Custom scheduling software is a planning system that fits exactly how your business schedules: which people, which skills, which jobs, which regions and which exceptions. Instead of bending your way of working to fit a standard package, the software adapts to you.
In many businesses, the schedule is the heart of the day. If it's wrong, engineers find a locked door, customers are kept waiting and the planner gets overloaded. Many businesses still schedule on a whiteboard, in Excel or in a shared calendar. In this article you'll learn when that stops working, what good scheduling software can do and how to approach it.
Signs your scheduling needs a better system
- One person keeps the whole schedule in their head. When they're ill or on holiday, it's chaos.
- Changes are phoned or texted through, and not everyone gets them in time.
- You can't easily see who is available when.
- Jobs are scheduled without taking skills, materials or travel time into account.
- Hours and job sheets are retyped afterwards for invoicing.
- Customers call to ask what time someone is coming.
You often only see the effect at the end of the month. Trips are made for nothing, gaps remain in the schedule and hours get lost that are never invoiced. That costs money, but also energy from your planner and your team. A good system makes those problems visible and largely unnecessary.
Off-the-shelf scheduling software or custom?
There are plenty of good off-the-shelf packages for rota and job scheduling. They're quick to start using and relatively cheap per user per month (a guide only, check the current price). For businesses with a conventional way of scheduling, they're often a fine choice.
Custom scheduling software becomes interesting if:
- You have your own rules that no standard package knows, such as certificates per job, fixed pairs or priority for contract customers.
- Your schedule is tied to quotes, stock or equipment, and they need to move together.
- You already work with several separate tools that don't work well together.
- Your customers want to pick a time themselves or see the status of their job.
- Per-user licence fees keep rising as your team grows.
An honest rule of thumb: start with an off-the-shelf package if it does most of what you need and the rest doesn't get in the way. Choose custom if the very things the package can't do make the difference in your daily work. Also read custom or off-the-shelf software.
Which features belong in scheduling software?
What you need depends on your type of business. An installation company schedules differently from a cleaning company or a healthcare practice. These elements come up often:
- An online planning board: per day or week you see who's doing what, with drag and drop to move things.
- Availability and leave per employee.
- Skills, certificates or qualifications, so the right person goes to the right job.
- Travel time and region, for field service scheduling.
- An app or mobile view for staff, with their own schedule and job details.
- Digital job sheets: hours, materials, photos and the customer's signature.
- Automatic messages to customers with the appointment or a reminder.
- A link to invoicing, so completed jobs can be invoiced straight away.
Field service scheduling: mind the reality
Software that works well in the office can disappoint in practice. Field staff work with dirty hands, poor signal and little time. Bear that in mind.
- Big buttons and few steps on the phone.
- Keeps working when there's no signal for a while, and syncs afterwards.
- Only the information the engineer really needs: address, contact person, job and materials.
- A quick way to report a change or problem to the office.
A mobile app doesn't always have to go through the App Store. A progressive web app works in the browser and can sit on the home screen. More on that in progressive web app.
How to approach custom scheduling software
- For one week, follow how scheduling is done now. Write down what changes come up and why.
- List all the rules the planner keeps in their head. This is the core of your system.
- Decide who needs to see what: planner, employee, manager, customer.
- Start with the planning board and the mobile view. Job sheets and integrations follow after that.
- Test for a few weeks alongside the old way, with the planner as the main tester.
- Then switch over for real and retire the old schedule.
Above all, involve the planner and a few staff from the start. They know where things go wrong now, and they're the ones who'll use it every day. Want to know how such a project generally runs? Read how software development works.
What to look for in staff scheduling software
- Privacy: a schedule contains employees' personal data, such as leave and sometimes location. Only collect what's needed, in line with GDPR (AVG in Dutch).
- Tracking employees' location is sensitive. Discuss it upfront and get legal advice if needed.
- Who may change the schedule? Set permissions per role.
- What happens during an outage? Make sure today's schedule can still be accessed.
- You remain the owner of your data and can export it.
Having scheduling software built by Violexa
At Violexa we build custom web applications, including scheduling systems that fit your business's rules. Violexa is a small studio led by founder Hisham, based in Amsterdam, working for businesses across the Netherlands. We start from how you schedule now, not from a standard template.
A custom web application starts from €1,799 excl. VAT (€2,177 incl. VAT) per project, including design, development, a design that works on every screen and onboarding for your team. For a larger project you get a fixed price upfront, in writing. For maintenance after delivery there are plans from €179 excl. VAT (€217 incl. VAT) per month.
Want to know what custom scheduling software could do for your team? Request a free quickscan. In 30 minutes, online or on site, we discuss how you schedule now. Afterwards you get short written advice with a price indication, with no obligation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does custom scheduling software cost?
That depends on the number of features, user roles and integrations. At Violexa, a custom web application starts from €1,799 excl. VAT (€2,177 incl. VAT). Larger projects get a fixed price upfront, in writing.
What is the best scheduling software for small businesses?
That depends on how you schedule. With a conventional way of working, an off-the-shelf package is often enough. If you have your own rules, lots of exceptions or want to link scheduling to quotes and invoicing, custom usually fits better.
Can staff see the schedule on their phone?
Yes, that's standard with modern scheduling software. Staff see their own jobs, addresses and details, and can often fill in hours and job sheets too. That can be through an app or a web app in the browser.
Can I move my schedule over from Excel?
Usually, yes. Employees, customers and recurring jobs can often be imported. Do clean up the data first, so you don't carry old mistakes over.
