Appointments Diary (1214 onwards)

Created by Migration Bot, Modified on Fri, 23 Oct at 2:29 PM by Migration Bot

Originally written by John Hardwick, last updated Apr 21, 2026, on the Swan Retail knowledge base (FRS).

Overview

This document gives an overview of how to set up and process the customer appointment system within SwanFRS.

SwanFRS has the ability to map operators ‘appointment’ availability times and from this generate a series of potential ‘customer visit’ appointments, sending email invitations and mapping outcomes.

This is a ‘bolt on’ to the standard package and requires additional licencing to operate.

Configuration

Application Parameters

Menu Location: System Admin > Administration > Set Up Application Parameters

The customer visits appointment diary requires turning on at system / company level.

Set Up Application Parameters (1214 onwards)

APPOINTMENT_DURATION

Specify the standard appoint duration in minutes - for example, if the time allocated to a standard appointment is 1 hour this field should be set to 60.

The pick list offers 15 minute increments up to a maximum of 3 hours.

MENU_APPOINTMENTS_TO_SHOW

Specify the number of appointment lines to show on the home page appointments diary.

USE_DIARY_SYSTEM

Tick to turn the appointments' diary on.

Locations

Menu Location: System Admin > Sales > Set Up Locations

Each location operating a customer visit's appointments diary needs setting.

Set Up Locations (1214 onwards)

Licences can be distributed across the estate allowing a pre-defined number of licences to be allocated to each applicable trading location.

This system is then configured to ensure a single location cannot ‘consume’ all the licences thus blocking out another store.

If the licence allocation is to be changed please log a support ticket.

Appointments In Use

Tick to indicate the location is operating a customer visits appointments diary.

Appointment Unavailable Reasons

Menu Location: System Admin > Administration > Set Up Appointment Unavailable Reasons

This routine allows the creation of a series of ‘reason codes' that record why a specific appointment is not available - this may be due to the agent having a private appointment, additional travel time or to give the agent time to catch up on paperwork.

Set Up Appointment Unavailable Reasons (1214 onwards)

Where operating with pre-specified operator breaks, it will be necessary to mark a reason code as a ‘break reason’. Without this set, it will not be possible to set break timings against operators.

Operators

Menu Location: System Admin > Security > Set Up Users

Any operator who may visit a customer needs configuring.

Set Up Users (1214 onwards)

Use Working Dairy	Tick to indicate the operator can visit customers and therefore is part of the appointment diary scheduling system. The system will prohibit the setting of the working appointments diary indicator if all the licences for the operators default ‘location’ are in use.
Default Agent	Tick to indicate this operator is the ‘default' agent to be used when receiving appointment booking via a third party API call.
Daily Start Time	Specify the first appointment time per day of the week. Leave the start time blank if the operator does not visit on the specific day of the week. Times must be in 15 minute intervals. i.e. x:0, x:15, x:30 or x:45 where x represents hours presented in 24-hour hour format. (e.g: 16:45 is quarter to 5pm)
Daily End Time	Specify the last appointment time per day of the week. Leave the time blank if the operator does not visit on the specific day of the week. Times must be in 15 minute intervals. i.e. x:0, x:15, x:30 or x:45 where x represents hours presented in 24-hour format. (e.g: 16:45 is quarter to 5pm)
Start Break	Where applicable set the start time the operator will take a break. The break start time has to be within the daily start and end times and cannot be later than the end break time.
End Break	Where applicable set the start time the operator will take a break. The break start time has to be within the daily start and end times and cannot be earlier than the start break time. Both start and end break times must be set when used.

Roles

Menu Location: System Admin > Security > Set Up Roles

Anyone managing client visit appointments will need one or more of the following control settings.

