Job and appointment statuses

Overview#

A job is the work; an appointment is one visit to do it. A job can have several appointments (a diagnosis, then a return with parts). You move appointments through their statuses, and TradesWork works out the job's status from them. This keeps the dispatch board, the job list, the Field app and the customer's One Link in agreement.

Before you start#

• Scheduling, dispatching, canceling and putting appointments on hold from the office needs the dispatch permission (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Customer service).

• Technicians move their own appointments (start driving, arrive, finish, pause) in the Field app.

Steps#

Appointment statuses#

Allowed moves: Scheduled → Dispatched, En route or Canceled. Dispatched → En route, back to Scheduled (Undispatch) or Canceled. En route → Working, back to Dispatched, or Canceled. Working → Done. Done and Canceled are final.

Job statuses#

The job's status is worked out from its appointments:

• Unscheduled: no open or finished appointments yet. New jobs start here and land on the dispatch board's unscheduled list.

• Scheduled: at least one appointment is Scheduled or Dispatched.

• In progress: an appointment is En route or Working.

• Needs follow-up: the latest finished appointment was closed with "needs follow-up" (for example, parts to order).

• Completed: the latest finished appointment was closed as job complete.

• Canceled: the job was canceled and stays canceled.

Schedule an appointment from the job page#

1. On the job, in Appointments, open Schedule an appointment (it's already open when the job has none).

2. Set Arrival window starts and Arrival window ends.

3. Check Expected duration (minutes). It defaults from the job type.

4. Tick the Technicians, and add Instructions for the technician if needed.

5. Click Schedule. The job becomes Scheduled.

Dispatch, undispatch or cancel#

1. On the appointment, click Dispatch to send it to the technician, or Undispatch to take it back.

2. To cancel, click Cancel and confirm. Canceling can't be undone; schedule a new appointment if plans change again.

3. To swap people, open Change technicians, tick the right names and click Save.

Put an appointment on hold, and resume it#

1. On an open appointment, click Put on hold.

2. Pick a reason: Waiting on parts, Customer asked to pause, Can't get access, Waiting on approval, Weather or Other.

3. Add a Note (required for Other) and click Put on hold. An "On hold" badge appears, and the job shows in the On hold filter on the Jobs list.

4. When work can continue, click Resume appointment.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Board & Skills and Zones, Move-up & Work Streams: how the board offers technicians and windows.

• Settings › Communications › Web Appointments: the standard arrival windows.

• Settings › Communications › Customer Notifications: which status changes text the customer (booked, reminder, on my way, job complete).

Tips#

• Use Needs follow-up (set by the technician when finishing) rather than leaving a job open. The job list's Needs follow-up filter becomes your return-visit queue.

• Put a visit on hold instead of canceling it when the work is only paused. The reason is visible to the whole office.

• Technicians can also pause an appointment from the Field app; it shows here with their reason.

Troubleshooting#

• "This job was canceled. Reopen it before scheduling." → the job itself is canceled → book a new job for the customer.

• "This appointment is closed." → you tried to change a Done or Canceled appointment → schedule a new appointment instead.

• The job still says Scheduled after the tech finished → another appointment on the job is still open → finish or cancel it.

• No Dispatch button → the appointment isn't Scheduled, or your role lacks dispatch.

FAQ#

Can I reopen a Done appointment? No. Done is final. Schedule a new appointment on the same job for a return visit.

What happens to the customer's link when I dispatch? The One Link updates right away. When the technician starts driving, it shows "on the way" and, with GPS on, a live ETA.

Does putting a visit on hold notify the customer? No. Holds are internal. Text the customer from the Messages panel if they need to know.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same: jobs hold appointments; appointment statuses Scheduled, Dispatched, Working and Done; job statuses derived from appointments.

• Different: TradesWork adds En route as its own status and Needs follow-up as a job status set by the technician's outcome. Holds use fixed reasons instead of custom hold reasons.

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan's appointment buttons on the job page and dispatch board; the same controls are in the Appointments card of the job page.