and depends on the size of the source Item Catalog or Organization.

Integration

Support Warehouse Functionality in Field Service Maintenance Business Accelerator

Currently, the Field Service maintenance cloud accelerator stores inventory in Vehicles or buckets type of resources in OFS. With the introduction of  24A Feature: Support of Warehouse for Activity Related Operations a new resource type role "Warehouse" has been introduced in Field Service. The goal of this enhancement to enable storing inventory in a warehouse type of resource as part of the Field service maintenance cloud accelerator. This will allow Field resources to install the inventory directly from the warehouse when an activity is assigned.

The Field Service - Maintenance Cloud accelerator is enhanced to support inventory synchronization from the Fusion inventory management system to a warehouse resource in Field service, in addition to truck/bucket resources. The key aspect of this feature is the ability to retrieve inventory items from Fusion inventory management and store them in the Field Service warehouse. This capability supports both bulk & incremental updates from Fusion inventory management. When a Field resource is assigned to an activity the inventory organization or sub-inventory configured as the warehouse resource will be added as a preferred resource. This will allow field resources to access the inventory and install it directly from the warehouse, this eliminates the need for teamwork between field and truck resources to share inventory.  Overall this functionality ensures that inventory is effectively managed between Fusion inventory and Field service and proves especially useful for technicians who operate in a specific location where all inventories are available, for instance, the depot repair service.

Steps to Enable

High level architecture (Logical view)

The existing Maintenance Accelerator has been modified to get the Supply subinventory from the Workorder Operation while syncing the Workorder, find the corresponding from OFS and assign the resource to the Workorder activity as preferred warehouse.

Technical design (Implementation View)

Oracle Maintenance OFS Upsert Activity Helper integration has been modified to call a new sub-integration Oracle Maintenance OFS Warehouse Resource Helper to get the valid Warehouse resource and passed on to the activity creation invoke as a preferred warehouse.

Modified OIC integrations:

• Oracle Maintenance OFS Upsert Activity Helper - Added a new scope in the with and without resource flow of activity creation to find the valid warehouse resource from ofs using a sub-integration and modified the activity creation invoke to pass the warehouse resource ID as a preferred warehouse of the activity
• Oracle Maintenance OFS Warehouse Resource Helper - This will iterate through each of the items present in the work order operation and find the valid warehouse resource from ofs

OIC Configuration Lookup:

Lookup name: ORCL-BRT-MNT-OFS-CONFIG

Table

Tips And Considerations

Deployment View

The below OIC lookup values needs to be configured as per the business case before syncing the Workorder to OFS.

1. ORCL-BRT-INV-TYPE-MAPPING needs to be configured to sync the Inventory resource as Warehouse resource in OFS.
2. Lookup name: ORCL-BRT-MNT-OFS-CONFIG

table1

IMPORTANT Actions and Considerations

REPLACED OR REMOVED FEATURES

Features and technical components of the solution may be removed or replaced to enhance the security, performance, and overall quality of the cloud service. When this occurs, the deprecation of a feature or component will be announced in advance, allowing customers sufficient time to anticipate the change and transition to any enhanced replacement feature/component. After the deprecation is announced, the deprecated feature or component will remain in the solution until the planned removal date and will not be enhanced or made compatible with other new features.

New Deprecations/ Removals

Previously-Announced Deprecations