How To: Firefighter Shift Scheduling – Part 4

Posted by & filed under , .

Shift User SignupThis is the fourth part of a multi-part blog post on setting up shift scheduling in TexCom. (Part 1 can be found here)

In this post we will cover how to assign users to our shift or allow your users to sign up for shifts themselves. Within TexCom there are two different ways to assign users. The first is if you have full-time users assigned to the same shift for a period of time, such as a month or longer. The second is to assign users to a specific day and shift. This process is great for fire departments that allow part-time users to pick the days and shifts they want.

Full-Time Users Shift Setup

To start assigning full-time users, select the Shift Schedules link in the admin area, then select View/Modify Users for the shift you want to use. Select the Add Users link. If you are adding several users to this shift for the same period of time, select the start and end dates at the top and select Set Default Date. This populates these dates to the list of users below. Now all you need to do is select the check box next to each user that is in this shift and time period. Be sure to verify the location you want this user assigned to as well.

Shift Add Users

Select Save and now these users are assigned to this shift. Select the Shift Schedule link in Zones and hover your mouse over the shift name. You will see the users you just assigned in the pop up. Select the Shifts & Personnel link at the top and you can see the shift name and users.

Part-Time Users Shift Setup

To start allowing users to sign up for individual shift days, select the Shift Signup link in the admin area. Here you can specify your preferences in how users are allowed to sign up for shifts.

  • Allow users to sign themselves up for shifts – Will add a link to the Shift Schedule area in Zones that will allow users to view and sign themselves up.
  • Allow users to sign themselves up for partial shifts – Allows the user to take a portion of the shift for that day. If a user does a partial sign up the other times will automatically be listed so others can fill in the gaps.
  • Shift self sign up starts for the upcoming month – Specify the day and time users can start signing up for a month of shifts. For example, you can allow user sign up to start on the 15th day of the preceding month.
  • Restrictions for locking sign up as the time approaches – Allows you to not allow users to remove themselves from shifts too soon to the actual day. After this point an admin will need to be involved to make the change.
  • Users allowed to be assigned to Shifts – Specify the users that are allowed to sign up for shifts.

Shift Signup Settings

Once you have these settings to your liking and the first option to Yes, you can start allowing users to sign up for shifts. Once again you will see an additional link after selecting Shift Schedule in the Zones called Sign Up & Availability.

A Combination of Both…

If you have a combination of full-time and part-time users, you can use both options seamlessly. This works well if you have some full time personnel on a shift but also allow an additional user to increase staffing. In the previous post I had specified this shift had two people at Station #1 and one at Station #2. I added one full-time user to each station. Since I am also allowing part-time sign up, you will notice there is one Open slot listed for Station #1 that users can now sign up for.

Shift User Signup

In our next post we will cover shift changes which allow for making individual changes due to sick time, vacation time, and trade shifts.  Feel free to set up one of your own shifts and comment below if you have any questions.

Go to part five

Click here to subscribe to future posts by email