Stephen Covey (American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker) said: "The key is not to prioritize what's in your schedule but to schedule your priorities."
You might have heard about how scheduling & planning the activities is important to achieve the required goals. Many times it happens that even though you have utilized your every minute productively, at the end of the day, you realize that you have not completed some of your important tasks. That happens due to unplanned meetings, unavoidable interruptions, and last-minute changes. You can be busy the whole day without achieving the required productivity, and the major reason behind that is ineffective scheduling or zero scheduling.
Whether it is about planning a meeting, booking an appointment, or checking the availability of your resources, having a proper scheduling process in place is highly important. Embracing the power of scheduling is important to gain answers to some important questions like -
Yes, scheduling is important, but you would also agree to the fact that preparing & maintaining a flawless schedule can be challenging. Below-mentioned are certain problems you might be facing while scheduling an appointment, project, employees, or resources.
By using the best online scheduling software, you can overcome these challenges. But, the query coming into your mind would be how to select the right scheduling tool which best suits your business needs.
This article can help you with the complete information about scheduling software, benefits of using it, the features you need to consider, and finally, familiarize you with the best 7 free and open source scheduling software which you can consider while selecting one for your business.
So, what are we waiting for? Let us quickly start with the basic information about scheduling solutions and will move ahead step by step.
What is Scheduling Software?
Scheduling software is an automated system that helps individuals and businesses to manage their operations efficiently. It can help in scheduling appointments, maintain & track the schedules of the employees, allocate resources & equipment, and assign tasks for the projects. It can also track the time spent by the staff members, resources, and equipment on a particular project or task. To explain further, let us have a look at the functionalities of scheduling systems.
What Does a Scheduling Software Do?
The functionalities in a scheduling tool may depend on its type. The type of scheduling system you select would be based on your business sector and its requirements.
Types of Scheduling Software
Running a business organization, regardless of its size and type, is altogether a critical challenge. There are many tasks to be done on a daily basis and to achieve perfection in scheduling those tasks as per your priorities; you require executing the best online scheduling software.
As per statistics mentioned by Kronos
The below-mentioned benefits can support these facts.
To overcome the challenges and to take complete advantage of the benefits, scheduling software started picking up in a huge way for managing tasks and allocating resources. But, selecting a scheduling software as per the features that fit your business will be challenging.
The features required in your scheduling software would depend on the size and type of your business. To simplify this, we have listed some must-have features you should look for in your scheduling system so that you can reap maximum benefits out of it.
Must-Have Features of a Scheduling Software
Managing Resources
Resources can be in the form of humans, equipment, machines, or any place like a meeting room. The scheduling software you select should allow you to manage the resources depending on the type of business you are running. Many businesses require managing multiple types of resources, so you need to choose your scheduling software accordingly.
Task Management
If your business requires assigning tasks to your employees and tracking whether those tasks are being performed as per your expectations or not, you need to make sure that your scheduling software includes task management features. It would allow you to view your team members’ availability on a real-time basis, assign them tasks, and ensure that those tasks are being completed within a specific time-frame.
Hours Tracking
For many businesses, it is very important to track the number of hours worked by the employees. If your organization pays off your employees based on the hours they have worked, you need to implement a scheduling software that can automatically track the number of hours each employee has been scheduled to work, and notify you if any of them has worked below or above the hours allocated to them.
Integration
The scheduling software can integrate with other current systems you are already using, like payroll system, HRMS, project management software, etc. Integration makes importing/exporting data within multiple systems quick and easy. Moreover, with the help of the right integrations in your scheduling software, you can get your jobs done from a single interface instead of using multiple software for a single task.
Recording Changes in Schedule
Many times, changes in schedule are required to be done if an employee is sick, or unavailability of other resources, The scheduling software should allow you make the changes according to the availability of the resources and employees, and maintain the record of when were those changes done and who did those changes allowing you to avoid discrepancies within the team.
