Release notes for NextGen FSM Desktop

Dispatcher power search (beta)

Audience: Dispatchers

Leverage generative AI to instantly pinpoint relevant data and solve problems quickly. Instead of manually entering data queries into complex manual dashboards, use natural language commands to filter and retrieve relevant information. 

Dispatcher power search helps you solve problems and analyzes your intent to give you context-aware answers. This reduces decision fatigue and accelerates response times during critical operations.

See Dispatcher power search in the Daily Plan (Beta) .

Emergency response with live traffic

Audience: Dispatchers

To accelerate your organization’s response time for critical incidents and maximize SLA compliance, integrate real-time road data into the scheduling process. Automate urgent work order (WO) management, and evaluate the workforce in real time to handle emergency scheduling to:

• Ensure service continuity and increase community safety during infrastructure failures, route technicians around roadblocks and construction. 

• Identify a technician who will arrive on-site the fastest, combine live traffic data with technician availability, proximity, and skills constraints. 

See Emergency response with real traffic task management .

No-skill activity included in scheduling optimization

Schedule simple tasks based on availability, geographic proximity, and time windows rather than strict skill requirements. Tasks requiring no specific expertise are processed efficiently by the optimization engine (Gisware) alongside complex tasks.

While specific skills are still prioritized for technical compliance, this update improves overall resource utilization by including simpler activities in both real-time and virtual scheduling optimization.

See Configure no-skill activity inclusion .

Assign excluded resources

To streamline the planning process, dispatchers can categorize resources as “Excluded” for specific WOs. Strict manual assignment validation and automated scheduling guidance help assignments adhere to specific operational requirements and constraints.

Changes to the planning interface and experience include:

• Manual Assignment: A new Associate Resources & Teams panel allows dispatchers to drag and drop resources into specific preference columns (Mandatory, Favorite, and Excluded).

• Validation Warnings: The system now displays a warning if a dispatcher attempts to manually assign a WO to an excluded resource or a resource not listed as Mandatory.

• Dynamic Scheduling: The optimization engine automatically respects these classifications, prioritizing Mandatory resources and strictly bypassing Excluded resources when calculating the optimal plan.

See Assign mandatory, favorite, and excluded resources .

Manage historical work order notes

To improve information sharing across different executions and operations, manage and attach historical notes to a single WO. Add notes to the entire WO or to a specific operation within the WO. Create a persistent record of comments directly associated with the scheduled task to retain better context.

See Manage notes for a work order .

Duplicate user types

Audience: Administrators

To set up new user profiles easily, duplicate existing user types. Rather than manually configuring every field from scratch, clone settings and permissions from an existing type.

See Configure FSM users .

Create and manage an online matrix

Audience: Administrators

Create and manage a specialized external service matrix to seamlessly integrate NextGen FSM with external service engines. In this flexible framework, define parameters and map rules to communicate with external optimization or route calculation services.

This smooth configuration separates core logic from external service details, and has faster adaptability to new service requirements. When external services change their input and output structures, adjust configurations without affecting current integrations.

See Configure a new external services matrix .

Dynamic forms

To ensure fast and accurate data capture, dynamic forms automatically adapt to the specific context. Dynamic forms guide technicians through the correct procedures, streamline field operations, improve data quality, and drive higher user adoption.

Lock and unlock request workflow

To ensure data integrity, the system can now lock dynamic forms associated with WOs upon completion. Once locked, the sheet becomes read-only and ensures finalized data remains unchanged.

If updates are required, technicians can request an unlock, which an administrator must approve. This ensures strict control over data modifications and maintains compliance.

Non-mandatory boundaries and threshold warnings

To allow a balance between strict data integrity and field flexibility, dynamic forms support non-mandatory boundaries. Administrators can set:

• Threshold limits: Trigger warning notifications without blocking the workflow. 

• Strict limits: Prevent saving

Limits allow technicians to submit values that fall outside ideal ranges and give them a warning if they are within safe operational limits or block them if it’s unsafe. 

See Non-mandatory boundaries for dynamic forms .

Standardize file names in dynamic forms

Ensure attachments are properly organized and easily retrievable for downstream analysis and seamless integration with external systems like SAP. The system automatically applies naming convention rules to files attached to dynamic forms. 

The mobile app generates unique, readable, and consistent filenames upon upload. For example, file names combine an invoice number and customer name.

See Standardize file names in dynamic forms .

Global expressions and cross-field validation

Audience: Administrators

To validate data across the entire dynamic form structure and ensure consistent high-quality data, define global expressions. In a saved form, global expressions trigger specific warning or error messages. To adhere to compliance rules, this feature provides clear feedback and blocks invalid saves when necessary.

See Create and manage global expressions in dynamic forms .

Export and import dynamic form templates

Audience: Administrators

Export dynamic form templates as JSON files and import them into different environments. This capability facilitates the reuse and migration of complex form definitions, global expressions, and logic across deployment environments.

Preserve high-level logic as you manage consistent templates and deploy standardized forms faster.

See Dynamic Form Templates .

Automated file naming conventions for attachments

Naming convention rules automatically apply to files attached within dynamic forms. The mobile app generates unique, readable, and consistent filenames upon upload. For example, file names combine an invoice number and customer name.

This standardization ensures attachments are properly organized and easily retrievable for downstream analysis and seamless integration with external systems like SAP.

One card one form enhancement

Audience: Administrators 

Define how a dynamic form appears and behaves directly from the FSM Mobile card rules. Choose a specific icon to represent the form, define a short label to appear below it, and link one or more templates that determine which forms are automatically created. The configuration is simple and provides a clear, consistent experience for technicians.

See Configure dynamic form rules for FSM Mobile | Configure mobile cards .