Frequently Asked Questions

1. Getting Started

Who should set up BayWise Scheduler for the first time?

The person who creates the BayWise account becomes the Account Owner. They are responsible for the initial configuration: creating the organisation, adding locations, setting up bays and technicians, and building the service catalog. In practice, this is usually the workshop owner, operations manager, or the most senior person responsible for daily scheduling. See the Account Owner Getting Started guide for the complete setup sequence.

How long does initial setup take?

Most workshops are ready to schedule their first jobs within 30 to 60 minutes. That time covers adding your bays, entering your technicians with their skills and availability, and creating the core entries in your service catalog. A more thorough configuration — covering all service types, equipment items, repair presets, AI settings, and incentive schemes — typically takes two to four hours depending on the size and complexity of your operation.

What should I set up first?

Start with the foundations that everything else depends on: your operating hours, then your bays, then your technicians (with skills and availability), and then your service catalog. With those four elements in place, you can create and schedule jobs immediately. AI features, incentive schemes, and repair presets can be configured afterward.

Can I import my existing job list or customer data?

BayWise Scheduler focuses on real-time scheduling and technician management. At launch, jobs are created manually or via the job creation flow. If you are migrating from another system, use the service and equipment catalog to recreate your core service types, and create jobs directly in BayWise as new work comes in. Contact support if you have a large dataset to discuss your options.

Can I try BayWise Scheduler before committing?

Yes. A trial period is available when you sign up. During the trial, all features available on the Professional plan are accessible so you can evaluate the full scheduling experience, including AI suggestions and analytics. No payment is required until the trial ends. Visit the pricing page for current trial terms.

Does BayWise Scheduler work on mobile devices?

BayWise Scheduler is a web application designed primarily for use on desktop or laptop screens, where the calendar grid and scheduling panels have enough space to work comfortably. The application loads on mobile browsers and most core actions are functional, but the scheduling calendar is best used on a screen of at least 10 inches. For technicians on the shop floor, consider using a shared tablet or wall-mounted screen.

What browsers are supported?

BayWise Scheduler works on current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. Chrome is the recommended browser for the best performance, particularly for AI features and real-time updates. Older browsers (Internet Explorer, Chrome prior to version 100) are not supported.

Is there an offline mode?

BayWise Scheduler requires an internet connection for scheduling, data saves, and AI features. If your connection drops briefly, the app will queue save operations and retry automatically — you will see a toast notification if a save is pending. Extended offline operation is not supported. For reliability, use a wired connection or a strong, stable Wi-Fi network in your workshop.

2. Account & Team

What is the difference between an Account Owner, Org Admin, and Location Manager?

The Account Owner has full access to every part of the platform, including billing. An Org Admin has the same operational permissions as the Account Owner but cannot access billing settings — this role is suitable for a head of operations or general manager who should not have payment authority. A Location Manager manages day-to-day operations for their assigned locations: settings, team management, reports, and all job functions. Members handle daily scheduling, job creation, and status updates without access to settings or team management. See the Roles & Capabilities Reference for the full breakdown.

How do I invite a new team member?

Go to Settings → Team and click Invite Member. Enter the person’s email address, select their role, and choose which location or locations they should have access to. They will receive an email with an invitation link valid for seven days. If the link expires before they use it, you can resend the invitation from the same Team settings screen.

An invited team member says the link has expired.

Invitation links expire after seven days. Go to Settings → Team, find the pending invitation, and click Resend. The new link will be valid for another seven days from the moment you resend it.

Can I change a team member’s role after they have joined?

Yes. Go to Settings → Team, find the member, and select Edit. You can change their role and adjust their location access. The change takes effect immediately — their next page load in the app will reflect the new permissions. Note that the Account Owner role cannot be transferred from within the app; contact support if you need to transfer account ownership.

Why can a Read Only user not see the Analytics or Settings tabs?

The Read Only role provides view-only access to jobs, bays, and technicians. Settings and team management are not visible to Read Only users. If a team member needs broader access, an Org Admin or Account Owner can upgrade their role to Member or higher from Settings → Team.

How do I deactivate a team member who has left the company?

