Scheduling and booking Events

The schedule in Payaca has a number of different features and capabilities, all designed to make managing your business easier.

Primarily the schedule works as an interface to view and manage your events.

In this article, we will cover how to use the schedule and break down the features and capabilities of events.

There are two methods for viewing your events and schedule, these are from the schedule tab and from within a project.

From within a project, you will see a number of sub-tabs that give you extra information associated with that project.

Use the schedule sub-tab to quickly see your calendar as you would in the main schedule, outside of a project. See below for a full breakdown of the different view options available.

You will also be able to see a list of any events associated with that project in a list on the left. You can open one of these events directly just by clicking on it or you can create a new event entirely by clicking on the Create event icon.

On the schedule page, there are a number of different filters you can use to view your events.

From the calendar view, you can see all events in one calendar with no obvious separation between how events are assigned.

You can use this layout by clicking the calendar icon on the schedule page.

From the user view, you have a more specific view that shows events separated between different users. This allows you to see who is assigned to which events very easily.

To access this view click on the bullet point icon.

The map view is a completely different type of interface that allows you to see scheduled events on a map (assuming the event has a stated location).

To access the map view, from the schedule page, click on "Map".

You will now be able to see all your upcoming events on a map. You can then zoom in and out depending on which events you want to see.

To return to the calendar interface, click "Calendar".

You can also change the time frame in which you view your calendar to break it into more digestible chunks.

The month view will show the whole month. While the week view will show you the current week with a breakdown of each day hour by hour.

The day view will show you the current day with an hour-by-hour breakdown.

If you need to navigate to a particular day quickly you can click on the "Jump to date" button which will allow you to choose a day to go to, while the "Today" button will take you to the current day.

If you have set your business hours you can adjust your calendar to show or display your working hours.

Toggle on "Show only business hours" to only show the hours you're working, or switch it off to show the full day.

There are four methods you can use to create and manage events.

Click "Schedule" to access the main calendar page.

To schedule an event, click "Create Event"

A pop-up will appear allowing you to build the event from scratch or use a template.

Templates allow you to quickly add event information such as the event name, tags and tasks. Jump to the event templates section of this article.

Choose whether you want to use a template and you will progress to the event editor.

Start by linking your event to a project. You can do this by searching for the project you're after, either using the project name or number.
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Complete all required information.

For events that are paired with a project, if you want to include a customer's details in the final event, you can do this with the "Include Customer details" switch. This will pull through names and contact information from the project.

You can use the "Add accepted items" button to add a summary of the items that your customers have accepted in the description. This information will be taken from associated project proposals.

You can also assign one or multiple users to the event. This will mean that their details are included in the event. The event will be assigned to them and appear in their calendar. They will also be notified and be able to access and complete the event.

You also have the option to send additional contacts email notifications.

These can either be contacts who are at the event address or other contacts who may not be at the address but whom you wish to send a confirmation email to - such as a landlord.

Steps on how to send email confirmations to these contacts can be found in the event confirmation and notification section later in this article.

When you're happy, click "Create event" and the event will be saved.

Your event will now appear on the Schedule.

From the calendar, you can quickly create an event on a specific date. Click directly on the day you want to create the event and the editor will populate with that day.

You can make this even more specific by using the day view. Click and drag down for the duration of the time period you want the event to last. When the event editor opens it will already have the desired duration set.

You can create an event from anywhere within your project using the add calendar event icon.

You will see a pair of icons represented by a pencil and a calendar with a plus in it. The pencil icon is used to add notes and the calendar icon is used to create events.

To create an event click on the Calendar icon.

Follow the same steps outlined above when creating an event from the schedule. The new event will automatically be paired with the project you're working on.

When on the schedule page, you will see a list of projects displayed on the left-hand side of your screen.

This "To be scheduled list" can be opened and collapsed using the arrow icon.

You can use this list to quickly create an event and associate it with a project. All the displayed projects do not yet have an event associated with them.

Using the drop-down on the left you can filter displayed projects by pipeline.

Using the filter on the right you can filter by pipeline stage.

Click on a project you want to add an event to and it will open the event editing pop-up.

Clicking on a project while your schedule is set to display the map will create a pin on your map. Click on this map pin and it will open the event editing pop-up.

If the project doesn't have an address associated with it, the pop-up will open straight away without the map pin.

If you have assigned multiple contacts to an event you can send out event confirmation emails directly from the event.

Open the event you want to send confirmation emails from.

Click "Send Event confirmation".

This will open an email editor pop-up.

You can adjust the recipients of the email, change the email subject and edit the body of the email.

Once you're happy, click "Send".

Your contacts will be emailed your booking confirmation.

Event reminders are set up from your "My company" page.

Go to "Schedule".

From this page, you can set up reminders that will allow you to automatically send out email and text reminders about upcoming events to your customers.

Click "Add reminder".

This will open the "Type", "Time" and "Include description" dropdowns.

Choose if you want your reminder to be an email or text reminder.

Choose the number of days, hours or minutes preceding the event you want to use to trigger the reminder.

Choose if you want to include the event description. This will be taken directly from the event the reminder is triggered from and will be included in the email or text that is sent.

Once set up reminders will be sent out for any upcoming events with an associated customer address.

Reminders will contain the following message:

This is a friendly reminder that your booking is scheduled for [Date] at [Time] at the following address:

[Address taken from event]

Thanks,

[Your company name].

You are unable to customise this message, however you can choose to include the event description in the message for email messages.

