D-Tools System Integrator Ideas Portal
We are finding little value in the daily email that arrives each morning. Effectively, it is only an unsorted list of incomplete tasks and service orders (SOs). Beyond that, the information listed in this message provides almost no value for informing managers about the day ahead—which is ironic, given that the apparent premise of the email is to let dispatchers and managers see what their team is up to today.
The current format starts with:
Line 1: "Daily Summary"
Line 2: "Mobile Install Today"
Line 4: "Your Team's Tasks and/or Service Orders for [TODAY'S DATE]"
Yet none of the tasks or service orders listed include start dates or times of any kind. What makes this worse is that the listed items aren't limited to today. The email fails to accomplish its goal because it simply outputs every open task and service order, grouped only by item type. If you have tasks scheduled days, weeks, or months in advance, they all appear regardless of their relevance to today. As it stands, this daily email would be better titled "All Open Tasks and SOs" and delivered weekly.
A daily update should inform managers about their team's immediate daily schedule. It does not need to assist with long-term forecasting—in fact, the current format becomes even more cluttered if an organization uses Gantt charts with extensive future planning.
At a minimum, a daily summary email needs to include each task/SO start date and time.
For example, as a manager, I need to see at a glance:
Jonny Smith:
Client A at 8:00 AM
Client B at 11:00 AM
Client C at 1:30 PM
This structure is actionable, but it would provide even more value if it:
Separated tasks and SOs scheduled for today from those scheduled in the future.
Highlighted or grouped overdue items.
Included geographic details (address, region, zone, or city) so managers know where techs are headed.
Included relevant custom fields (e.g., special equipment needed, assigned vehicle/van).
A more informative layout would look like:
Jonny Smith:
Client A at 8:00 AM – [Region], [Custom Fields] (e.g., East side of city; requires 14' ladder)
Client B at 11:00 AM – [West side of city]
Client C at 1:30 PM – [Neighboring City] (e.g., alerts manager to potential scheduling issues like midday traffic)
(Note: The examples above serve to illustrate useful data points rather than strict visual formatting.)
Moving forward, D-Tools should consider allowing customization for auto-generated emails so organizations can align them with their specific workflows. Additionally, there needs to be a built-in mechanism to flag when a team member is out of the office (OOO) or sick. Currently, we have to create a dummy project called "Internal Company Scheduling" just to track OOO status or company meetings to avoid scheduling conflicts, which is an inefficient workaround.
We ask that D-Tools re-evaluate the information included in this daily email to make it a practical, high-value tool for daily dispatching and management.