Set Up Roles (1214 onwards)

Show Diary on Home Page	Tick if the appointment diary is to show whenever the operator, possessing this role, returns to the SwanFRS home / landing page.
DIARY_AMEND	Allows the operator to make changes to appointments - for example, book new, change existing or cancel visits.
DIARY_CREATE	Allows the operator to create new ‘blank’ appointments, i.e. this creates the appointment schedule to which an operator with DIARY_AMEND can allocate customers.
DIARY_UNAVAIL	Allows the operator to make an unallocated appointment as ‘not available’. For example, the estimator has a private appointment and is therefore not available to visit customers during a specific time frame.
DIARY_VIEW	Allows the operator to view appointments but cannot make changes to them.

Appointment Outcomes

Menu Location: Diary > Set Up Appointment Outcomes

This routine holds ‘visit outcomes’ used to identify the result of a customer visit.

Set Up Appointment Outcomes (1214 onwards)

The operator must have the ADMIN_HEADER role privilege to access this routine.

It is not possible to change the ‘Lost Sale’ or ‘Sale’ outcome reasons as these are system managed. i.e. they are automatically assigned when an appointment is completed.

Operation

This section details how to set up an appointments calendar and to book appointments within the specified appointment slots.

Managing Appointments

To create and maintain appointments, the operator requires the DIARY_CREATE role privilege

Menu Location: Diary > Set Up Appointments

This feature does not appear on a drop-down menu and therefore cannot be ‘favourited’.

To create appointments, the Operator must have the DIARY_CREATE role privilege.

The page has four main actions

Create New Appointment Slots

To create new ‘available’ appointment slots, the following fields need specifying

Field	Details
Location	Select the location the appointments are to be created for. The list will only show locations where the Appointments In Use control is ticked and will restrict the list to those locations visible to the operator.
Agent	Select one or more from the list of agents who can have appointments allocated to them. Selecting All Agents, creates appointments for all agents in the list. Holding the Control key whilst clicking creates a disparate list of selected agents. Clicking the first agent, holding the Shift key and clicking the last selects all agents between the two selected.
Start Date	Specify the first date for new appointment creation.
End Date	Specify the last date for new appointment creation.

Once the data is selected, clicking the CREATE button creates all appointments using the following logic:-

The agent’s daily start time will be the first appointment, with all appointments lasting the specified duration (as set in application parameters APPOINTMENT_DURATION).
Subsequent appointments will be increments of the appointment duration.
The last appointment start time will not exceed the agent's end time.

For example, if the operator starts at 16:45 and finishes at 17:50 with 30 minute durations, two appointments will be created starting at 16:45 & 17:15. Although the operator doesn’t finish work until 17:50 and a start time of 17:45 is within the operator working pattern, it would not finish until 18:15 which is after the agent's finish time, so this appointment will not be created.

Duplicate appointments (appointment for the same agent, location, date and time) will not be created.
When generating appointments, if an appointment falls within the operator’s break time, the appointment will be generated and automatically assigned the ‘break’ unavailable reason. This is amendable, subject to operator privilege.

Once completed, a message indicating the number of newly created appointments will be presented to the screen.

Cancelling ‘Empty' Appointments

It is possible to remove all ‘unallocated’ appointments via the DELETE button.

The routine requires the selection criteria detailed in the create new appointments section (above) to be specified prior to clicking the DELETE button.

The process will only remove slots which are available (i.e. There is no ‘unavailable reason’ and no allocated sales order).

Deleting empty historic appointments removes data from the system and therefore can affect any KPIs relating to agent utilisation,

The system will request confirmation before proceeding.

It will also confirm the number of appointments removed upon completion.

Change the Owner of Existing Appointments

This feature allows the operator to reallocate the user for existing appointments. Clicking the CHANGE AGENT button presents the following screen.

This process simply changes the operator linked to existing appointments. If the replacements agent’s working pattern varies to the original agent, the system will highlight (red background) any mismatched appointment timings.

The process does not create new, cancel existing, or change timings for appointment. These action remain a manual action.

