1. Job Import

 

Synchroteam allows you to import Jobs directly from a CSV file. However, this file must conform to a specific format (you can download the attached job import template at the end of the article).

Creation of the CSV import file

It is important to define the information you want to import. In Synchroteam there are a number of fields that can be filled in and additional fields that can be added if necessary. You must first create these fields before importing. (see article: Custom fields).
It is also preferable that your import file contain a header row with the name of your fields. This is to simplify the procedure when it comes to mapping the fields in your file to those in Synchroteam.

 

Required Fields (mandatory)

Only 3 fields are required.

Customer name:
WARNING, the customer must exist in Synchroteam. If not you must first create it manually or via a CSV file (see article: Import/Export your data).

Priority:

• Low
• Normal
• High

Assignment type:

• 0: flexible assignment : you create and schedule the job. You need to provide at least the technician's username and the start date and time. If they are not specified then the job will only be created.
• 1: firm assignment : you create and schedule the job and the start date and time are locked. 
• 2: Appointment time only : you create the job, without scheduling it. The start date and time provided are considered as a meeting in your scheduling preferences and are locked.

 

Optional Fields

There are 5 categories of fields that you can import :

• General information
• Customer
• Contact
• Scheduling
• Custom Fields

 

The General Information section

Field list:

• Description: In this field, you can enter a description for your job (2048 characters maximum)
• Job type: The job type must exist in Synchroteam. Otherwise, the "default" job type will be used
• Priority: Low, Normal or High.
• Job number: Alphanumeric field allowing you to set a custom job number.
• Invoiced Customer: Allows you to bill another customer than the one the job is assigned to. This customer must also exist in Synchroteam

•  

  Project Id: Numeric field, allows you to associate a job to an existing project by giving the project’s ID. Please note, that the project ID is not the project’s number but the number at the end of the url when you go into the project’s details. E.g: https://demo.synchroteam.com/app/Projects/Details/18937 then the project ID is 18937.

• Custom Project #: Alphanumeric field, allows you to associate a job to an existing project by giving the project’s custom number or to associate a job to a new project, created with the custom number you provided.

• Project Type: Alphanumeric field, allowing you to define the project type for a new project.

   

Please note that if a job has a custom job number and is in status created or scheduled, then you can update the job's details (job report template, job type, address, etc) if you reimport the job by providing its custom job number.

However, if you create a new job manually in the Back Office with the same custom job number, it won't update your previous job, it will only create a new job with the exact same custom job number.

The Customer section

NB: If the customer does not exist in Synchroteam AND you provide an address, then this customer will be created in Synchroteam when importing your file.

A valid address is either all fields STREET, ZIP CODE and CITY or the FULL ADDRESS.

Field list:

• Customer: Customer name
• Site: Customer site. The site must exist in Synchroteam (see article: Import/Export your data)
• Equipment: Piece of equipment on customer site. The Piece of equipment must be existing in Synchroteam (see article: Import/Export your data)
• Street: Customer street address
• Zip code
• City
• District
• Country
• Full address: full address in one line
• Additional address: Additional address information
• Latitude: GPS latitude
• Longitude: GPS longitude

 

The Contact section

In cases where the contact already exists in Synchroteam, this person's information will be updated with the values found in the import file.

Field list:

• Contact first name
• Contact last name
• Contact phone number
• Contact mobile number
• Contact fax number
• Contact email

The Scheduling section

Field list:

• Assignment type: this mandatory field can have one of 3 values
  • 0: flexible assignment : you create and schedule the job. You need to provide at least the technician's username and the start date and time. If they are not specified then the job will only be created.
  • 1: firm assignment : you create and schedule the job and the start date and time are locked. 
  • 2: Appointment time only : you create the job, without scheduling it. The start date and time provided are considered as a meeting in your scheduling preferences and are locked.
• Technician: login of the technician assigned to the job
• Start date: start of the job (ex 06/22/2017 08:30)
• End date: end of the job (ex 06/22/2017 10:15). This is optional - it can be calculated using the duration set for the job's type.

• End date: the job’s end date and time (e.g. 06/22/2017 10:15). This is optional - it can be calculated using the default duration set for the job's type.

• Auxiliary Technicians: login of the auxiliary technicians assigned to the job. E.g: “tech1,tech2”

• Window: The window set in the job’s scheduling preferences.

• Date: The date set in the job’s scheduling preferences.

• Team: The team set in the job’s scheduling preferences.

• User: The main technician set in the job’s scheduling preferences.

• Job Pool: the job is added to the job pool which is a list of unassigned jobs that technicians can assign to themselves. E.g: when you want to add the job to the job pool, specify “x” in the job pool column.

Please note that the date format needs to be the same as the one you have set in "Regional settings". E.g. dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm

The Custom field section

In this section you can include custom fields that you have defined for Jobs (see article: Custom fields).

Import the CSV file

To import your CSV file, click Configuration, then click "import / export".

Click on « Import Jobs »

Click on « Upload »

Pick up your CSV file and click on "Open"



Click on « Preview »

You then have a preview of the first three lines of your file. You need to:

1 – select the separator
2 – see if you want to import the first line or not
3 – do the mapping between the column names of your file and the associated fields in Synchroteam.

Click on the « Import » button



A popup indicates that the upload has occurred, click "Ok".



You will receive a confirmation email indicating the success or failure of your import.

Example, successful Import:


Example, Failed Import (with explanation):

 

2. Activity Import

Synchroteam allows you to import Activities directly from a CSV file. 

Please note that if you use the Time Tracking you can only import "At Work" and "Unavailability" activities, not "Travel" activities.

In order to import activities you need to at least fill in the activity name and its start and end date.

As you can see in the example below you can assign an activity to:

• 1 technician by giving their username 
• 1 team by giving the team name 
• all technicians by not filling in the technician and team fields 

After saving you file in the format CSV UTF 8 you can upload your file and proceed with the Mapping of your fields.

 

 

Please note that the date format needs to be the same as the one you have set in "Regional settings".

For instance if in Synchroteam your date and time formats are MM/dd/yyyy  and hh:mm:tt

then you need to change the format of your Start and End date and time cells to the following custom format:

mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm AM/PM

 

3. Recurring Import

Synchroteam allows you to import your recurrences in bulk from a CSV file.
To import recurrences, you will need to provide at least an existing Customer name, the start date and the periodicity.

Mandatory fields:
Customer name

NOTE, this client must already exist in Synchroteam.
If you have several new customers, you can use the mass import (see article: Import or Export your data).

The start date:

First day of the recurring job

Frequency:

Choose the frequency at which new jobs will be created/scheduled.
If a customer requires a Wi-Fi check once a week, type “1 week”.

After putting your import file in CSV UTF 8 format, you can proceed to import the file, in Settings > Import/Export and click on the “Import recurrences” button (1)

You can select your file and proceed with the Field Mapping.

Please note that the date format needs to be the same as the one you have set in your "Regional settings".

You will receive an email detailing the number of lines successfully imported or those not imported with the explanatory error.

Particularity:
When a recurrence is imported by only filling in the mandatory fields (Customer name, From, periodicity) then the recurring will be using the default job type.

TIPS: To create an import file that meets your needs, you can manually create your first Recurrencein Synchroteam.
To do so, please refer to the Recurrences article.
Then export this recurrence in Excel format in order to use this file as a template.