Multi-Engineer Scheduling

The team calendar view

Go to Schedule > Team View to see every engineer laid out in parallel columns — one column per engineer, with jobs shown as blocks at the correct time of day. Scroll horizontally to see all engineers at once, or use the arrow keys to move between days. The date picker at the top lets you jump to any week instantly. Each engineer's column shows their jobs for the selected day alongside any unavailability blocks such as annual leave or training.

Colour-coding engineers

Each engineer is assigned a colour that appears on all their job blocks across the calendar, the map view, and the engineer app. To change an engineer's colour:

1. 1Go to Settings > Team and click the engineer's name.
2. 2Click the colour swatch next to their name and choose from the palette, or enter a hex code for your brand colours.
3. 3Click Save. The colour updates immediately across all calendar views and reports.

Dragging and dropping jobs between engineers

In the team calendar view you can reassign a job to a different engineer without opening the job record:

• Click and hold a job block, then drag it into a different engineer's column at the desired time slot.
• Release to drop. Trade2Base will check the new engineer's availability and warn you if the slot is already occupied.
• If the job has a customer-facing booking confirmation attached, Trade2Base will ask whether to send an updated confirmation to the customer automatically.
• To move a job to a different day, drag it to the left or right edge of the calendar to advance the date, or use the date picker to navigate first.

Setting engineer availability and working hours

Trade2Base uses each engineer's working hours to shade unavailable time on the calendar and prevent accidental scheduling outside their shifts.

1. 1Go to Settings > Team, select an engineer, and open the Availability tab.
2. 2Set their default working hours for each day of the week. You can set different start and end times per day, or mark a day as off entirely.
3. 3To add one-off unavailability (annual leave, training, sickness) click Add block, set the date range and reason, then save. The block appears on the calendar in grey.

Double-booking warnings

When you schedule or move a job into a slot that overlaps with an existing booking, Trade2Base shows a red warning banner on the job block and displays a confirmation dialog before saving. The warning shows which existing job would overlap and by how many minutes. You can override the warning and save anyway — for example if the jobs are short enough to run back-to-back — but the overlap will remain flagged in the calendar with a red indicator so you can review it later. The Reports > Scheduling Conflicts page lists all current overlaps across your team.

Filtering the calendar

Use the filter bar above the calendar to narrow down what you see:

Automated booking confirmations when assigning an engineer

When you assign or reassign an engineer to a job, Trade2Base can automatically send the customer a booking confirmation via SMS, WhatsApp, or email. To enable this, go to Settings > Automations > Booking Confirmations and toggle Send on engineer assignment on. The confirmation message includes the engineer's name, the job date and time, and a link to the customer portal where they can view further details. If you reassign a job to a different engineer, a second confirmation is sent automatically with the updated details — you do not need to contact the customer manually.

Tips for scheduling efficiently across a large team

• Use the map view alongside the calendar to cluster nearby jobs and minimise travel time between appointments.
• Set realistic job durations on each job type in Settings so the calendar blocks accurately reflect how long each job takes.
• Use the unscheduled jobs panel on the right-hand side of the calendar to drag waiting jobs directly onto the calendar.
• Enable travel time buffers in Settings > Schedule to automatically add a gap between consecutive jobs for the same engineer.
• Export the week's schedule as a PDF or share it via the engineer app so your team always has an up-to-date view.