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Prerequisites

Before creating a schedule, you need to set up several items. This guide walks you through each prerequisite.

Tip

If you use Daktela Contact Centre, most prerequisites (workplaces, employees, skills) can be downloaded automatically. See Daktela CC Integration.

1. Workplaces

A workplace defines where work happens and what rules apply.

Tip

Workplaces can be imported directly from Daktela. See Import workplaces from Daktela.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to Settings > Configuration > Workplaces.
  2. Click + Add Workplace.
  3. Fill in the required fields:
    • Name - Workplace name
    • Country - Affects public holidays
    • Timezone - The local time of the workplace. Working hours, shift templates and the forecast grid are read in this zone, and schedule plans of the workplace show times on its clock.
    • Work On Holiday - Whether employees of this workplace can be scheduled on public holidays. When it is off, the scheduler skips holidays.
  4. Set Working hours - the hours during which the workplace is open. Shifts can only be scheduled within them:
    • Days - Select operating days (e.g., Mon-Fri or all days)
    • Working Hours Start - When work begins
    • Length - Duration in hours
    • Enable Range to enter an end time instead of a length. Add more rows for different hours on different days (e.g., weekdays vs. weekends).
  5. Optionally set the scheduling rules of the workplace. A contract, and then an individual employee, can override them:
    • Weekend as a block - The scheduler prefers to give Saturday and Sunday of the same weekend to one person. See Schedule stability.
    • Keep one kind of shift for, Switch to another kind of shift, Keep one kind of work for - How much shifts may vary within a week and between weeks. See Schedule stability.
    • On-call holder takes no shifts - Keeps whoever holds on-call free of ordinary shifts for those hours. See Emergency shifts.
  6. In Agents see in the schedule, choose what agents see in the schedule plans of this workplace: Whole team (default) or Only themselves. See Agent view.
  7. Click Save.

Workplace tabs

Below the main fields, the workplace has these tabs:

Tab Description
Employees Assign employees and Administrators to this workplace
Shifts Assign shifts available at this workplace, and the Allowed shifts for manual work
Skills Assign skills used at this workplace
Google Google Calendar synchronisation. Shown only once a Google application is set up - see Google Calendar.
Settings Rest between shifts and the solver profiles (see below)

Rest between shifts

The Settings tab holds three distances, in hours:

  • Shift distance - The minimum rest between two shifts of one person
  • Distance after night shift - The minimum rest after a night shift
  • Distance before night shift - The minimum rest before a night shift

Smart Schedule uses the largest of the three as the minimum rest between any two shifts of the same person.

Solver profiles

In the Solver Constraint Profiles section of the Settings tab, pick the Constraint Profile that Smart Schedule uses for this workplace and the Fill Gaps Profile that Fill gaps uses. Leave β€” Use default β€” to use the default profiles. See Solver profiles.

2. Employees

Employees must exist in the system and be assigned to a workplace.

Tip

Employees can be imported directly from Daktela. See Import users from Daktela.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to People > Employees.
  2. Click + Add Employee or use Import Employees to import from Daktela.
  3. Fill in the employee details:
    • First Name, Last Name - Employee name
    • Username - Login username
    • E-mail - Email address for notifications. It must be unique: an address another user already has is refused with "This e-mail address is already used by another user."
    • Personal Number, Phone Number - Optional contact info
    • Roles - Admin or Agent. See User roles.
    • External ID - The employee's identifier in an external system
    • Source - Where the account comes from: Daktela, WFM, Active Directory, or Azure Active Directory
    • User Category Type - A free-text category of the employee
    • Superiors - The employee's supervisors. They receive notifications about the employee's requests. See Set up employee supervisors.
    • Password, Confirm password - Shown only when creating an employee whose Source is WFM
    • Active - Whether the employee is active
    • Access - Whether the employee can log in
    • Adult - Whether the employee is an adult (affects shift restrictions)
  4. Click Save.

Employee list actions

Each row of the employees list has these actions:

  • Clone User - Opens a new employee form pre-filled with this employee's details and assignments. Change what must differ (such as the username and e-mail) and save.
  • Deactivate Employee / Activate employee - Switches the employee between active and inactive.
  • Reset Password - Sets a new password for the employee. The password needs at least 8 characters, with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one digit.