Go to Settings → Team, find the member, and select Deactivate. Deactivated members can no longer log in. Their historical data (jobs they completed, technician records) is preserved. If the person was set up as a technician, their technician record remains and can be marked inactive separately from their login account. Deactivation does not affect the number of seats counted toward your plan limit.

3. Daily Operations

What is the typical daily workflow for a workshop team member?

A typical day in BayWise Scheduler starts with reviewing the Day View on the dashboard — checking which jobs are already scheduled, confirming technician clock-ins, and assigning any unscheduled jobs that arrived overnight or early morning. Throughout the day, the team monitors job progress, handles rescheduling when jobs overrun, manages any waiting or paused situations, and communicates promise times to customers. At end of day, a team member runs the Day Close workflow to resolve any in-progress work. See Close the Day.

Day Close is how you record what happened to any jobs or steps that were still active at end of day. For each item, you choose: Carry Over (the work was not finished and will continue tomorrow), Complete (the step was actually finished, just not marked so), or Delay (something specific is blocking it and it needs a note). You must resolve every outstanding item before the day can be closed. See Close the Day for a step-by-step walkthrough.

I can see jobs in the job list but they are not appearing on the calendar grid.

A job only appears on the calendar grid if it has both a scheduled start time and an assigned bay. Jobs without these remain in the job list as unscheduled items. Open the job from the list, set a start time, and assign a bay, and the job will then appear on the calendar in the correct position.

How do I know if a vehicle will be ready on time for the customer?

Open the job from the job list or calendar. The detail panel shows the promise time — the commitment made to the customer — alongside the current estimated completion based on the scheduled steps. If the promise time is shown in red, the job is at risk of being late. This could be because a step has overrun, the job was delayed, or it was rescheduled. Address the delay and, if necessary, contact the customer to update the expected collection time.

A job is stuck in “Waiting Parts” or “Waiting Sublets”. What should I do?

A job in Waiting Parts means parts have been ordered but have not arrived. A job in Waiting Sublets means an external service provider has not yet completed their work. Open the job to see any notes explaining the dependency. When parts arrive or the sublet is completed, update the status to Ready for Service. Jobs in waiting statuses are excluded from AI scheduling suggestions until they are moved to an active status.

Can I schedule jobs for future dates?

Yes. Use the date selector on the dashboard to navigate to any future date. You can create new jobs directly on a future date, and any jobs already created with a future start time will appear on the calendar for that date. Drag-and-drop rescheduling works on future dates the same way it does for today.

How do I reschedule a job that is already on the calendar?

Drag the job card to the new time slot or bay row directly on the calendar grid. BayWise will check the new slot for conflicts — operating hours, bay availability, technician availability, and equipment requirements — and will warn you if any issues are detected. You can also open the job detail panel and manually update the start time and bay assignment.

What happens to jobs if I change the operating hours for a day?

Existing jobs that fall outside the newly configured operating hours are not automatically moved or cancelled. They will appear with a scheduling warning indicating they fall outside operating hours. You will need to reschedule them manually. BayWise will not prevent you from saving the operating hours change even if it affects existing scheduled jobs.

4. Scheduling & Jobs

Can I assign multiple technicians to a single job?

A job step is assigned to one technician at a time. For work that genuinely requires two people simultaneously (for example, a heavy lift or a specialist body panel alignment), the recommended approach is to create two parallel steps within a multi-step job, each assigned to one technician, scheduled to run at the same time in the same bay. This keeps the schedule accurate and ensures both technicians’ WIP limits are respected.

What does the AI scheduling suggestion actually do?

When you click the AI scheduling button on the dashboard, BayWise sends the current state of your unscheduled jobs, technician availability, WIP limits, skills, and bay capacity to your configured AI model. The AI returns a set of recommended assignments — which technician and which bay for each unscheduled job, and in what order. You review the suggestions in the scheduling panel and accept or reject each one individually. The AI does not make changes automatically. See Schedule a Job.

How do I move a job to a different bay?

Drag the job card vertically on the calendar grid to move it to a different bay row. BayWise checks the target bay for equipment compatibility (does the bay have the equipment required by the job’s service type?) and capacity conflicts (is there another job in that slot, accounting for bay buffer time?). If a conflict is detected, BayWise will warn you before completing the move.