Automatic Notifications
The scheduling software you choose should automatically send the notifications through email or text messages about the important events like tasks/projects assigned, schedule changes, resources booked, etc. to all the team members associated with that particular assignment. This keeps everyone informed and eliminates the problems arising due to communication gaps in the organization.
Assigning a Task to Multiple Team Members
The scheduling software should allow you to assign a task to multiple team members. It should enable you to choose the required team members for a particular task, depending on their skills and availability. This would make your job of team management easier and get the projects completed within the required time frame.
Customized Reporting
Customized reporting would help you in generating reports as per your business logic and requirements. This feature can answer your queries like what went wrong in your previous project? Why was that project not completed on time? Gaining answers to such questions would help you in making improvements to your processes, and make smarter decisions for the future.
After going through the above must-have features, you might have got a glimpse of how your scheduling software should be. Helping you further with the selection of a scheduling system, here we have listed the best 7 free and open source scheduling software, which you can consider without any investment.
The Best 7 Free and Open Source Scheduling Software
#1 Booked
Booked is free scheduling software that helps organizations of any size and type to book appointments, as well as manage and track their resources. It includes powerful searching tools enabling users to find available time and resources they need quickly. Having multiple intuitive schedule and calendar views, it helps everyone to have visibility about available resources at a glance. It can eliminate all the conflicts relating to the availability of meeting rooms, laptops, or tools/equipment required by your employees to get their tasks done.
Key Features
- Includes customization options to make it work exclusively for your business
- Can integrate with Outlook and Google Calendar
- Provides LDAP and Active Directory support
- Allows you to embed schedules directly on your website
- Includes flexible reporting system
- Enables you to provide role-based permissions to the users
- Displays real-time availability of the resources
- Supports multiple languages
- Allows registered users and anonymous guests both
- Can integrate multiple payment options
If you have already used Booked, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#2 Rallly
Rallly is a free and open source scheduling software that allows you to create an event/meeting, share the details with other people, and ask them to vote for their suitable time. It is an excellent collaboration tool to schedule a meeting or an event on the date and time, which is suitable for the majority of the attendees. It is unique in its simplicity and requires minimum interaction time, enabling you to find an agreeable date for an event, meeting, or any get together.
Key Features
- Allows creating a page for an upcoming event
- Enables you to share the details of the event with the multiple users
- Allows all the participants of the event to hold a discussion
- Allows all the participants to vote for their suitable time for hosting the event
If you have already used Rallly, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#3 Dkron
Dkron is a free and open source scheduling software that allows running scheduled jobs on a server of a group of servers of any size. One of the servers is the leader, and if it fails, another server in the group can take over to reschedule all the jobs to streamline the entire process. It includes an easy to use UI, is completely flaw tolerant, and highly scalable, having the ability to handle thousands of nodes and a high volume of jobs simultaneously.
(dkron.io)
Key Features
- Includes SSL encryption security features
- Supports multiple regions
- Includes docker executor
- Has elastic search processor
- Includes advanced email processor
- Includes WebUI and API authorization
If you have already used Dkron, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#4 Schedulix
Schedulix is a free and open source enterprise job scheduling software with ground-breaking standards for the professional automation of IT processes in advanced system environments. It can automate the scheduling of simple to complex jobs involving different applications and systems. It monitors and records all the relevant processes and generates intelligent reports helping to gain quality, reliability, and efficiency in the IT operations.
Key Features
- Allows hierarchical workflow modeling
- Allows setting up task priorities
- Enables setting up of static and dynamic job and batch parameters
- Jobs can assign result variables using API, which can be visualized in the monitoring module
- Sends notifications automatically in case of any change in workflow or tasks
- Allows workflow to run automatically at a specific time
- Allows setting up authenticated ID and password required to access the data stored in the server
If you have already used Schedulix, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#5 ServiceMax
ServiceMax is an open source job scheduler that allows you to handle work orders and field service technicians in an accurate way. It ensures that the right technician has been sent for the job, depending on their ability, knowledge, and job complexity. Moreover, it includes sophisticated scheduling abilities and incredible user interface, that allows you to manage manual, automatic, and interactive scheduling processes.
