Allow customers to choose a preferred Fieldworker when making a booking

OctopusPro lets customers select a preferred fieldworker when booking through your Customer Portal. This is ideal when customers want the same person again, or want to choose based on reviews, recommendations, or familiarity.

Why use preferred fieldworker selection?

• Higher customer comfort & trust by allowing repeat bookings with the same fieldworker.
• Better customer experience for services where personal preference matters (e.g., beauty, wellness, in-home services).
• Reduced back-and-forth because customers can request the person they want upfront.

Before you start (important prerequisites)

• Customers must be able to access fieldworker profiles in the Customer Portal so they can see the Book fieldworker button.
  Tip: If customers can’t find fieldworkers, enable the portal option to display your fieldworkers list and make profiles public. Learn how
• Each fieldworker should have the correct services assigned (customers can only book the fieldworker for services they provide).
• Decide whether fieldworkers can accept/decline booking requests (recommended for request-based workflows). This is controlled in Fieldworker Permissions. Learn how

Table of contents

1. How to enable preferred fieldworker selection
2. What customers see in the Customer Portal
3. How the workflow works (notifications, accept/decline, fallback)
4. What happens if you disable the feature?
5. Troubleshooting
6. Related settings

How to enable preferred fieldworker selection

1. Go to Settings → Customer Portal → Flags & Permissions.
2. In the Booking Flags section, enable:
   Allow customers to select preferred Fieldworker when making a booking

What customers see in the Customer Portal

When the flag is enabled, customers can open a fieldworker profile and click Book Fieldworker. They’ll then choose from the list of services that fieldworker provides and continue the booking process as usual.

How the workflow works (notifications, accept/decline, fallback)

1) Admin portal notification

When a customer books a preferred fieldworker, OctopusPro notifies the Admin Portal that a booking has been added to your calendar.

2) Fieldworker accept/decline (optional)

If you enable Allow fieldworkers to accept and decline booking requests in Settings → General Settings → Fieldworker Permissions, the selected fieldworker will receive a notification in their Fieldworker App to Accept or Decline the request.

If this permission is disabled, the booking will be assigned automatically to the selected fieldworker (no accept/decline step).

3) If the fieldworker declines

If the fieldworker declines the booking request, the Admin Portal will receive a notification that the booking was declined. The booking will then be assigned to your General Fieldworker (default placeholder) so your team can reassign it to another suitable fieldworker.

4) If the fieldworker accepts

If the fieldworker accepts, the Admin Portal receives a confirmation notification. When you click the notification, you’ll be redirected to the booking details page where you can view the booking, the customer and the fieldworker information.

5) What the customer sees after booking

Customers can view the booked fieldworker on the booking view page in the Customer Portal. If the preferred fieldworker declines (and accept/decline is enabled), the booking will show the General Fieldworker until it’s reassigned.

What happens if you disable the feature?

If you disable Allow customers to select preferred Fieldworker when making a booking, the Book Fieldworker button will no longer appear. Bookings will then be assigned manually or automatically based on your job assignment and dispatch configuration.

Learn more about Job Assignment & Dispatch methods here: Job assignment methods

Troubleshooting

“Book Fieldworker” button is not showing

• Confirm the flag is enabled: Settings → Customer Portal → Flags & Permissions → Booking Flags.
• Make sure customers can access fieldworker profiles (portal fieldworker list/profiles enabled): Display fieldworker list & profiles
• Ensure the fieldworker is active and has the correct services assigned.

Fieldworker did not receive Accept/Decline prompt

• Enable the permission: Allow fieldworkers to accept and decline booking requests: Fieldworker Permissions
• If that permission is disabled, bookings are assigned automatically (no prompt).

Related settings

• Customer Portal Flags & Permissions: View all portal flags
• Fieldworker Permissions: Control accept/decline and access
• Job Assignment & Dispatch: Configure assignment methods

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