Field	Details
Location	Select the location the appointments are to be created for. The list will only show locations where the Appointments In Use control is ticked and will restrict the list to those locations visible to the operator.
Agent	Select an agent from the list of agents who can have appointments allocated to them. Only Agents linked to the selected location will be visible.
New Agent	Select an agent from the list of agents who can have appointments allocated to them. Only Agents linked to the selected location will be visible. The Agent and New Agent cannot be the same.
Start Date	Specify the first date for new appointment creation.
End Date	Specify the last date for new appointment creation. Care should be taken when changing historic dates as this is effectively re-writing history.

Clicking ACCEPT CHANGE instructs the system to change all appointments for the selected agent to the new agent for the selected date range.

Viewing the Calendar

Clicking the VIEW CALENDAR button displays the edit appointments page whereby, subject to permission, it is possible to change appointment allocations.

Field	Details
Location	Select the location the appointments are to be created for. The list will only show locations where the Appointments In Use control is ticked and will restrict the list to those locations visible to the operator.
Agent	This pick list contains agents with appointments for the selected branch.
Week of	Specify the date for which you wish to view the appointments calendar
From Time	Defaulting to 00:00 specify a start time for appointments. Times are specified using the 24-hour clock format.
To Time	Defaulting to 23:59, this specifies an end time for appointments. Times are specified using the 24-hour clock format.
GO	Press to redisplay the screen having changed either the timing filters.
<	Click to move back one calendar week (7 days) from the date displayed.
>	Click to move forward one calendar week (7 days) from the date displayed.
RESET	Clicking clears the calendar filters returning the dataset to today’s date - all times.
CLOSE	Click to return to the Set Up Appointments screen.

Field	Details
Time	The start time for appointments
Agent	This column displays agent names with one or more appointments for the selected week. Hovering over the name displays the working pattern of the operative.
Day of the week (header row)	The system will always begin with a Monday irrespective of the date selected. The selected date will be highlighted in yellow (where applicable). The calendar date is displayed below the day of the week.
Appointments	The data grid shows shows each agent / day & time combination. For each cell the background will be either grey or white A grey background indicates no appointments are available for this agent / day / time combination. A white background indicates there is an appointment. The cell will contain a badge, the colour of the badge indicates the appointment status. AVAILABLE - A teal background indicates that the agent has a free appointment. i.e. there is no visit assigned at this time. MR M JONES - A green background indicates that the agent has an appointment to visit the specified customer at some point in the future. MR & MS SMITH - A yellow background indicates an historic visit which is awaiting an outcome to be specified. BRIAN GREEN - A blue background indicates a completed visit with a specified outcome. MS APPLEWOOD - A red background displays when either the agent is ‘double’ booked or has a booked outside of their standard working pattern. LUNCH - A grey background indicates the appointment is unavailable (reserved) for something other than a customer visit - The reason for the unavailability is displayed. It is not possible to remove (delete) an appointment via this page. Where the cell contains a badge showing the customer’s name, clicking opens the associated customers' sale order or quotation. There is no link feature when showing the ‘unavailable reason’.

Editing the Diary

The operator requires the DIARY_AMEND role privilege to perform this task.

Subject to permission and available either via the main menu or via the Edit Appointment hyperlink on the home page, the calendar is displayed with additional functionality to the View calendar mode.

Filtering and page layout is as per the view mode with the following additions

The data grid displays the following information

Field	Details
Appointments	The data grid shows shows each agent / day & time combination. For each cell the background will be either grey or white A grey background indicates no appointments are available for this agent / day / time combination. ubject to permission, double clicking the cell begins the process of creating an appointment for this operator / time slot. If the newly created appointment falls outside the operators designated working pattern the appointment will be displayed with a RED BACKGROUND .
	Clicking the pencil, for an available appointment opens the edit appointment window, whereby it is possible to delete the appointment, change the agent or mark it available / unavailable. Clicking the pencil icon, for an allocated appointment generates a similar window allowing the operator to change the appointments details, cancel or add notes (which are recorded against the linked sales order). It is not possible to change appointment timings. However, if the appointment is moved to a new ‘slot’ the original becomes available for use. This may require cancelling should the agent not be available. The pencil icon cannot be used to create new appointments

Field

Details

Appointments

The data grid shows shows each agent / day & time combination. For each cell the background will be either grey or white

A grey background indicates no appointments are available for this agent / day / time combination.

ubject to permission, double clicking the cell begins the process of creating an appointment for this operator / time slot.