Why can’t I drag a job card to a particular time slot?

The slot may be outside your operating hours, blocked by a break time, or already occupied by another job in the same bay (including the bay buffer gap after that job). Grey zones on the calendar indicate unavailable periods. If a slot appears blocked unexpectedly, check Settings → Operations to review your hours and break times.

What does a red border on a job card mean?

A red border indicates that the job is in a problematic state — most commonly that it has passed its customer promise time without being completed, or that it is in a waiting status (Waiting Parts, Waiting Sublets, or Waiting Approval). Open the job to see the specific reason. Red-bordered jobs are also called out in the dashboard summary at the top of the screen.

Can I set a customer promise time on a job?

Yes. When creating or editing a job, there is a promise time field where you record the time you have committed to the customer. BayWise tracks this against the scheduled completion and highlights any risk of missing the promise in the job detail panel and on the calendar card. This field is optional but strongly recommended for customer-facing work.

5. Multi-Step Jobs

What is a multi-step job and when should I use one?

A multi-step job is a single repair or service that is broken into sequential phases, each of which may be assigned to a different technician or bay. Use multi-step jobs when: the repair moves through more than one workshop zone (for example, a vehicle goes from a mechanical bay to a paint booth before returning for reassembly); when different skill sets are required at different stages; or when the work spans multiple days with distinct phases. See Concepts: Multi-Step Jobs.

Can each step in a multi-step job be assigned to a different technician?

Yes, and this is one of the primary benefits of multi-step jobs. Each step has its own independent technician assignment, bay, skill requirement, estimated duration, and status. The scheduling AI will consider the skill requirements of each step independently when making suggestions.

A step shows as complete but the next step has not started automatically. Why?

Check whether the Auto-Start Next Step setting is enabled for that job. When enabled, BayWise will automatically move the next step to an “active” state once the preceding step is marked complete. If Auto-Start is disabled, a controller must manually start each step. Also verify that the completed step has all required completion tags ticked — until every required tag is checked, the step is not considered fully closed. See Configure Auto-Start Steps.

Can I add a step to a job that is already in progress?

Yes. Open the job detail panel, go to the Steps tab, and click + Add Step. Steps that have already been completed are locked and cannot be edited, but you can insert new steps at any point in the remaining sequence. Adding steps to an in-progress job is useful when a diagnosis reveals additional work that was not anticipated at booking.

How do I remove a step from a job?

Steps that have not yet been started can be deleted from the job detail panel’s Steps tab. Steps that are in progress or completed cannot be deleted — this preserves the job history. If you need to skip a step that is no longer needed, mark it as complete with a note explaining that it was intentionally skipped.

6. Technicians & Bays

What are the 16 technician skill types?

The 16 skill types are: Master Technician, Diagnostics, General, Oil & Lube, Tires, A/C Service, Electrical, Denting, Painting, EV Certified, Body Estimating, Frame Straightening, Surface Prep, Spray Painting, Body Assembly, and ADAS Technician. See the Skill Types Reference for full descriptions of each.

Can I add a bay using a photo of the bay area?

Yes, if AI vision is configured. When adding or editing a bay, select AI Detect Equipment and upload a photo of the bay. BayWise sends the image to your configured vision AI provider and returns a list of equipment it has identified. You review the suggestions and confirm which items to link to the bay. This is significantly faster than manually matching equipment items when setting up a new location. See Use AI to Detect Equipment.

A technician is not appearing as available even though they should be working today.

Check two things: first, confirm their availability schedule shows today as a working day (Technician record → Availability). Second, if Require Clock-In for Assignment is enabled at your location (Settings → Operations), the technician must be actively clocked in before they appear as assignable. Ask the technician to clock in from the Techs tab, or clock them in manually if your role permits.

What happens when a bay is put into Maintenance Mode?

The bay is immediately taken offline. It is greyed out on the calendar grid, labelled “Under Maintenance”, and excluded from all AI scheduling suggestions. Any jobs already scheduled in that bay remain in place — they are not automatically rescheduled. You will need to move those jobs to an available bay manually. When Maintenance Mode is turned off, the bay returns to normal availability immediately.

