When planning a visit, Flowbyte can suggest **which technician fits the job best**. Suggestions appear under **Best matching technicians** in the planning dialog.

Suggestions never auto-assign — they help you choose. You can always pick manually.

## Where you see suggestions

1. Open **Manager dashboard** → plan a visit from the calendar / backlog,  
   or create / edit a **work** and plan technician sheets.
2. Select a **customer** (without a customer, suggestions are not calculated).
3. Attach **equipment** and **service type** when relevant.
4. Suggestions appear: **Best option**, **Best alternative**, and so on.
5. Click **Assign** — or pick a technician manually.

## How ranking works

The score combines several signals:

| Factor | What it looks at |
|--------|------------------|
| **Customer history** | How often this technician served the same customer (and last visit) |
| **Equipment skill** | Whether skills match the customer’s device / manufacturer / group |
| **Equipment history** | Whether the technician worked on that equipment before |
| **Skills** | Fit to service type (e.g. repair, maintenance, brand) |
| **Availability** | Free that day, already busy, or absent (e.g. time off) |

Absent technicians rank last. Busy ones may still appear, with lower preference.

Each suggestion shows **reasons**, for example:

- “Served this customer 5× (last …)”
- “Can service: Miele …”
- “Free” / “Busy”

## How to improve suggestions

Good data makes good suggestions.

### 1. Configure the skills catalogue and assign technicians

1. Open **Workers** → pick a technician → **Skills** tab.
2. Add catalogue skills (e.g. “Miele washing machines”, “Electrical work”).
3. Choose a category: general, equipment, repair, brand.
4. Optionally set **manufacturer** and / or **equipment group** to link the skill to devices.
5. Tick skills for the technician and set level: basic / skilled / expert.
6. Save.

Higher level weighs more in ranking.

### 2. Keep customer equipment tidy

Equipment name, manufacturer and group help skill matching. If equipment is missing or empty, history and availability dominate.

### 3. Plan with the right customer and date

- Without a **customer**, there are no suggestions.
- The **date** drives whether someone is free, busy, or absent.

## Typical office flow

1. Set skills on workers (once, then maintain).
2. Open planning from the manager calendar or a work.
3. Review **Best matching technicians**.
4. Assign the best fit (or another choice if travel is shorter).
5. Mark one **lead technician** when several people go.
6. Save — work sheets are created.

## Limits

- Suggestions are guidance, not a hard rule.
- New customers or new technicians may lack history — skills and availability matter more.
- If the list is empty, refresh or assign manually.

## Related guides

- [Manager dashboard and settings](https://help.flowbyte.ee/hc/wiki/articles/manager-dashboard)
- [Works](https://help.flowbyte.ee/hc/wiki/articles/works)
- [Operations map](https://help.flowbyte.ee/hc/wiki/articles/operations-map)