If the newly created appointment falls outside the operators designated working pattern the appointment will be displayed with a RED BACKGROUND .

Clicking the pencil, for an available appointment opens the edit appointment window, whereby it is possible to delete the appointment, change the agent or mark it available / unavailable.

Clicking the pencil icon, for an allocated appointment generates a similar window allowing the operator to change the appointments details, cancel or add notes (which are recorded against the linked sales order).

It is not possible to change appointment timings. However, if the appointment is moved to a new ‘slot’ the original becomes available for use. This may require cancelling should the agent not be available.

The pencil icon cannot be used to create new appointments

Main Menu Display

Where the operator has the Show Diary On FRS Home Page set against their role the menu will display the appointments' diary.

The default branch used by the grid is that of the working location of the operator. The operator may change this to another ‘visible’ location for that operator however it will revert back to the ‘working location’ when the main menu is redisplayed.

This page is designed to provide an overview of the appointments diary and is primarily displayed for viewing only.

Header Section Display Filters

Field	Details
Location	Select the location the appointments are to be displayed for. The list will only show locations where the Appointments In Use control is ticked and will restrict the list to those locations visible to the operator.
Week of	Specify the date you wish to view the appointments calendar
From Time	Defaulting to 00:00 specify a start time for appointments. Times are specified using the 24-hour clock format.
To Time	Defaulting to 23:59 specify a end time for appointments. Times are specified using the 24-hour clock format.
GO	Click to apply the location, week and time changes.
<	Click to move back one calendar week (7 days) from the date displayed.
>	Click to move forward one calendar week (7 days) from the date displayed.
RESET	Clears the appointment filters resetting them back to all appointments for today’s date.

Grid Header

Field	Details
Time	Appointment start times presented in 24-hour clock format.
Agent	The ‘user’ allocated the appointment. i.e. the Agent to visit the customer.
Weekday	The grid will always begin with Monday and show the days of the week. Each column displays the weekday and calendar date. When displaying today’s date the header will display with a light yellow background.

Field

Details

Time

Appointment start times presented in 24-hour clock format.

Agent

The ‘user’ allocated the appointment. i.e. the Agent to visit the customer.

Weekday

The grid will always begin with Monday and show the days of the week.

Each column displays the weekday and calendar date.

When displaying today’s date the header will display with a light yellow background.

Cell (Appointment) Colours

Cell Background Colours	Details
Light Grey	No appointment available There is no appointment scheduled for the specific Time / Agent / Day combination. This may be because the agent isn’t scheduled to work at this time or that the appointments diary has not been built for the specified date.
White	Appointment available A white background indicates the agent is working at this time and therefore is available for appointment allocation. if the cell contains a badge the specific appointment has been ‘reserved’. The badge will show either the customer’s name or an unavailable reason. MR M JONES - A green background indicates the agent has an appointment to visit the specified customer at some point in the future. MR & MS SMITH - A yellow background indicates an historic visit which is awaiting an outcome to be specified. BRIAN GREEN - A blue background indicates a completed visit with a specified outcome. RESOLVE ISSUES - A red background displays when either the agent is ‘double’ booked or has a booked outside of their standard working pattern. Where a customer name is displayed, the hyperlink opens the sales order detail screen. The Resolve issues relates to an appoint created by changing the agent. The appointment time is outside the new agents working pattern and therefore may need deleting. LUNCH - A grey background indicates the appointment is unavailable (reserved) for something other than a customer visit - The reason for the unavailability is displayed.

Cell Background Colours

Details

Light Grey

No appointment available

There is no appointment scheduled for the specific Time / Agent / Day combination. This may be because the agent isn’t scheduled to work at this time or that the appointments diary has not been built for the specified date.