Can I set different WIP limits for different technicians?

Yes. The WIP limit is configured per technician record and can be different for every technician on your team. A recently qualified technician might have a limit of 2 to allow closer supervision, while an experienced senior technician might comfortably carry a WIP limit of 4 or 5 on days with many short-duration jobs.

7. AI Features

What AI features are available in BayWise Scheduler?

BayWise Scheduler includes four AI-powered capabilities: AI Scheduling (suggests optimal bay and technician assignments for unscheduled jobs), AI Equipment Detection (identifies equipment from a photo of a bay), AI Duration Estimation (estimates job duration when no catalog entry is matched), and AI Incentive Formula Generation (produces a formula from a plain-text description of your incentive goals). All four features require a configured AI provider with a valid API key in Settings → AI.

Which AI providers does BayWise Scheduler support?

BayWise supports a range of leading AI providers. The available providers are listed in Settings → AI when you expand each feature section. You are not locked into a single provider — you can use different providers for different features. For example, you might use one provider for scheduling suggestions and a different one for image-based equipment detection.

My AI scheduling suggestions do not seem accurate. How do I improve them?

The quality of AI scheduling suggestions depends directly on the completeness of your setup data. Make sure: every technician has accurate skills assigned; every technician has their availability schedule configured; every service in the catalog has a realistic estimated duration; every bay has its equipment links up to date; and your operating hours and break times are correctly set. The more accurate this data is, the better the suggestions will be. Also confirm that your chosen model is one of the higher-capability options available for your provider.

What happens to my data when I use AI features?

When an AI feature is invoked, BayWise sends the relevant operational data — such as job details, technician availability, and skill profiles — to your configured AI provider to generate a response. No customer personal information is included in these calls. Review your AI provider’s data processing and privacy policies to understand how they handle API request data. BayWise does not store AI provider responses beyond the current session.

The AI says “Unable to generate suggestions”. What does this mean?

This message appears when the AI call fails or returns an unusable response. Common causes include: an expired or invalid API key (check Settings → AI), exceeding your AI provider’s rate limit (wait a minute and try again), a network timeout (check your internet connection), or an AI provider outage (check your provider’s status page). If the issue persists after checking these, contact BayWise support.

8. Incentives

What is an incentive scheme in BayWise Scheduler?

An incentive scheme is a formula that calculates a performance score or bonus amount for each technician based on measurable outcomes from their work — jobs completed, efficiency, utilisation, on-time delivery rate, and hours worked. Schemes are created at the organisation level and then assigned to locations. Once assigned, BayWise calculates the output of each scheme for every technician in the technician performance reports. See Assign Incentive Schemes.

Can I use the AI to help write my incentive formula?

Yes. In Settings → Incentives, click Generate Formula and describe in plain language what you want to reward. For example: “Reward technicians who complete more jobs, with a bonus for high efficiency and a penalty for missed promise times.” The AI will produce a formula using the supported variables. Always review the formula and test it against recent data before activating it, as the AI-generated output is a starting point, not a guaranteed-correct result.

How are incentive scheme results shown to technicians?

Incentive scheme outputs are displayed in the technician performance reports section of Analytics. Members can view results in the reports. The raw formula and scheme configuration are only visible to Location Managers and above — Members see only the calculated outcomes in the report view.

Can different locations use different incentive schemes?

Yes. Incentive schemes are created once at the organisation level but assigned independently to each location. Location A could run a throughput-focused scheme while Location B runs an efficiency-focused scheme. Multiple schemes can be active at the same location simultaneously — for example, a general scheme for all technicians and a separate specialist scheme for senior paint technicians.

9. Multi-Location & Enterprise

How does the location switcher work?

The location switcher appears in the top navigation bar when your account has access to more than one location. Click it to see the list of locations you have access to, then select the location you want to work in. All views — dashboard, bays, techs, catalog, settings, and analytics — update to show data for the selected location. Your location selection persists until you switch again. See Switch Locations.

Can I see all my locations on one screen at the same time?