Attendance Report above the list shows the planned shifts, emergency shifts and vacation of each employee in Hours, Days, or Days & Hours. Filter it by From / To, Workplace, Period and User, and click Download CSV Report to save it.

Employee tabs

The employee detail has seven tabs:

Tab Description
Skills Assign skills with competence level (0-100%)
Skills Combinations Define which skills the employee can handle simultaneously
Contracts Assign contracts to the employee
Agent Groups The agent groups the employee belongs to
Shifts Assign allowed shifts
Scheduling rules Personal exceptions to the workplace and contract rules: the weekly pattern, the limit on the same shift days in a row, and rotation patterns. See Schedule stability, Consecutive shift limits and Rotation patterns.
Request View employee's requests

Tip

You can assign employees to contracts, skills, and shifts in bulk from the detail of the contract/skill/shift itself. See Bulk assignment below.

Agent groups

Agent groups gather people into teams, so that you can filter a schedule plan by team.

  1. In the left menu, go to People > Agent Groups.
  2. Click Add Agent Group, or Import from Daktela to create groups from Daktela groups (with Also import employees to bring in members who are not in WFM yet).
  3. Fill in the Name, the Members and the Team Leaders.
  4. Click Save.

Members are the people the group stands for in the schedule plan filters. Team leaders are shown on the group for reference only and can be members of other groups. Deleting a group keeps the people - only the grouping is removed.

3. Contracts

A contract defines an employee's working conditions - how many hours they can work, on which days, breaks, etc.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to People > Contracts.
  2. Click + Add Contract.
  3. In the General tab, fill in:
    • Name - Contract name (e.g., "Full-time 8h", "VPP")
    • Days - Select working days (Mon-Sun checkboxes)
    • Emergency contract - The contract covers on-call / standby work. It has no working-hour limits, ignores the weekday list and does not count toward the regular work fund; hours from emergency shifts are reported separately. See Emergency shifts.
    • Holidays Allowed - Allow work on public holidays
    • Night Shifts Allowed - Allow night shifts
    • Full Fill - Employees on this contract work their own assigned shift every day it is valid. See Fixed rosters (Full Fill).
    • Weekend as a block - From the workplace, Yes or No. Pick Yes or No only to make this contract an exception to the workplace setting.
    • Day Hours limit - Maximum hours per day
    • Week Hours Limit - Maximum hours per week
    • Number Of Hours Per Day or Month Hours Limit - The monthly target: either a fixed number of hours per working day, or the total hours per month. Set one or the other, not both; Swap monthly target switches between them.
    • Max same shifts in a row - See Consecutive shift limits
    • Keep one kind of shift for, Switch to another kind of shift, Keep one kind of work for - See Schedule stability
    • Scheduling priority - Whom the scheduler uses first: 1 – core staff, used first, 2 – when core staff are full, 3 – used last. Not available on an emergency contract. See Contract priority.
    • Working hours per day - For each selected day, the time range(s) within which the contract permits work. A shift outside them is flagged as a violation.
  4. In the Employees tab, assign the contract to multiple employees at once using the dual-list picker.
  5. In the Allowed absence types tab, optionally choose which absence (request) types employees on this contract may request. Leave the list empty to allow all types.
  6. Click Save.

Note

If an employee tries to submit an absence type their contract does not allow, the request is rejected with "This absence type is not allowed by the employee's contract." An employee with several contracts may use any type allowed by at least one of them.

Contracts list columns

Column Description
Contract Name Name of the contract
Holidays Allowed Whether holidays are permitted
Night Shifts Allowed Whether night shifts are permitted
Days Working days shown as badges (WEEKDAYS or individual days)

4. Skills

Skills define what an employee can do and what needs to be covered.

Tip

Skills can be imported directly from Daktela (from queues). See Import skills from Daktela.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to Settings > Configuration > Skills.
  2. Click + Add Skill or use Import Skills to import from Daktela.
  3. Fill in:
    • Name - Skill name (e.g., "Telefon", "Chat", "Email")
    • Icon - Icon displayed in the schedule (dropdown with preset icons)
    • Color - The skill's color. When one shift template appears in a plan with different skills, its single-skill shifts take this color (see Color by skill on the shift).
    • Work type - Skills sharing a work type count as the same kind of work. Leave it empty for skills that say nothing about the kind of work, such as languages or channels. See Schedule stability.
    • Allow to combine - Allow this skill to be combined with others in a single shift
    • Emergency - Mark this skill for on-call (emergency) shifts
  4. In the Users section, assign the skill to multiple employees using the dual-list picker.
  5. Click Save.

