Travel Time Calculations
This section describes how travel times are calculated while creating technician routes.
The following points describe how grids are configured:
• As part of the Schedule Optimization configuration for any new customer, the Schedule Optimization team defines a geographical grid for the operations area of the organization.
• The width and breadth of the grid cells are set to a square kilometer.
• The grid parameters can be changed to suit the organization's scheduling requirements. For example, grid cells can be set to smaller dimensions if the area where Schedule Optimization operates is a campus and the mode of travel is walking.
• The grid helps to mark the geographical area within which Schedule Optimization operates.
The following points describe how the map provider API is used for travel time calculations:
• A standard map provider API is used for the travel time calculations. When the Schedule Optimization job is run for the first time, travel time calculations for technician routes are based on the map provider's travel time data.
• Schedule Optimization uses the map provider APIs for distance calculations only for the new locations and routes on subsequent job runs. The previous travel time calculation information is stored in the database. After the driving distance between the grid is populated using map provider data, it is reused for the subsequent similar coordinates.
• Schedule Optimization schedules work orders well ahead of time (days ahead), and it is not practically possible to consider the actual drive time for the scheduled hour. Travel times are calculated by considering the pessimistic historical average time consideration to build some resilience within the schedule.
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ServiceMax recommends that you run the first scheduling job in collaboration with the Schedule Optimization team.
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