Not a window cleaner? Where this guide says round, you'll see route. It works the same way. You can change the word in Settings, then Scheduling.
Before you start
Rain delay is for trades the weather stops, such as window cleaning and gardening. Check which visits will move before you apply: you see the list first.
Rain delay
For window cleaning and gardening. A rain delay moves a round's planned visits from a day back by a number of the round's own days. A round that works once a week moves a week for each day. Later visits move too. For a round that runs every 2 or more weeks, a delay moves it a whole cycle; the owner can choose Move differently to move it by a number of days, or restart the round from a day.
- On Schedule, choose Rain delay.
- Choose one round, or all the rounds working that day, and how many days under Delay by: 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7.
- Choose Review affected visits and check the list.
- Choose whether to tell the customers by text or email. You can also text each visit's tenant or site contact.
- Apply the delay.
In the phone app, Rain delay is under Plan on The week. Choose the round, or All rounds that day, the From day, and where to Move the work to, such as the next round day. Choose Preview affected visits, then under Tell the customers choose Don't tell them, By text or By email. Then choose Apply to the visits.
What happens next
The visits move and are locked, so the nightly schedule leaves them on their new days. Customers you chose to tell get: “Because of the weather we've moved your visit to” the new date. Your text allowance, quiet hours and anyone who replied STOP are respected. Cleaners' phones show the new days at their next sync.
Weather
We're turning the weather forecast on business by business, so you may not see it yet. Where it's on, Settings, Weather says what counts as a wet day: heavy rain in mm an hour or a chance of rain, strong wind, and your working hours. The defaults are 2 mm an hour or a 70% chance, and gusts of 30 mph. To do then suggests moving rounds off a wet day, and the optimiser can avoid wet days.
Closed days
Close the business for a bank holiday, your own holiday or any day nobody works.
- On Schedule, choose Closed days.
- Under Close a day or a few, choose the First day, the Last day if it's more than one, and Why. Or tick UK bank holidays for your part of the UK and add them.
- Choose Review, check the visits that move, then confirm.
Visits on a closed day move to the round's next open day, or the next working day if they're not on a round, and stay there. If the round's next day is when the customer's next visit is due, the visit goes to the next working day instead. If you're closed until the next visit is due, that visit is skipped, and with Tell the customers on, they're told when their next visit is. Nothing new is booked on a closed day. Bank holidays are only closed if you add them. To open a day again, choose Remove next to it; visits already moved stay where they are, and skipped visits stay skipped.
If something goes wrong
- “No planned visits on this round from that day.”: check the round and the date.
- “Those days are already closed.”: they're in Coming up already.
- “Closed days can't be in the past.”: choose today or later.
- “Say why you're closed”: add a reason, such as Owner's holiday.
- “We couldn't get the bank holidays from GOV.UK just now.”: try again in a minute.
Who can do this
The owner, and managers with Can plan the schedule, rounds and forms.
Still stuck? Send us a message.