What is Crew Management?

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A crew is a group of field agents assigned to work together on a task, led by a designated crew lead, and associated with one or more service territories for scheduling and dispatching.

Creating a crew

Go to Workforce > Crew and click Create.
Enter the crew name, territory (the territory whose resources you want to draw on), crew size and a description.

Under the Crew Members tab, click + Create to add field agents. Only agents active in the selected territory appear, and you set their start and end date to define their active period in the crew.

One member must be designated as the crew lead. If the chosen period conflicts with that agent’s assignment to another crew, an error is shown and the dates need adjusting.

Under the Territories tab, click + Create and select a territory.

Set the start and end date for the crew’s activity in that territory.

The crew only becomes visible in the Service Resource dropdown and the Dispatch Console’s Gantt View once a territory assignment has been made.

Under the Skills tab, click + Create to assign relevant skills, choosing a skill and a rating, then click Create to finish setting up the crew.

Editing a crew

Go to Workforce > Crew.
Select the crew and click the edit icon.
Update the fields you need and click Save.

The territory and past dates cannot be edited. Once a field agent has been added to a crew, they cannot be removed, only given an end date to make them inactive.

Important crew rules

A crew member is unavailable as an individual resource while part of a crew.
The number of active field agents cannot exceed the defined crew size.
A crew is only active in a territory if its members are also active in that same territory during that period.
A crew can be assigned to more than one territory, as long as the active periods do not overlap.

Deactivating a crew

Go to Workforce > Crew.
Select the crew and click Delete.

Confirm by clicking Delete.

Deactivated crews then appear under the Inactive Crew list.

On deactivation, its members and territories are unassigned, with an end date set for all previously active member and territory entries.

Viewing crew appointments

All appointments assigned to a crew can be viewed under Service Appointments.

Hover over an appointment for a quick summary, or click it for full details.

Scheduling an appointment from the calendar

Click a time slot in the calendar, in Month, Week or Day view.

Choose the work order and fill in the Create Appointment popup, including the service, summary, scheduled start and end time, and service resource.
Click Schedule or Schedule and Dispatch.

Rescheduling an appointment

You can reschedule by dragging and dropping an appointment to a different date or time, and confirming any changes in the popup that appears,

or by resizing its duration in Week or Day view: drag the bottom edge to change the duration, then review and save. In Month view, click a date to switch to Day view for more precise rescheduling.

Things to note

If a crew member is added after an appointment has been dispatched, they will not see it unless it is rescheduled and saved.
If a member’s active period is edited to exclude the appointment date after dispatch, they may still access it if they are the crew lead or have All Records permission.
An appointment only becomes visible to other crew members, not just the crew owner, once it has been dispatched.

Frequently asked questions

Can I remove a field agent from a crew once they’ve been added?

No, once added they cannot be removed. You can only set an end date to make them inactive in the crew.

What happens when a crew is deactivated?

Its members and territories are unassigned, with an end date set for all active members and territory entries; the crew then appears under the Inactive Crew list.

When does a crew’s appointment become visible to other crew members?

Only after it has been dispatched. Before that, only the crew owner sees it, and if a member is added after dispatch they will not see it unless the appointment is rescheduled and saved.

Need help?

Need help setting up crews in Zoho FSM? Contact support@thoughtlogik.com or see our Zoho implementation services.

What is Crew Management?

Creating a crew