Skills list columns

Column Description
Skill Name Name with icon
Allow to Combine Whether skill can be combined with others
Emergency Whether skill is used for on-call shifts

Note

Bulk assignment sets all selected employees to 100% proficiency level. For finer control, adjust the level in the employee detail (People > Employees > employee > Skills tab).

5. Shifts

Shifts define work blocks - when they start, how long they last, and on which days they apply.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to Settings > Configuration > Shifts.
  2. Click + New Shift.
  3. In the General tab, fill in:
    • Shift Type Name - Shift name (e.g., "FO Poranna 08:30-16:30")
    • Abbreviation - Short code displayed in schedule (e.g., "FOP", "FOD")
    • Days - Select which days the shift applies to (Mon-Sun checkboxes)
    • Shifts Start - Start time
    • Shifts End - End time
    • Range - Enable to define a time range instead of fixed times
    • Color / Background - Colors for display in the schedule
    • Description - Optional description
    • Emergency - Mark as an on-call shift. An emergency shift has its own settings (Continuous shift, Starts on public holidays and the on-call rotation) - see Emergency shifts.
    • Show skill in shift name - Shows the skill next to the shift abbreviation in the schedule. On by default.
    • Color by skill - When this shift appears in a plan with different skills, its single-skill shifts take the skill's color, so you can tell them apart. On by default.
    • Max same shifts in a row - See Consecutive shift limits. Not shown for emergency shifts.
    • Holiday - Shift applies on public holidays. Not shown for emergency shifts.
    • Split-shift gap - Enable Split shift for a shift divided by a long unpaid gap into two work windows. See Split shifts.
    • Breaks - Select the Break type and the time the break is scheduled within the shift. Click Add row for more breaks.
    • Create mirror Need - Only when creating a shift: also creates a need for the same times. Fill in its Skill, Workplace and Min Employees.
  4. In the Employees tab, optionally restrict the shift to specific employees.
  5. Click Save or Update.

Shifts list columns

Column Description
Shift Name Full shift name
Days WEEKDAYS or WEEKEND badge
Valid Validity period (if restricted)
Time Start and end time
Sign Abbreviation badge (e.g., FOP, FOD, FOW)
Active Whether the shift is active
Holiday Whether the shift applies on holidays
Emergency Whether it's an on-call shift
Allow Shifts to overlap Whether the shift may overlap other shifts

Note

The employee allowlist on a shift also affects automatic scheduling (Smart Schedule, Fill Gaps) - the solver won't assign the shift to employees not on the list.

6. Needs

Needs define how many employees with which skill are required at a given time.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to Settings > Configuration > Needs.
  2. Click + Add Need.
  3. Fill in:
    • Skill - Required skill (dropdown)
    • Workplace - Target workplace
    • Period - Target period (optional; leave it empty to apply the need to every period)
    • Days - Select which days (Mon-Sun checkboxes)
    • Holidays only - Check if this need applies only on holidays
  4. In the Requirements section, define time blocks:
    • Min - Minimum number of employees
    • Need Start - Start time
    • Length - Duration in hours
    • Use range - Enable for variable staffing levels
  5. Optionally enable Create mirror Shift to also create a shift template for the same times.
  6. Click Save.

See Needs for details.

Needs list columns

Column Description
Workplace Target workplace
Skill Name Required skill with icon
Days WEEKDAYS, WEEKEND, or HOLIDAYS badges
Valid Validity period

7. Breaks

Breaks define rest periods that can be scheduled within shifts.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to Settings > Configuration > Breaks.
  2. Click + Add Break.
  3. Fill in:
    • Name - Break name (e.g., "Lunch", "Coffee break")
    • Duration - Break length (e.g., 0:30 for 30 minutes). Must be a positive multiple of 5 minutes.
    • Description - Optional description
    • Abbreviation - Short code for display (e.g., "OBD")
    • Color / Background - Colors for display in the schedule
    • Active - Whether the break is active
    • Paid - Whether the break is paid
    • Mandatory - Whether the break is required
    • Allow overlap - Whether breaks can overlap with other activities
    • Allowed from / Allowed to - Optional time window the break must stay inside (e.g., a lunch break allowed only between 11:00 and 14:00). Set both times or neither. The window constrains manual break moves as well as the Break Optimizer.
    • Split-shift gap - Mark the break as the unpaid gap between work windows of a split shift. Enabling this forces Paid off.
  4. Click Save.

