Tasks allow you to assign items and resources to work that needs to be done for a project. Tasks are created and managed in Task Explorer.

Tasks can be integrated for use with the optional product Mobile Install.

To create a task:

1/ Click Start > Scheduling > Manage Tasks.

This will open the Task Explorer interface.

2/ Click the New button and choose to create a task.

You will be prompted to select a project.

A task allows you to add items to be installed and resources to complete the installation. It could also be anything that needs to be accomplished for a project.

The New Task form will have the following tabs.

In the General tab, you can enter a name for the task (required), a description, and the start and end dates and times.

The default duration is eight hours unless you have changed this in your Task Settings in the Control Panel.

You should wait until you add items and resources to the task before determining the date and time to assign it.

In the Contact tab, the primary contact for the project will be displayed. You can edit this if needed.

In the Addresses tab, the Address fields will pre-populate with the address from the project, but you can modify it if needed.

In the Notes tab, you can add notes for the resources (installers). This field will be synced back and forth with Mobile Install (MI).

In the Items tab, you can add products, labor items, and packages from the project to the task.

Once added, those items are "flagged," so they can not be added to a different task.

Clicking the Add Items button will open the following form, where you can filter and select the items from the project for which you want to add the task.

By default, all items that are not already assigned to another task will be displayed.

You can also set Pre-Filter options for Order Status and other criteria.

The labor hours associated with the items will be displayed in the bottom right corner of the form.

By default, the total hours associated with each product will be calculated using both the Base and Misc. Subphases.

If you do not wish to include the Misc. subphase, click the Settings button in the Task ribbon and set the value to No.

In the Resources tab, you can assign resources to the task. Resources are the people who are doing the work for the task.

When you click the Assign button, the following form will open, displaying all of your SI users.

Use Ctrl or Shift to select multiple resources and click the Assign button.

You can also check a resource's availability based on a date range.

Availability is based on whether the resources are not assigned to other tasks or service orders.

Assigned resources will automatically be assigned an hour in the Estimated Hours field. You can manually change this as you see fit.

You can also choose "Assign estimated hours based on total labor hours" or "Assign estimated hours based on duration."

Assign estimated hours based on total labor hours

This option will split the total labor hours evenly amongst your assigned resources.

The total labor hours value is the sum of the labor hours assigned to the items added to the task.

Assign estimated hours based on duration

This option will evenly split the estimated hours entered on the General tab amongst your assigned resources.

Alternatively, you can return to the General tab and manually set the start and end dates and times or use the Compute End option.

Compute End

This option will populate the end date based on Item Labor Hours or the Estimated Resource Hours.

You can click the Change Business Hours link to adjust your working hours.

You can then set the scheduled start and end dates and times with the Set as Scheduled Dates link.

The Time Sheets tab is grayed out during the task creation, but can be accessed once the task is saved.

Check out this article for more details.

In the Checklist tab, you can add a checklist to the task.

You can choose a new checklist from your catalog or one already associated with the project.

In the Custom Fields tab, you can edit any custom fields created for tasks.

In the Comments tab, you can add comments to the task. Each entry is automatically tagged with the date, time, and username of the user who commented.

You can export your comments to Excel or PDF if desired.

Clicking the Project Hours button displays a dropdown view of the Project Budgeted Hours, Actual Hours (from Approved Time Sheets), Hours Remaining, and Hours Remaining %.

This can help you determine what estimated labor hours are still unused when scheduling tasks. This can be viewed by Labor Type or by Phase.

In the Scope Of Work tab, you can view any one of the three scope of work documents for the project. These documents can be published to MI.

Before publishing tasks, you can change the Site Labor settings for MI.

Check out this article for more details.

Once done, click the Save and Close button, and the task will be displayed in Task Explorer.

Tasks are also displayed on the calendar.

If you attempt to publish tasks to resources that are not MI users, you will be prompted to create MI users.

Check out this article for more details.