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Tasks

Marisa Potgieter
  • Updated

FCPlus Tasks module manual

FCPlus Tasks module

The Task module was developed to manage the work of the employees and plan it more efficiently. With the Tasks module, you can create tasks and share them between team members, track tasks completion statuses, and be informed about what is happening within the team working flow.  The Tasks module can be helpful in various industries, such as for couriers, sales representatives,  workers involved in repairs or maintenance, and so on.

Tasks module the main view 

On the left-hand side, you can find tabs with Tasks, Timeline, Search, Calendar, Recurring Tasks, and Optimization. Please find the explanation of each one of them below:

Tasks: From the Tasks tab, you can create a new task, adjust changes to previously created, etc. Tasks screen is divided into two sections: 

  • Planned: Created tasks with assigned driver (Driver means the employee who will perform the Task).
  • Unplanned: Created tasks,  but not yet assigned to a driver.

*Timeline*: Provides task workflow data for each task on selected date.

Search: Allows searching task information by using combinations of different filters.

Calendar:Task schedule view for upcoming day/week/month.   Recurring: Allows to view and schedule recurring/repetitive tasks. 

Optimization:Optimization feature lets you quickly calculate the most efficient and cost-effective routes. It can help you save time and money by reducing driving time and fuel costs.

Map: Map is located on the right-hand side. On the map, you can see the location where the task will be performed, or when creating a new task, use the map to mark the location.

How to create a new task?

If you have a new task that needs to be added, follow these steps:

1. Open the Tasks module.    2. Click on Add new task button. 

NB! If you are using Task types, the Task type will already added to the button name (example: "Add new delivery of healthy food". If you have multiple Task types, you can select the desired one from the dropdown list). Read more about task types from the article. 

3. The pop up window will open. Fill in all the required information related to the new task: 

  • Driver: Employee who will complete the task. You can skip this field, if don't have a responsible for the task person at the moment.
  • Status: Select the task status. More information about the statuses will be provided later in this article.
  • Address: The address where the task should be performed.
  • Due date: The deadline by which the task must be completed.
  • Task name: Name of the task.
  • Description: Task description.

4. Click on the Save button. 

You can see a newly created task in the Planned tasks section under the specified driver.

Create an urgent task

If you have a priority task within a team, you can create a new task and mark it as urgent: 

  1. Open the Tasks module.
  2. Click on Add new task button.
  3. The pop-up window will open. Fill in all the required information related to the new task.
  4. Check the box next to "urgent."

 

5. Click on the Save button to create a task.

You can see a newly created urgent task in the Planned tasks section under the specified driver highlighted in red. 

Task copying 

You can create a copy from an existing task and choose whether you want to keep original task attachments, photos or form data. Please follow the steps below to copy the task:

1. Make a right click on the task and click on the Copy button. 

2. The Copy task(s) screen will appear on the screen, choose relevant parameters for the copied task.

 

3. Click on the Save button. 

How to delete a task?

To delete a task follow the steps below: 

  1. Select a task you need to delete.
  2. Click the Delete task button at the panel's top, and the popup window will appear.
  3. Press the Yes button to confirm.

Tasks import

The Tasks import option allows you to import tasks from other software (for example, Excel). You can extract task from the 3rd part software to *.csv-file and easily import this file to FCPlus to prevent inserting the data repeatedly.

NB! The file must be in CSV format and UTF-8 encoding.

Tasks import CSV file example

Download an example of the CSV import file (Follow the link and click the Download button to save it). 

Below is the description of the columns in the Excel file. Depending on the field's color, they may be required or optional to fill in.

Red = mandatory field Green = optional field Orange = recommended

Description of the columns in the file:

timestamp: time when task is created. Format YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss or DD.MM.YYYY h:mm. If time not listed default will be set 00:00 name:name of the task description:task description address:task address (can be added without commas e.g. 123 main street London AB12CD UK). personid: ID of the driver personkey: key of the driver (if used) personname: name of the driver. If submitted without driver name, task will be imported as not assigned customerid: if customer module is used and task is for particular customer customerexternalid: if customer module is used and task is for particular customer customername: if customer module is used and task is for particular customer latitude: GPS coordinate of task location. Can be used instead of address field or in addition to longitude: GPS coordinate of task location. Can be used instead of address field or in addition to timewindowbegin: task completion timeframe starting time (if applicable) Format YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss or DD.MM.YYYY h:mm timewindowend: task completion timeframe ending time (if applicable) Format YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss or DD.MM.YYYY h:mm quantity:vehicle capacity. For each car, you can put only the amount allowed. So the system will know how big a vehicle should be. quantity2: see above servicetime: number in minutes e.g. 10, 25, 60 etc. How much time is needed to fulfil the task at location (e.g. deliver package takes 1 min, load packages at warehouse 15 mins) objectgroupids: vehicle group ID (if vehicle groups are used) objectgroupnames: vehicle group name (if vehicle groups are used) recurring: mark if task is recurring TRUE or FALSE. If left blank – task created by default as not-recurring recurringstarttimestamp: recurrence start date. Format YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss or DD.MM.YYYY h:mm (time is not mandatory to add, only date is accepted) recurringendtimestamp: recurrence end date. Format YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss or DD.MM.YYYY h:mm (time is not mandatory to add, only date is accepted) recurringperiod: day, week, month, year.  MUST be in lower case letters recurringskip: number of days or months you want to be skipped between occurrences. E.g. occurrence set daily but need to occur every other day. Enter 1 in the field to skip every second day. recurringday: if set weekly recurrence select day to occur. Enter the number of the day of the week e.g. 2 (week starts with Monday : 1=Mon, 2=Tue, etc) tasktype: tasktype name as setup under settings -> tasktypes

