Waves

Wave Management

Waves are created during new call form setup process. They need to be added/adjusted and maintained during the active period of a call form. The article details setting up and maintaining call form waves.

Wave Management List

Waves are accessed by clicking the waves link in the Call Form Management screen located at
Team / Manage / Call Forms / Waves

The wave management screen uses the General Management page layout.

Add Waves

Click the Add button to begin adding waves

The wave add screen opens. Start the add process by filling out the fields.

Name - name of the Wave. Should be descriptive of why the visits were broken up into this grouping
Start Date - start of the Wave. When the store assignments/appointment are visible to the field reps if the wave is active
End Date - end of the Wave.
Ranking - label to provide additional information to the team and field reps about the wave.
In-Store Duration (min) - default time in store for appointment for each store assignment in the wave
Admin Duration (min) - default admin time for payroll entry for each store assignment in the wave
Active - checkbox to determine if the wave is active or inactive. Checking the box makes the wave active on the start date.
- Important - unchecking this checkbox at any time during the waves start and end dates delete any unscheduled appointments not scheduled and in the future for this wave.

Work Days/Available Start Time

Work Days
The workdays check boxes enable users to select the days of the week when appointments are allowed to be scheduled for the stores in a wave.

Unchecking a day of the week has the following impact on rep scheduling:

Drag and Drop Scheduling - makes the unscheduled appointment not visible for scheduling on that day of the week.
Manual Scheduling - provides an error message when an incorrect day is chosen.

Available Start Time (time block)
The available start time feature provides the ability to set a time window(s) within which the visits for a wave and day of the week must be scheduled.

An example is "The store visits in this wave to Target must be completed only on Monday - Friday and must start by 9am in the morning."

Day of the Week
The days of the week visible are set by clicking the workday checkboxes. To begin entering earliest start times click on a Day of the Week. For example Monday:

Clicking the link on a weekday opens the available start time setup area. By default no start times are set for a day.

To add a start time window, click the plus button. Note that there is a maximum of two start time windows available per day.

The Earliest and Latest start time selection boxes are displayed.

To update the times click into the time box and scroll to the correct time. To delete the time block click the trash can.

Field users scheduling work for this wave will be required to schedule the start time of their appointment between 9-9:15 on Monday.

Copy and Paste Start Times

If the start time setup on one day is similar on another day the time blocks setup can be copied and pasted to another day.

Start by clicking the Copy icon. Notice that the paste icon is not clickable on the day copied.

Click on the day copying to. In this example Tuesday is clicked. Notice the paste button is available but the copy button is not.

Click the paste button to paste the copied start times to the other day (Tuesday). The start time from Monday is now set on Tuesday.

Clicking the save button saves the updates to the wave.

Edit Waves

To edit a wave click on the vertical menu between the name and ranking value in the grid.

The edit link opens the Wave Add/Edit form. The process is very similar to adding a wave except the Start Date and Ranking fields cannot be edited.

Delete Waves

To delete a wave click on the vertical menu between the name and ranking value in the grid. Waves can only be deleted if the wave start date is in the future.

A pop-over screen opens asking if the user is sure they want to delete.

Clicking the OK button deletes the waves if the wave start date is in the future.

Copy Waves

Copying waves is a time saving feature which enables a user to make a copy of an existing wave including its setup.

To begin click the checkbox next to a wave to copy

Next click the copy button on the toolbar

The wave copy screen opens and information needs to be filled out.

Name - name of the Wave. Should be descriptive of why the visits were broken up into this grouping
Start Date - start of the Wave. When the store assignments/appointment are visible to the field reps if the wave is active
Original Wave Length - checked by default. Leaving it checked will maintain the end date and length of the wave being copied.
- End Date - end of the wave. Only available if original wave length is unchecked.
Active - checkbox to determine if the wave is active or inactive. Checking the box makes the wave active on the start date.
Copy Stores - should the store assignments from this wave be copied to the new wave. Checked means yes and unchecked means no.
- Visit Types - choose the store assignment visit types to copy to the new wave. Only available if checked.

Clicking the save button saves the copied wave to the wave list.

Inactivate Waves

Waves are inactivated when the project is completed. Waves have both start and end dates and inactive checkboxes.

Waves are inactivated one at a time or in bulk.

Inactivating Waves one at a time
To activate a wave click on the vertical menu between the name and ranking value in the grid.

A pop-over screen opens reminding the user that all future appointments will be deleted.

Clicking the OK button inactivates the waves.

Inactivating Waves in Bulk

Inactivating waves in bulk is a time saving feature to inactivate more than one wave at a time.

To begin click the checkboxes next to waves to inactivate

Next click the Inactivate button on the toolbar

A pop-over screen opens reminding the user that all future appointments will be deleted.

Clicking the OK button inactivates the waves.

Manage Rankings

Rankings are tags on a wave used to explain or give it importance. To start to manage rankings click the Rankings button on the manage toolbar.

The Ranking manage screen is opened displaying a toolbar, and a grid listing the rankings for the wave.

Edit a Rank

By default rankings A-H are preloaded for each wave.

To edit a rank click on the Edit icon on the left side of the rank.

The rank row opens for editing the Ranking Value and the Active checkbox.

To save the changes click the Save icon.

Add a Rank

To add a rank click the Add Ranking button.

The top row of the grid opens to add a new rank

Enter the Ranking Value
Decide if it needs to be Active for Inactive

Click the Save icon to save the new rank.

Wave Store Assignment Entry "Bleed Over" to next wave range

Why can my field rep enter a visit outside my Goal date range?

Goals are setup to limit the number of visits a field rep can make to a store during a given date range. However our Merchandising and Flex force tactics require the maximum number of visits for a Goal range or Wave to be completed for their clients. If the field rep was "stopped" from entering a visit that they completed but did not enter on time it is not acceptable.

Below is an example of how waves work:
There are two goals or waves that are consecutive.

For this example let's first say that today's date is 9/18. The September goal is active and I as a field rep cannot schedule a visit in this wave for any dates outside of 9/1 to 9/30.

Now let's say that today's date is 10/2 and the September wave is still active and the October wave for rank A has started. Since it is now 10/2 the field rep can now schedule a visit from the September wave outside of the wave date range. If the September goal is deactivated the field rep can no longer schedule or enter visits for that wave except for the scheduled work for the date it is deactivated.

Often the question is asked - Why can't I simply extend the dates of the wave instead of giving the field reps access to schedule after the end date? Goals for the same rank cannot overlap, so in the above example the end date for the September wave could not be extended to 10/2 because it would overlap the October Wave which already has new visits to complete.

If you have two waves with different ranks, like the example below, the September Wave which originally ended on 9/30 could be extended to 10/2 to allow the field rep to schedule and enter their visit.