White

Appointment available

A white background indicates the agent is working at this time and therefore is available for appointment allocation.

if the cell contains a badge the specific appointment has been ‘reserved’.

The badge will show either the customer’s name or an unavailable reason.

MR M JONES - A green background indicates the agent has an appointment to visit the specified customer at some point in the future.
MR & MS SMITH - A yellow background indicates an historic visit which is awaiting an outcome to be specified.
BRIAN GREEN - A blue background indicates a completed visit with a specified outcome.
RESOLVE ISSUES - A red background displays when either the agent is ‘double’ booked or has a booked outside of their standard working pattern.
- Where a customer name is displayed, the hyperlink opens the sales order detail screen.
- The Resolve issues relates to an appoint created by changing the agent. The appointment time is outside the new agents working pattern and therefore may need deleting.
LUNCH - A grey background indicates the appointment is unavailable (reserved) for something other than a customer visit - The reason for the unavailability is displayed.

Grid Details

Field	Details
Time	This is the appointment start time and is not amendable.
Agent	This column displays agent name Hovering over the name displays the working pattern of the operative.
Appointment	When displaying a customers name, clicking the badge opens the sales order (Quotation) details. When displaying an unavailable reason there is not hyperlink active. When showing a Red background hovering over with the mouse presents a note stating the issue.

Field

Details

Time

This is the appointment start time and is not amendable.

Agent

This column displays agent name

Hovering over the name displays the working pattern of the operative.

Appointment

When displaying a customers name, clicking the badge opens the sales order (Quotation) details.

When displaying an unavailable reason there is not hyperlink active.

When showing a Red background hovering over with the mouse presents a note stating the issue.

Allocating Appointments

There are two ways of allocating an appointment to a sales order.

Appointments can be assigned via an API integration.
Appointments can be manually assigned from the sales order.

API Assignment

For retailers with an integrated website, SwanFRS offers the following APIs designed specifically for use with appointments:-

InsertCustomerBranch or InsertCustomer - This API allows new customers to be inserted into the SwanFRS database with the former being designed specifically for systems with ‘company specific’ customers.
InsertSalesOrderQuoteForOrderBranchAndSalesperson - This API creates ‘quotations' in SwanFRS and where instructed will generate an appointment booking for the order.

Creating appointments via the API may result in out of hours appointments or multiple bookings which will appear with red backgrounds when viewed within the diary system. Manual intervention will be required to address the ‘issue’.

Manual Assigning

The operator requires the DIARY_AMEND role privilege to perform this task.

Appointments can only be assigned via any active sales order.

When viewing the sales order clicking the VISITS button begins the process of allocating an appointment.

The VISITS button is only visible once a customer has been assigned to the sales order.

Once there is a visits scheduled for the sales order the ability to change the customer on the sale is prohibited.

When the sales order has one or more visit assigned the VISIT button will be green.

Clicking opens the following window.

Field	Details
Agent	This column displays agent with a default location matching the sales location of the selected sales order, either select a specific agent or leave the option set to All Agents.
Select a Date	Clicking in the cell opens a calendar selection panel from which to choose the desired ‘visit’ date. It is not possible to select historic dates. It is necessary to select a date to populate the list of available slots.
NEXT AVAILABILITY	As an alternative to specify dates and times, the NEXT AVAILABILITY button can be clicked at any time, the system will then look for the next available appointment and where found it will populate the pick list items.
Availability	Once a date has been specified, all available appointments are listed showing the start and end times and the agent assigned.
Note	This is an optional free format note entry allowing the operator to record useful information about the visit. Notes are recorded against in notes section of the sales order.
CONFIRM	once the Available slots has been selected, click the CONFIRM button to save the appointment in the system.

Once added (or if the order has previous notes), the VISITS button turns green.

Clicking the green VISITS button presents all linked appointments for the sales order.

This background colour of the note indicates the status of the appointment.

