> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.avoca.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# On-Call Calendar Setup & User Guide
> Avoca's On-Call Calendar helps ensure your on-call technicians and managers are notified immediately when emergency calls come in after hours. With the new on-call calendar, you have complete control over who gets notified, when they get notified, and how they get notified—all from your Avoca Dashboard.
**Video Tutorial:**
Watch a quick overview of the basics: [On-Call Calendar V2 Setup](https://www.loom.com/share/90e83269eca64a609497f82d3a7ce703)
## Accessing the On-Call Calendar
Log into your Avoca Dashboard
Navigate to **Settings** in the left sidebar
Click **On-Call Calendar**
You'll see four main tabs: **Employee Contacts**, **Schedule**, **Broadcasted Messages**, and **Configuration**.
## Setting Up Your Team
### 1. Adding Departments
Departments help ensure the right team members get notified based on the type of call (HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, etc.)
**Important:**
**Why departments matter:** Departments are **highly recommended** for notification accuracy. Without departments, the AI may notify the wrong technicians because:
* If no one from the correct specialty is on-call, it may default to notifying any available on-call tech
* The AI has to guess which team member to notify based on partial information
**How to Set Up Departments:**
Go to **Employee Contacts** → **Departments** tab
Click **Add Department**
Enter department names like:
* HVAC
* Plumbing
* Electrical
* Drains
* Commercial HVAC
* Service Areas (North, South, Central, etc.)
* This is recommended for businesses with multiple service areas, in addition to trade-specific departments. Technicians can belong to multiple departments.
You’ll now be able to add **Employee Contacts** and assign each team member to their department(s)
### 2. Adding On-Call Team Members
**Option 1: Import from ServiceTitan** (for ST users)
Go to the **Employee Contacts** tab
Click the purple **ST Technicians** button
Select the technicians you want to import
Review and edit their contact information
**Option 2: Add Manually**
Click the + **Add New** button
Enter the following information:
* **Name**
* **Phone Number** (for text and call notifications)
* **Email** (for email notifications)
* **ServiceTitan ID** (optional for ST if adding contacts manually, required if you want automatic job assignments)
* **Team/Department** (optional, helps route notifications to the right people)
## Employee Contact Settings
Learn more about Notification Settings here: [Notifications Settings](/Notifications-Settings-2e0f2b56d4d58042bd1aed1bdd73a792)
The key notification you’ll need to enable for someone that is on-call is the On-Call Settings
* Determines whether this employee should receive on-call notifications if they have a shift assigned
## Creating On-Call Schedules
Switch between **Timeline View** and **Cards View** using the buttons in the upper right—choose whichever format works best for you.
**How It Works:**
* Avoca pulls yellow "On-Call" technician shifts from ServiceTitan
* You can sync manually on-demand or enable automatic background syncing
* Schedules automatically update if you make changes in ServiceTitan
* Deleted shifts in ServiceTitan are automatically removed from Avoca
**To Set Up Sync:**
Navigate to the **Schedule** tab
Look for the **Sync from ServiceTitan** button
Choose your sync preferences:
* **Sync all technicians** with ServiceTitan IDs, or select specific ones
* Set your **lookahead window** (1-60 days, default is 7 days)
* Choose **manual sync** (click button each time) or **automatic sync** (syncs periodically in the background)
Click **Sync Now** to pull your on-call shifts
**Note:**
The on-call calendar works for technician shifts only (managers must still be scheduled manually in Avoca).
### Option 2: Create Schedules Manually
Navigate to the **Schedule** tab
Click **Create Schedule**
Select one or more team members from the dropdown
Set the start and end times for their shift
Choose the [on-call role(s)](/On-Call-Calendar-Setup-User-Guide-2cef2b56d4d580e79415efffd457d758) for each person: Technician, Manager, or Backup
Select the dates when this schedule should apply (you can select multiple dates)
Click **Create Schedule**
**Schedule Tips**
* Overnight Shifts: If your shift goes overnight (e.g., 5 PM to 8 AM the next day), set the **End Day** to the next day.
* **Open-Ended Schedules:** Check the **Open-ended** option if someone should always be notified regardless of time (typically used for backups or managers who don't rotate).
### Understanding On-Call Roles
When setting up schedules, you can assign three different on-call roles:
**Technician**
* Gets notified when an emergency call comes in **and has an appointment scheduled during their shift**
* Receives both text and phone call
* Must click a link to confirm they received the notification
* Can be automatically assigned to the job in ServiceTitan
* Techs are notified based on **appointment time**, not call time
**Manager**
* Gets notified when emergency calls come in during their shift
* Receives notifications at the same time as technicians
* Managers are notified based on **call time**, not appointment time
**Backup**
* Gets notified if the primary on-call technician doesn't respond to Avoca's text
* The system waits a configurable amount of time (default: 10 minutes) before notifying the backup
* Receives both text and phone call
* Does not get automatically assigned to jobs
## What Information Do Technicians Receive?
When a technician receives an on-call notification, they'll see:
* Customer name
* Customer phone number
* Customer address
* Description of the issue
* Link to the call
* Link to the job in ServiceTitan (if applicable)
* Link to confirm they received the text message
## Configuring Notifications
Navigate to the **Configuration** tab to customize when and how your team gets notified.
