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Configure Workforce Scheduling Travel Time Buffers
Add a buffer to travel time to account for additional travel-related activities such as parking, security checks, on-site navigation to better schedule your workforce. Configure travel time buffers at the org, service territory, or individual service appointment level to improve the precision of your scheduling operations. Travel time buffers are relevant to field work only.
Required Editions
| Available in: Lightning Experience |
| Available in: Enterprise and Unlimited Editions |
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To configure Workforce Scheduling travel time buffers: | Workforce Scheduling Admin |
| To create a travel time buffer for service appointments: | Edit on service appointments |
| To create a travel time buffer for service territories: | Edit on service territories |
Learn About the Travel Time Buffer
With a travel time buffer, you can systematically add extra time to the travel duration calculated for each service appointment. The buffer accounts for additional time required to deliver service to your customers. This ensures that your work plans are more accurate and prevents overbooking workers. Your dispatchers can also view the buffer time when seeing the schedule on the Gantt, by hovering over a service appointment.
Here are situations where a travel time buffer helps you ensure good service.
- In densely populated urban locations such as Manhattan, add a 15 minute travel time buffer to find parking.
- For secure locations, such as army bases, allocate 10 minutes for security checks.
- Account for unpacking specialized equipment.
- Add time to navigate larger sites such as hospitals and airports.
How the Buffer is Evaluated
Field Service applies the first non-zero buffer value it finds in this order.
- Service Appointment:
TravelTimeBufferfield on the Service Appointment record. - Service Territory:
TravelTimeBufferfield on the Service Territory record. - Org-Wide Default: Default
Travel Time Buffersetting configured under Workforce Scheduling | Scheduling and Optimization | Field Scheduling.
The buffer time isn’t cumulative and the highest priority buffer value overrides other values.
For accurate reporting and cost analysis, Salesforce copies the specific buffer value that
was applied (based on the hierarchy) to a dedicated field on the Assigned
Resource record. This allows dispatchers to differentiate actual driving time
from buffer time when analyzing KPIs.
Considerations
Note these considerations about the travel time buffer.
- If the calculated travel time is zero, the buffer isn’t applied. For example, consecutive same-site appointments, offsite appointments.
- Buffers aren’t applied to resource absences, lunch breaks, or travel back to the home base at the end of a shift.
- The maximum buffer value that you can specify is 120 minutes.
Set Up a Travel Time Buffer
Set a travel time buffer at the service appointment, service territory, or org-wide level.
Set Up a Travel Time Buffer on Service Appointments
Apply a specific travel time buffer directly to a service appointment. This value overrides any buffer set on the service territory or org.
- From the App Launcher, find and select Service Appointments.
- Navigate to the service appointment record that you want to configure.
- Find the Travel Time Buffer (in minutes) field and click the Edit icon.
- Enter the desired buffer time in minutes (0-120).
- Save the service appointment record.
When this service appointment is scheduled, the value entered in the Travel Time Buffer (in minutes) field is added to the calculated travel time. This total time is used for scheduling and reflects on the Gantt tooltip. The buffer value is also copied to the related Assigned Resource record.
Set Up a Travel Time Buffer for Service Territories
Configure a default travel time buffer for all service appointments in a specific service territory. This buffer is applied unless a specific buffer is set directly on the Service Appointment record.
- From the App Launcher, find and select Service Territories.
- Select the Service Territory record that you want to configure.
- Find the Travel Time Buffer (in minutes) field and click the Edit icon.
- Enter the desired buffer time in minutes (0-120).
- Save the Service Territory record.
Service appointments within this territory automatically have this buffer added to their calculated travel time unless a different buffer is specified on the individual service appointment record. This buffer shouldn’t be applied to capacity limit calculations. It’s recommended to account for buffer time when entering the average travel time per territory.
Manually changing the buffer value on a Service Territory doesn’t automatically recalculate travel times for already scheduled appointments within that territory. When a scheduling operation occurs, the new value is calculated.
Set Up an Org-Wide Default Travel Time Buffer
Configure a default travel time buffer that applies across your entire org. This org-wide buffer is used only when no specific buffer is defined at the service appointment or service territory level.
Any service appointment that doesn’t have a buffer defined on its own record or on its service territory uses this org-wide default buffer value during scheduling calculations. To set the org-wide default travel time buffer, see Configure Scheduling Behavior for Field Work in Workforce Scheduling.