Green - A future appointment
Yellow - An historic appointment waiting for an outcome to be specified (what happened as a result of the appointment).
Blue - An historic closed appointment. Displayed for reference purposes only and cannot be amended.
Red - There is an issue with the appointment.

Clicking the ADD NEW button allows an additional appointment to be scheduled against the sales order.

Editing Appointments via the Sales Order

via the VISITS button, when viewing the appointments history, clicking the EDIT button allows the appointment to be revised.

Field	Details
Agent	This column displays agent with a default location matching the sales location of the selected sales order, either select a specific agent or leave the option set to All Agents.
Select a Date	Clicking in the cell opens a calendar selection panel from which to choose the desired ‘visit’ date. It is not possible to select historic dates. It is necessary to select a date to populate the list of available slots.
NEXT AVAILABILITY	As an alternative to specify dates and times, the NEXT AVAILABILITY button can be clicked at any time, the system will then look for the next available appointment and where found it will populate the pick list items.
Availability	Once a date has been specified, all available appointments are listed showing the start and end times and the agent assigned.
CONFIRM	Click the CONFIRM button to confirms the changes to the scheduled appointment. The original appointment will become available with the order being linked to the new appointment agent / date & time.
CANCEL APT	Clicking the CANCEL APT button removes the appointment, thus making it available for another customer.
ADD NOTE	Clicking allows the operator to record free format text about the appointment. This narrative becomes part of the sales order notes history visible via the NOTES button.
CLOSE	Clicking closes the window without changing the appointment.

Historic Appointments

Historic appointments are bookings scheduled prior to the system date and show with one of three coloured backgrounds.

CUSTOMER NAME - This indicates an open appointment - An open appointment requires the outcome of the visit to be specified
- Clicking the customer’s name opens the sales order linked to the appointment.
- Clicking the pencil opens a panel whereby the outcome of the appointment can be specified.

CUSTOMER NAME - This indicate an historic appointment with as defined outcome - order created or lost sale for example.
- Clicking the customer’s name opens the sales order linked to the appointment.
- Clicking the pencil open the ‘new booking' panel whereby a new appointment can be created for the customer.

CUSTOMER NAME - This indicates the appointment had an issue, perhaps the appointment was outside the operators default working pattern or that the time slot had multiple orders assigned to it.
- Clicking the customer’s name opens the sales edit appointment panel whereby it is possible to change the date / time of the original booking

Current / Future Appointments

Current or future appointments will display with one of two coloured backgrounds

CUSTOMER NAME - A future appointment allocated to a customer / order combination.
- Clicking the customer’s name opens the sales order linked to the appointment.
- Clicking the pencil, opens the edit page whereby it is possible to change the booking or add notes

Deleting the appointment simply removes the customer from the appointment thus making it available for another customer / order to take the slot.

The ADD NOTE button opens a new notes entry whereby it is possible to enter new narrative which is stored on the sales order’s notes.

If previously entered notes are to be changed click the NOTES button on the sales order page.

Available / Unavailable Appointment

Unassigned appointments show the AVAILABLE badge (teal colour), clicking the pencil allows empowered operators to mark the appointment as unavailable for client bookings.

Unavailable appointments show a grey badge with the specified reason. Clicking then pencil icon allows the operator to choose a different unavailable reason, delete the appointment, change the agent or make the appointment available for customer allocation.

Conflicts

These occur when an appointment is created where the start time or end time falls outside the agents defaults working hours or where an appointment is double booked, i.e. there are two customers scheduled in for the same agent/date/time slot. Conflicts are displayed with red badges.

The badge shows the unavailability reason and / or the customers linked to the appointment.

In Edit Appointments mode each name (or reason) is a hyperlink which opens the appropriate ‘rescheduling’ page thus allowing the appointment to be changed.

Editing allows the operator to move the appointment to another date and or time or to cancel.

Once the reason for the conflict has been removed the appointment background will change to a green (for future dated appointments) or grey (if left unavailable).

If the appointment is linked to an operator who does not work at that time the appointment will retain its red background even thought there is a single customer assigned.

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