If you choose to do this make sure that you are happy with the text in your event description as this will be used word for word in your reminders and will be applied to all events.

If you just want to change the timings of an event there are two ways of doing this.

For all other edits, click on the event you want to edit, either from the schedule or from within a project and click on the three dots in the corner. Click "Edit" and make your changes.

Event templates are a set framework (or template) you can use to create similar events very quickly without having to repeatedly build them from scratch.

For example, if you regularly perform boiler installs, rather than having to input the event description and name every time, you can use a template to create boiler install events in a couple of clicks.

From your dashboard click on your company profile dropdown in the top right corner.

From the dropdown select "Templates".

On the templates page click "Create Template".

This will open the template builder.

From here you can input desired information such as the event name, event description and how long you want the event to last. You can also attach any relevant files such as certificates or forms you might need and add tags.

If you want to name the event template (as opposed to just naming the event), click "Add Template name and description" to add the template name.

Fill out the necessary extra information.

You can also attach tags to your event template by clicking "Add tags".

If you want to add tasks to your template you can also do this. Follow the steps in the section on adding tasks to event templates to do this.

Event templates can be used whenever you create a new event.

When you go to create any new event you will be presented with a pop-up offering you the ability to create the event from scratch or using a template.

Use the drop-down to choose which template you want to use.

Projects can contain independent events and tasks that exist in a project on their own.

If you have an existing independent task you can create a new event to pair with that existing task.

You can create this link either from the existing task.

Navigate to the task from the task tab within your project and click on the task.

A pop-up will open showing the task list.

Below the notes section, you will see any linked events. Click on the "+" icon.

Follow the steps to create an event as outlined above.

Tasks are essentially to-do lists.

They provide you and your team with additional information about what needs to be done on upcoming projects.

Tasks are presented as a series of tick boxes that can be clicked to mark as complete.
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Tasks can be created from Projects, using the Tasks sub-tab or from the task page.

To create a task from a project, go to the tasks sub-tab and click "Create Task".

To create a task from the schedule, open an event. In the tasks section, click "Add Task".

A pop-up will appear on the screen.

Choose a name for your task, and assign it to the appropriate team member.

Select a due date and add notes where applicable.

Below this, you will also see the option to add a checklist or a form. This needs to be completed in order to fulfil the task.

You can also create and edit all your tasks from the task page. Here you can see a list of all your tasks in one place.

Use the filters in the top right to get a clearer view of the tasks you need.

If you want to edit or delete a task, click on the three dots next to the task.

If you want to apply filters to your tasks, this can be done either from the task page or from within a project.

To open the task filter, either from the task page or from within a project, click on the "Filter" button.

A menu panel will open on the right side of your screen displaying the filter options. There are four different categories you can use: ASSIGNEE, STATUS, TYPE, EVENT.

The assignee category allows you to filter tasks according to which account user is assigned to that task.

The status filter allows you to show or hide if a task is in progress, complete or still to do.

Type allows you to distinguish between forms and checklists.

The event filter allows you to reveal tasks either with or without linked events.

Once these filters have been applied they will remain in place until they are removed. Even if you switch from the tasks page to a project view the filters will still be active, meaning they are applied everywhere.

When creating an event template you can also add a task to that template.

This means that whenever an event is created using that template the associated task will automatically be added to that event.

To add a task to an event template, go to your list of templates you have already created.

Click on the template you wish to add a task to.

This will open a pop-up on the right side of your screen.

Under "Add linked Tasks", click on the "+" icon.

A pop-up will open allowing you to create a task as you would in the steps above.

When you are happy, click "Create Task Template".

Your task will now appear within your event template. Every time you use this template your task will be added.

Checklists operate as a sub-category of tasks.

They allow you to break down tasks into a series of smaller to-dos within that primary task.

To create a checklist, from an event, open the task editor.

At the bottom of the editor make sure you have selected "Checklist".

Below this, use the "Add item" button to build your checklist.

Keep adding as many items to the checklist as you need. When you're happy, click "Save".

Forms refer to industry forms that are used for specific jobs, such as Gas Safety Certificates or Minor Electrical Works Installation Certificates.

These are attached to the task, making them easy to access and complete.

To create a form from a task, open the task editor.

At the bottom of the editor make sure you have selected "Form".

Use the drop-down to select the form you want to work on.

Click "Save".

Your form will now appear under the tasks section within the project you were working on.

To open the form click on the task form displayed in your task list. This will open a pop-up displaying the certificate in the task.

Click on the task.

Forms and certificates can also be created directly from projects.

From an open project, go to the files tab.

From here click "Choose form template".

On the next screen, choose the form or certificate you would like to complete from the dropdown list

Next, if you're using a desktop, decide whether to complete the form or certificate yourself or send it to someone else via email.

If you're on mobile, you're not given the choice to send the form to someone.

Click "Create form" to get started.

To complete a form first open it either from a task or via a project.

You will then be presented with the following screen.

Depending on the form or certificate template chosen, you will be taken through the steps necessary to complete it.

At each stage, there will be certain steps that are marked with a red asterisk and must be completed to be able to complete the full form/certificate.

If any of these sections are left incomplete the section with the missing information will be highlighted at the end of the process.

Once you've filled out all the information you will be presented with the option to submit the form.

Click "Submit".

You will be presented with a form like the one shown below.

You can now choose to send a copy to the customer. This will send out a customised email with the attached form/certificate, or you can download the document as a pdf.