Fieldworker Calendar & Availability Management | Fieldworker Guide

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Fieldworker Calendar Management & Real-Time Availability | Fieldworker Guide

Fieldworker Job and Schedule Management

OctopusPro helps you manage fieldworker schedules, time off, and real-time availability so customers can only book times your team can actually service. This reduces double bookings, improves on-time performance, and creates a smoother booking experience for customers.

How availability is calculated

OctopusPro typically determines a fieldworker’s availability using:

  • Working hours / shifts (when the fieldworker is scheduled to work)
  • Existing bookings already assigned to the fieldworker
  • Unavailable time blocks (time off, appointments, training, leave)
  • External calendar events (Google/Outlook), if calendar sync is enabled

Tip: If you only need a reminder and do not want to block availability, use Calendar Notes instead of Unavailable Time.

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Set business hours (company-wide)

Your business hours define the “outer boundary” for online booking availability. Customers can’t book outside these hours (even if a fieldworker has wider working hours).

Admin steps

  1. Go to Settings → General Settings → Working Hours.
  2. Set your standard business hours (e.g., Mon–Fri 8:00am–5:00pm).
  3. Save your changes.

About the default calendar (Unassigned Tasks Manager)

OctopusPro includes a core system user called the Unassigned Tasks Manager. This acts as the default calendar for unassigned quotes/bookings and is commonly used as the “business calendar” reference for booking availability.

Set / update fieldworker working hours (shifts)

Working hours define when a fieldworker is generally available to be scheduled (for example, Mon–Fri 8:00am–5:00pm). You can set split shifts by adding multiple working-hour blocks on the same day.

A) Update a fieldworker’s working hours (Admin)

  1. Go to Fieldworkers.
  2. Open the relevant fieldworker profile.
  3. Go to Job Settings → Working Hours.

  4. Edit existing hours or click Add more hours to add a new shift block.
  5. Save your changes.

Benefit: Accurate working hours improve scheduling accuracy, reduce reschedules, and help customers see realistic booking options.

B) Update your own working hours (Fieldworker)

  • Fieldworker Web Portal: My Account → Profile → Services → Working Hours
  • Fieldworker App: Menu → Profile → Services → Working Hours

Availability editing options may depend on your company’s permissions and configuration.

Block time off (unavailable time)

Use Unavailable Time to block leave, appointments, training, or any time you should not be booked. Unavailable Time prevents bookings from being scheduled during that period.

Fieldworker steps (App)

  1. Open the Calendar tab.
  2. Select the day you want to block.
  3. Choose Add Unavailable (or Let Others Know, depending on your app layout).

  4. Select All-day or set a start and end time.
  5. Add details (optional) and tap Save/OK.

Best practice: Block time off as soon as you know about it to keep your availability accurate and avoid last-minute reschedules.

Add calendar notes (reminders that don’t block availability)

Calendar Notes are ideal for internal reminders such as “team meeting”, “call supplier”, or “public holiday”. Notes appear on calendars but do not block availability.

Admin steps

  1. Go to your Calendar.
  2. Click the relevant date/time slot.
  3. Select Add Note.
  4. Choose who the note applies to:
    • Unassigned Tasks Manager (business calendar note)
    • One or more fieldworkers (shows on their calendars)
  5. Add the note title/details, date/time, then Save.

Fieldworker notes

Fieldworkers can create notes for themselves (visibility and options may vary by permissions).

View calendars & assigned bookings

Fieldworker (App)

  1. Open the Calendar tab.
  2. Tap a date to view your scheduled bookings.

  3. Open a booking to view job details, customer info, and instructions.

Admin (common ways to view a fieldworker’s calendar)

  • From the fieldworker profile: Fieldworkers → [Fieldworker] → Calendar
  • From a booking: Open booking → view available/assigned fieldworkers → open calendar view
  • Find availability view: Compare multiple fieldworkers’ availability for a selected date/time (if enabled)

Use Month/Week/Day/List views to match your workflow and quickly spot gaps, overlaps, and heavy days.

Sync Google Calendar / Outlook Calendar

Calendar sync helps keep availability accurate by reflecting external commitments (personal events, other jobs, appointments) alongside OctopusPro. When enabled, events can be used to help prevent customers or office users from scheduling over conflicts.

Admin: Sync the business calendar (Unassigned Tasks Manager)

  1. Go to Fieldworkers and open Unassigned Tasks Manager.
  2. From Actions, send the Google/Outlook integration link.
  3. Complete permission/authorization via the email link.

Admin: Sync an individual fieldworker

  1. Go to Fieldworkers and open the fieldworker profile.
  2. From Actions, send the Google/Outlook integration link.
  3. The fieldworker completes authorization via the email link.

Fieldworker: Sync from the app (if enabled)

  1. Open your profile in the Fieldworker App.
  2. Select Sync Calendar (or Calendar Integration).
  3. Authorize using the email link.

Benefit: Calendar sync reduces scheduling conflicts and improves customer confidence by showing more accurate availability.

Real-time availability & Customer Portal booking settings

When Real-Time Availability is enabled, customers can only book time slots where at least one suitable fieldworker is available. This creates a smoother booking flow and significantly reduces manual rescheduling.

Enable/disable Real-Time Availability (Admin)

  1. Go to Settings → Customer Portal → Flags & Permissions.
  2. Enable or disable Real-Time Availability.

  3. Save your changes.

Time slot interval (booking increments)

The time slot interval controls the spacing between available start times (e.g., every 15/30/60 minutes). Smaller intervals give customers more options; larger intervals simplify schedules and reduce fragmentation.

  • Example (30 minutes): 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30
  • OctopusPro factors in service duration so overlapping slots aren’t shown as bookable.

Exact start time vs time range (optional)

If your operation can’t guarantee an exact arrival time, you can configure the portal to allow customers to pick a time range instead of a fixed start time (useful for high-variability jobs and travel-heavy schedules).

Minimum notice time (recommended)

Minimum notice time prevents last-minute bookings (for example: “Bookings must be made at least 2 hours in advance”), giving your team time to prepare, travel, and confirm assignments.

Show working hours on public fieldworker profiles

If you publish fieldworker profiles on your website/customer portal, you can also display their working hours to help customers plan. This improves transparency and reduces back-and-forth booking questions.

Admin steps

  1. Go to Settings → Customer Portal → Flags & Permissions.
  2. Enable the setting to display fieldworker profiles/list (if applicable to your portal layout).
  3. Enable Display Fieldworker Working Hours.
  4. Save your changes.

Example display

  • Working hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00am–5:00pm
  • Unavailable: Monday 24 Apr, 1:00pm–3:00pm (blocked time off)

Best practices & troubleshooting

Best practices

  • Set company hours first, then set fieldworker shifts inside those hours.
  • Block time off early (leave, training, appointments) to keep availability accurate.
  • Use Calendar Notes for reminders that shouldn’t block availability.
  • Review time slot interval to match your service duration and scheduling style.
  • Enable real-time availability for the cleanest customer self-booking experience.

If customers can’t see any available times

  1. Confirm business hours are set correctly.
  2. Confirm the fieldworker has working hours set for that day.
  3. Check for unavailable time blocks or conflicting bookings.
  4. If calendar sync is enabled, check for external calendar conflicts.
  5. Check minimum notice time isn’t blocking near-term bookings.
  6. Make sure the time slot interval isn’t too restrictive for the service duration.

Important: Even when Real-Time Availability is enabled, office users can still manually schedule and assign bookings when needed (for exceptions, VIP jobs, or operational overrides).

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