Breaks list columns

Column Description
Break Name Name of the break
Duration Length in minutes
Allowed window The Allowed from / Allowed to window, if set
Active Whether the break is active
Paid Whether the break is paid
Mandatory Whether the break is required

8. Periods

Periods define time ranges for schedule planning.

How to create

  1. In the left menu, go to Settings > Configuration > Periods.
  2. Click + Add Period.
  3. Fill in:
    • Period Name - Period name (e.g., "June 2026")
    • Description - Optional description
    • Period Start - Start date
    • Period End - End date
    • Active - Whether the period is active. Inactive periods are hidden from selection (e.g., when creating schedule plans), but their data is kept.
  4. Click Save.

Periods list columns

Column Description
Period Name Name of the period
Description Description text
Period Date range (e.g., 6/1/2026 - 6/30/2026)

Warning

Deleting a period also deletes its schedule plans and the needs of that period - the confirmation lists the affected schedule plans. This cannot be undone. A period with a closed schedule plan cannot be deleted until the plan is opened again.

Bulk assignment

You can assign employees to contracts, skills, or shifts in bulk from the detail of each item.

How to do it

  1. Open the detail:
    • Contract: People > Contracts > open contract > Employees tab
    • Skill: Settings > Configuration > Skills > open skill > Users section
    • Shift: Settings > Configuration > Shifts > open shift > Employees tab
  2. You'll see a dual-list picker with two columns - available employees on the left, assigned on the right.
  3. Use arrows (or double-click) to move employees between columns. You can select multiple items at once.
  4. Click Save.

Notes

  • For skills, bulk assignment sets proficiency to 100%. Adjust individual levels in the employee detail.
  • For shifts, an empty employee list means "anyone at the workplace can have this shift". A filled list acts as a whitelist - the automatic scheduler respects it.
  • Bulk assignment is not available from the employee detail - there you select items individually.

Skills combinations

Skills combinations define which skills an employee can handle simultaneously in a single shift. Without combinations, the solver creates a separate shift for each skill. With combinations, multiple skills (e.g., Call + Chat) can be merged into one shift for one employee.

Example

If a workplace has needs for skills Call, Chat, and Email, and employee Anna has the combination [Call, Chat]:

  • The solver creates one shift with requiredSkills = [Call, Chat] that Anna can cover alone.
  • For Email, a separate shift is created for another employee.

1. Enable skill for combining

A skill must have the Allow to combine switch enabled to be included in combinations.

  1. Go to Settings > Configuration > Skills and open the skill.
  2. Enable Allow to combine.
  3. Save.

Note

You can only disable Allow to combine if the skill is not used in any active employee combination.

2. Set up combinations for an employee

  1. Go to People > Employees and open the employee detail.
  2. Switch to the Skills Combinations tab.
  3. Click + to add a new combination row.
  4. In the dropdown, select 2 or more skills that the employee can handle simultaneously. Only skills with Allow to combine = true appear in the dropdown.
  5. Add more rows if the employee has multiple independent combinations.
  6. Save.

Impact on scheduling

When running Smart Schedule, the solver:

  • Merges demand into combined shifts (one shift with multiple required skills) that match the employees' declared combinations, so one employee covers several skills at once
  • Creates separate, single-skill shifts for skills not in any combination β€” and for any demand left over once the available combinations are used up
  • Never lowers the required headcount: each skill's demand is always counted in full

Coverage details

  • A combination covers a subset of its skills when only some of them are needed that day. Example: an employee with the combination [Call, Chat, Email] is placed on a [Call, Chat] shift on a day when Email is not needed.
  • The number of combined shifts is limited by how many employees hold that combination. If the demand is higher, the remaining demand is covered by separate single-skill shifts, so you may see both combined and single-skill shifts for the same skills.