Realtime schedule management interface

Abstract

Embodiments are directed towards generating and managing schedules. In at least one of the various embodiments, these schedules may be configured to schedule team members, rotating which team member is active (“on-call”). In at least one of the various embodiments, these may be employed to determine which resource is responsible to respond and/or resolve incidents that may be reported and/or detected. In at least one of the various embodiments, if a team member is determined to be the on-call or responsible team member, the notification engine may determine the methods for notify the responsible of the incidents. Schedules previews may be updated in real-time as the schedule is edited.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method for creating a schedule using a networked computer, comprising:
 generating two or more schedule layers using a processor of the networked computer, each schedule layer having one or more schedule entries and a precedence value, wherein at least one schedule layer includes schedule entries that are generated in a repetitive fashion according to an epoch;   creating a final schedule based on a combination of the schedule layers according to an ordering of the precedence value of the two or more schedule layers, comprising:
 identifying a gap in the final schedule, wherein a gap refers to a time period in the final schedule for which there is no associated schedule entry; 
 filling the gap using a schedule entry from a schedule layer of the two or more schedule layers selected according to respective precedence values of the two or more schedule layers; and 
   displaying the final schedule to a user.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein generating each schedule layer includes:
 obtaining a shift duration, an ordered list of team members, and a restriction;   assigning each team member to a shift, subject to the restriction, wherein each assignment is a schedule entry;   repeating the assigning by iterating through the ordered list of team members until the schedule layer is complete; and   assigning the precedence value to the schedule layer.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein generating each schedule layer further includes generating an override layer, the override layer including a temporary change to the final schedule, and the override layer having a highest precedence value. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the filling includes truncating a schedule entry to fill the gap when the schedule entry includes a shift duration longer than the gap. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 editing a schedule entry in one of the schedule layers, wherein editing the schedule entry in one of the schedule layers automatically updates a corresponding schedule entry in the final schedule.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the restriction indicates a restricted time period for which a schedule layer is not permitted to have schedule entries, and wherein assigning each team member to a shift, subject to the restriction includes assigning team members to time periods that do not overlap with the restricted time period. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the restriction results in an extension of the epoch as compared to the epoch absent the restriction. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the restriction indicates a restricted time period for which assignments are truncated or omitted after team members are assigned to the schedule layer. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the two or more schedule layers is associated with a restriction having a time period that does not overlap with any time period of a restriction associated with any other schedule layer. 
     
     
         11 . A system arranged for creating a schedule, comprising:
 a server device, including:
 a transceiver operative to communicate over a network; and 
 a processor device operative to execute instructions to:
 generate two or more schedule layers, each schedule layer having one or more schedule entries and a precedence value, wherein at least one schedule layer includes schedule entries that are generated in a repetitive fashion according to an epoch; and 
 create a final schedule based on a combination of the schedule layers according to an ordering of the precedence value of the two or more schedule layers, comprising:
 identify a gap in the final schedule, wherein a gap refers to a time period in the final schedule for which there is no associated schedule entry; 
 fill the gap using a schedule entry from a schedule layer of the two or more schedule layers selected according to respective precedence values of the two or more schedule layers; and 
 
 transmit, using the transceiver, the final schedule to a client device having a processor operative to execute instructions to display the final schedule. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions to generate the two or more schedule layers includes instructions to:
 obtain a shift duration, an ordered list of team members, and a restriction;   assign each team member to a shift, subject to the restriction, by iterating through the ordered list of team members, wherein each assignment results in a schedule entry;   repeat the assigning until the schedule layer is complete; and   assign the precedence value to the schedule layer.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions to generate the two or more schedule layers includes instructions to: generate an override layer, the override layer including a temporary change to the final schedule, and the override layer having a highest precedence value. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions to fill the gap includes instructions to: truncate a schedule entry to fill the gap when the schedule entry includes a shift duration longer than the gap. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor device of the server device is further operative to execute instructions to:
 edit a schedule entry in one of the schedule layers; and   automatically update the final schedule to reflect the edited schedule entry.   
     
     
         16 . A computer readable non-transitive storage media that includes instructions for creating a schedule using a networked computer, comprising instructions to:
 generate two or more schedule layers, each schedule layer having one or more schedule entries and a precedence value, wherein at least one schedule layer includes schedule entries that are generated in a repetitive fashion according to an epoch;   create a final schedule based on a combination of the schedule layers according to an ordering of the precedence value of the two or more schedule layers, comprising:
 identify a gap in the final schedule, wherein a gap refers to a time period in the final schedule for which there is no associated schedule entry; 
 fill the gap using a schedule entry from a schedule layer of the two or more schedule layers selected according to respective precedence values of the two or more schedule layers; and 
   displaying the final schedule to a user.   
     
     
         17 . The computer readable non-transitive storage media of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions to generate two or more schedule layers includes instructions to:
 obtain a shift duration, an ordered list of team members, and a restriction;   assign each team member to a shift, subject to the restriction, wherein each assignment is a schedule entry;   repeat the assigning until the schedule layer is complete; and   assign the precedence value to the schedule layer.   
     
     
         18 . The computer readable non-transitive storage media of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions to generate two or more schedule layers further includes instructions to generate an override layer, the override layer including a temporary change to the final schedule, and the override layer having a highest precedence value. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable non-transitive storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to fill the gap includes instructions to truncate a schedule entry to fill the gap when the schedule entry includes a shift duration longer than the gap. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable non-transitive storage media of  claim 18 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:
 edit a schedule entry in one of the schedule layers; and   automatically update the final schedule to reflect the edited schedule entry.   
     
     
         21 . The computer readable non-transitive storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the restriction indicates a restricted time period for which a schedule layer is not permitted to have schedule entries, and wherein the instructions to assign each team member to a shift, subject to the restriction, includes instructions to assign team members to time periods that do not overlap with the restricted time period.