Key Features
- Can capture work order signature
- Includes dashboards and reporting
- Allows managing scheduling and dispatching
- Can track service parts and inventory
- Includes report templates
- Allows team collaboration and sharing on social media platforms
- Includes work order management features
- Can manage customer accounts and contacts
If you have already used ServiceMax, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#6 Schedwi
Schedwi is a free and open source task scheduling software. It can run commands or scripts on remote clients on a scheduled date and time. It facilitates the sequencing of the tasks, which makes it easier to automate the completion of the tasks based on their priority. It includes a command-line tool and a web interface that allows administrators to track the tasks scheduled on a real-time basis, change the priority of the tasks, and configure the system.
Key Features
- Supports multiple operating systems
- Allows organizing jobs and job sets in a hierarchical structure
- Jobs or teams can be grouped together for the tasks
- Can use multiple triggering options for starting a task
- Can integrate with calendar
- Allows extending the functionality using supported plug-ins
If you have already used Schedwi, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#7 evQueue
evQueue is a free and open source job scheduling software that allows the execution of simple to complex tasks using simple UI with drag & drop functionality. It can include workflow description, allowing you to set the sequence of the tasks based on their priorities and managing resources. Its network API allows you to launch and control synchronous and asynchronous workflow, which enables you to import tasks from external applications and web pages. Moreover, using this scheduling software, you can now synchronize workflows and tasks, allowing instant production and easily access the deployment history.
Key Features
- Includes drag & drop interface to edit the workflow
- Facilitates real-time tracking of the tasks progression
- Provides advanced statistical reports in the web interface
- Provides support for loops and conditions at the time of data input
- Facilitates restarting workflow in case of any error in between
- Allows fixing bugs and setting up the priority of the tasks
If you have already used evQueue, please feel free to share your reviews here.
Are you still confused about which scheduling software would be the best for you? Just go through the below chart to compare the features of these scheduling solutions at a glance.
The Best 7 Free and Open Source Scheduling Software Comparison Chart
Besides these open source and free scheduling software, we would also like you to go through the details of one of the most popular scheduling solutions - SuperSaaS. Though it is not a free scheduling software, due to its advanced features and functionality, it can provide more value than its cost.
SuperSaaS
SuperSaaS is an easy, flexible, and affordable online booking system that allows you to get online reservations at your fingertips. Using this scheduling software, you can create an online booking system for therapists, personal trainers, Government organizations, sales teams, and all the businesses based on appointment bookings. It also allows allocating resources, service appointment booking, and managing group meetings or classes. Thus, it is just an all-in-one scheduling system that can not only help you in scheduling appointments but also can help in delegating tasks, booking resources & other services.
Key Features
- Easily customizable to match your business requirements
- Can automate sending reminders and notifications
- Allows integrating payment options
- You can use it as standalone software or integrate with your website or Facebook Page
- Easy to synchronize with calendar apps
- Allows assigning user roles and permissions
- Includes high-end security features
- Can generate in-depth analytical reports
If you have already used SuperSaaS, please feel free to share your reviews here.
Conclusion
Improving workplace efficiency and productivity is something that every company desires. Saving time consumed in scheduling and tracking tasks can save a lot of time, and also act as a warning system, which can be thousands of dollars saved each year for a business organization. Harnessing the power of technology to the scheduling tasks can streamline the processes and ensure error-free operations running smoothly.
This article must have assisted you in finding the right software for your business. Still, if you are looking for scheduling tools with advanced features and have the budget to invest in premium packages, you can go through options like Omnify, HotSchedules, mHelpDesk, and many more mentioned in this complete list of scheduling software.
If you have used any of the best scheduling tools mentioned above, please leave your valuable feedback here.
Also, if you are looking forward to gaining more information on the technology being used for other business sectors as well? Just browse all software categories to find the latest software solutions you are looking for.