Task form fields - when using task forms, form field values can also be imported via .csv file. The form field column(s) must be named as follows: form_externalID.field_externalID. E.g if using the form called 'Order form' (externalID order_form); form field Order number (externalID order_number) the column name in .csv would be order_form.order_number'

How to import tasks? 

If you need to import an Excel file in CSV format with a list of tasks, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Tasks module.
  2. Click on the Import button at the bottom of the screen.
  3. The pop up window will open. Click the Select file button and add a CSV format file from your computer.
  4. To upload file press the Upload button.
  5. You will be able to see the uploaded information in the file below.

Make sure all the fields are mapped with a correct data, click on one of the tasks and on the right side of the screen you will see the break down of data and how it will populated into the fields once task is imported.

6. If the information is correct, click on the import button on the bottom right corner. 

If tasks were successfully imported, you will get a pop up window with a confirmation. 

P.S. If you didn't select a driver in the uploaded CSV file, you will see uploaded tasks under the unplanned section. You can assign a driver for the task later. To do this, right-click on the task, select "Assign task to person," and choose the person to assign the task to.

Task statuses

Tasks are marked with different statuses depending on the stage of completion. Below is the description of the statuses.

Todo – status shows that tasks were added to FCPlus and should be done by the driver.

In progress – shows that the driver started to complete the task.

Failed – status shows that the task failed and the driver didn’t complete it.

Done – tasks were completed by the driver.

Paused – tasks were paused by the driver.

Rejected – tasks were rejected by the driver.

How to change task statuses?

If your task has been started, completed (etc),  you can change the Task status, allowing your team to know the current stage of your work and how many tasks are still pending. Follow the steps below to change task status: 

  1. Select a task for that you want to change status.
  2. Right-click and choose the Set task status option.
  3. Choose a new status for the task from dropdown list.

Timeline tab

This field enables sorting the tasks and observing all the task-related actions (for example, the status changes). Also, track which tasks in what order are committed by drivers.

Recurring tasks

You can create a Recurring task if a specific task need to be repeated. To create a recurring task, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Recurring Tasks tab.
  2. Create a new task.
  3. click on the "Recurring" checkbox.
  4. Choose the task repetition frequency depending on the needs of your business.

Tasks can be repeated every day, once a week, once a month, once a year. When all parameters are set, click the "Save and Close" button. 

Calendar

Under Calendar tab you can find information about task schedule for a work time / whole day / week / work week / 31 days. Worktime option was introduced to only show tasks scheduled during company work hours. Workweek option was introduced to show tasks scheduled only between Monday and Friday. Workweek will always show week starting with Monday of the selected week. E.g. if selected Aug 14, 2024, Workweek view will show the week starting with Monday Aug 12, 2024. 

Tasks automation

We can help you automatically send tasks from your system to FCPlus using an API. To get started with this feature, contact your sales manager for assistance.

Optimization

Route optimization is a feature within the Tasks module that allows customers to optimize the routes for the vehicles to make the routes more cost- and time-efficient. More information about route optimization can be found in the Optimization engine article.

Task vehicle location tracking link helps to see whereabouts of the vehicle carrying the goods to the end customer.

To enable the service please contact your sales or account manager to switch on ‘Custom data form for organizations:’.

Open FCPlus and follow the steps below: Go to Settings → OrganizationSettings → ‘Organization Custom Data From’ → form must be selected.  Organization form MUST have field with externalID ‘taskSearchAllowedTypes’

In FCPlus → Settings → Categories → Organization custom data from field taskSearchAllowedTypes MUST have task type extrenalID added of task type(s) for which location link is enabled. If more than one task type needs to be added, they should be separated by semi- column.

Vehicle location tracking link message show estimated delivery time for optimized orders. For regular (not optimized) orders link suggests to return at later time to see estimated delivery.

The Task vehicle location tracking link supports user-defined Task statuses. Changes in statuses can be done from Fleet Complete side. For further assistance please contact your sales or account manager.

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