A consolidated multi-location dashboard view is available on the Enterprise plan. On Professional, you manage each location separately by switching between them. The Enterprise MSO management view provides a summary of status across all locations — including bay utilisation and any alerts — without needing to switch into each location individually.

What is the MSO Template Control Centre?

The MSO (Multi-Site Operations) Template Control Centre is an Enterprise-tier feature that lets an organisation administrator configure settings once at headquarters level and push them to some or all locations. Configurable settings include operating hours, break times, bay buffer time, clock-in requirements, incentive scheme assignments, service catalog entries, and AI provider settings. When a template is published to a location, it creates a baseline configuration. Depending on the template settings, locations may or may not be able to make local overrides. See Use Template Controls.

Can individual locations override settings published from a template?

This depends on how the template is configured at the organisation level. The template administrator can choose, on a per-setting basis, whether locations may override the published value or must accept it as fixed. For example, a franchise operator might lock operating hours to a standard schedule while allowing each location to choose their own bay buffer time. Settings that are locked at the template level are greyed out in the location’s own Settings screen.

We are a franchise group with 30 locations. Is BayWise suitable?

Yes. BayWise Scheduler is designed with multi-site franchise and dealer group operations in mind. The Enterprise plan supports unlimited locations, unlimited bays and technicians, and the MSO Template Control Centre for centralised configuration management. Cross-location analytics give your operations team visibility across the full network. Contact the BayWise enterprise team to discuss your specific requirements, including onboarding support and migration planning.

10. Analytics

What analytics does BayWise Scheduler provide?

BayWise provides two levels of analytics. The Daily Insights dashboard is available on all plans and shows a real-time summary of today’s operations: jobs scheduled vs. completed, bay utilisation, and any delayed or blocked jobs. Technician Performance Reports are available from Professional upward and show per-technician breakdowns of jobs completed, efficiency percentage, utilisation rate, and on-time delivery rate over any selected date range, alongside any configured incentive scheme outputs. See Understanding Analytics.

How do I filter analytics by date range or location?

Open the Analytics tab and use the date range selector in the top-right corner to set the period you want to analyse — today, this week, this month, a custom range, or a comparison period. On multi-location plans, a location filter allows you to view data for a specific location or, on Enterprise, aggregated across all locations. See Filter Analytics by Period.

Why do the technician efficiency numbers seem very high or very low?

Efficiency is calculated as (estimated duration / actual duration) × 100. If estimated durations in your Service Catalog are set too low (i.e., shorter than what jobs actually take), efficiency scores will appear inflated. If they are set too high, scores will appear deflated. Review and refine your service catalog estimates using real job data after your first few weeks of operation for the most accurate efficiency reporting.

Can I export analytics data?

Analytics data can be viewed and filtered within the app. For data export — for example, to send to a payroll system for incentive processing, or to include in a management report — use the export function available in the Technician Reports section. Exports are available in CSV format. If you need a custom integration with your existing business intelligence or payroll tooling, contact the BayWise enterprise team.

11. Plans & Billing

What happens when I reach a plan limit, such as the maximum number of bays?

BayWise will show a plan gate message explaining which limit has been reached and offering a direct upgrade path. You will not lose any existing data — the bays, technicians, or other items already saved remain in place. You simply cannot add more until you move to a higher plan. The upgrade process takes effect immediately. See Upgrade Your Plan.

Who can access billing settings?

Only the Account Owner can view and manage billing. Org Admins, Location Managers, Members, and Read Only users do not have access to the Billing & Plans section of Settings. This is an intentional security separation to ensure that billing decisions remain under the control of the account owner, regardless of what operational permissions other team members hold.

Can I change my plan at any time?

Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately and you are charged the prorated difference for the remainder of your current billing period. Downgrades take effect at the start of the next billing cycle. If a downgrade would leave you above the lower plan’s limits (for example, you have eight bays and the lower plan allows only three), BayWise will warn you and ask you to reduce the relevant items before the downgrade can proceed.

Is there a discount for annual billing?

Discounted rates are available for annual upfront payment. The pricing page and the Billing & Plans screen in the app show the current discount rate for each plan tier. Annual billing is recommended for established workshops that have completed their evaluation and are confident in their plan choice.