Overview:
- General
- Time Window
- ETA
- Actual ETA
- Configuration
1. General
When you open a task on your platform, you can see three references to the expected completion time of this task: 1. the Time Window, 2. the (initially calculated) ETA and 3. the Actual ETA.
ℹ️ Note: In the Dashboard view, the (initially calculated) ETA will be referenced as "arrival"
2. Time Window
This is the time window in which you want the task to be completed (delivered or picked up). It is transferred into the Urbantz Platform together with the task upon announcement, either via API call, Excel or CSV file, depending on how you set up the flow.
Example API:
"timeWindow": {
"start": "2021-02-23T14:34:56.012+0100",
"stop": "2021-02-23T15:34:56.012+0100"
},
Example Excel/CSV:
ℹ️ Note: If you do not specify any Start Time and End Time upon announcement of the task, the system will allocate the values you have configured on the announcement flow.
In the example below, each task that is announced on this flow that doesn't have a time window specified will get the Time Window 07:00 to 19:00 allocated, and date = date of the announcement
ℹ️ Note: Before the task is put into a round, you have the possibility to edit the Time Window manually, by opening the task and clicking on "Edit". Once the task has been assigned to a round, the Time Window is fixed and can no longer be changed.
3. (Initially Calculated) ETA
This is the Estimated Time of Arrival. It will be calculated by the system the moment the task is put into a round, either through the use of the Optimisation, or manually via the Round Editor. Two values are shown on the task: (initially calculated) ETA and Actual ETA. Before the driver has started the round, the (initially calculated) ETA and the actual ETA will be the same (if the annoncement date is earlier than the departure date).
4. Actual ETA
When the driver starts the round, or if he starts it late, the (initially calculated) ETA and Actual ETA will start to differ. This happens because Urbantz will update the Actual ETA to take into account any delays that might happen along the way.
5. Configuration
There are several options to configure the way the estimated completion time of a task is referenced on your platform.
1. In the Public Branding section of the platform
Here, you can choose to either display the Actual ETA or the Time Window to your customers via the tracking page.
Following toggle can also be found in this section:
If activated, this means that in case the driver should start his round early, and your Actual ETA is before the start of the Time Window, the customer will not be shown the Actual ETA on the tracking page. Instead, the start of the Time Window is shown.
ℹ️ Note: The ETA referenced on the platform here is the Actual ETA, meaning this value will be updated as the round proceeds.
2. Under Administration -> Platform -> General
You will find a specific section about the Actual ETA here:
Margin: this value will be added both before and after the Actual ETA on the tracking page. So if you have a delivery that has an Actual ETA of 20:30, and you have chosen to show "ETA" to your customers via the Public Branding Page, the customer sees the parcel will be delivered between 20:00 and 21:00.
Rounding to the closest (minutes): If this value is 5 and your Actual ETA is 20:33, the customer sees the parcel will be delivered between 20:05 and 21:05
The toggle "Allow ETA ahead of schedule", will allow the Actual ETA to fall before the initially calculated ETA, in case your driver starts early or drives faster for example. If this toggle is activated, the actual, earlier ETA will be taken into account as such throughout the platform (dashboard, task view, tracking page, etc.)
The toggle "Keep ETA margin inside of Time Window", makes sure that the ETA margin that is shown to the customer on the tracking page doesn't fall outside of the Time Window. For example: the Time Window is set from 19:00 to 21:00, the actual ETA is 19:15, and the margin is 30. If the toggle is not activated, the ETA Margin shown to the customer will be 18:45 to 19:45, so outside of the Time Window. If the toggle is activated, the ETA margin shown will be 19:00 to 19:45, so inside of the Time Window.
ℹ️ Note: Again, the ETA referenced on the platform here is the Actual ETA, meaning this value will be updated as the round proceeds.