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Overview

Appointments in Fentu FSM provide a lightweight scheduling layer for managing confirmed customer visit slots. While work orders and tasks represent the work to be done, appointments track the specific date, time, and location that has been agreed upon with the customer — giving dispatchers and customers a shared reference point for upcoming service visits.
Appointments link directly to service requests and work orders. Creating an appointment does not replace scheduling tasks on the dispatcher — it records the customer-facing commitment so everyone knows when to expect a technician.

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When to Use Appointments

Use appointments when you need to:
  • Confirm a specific visit slot with a customer
  • Give customers a reference date and time they can rely on
  • Track upcoming visits across all service requests
  • Distinguish between “work is planned” and “visit is confirmed with customer”
  • Send appointment confirmations or reminders to customers
  • Report on scheduled visit volumes by branch or technician

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Appointments List View

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Key Features

See all upcoming confirmed appointments in one view, sorted by date. Quickly identify which visits are happening today, this week, or next week.
Every appointment links to a customer and a service request (Case), giving full context without leaving the list view.
Track each appointment through its lifecycle: Scheduled, Confirmed, Completed, Cancelled, or No Show.
See which technician is assigned to each appointment at a glance and filter by resource to plan daily routes.

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List Columns

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List Features

Filter appointments by date range to focus on a specific period — today, this week, or a custom range. Helps dispatchers manage their daily view without clutter.
Narrow appointments to a specific branch location. Useful for branch managers reviewing their own team’s upcoming visits.
Show only appointments with a specific status — for example, filter to “Scheduled” to see visits that have not yet been confirmed with the customer.
Search by customer name, location, appointment name, or technician to find a specific appointment quickly.

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Creating an Appointment

Appointments can be created directly from the Appointments list or from within a service request.

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From the Appointments List

1

Navigate to Appointments

Go to Service Apps → Appointments and click New
2

Select the Case

Search for and select the service request (Case) this appointment is for. The customer and location will populate automatically
3

Set Date and Time

Enter the agreed visit date, start time, and estimated end time
4

Assign a Technician

Select the technician or team who will attend
5

Add Notes

Add any instructions for the technician or internal notes about the visit
6

Save

Click Save. The appointment is created and appears in the list and on the dispatcher calendar

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From a Service Request

  1. Open the service request from Service Management → Service Requests
  2. Scroll to the Appointments tab on the case detail view
  3. Click Add Appointment
  4. Fill in date, time, and technician — the Case and Customer are pre-filled
  5. Save
Creating appointments from within the service request automatically links them to the case, saving a step and reducing the chance of linking errors.

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Appointment Fields

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Appointment Statuses

Marking an appointment as No Show does not automatically close the linked service request. Follow up manually to reschedule or close the case as appropriate.

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Sending Appointment Confirmations

Once an appointment is saved, you can notify the customer:
1

Open the Appointment

Click the appointment from the list view to open its detail view
2

Click Send Confirmation

Click the Send Confirmation action button
3

Review the Message

Preview the confirmation email or SMS that will be sent. It includes the date, time window, technician name, and any customer-facing remarks
4

Send

Click Send. The Customer Notified flag on the appointment is set automatically
Confirmation message templates are configured in Administration → Settings → Document Templates. Contact your administrator to adjust the wording, branding, or included fields.

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Rescheduling an Appointment

If a customer requests a different time or a technician becomes unavailable:
1

Open the Appointment

Find and open the appointment in the list
2

Edit Date and Time

Update the Date, Time From, and Time To fields to the new agreed slot
3

Reassign if Needed

Change the technician if a different resource will attend
4

Save

Save the changes. The appointment record updates and reflects on the dispatcher calendar
5

Re-notify the Customer

Send a new confirmation to the customer using Send Confirmation so they have the updated details

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Cancelling an Appointment

To cancel a confirmed appointment:
  1. Open the appointment
  2. Click Cancel Appointment or change Status to Cancelled
  3. Add a cancellation reason in the Notes field
  4. Save
  5. If the underlying service request is still open, return to the Case and create a new appointment for a rescheduled visit
Cancelling an appointment does not cancel the linked service request (Case) or work order. The case remains open and can be rescheduled at any time.

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Appointments and the Dispatcher

Appointments feed directly into the Dispatcher and Resource Dispatcher views:
  • Confirmed appointments appear as scheduled blocks on the technician’s calendar
  • Dispatchers can see at a glance which technicians have committed visits
  • Dragging an appointment block on the dispatcher timeline updates the Time From and Time To on the appointment record
Use the dispatcher to manage task-level scheduling and the Appointments module to manage customer-facing commitments. Together they give you an operational view (what work is happening) and a customer view (what was promised).

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Best Practices

Give customers a window (e.g., 9:00–12:00) rather than an exact time. Windows allow for travel variability and reduce customer frustration when exact times can’t be met.
Use the Send Confirmation action for every appointment. Customers who receive a confirmation are significantly less likely to result in a No Show.
Schedule appointments as soon as a visit is agreed — don’t wait until the day before. Early scheduling prevents double-booking and gives technicians time to prepare.
Add site access instructions, parking notes, or customer preferences in the Notes field. Technicians can review these before heading to the job.
Follow up on No Show appointments the same day. Contact the customer to reschedule and understand the reason. Repeated No Shows may indicate a contact or communication issue.

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Common Questions

No. Appointments are used for planned customer visits. Remote support, phone resolutions, or internal administrative tasks typically don’t need a customer appointment record.
Yes. A single Case can have multiple appointments — for example, an initial assessment visit and a follow-up repair visit. Each is tracked and confirmed independently.
No. The appointment records the commitment; the task assignment and dispatcher scheduling are managed separately. Both should reflect the same technician and time slot.
It is not recommended. Without a Case link, the appointment has no customer history, no work order connection, and will not appear in case-level reporting.
Check the technician’s calendar in the Dispatcher or Resource Dispatcher before creating the appointment to confirm they have capacity. Allow travel time between visits.

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Related Documentation

Service Requests

The Cases that appointments are linked to

Dispatcher

Schedule and visualize technician assignments on the calendar

Resource Dispatcher

Balance workload and manage technician availability

Work Orders

The work orders generated from service requests