### Master Toggle
**Enable On-Call V2** — This is the master switch. Make sure this is turned ON for the on-call calendar to work.
### Backup Notification Timing
Set how long the system should wait before notifying the backup technician if the primary tech doesn't respond.
You will need to convert the number of minutes to seconds.
Default: 600 seconds = 10 minutes
### Notification Subscriptions
Choose which types of calls trigger notifications:
**For Technicians:**
* Emergency jobs (booked)
* Emergency jobs (unbooked)
* Regular jobs (booked)
* Regular jobs (unbooked)
* Non-service calls
**For Managers:**
* Emergency jobs (booked)
* Emergency jobs (unbooked)
* Regular jobs (booked)
* Regular jobs (unbooked)
* Non-service calls
Learn how to set up your Emergency Guidance and Booking windows!
[How to define what an emergency is in Avoca](/How-to-define-what-an-emergency-is-in-Avoca-2f0f2b56d4d580929428fce842c30cb9)
## Understanding Technician Assignment (ServiceTitan Users Only)
**Important:**
Your assignment mode is configured by your Avoca Customer Success Manager during setup. If you need to change your assignment mode, please reach out to them. The mode you're on affects how the on-call calendar assigns (or doesn't assign) jobs to technicians.
### Assignment Modes
**Emergency Only**
* Emergency jobs are assigned to the on-call technician based on the on-call calendar
* Non-emergency jobs are **not** automatically assigned
* *Best for:* Businesses that only want automatic assignment for after-hours emergencies
**Always (On-Call Calendar)**
* All jobs (emergency and non-emergency) are assigned based on who is on-call
* Ignores ServiceTitan capacity planning
* *Best for:* Businesses with simple on-call rotations who want all jobs assigned to whoever is on-call
* *Note:* Can result in overbooking since the on-call calendar doesn't check capacity
**ServiceTitan Non-Emergency**
* Emergency jobs are assigned based on the on-call calendar
* Non-emergency jobs are assigned using ServiceTitan's capacity planning (finds available techs)
* *Best for:* Businesses that want on-call assignment for emergencies but smart capacity-based assignment for regular jobs
**ServiceTitan ACP for All Calls**
* All jobs are assigned using ServiceTitan's capacity planning only
* The on-call calendar is used for notifications but **not** for job assignments
* *Best for:* Businesses that want all assignments based on capacity and availability
**Never**
* No automatic technician assignment
* All jobs must be manually assigned by your team
* *Best for:* Businesses that prefer complete manual control over assignments
## Managing Your Team
### Editing Contact Information
Go to **Employee Contacts**
Click the pencil icon next to any team member
Update their information
Click **Save**
### Deactivating Team Members
When someone leaves or is temporarily off the on-call rotation:
Edit their profile
Uncheck **Active**
Save
They'll move to the **Inactive** section and can be reactivated anytime by editing them again.
## Viewing Broadcasted Messages
The **Broadcasted Messages** tab shows you a history of all on-call notifications Avoca has sent, including:
* Which call triggered the notification
* Who was notified
* How they were notified (text, call, email)
* Which department was selected and why
* Timestamp of the notification
This is useful for troubleshooting missed notifications or reviewing your on-call activity.
## Frequently asked questions
**For Technicians:** They're notified based on **appointment time**. If the appointment is scheduled outside their on-call shift, they won't be notified even if the call came in during their shift.
**For Managers:** They're notified based on **call time**. If the call came in outside their shift, they won't be notified.
Not currently—all managers follow the same notification subscription settings configured in the Configuration tab.
No, currently the job will remain assigned to the original on-call tech.
The AI analyzes the call content (customer's description of the issue) and matches it to your pre-defined departments. For example, if a customer mentions a clogged drain, it will route to your Drains department rather than general Plumbing.
**There is no direct toggle** to disable phone calls in the Employee Contacts tab. However, you can use this workaround: Set team members as **Managers** instead of **Technicians** on the schedule. Managers receive text-only notifications (no phone calls), while Technicians and Backups receive both text and phone call notifications. **Important limitation:** Managers cannot be assigned to jobs in ServiceTitan.
No, on-call technicians are NOT notified for rescheduled appointments, only for new bookings.
Not currently. There's no option to notify on-call techs for cancelled or excused calls. This is a feature request in progress.
This is expected behavior. Technicians are notified based on **appointment time**, not when their shift starts.
Not currently. The Receive Email Notifications toggle sends emails for ALL calls 24/7, not just during on-call shifts.
Contact your Avoca CSM. This can be configured per team if needed.
Incorrect timezone settings can cause notifications to be sent at the wrong times or not at all. Check your timezone in **Settings** → **General Settings**. If you need to update it and have existing schedules, contact your CSM for help bulk-adjusting your shifts.
## Testing Your Setup
Before going live with your on-call calendar:
Set up at least one complete shift with a technician scheduled.
Call your Avoca number after hours to test.
Confirm the on-call technician receives the notification.
Check **Broadcasted Messages** to verify the notification was sent.