The system builds schedules from foundation data
Caire does not create a schedule from an empty calendar. First it needs to know which operation is being planned, which service area is the planning boundary, which employees can work, and which clients need visits.
The service area ties the team together: the same area contains clients, employees, shifts, districts, and the visits that should be planned for a period.
Add data in this order
Start broad and then move toward visits. That lets Caire create a first schedule without forcing you to complete every optimization field up front.
- Organization: name, office, and core settings for staff, optimization, services, time slots, and skills.
- Service area: the operational unit to schedule, with local address and optional districts.
- Employees: active people, service area, roles, shifts or capacity, skills, and availability.
- Clients: active clients in the service area with address, care plan, and any continuity preferences.
- Visits: visit templates from the care plan with service, duration, frequency, time windows, priority, groups, and dependencies.
- Schedule: choose service area and period so Caire materializes dated visits and attaches the right employees.
Continue onboardingOpen Data control and follow the next blocking step.Add service areaCreate the planning boundary for the team.Create scheduleStart the first schedule when foundation data is ready.
What is required for the first schedule
The first schedule mainly needs active demand and active capacity: at least one service area, active employees, active clients, and visit templates that can become dated visits.
Once the schedule exists, Caire can run a first solution. That solution is then used to show which data is missing, which bottlenecks exist, and what should improve before the next run.
| Resource | Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organization | Name | First schedule | Shows which operation the planning belongs to. | Headings, reports, and organization selection. |
| Organization | Office address | First schedule | Provides a first location when a service area or employee has no local address. | Route start, inherited location values, and data readiness. |
| Employee | First and last name | First schedule | Identifies the employee in lists and schedules. | Assignments, continuity, and reports. |
| Employee | Service area | First schedule | Connects the employee to the correct team. | Schedule selection and eligible capacity. |
| Employee | Shifts or capacity | First schedule | Shows when the employee can work. | First schedule and capacity diagnostics. |
| Client | Name and active status | First schedule | Shows which clients should be planned. | Schedule selection, lists, and reports. |
| Client | Service area | First schedule | Connects the client to the correct team. | Schedule creation and local diagnostics. |
| Client | Address and coordinates | First schedule | Defines where visits take place. | Routes, travel time, and geographic bottlenecks. |
| Visit template | Service or description | First schedule | Names the visit template and links it to a standard service when available. | Lists, calendar labels, import traceability, and defaults from the service catalog. |
| Visit template | Frequency and visit days | First schedule | States how often the template becomes concrete visits and which weekdays are fixed. | Materializing dated visits in a planning period. |
Resources in the chain
Every resource has a few foundation fields for the first schedule and several fields that can be added later when Caire starts showing metrics and bottlenecks.
Organization
The care provider in Caire. This holds core details and fallback contact/location context.
| Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | First schedule | Shows which operation the planning belongs to. | Headings, reports, and organization selection. |
| Office address | First schedule | Provides a first location when a service area or employee has no local address. | Route start, inherited location values, and data readiness. |
| Contact details | Better metrics | Keeps reports and support cases understandable. | Administration and customer communication. |
Operational settings
Defaults for staff, optimization, services, time slots, skills, and tags.
| Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff defaults | First schedule | Defines working days, shift templates, and capacity rules when local values are missing. | Shift supply and the first schedule. |
| Services | First schedule | Describes which visit types the operation performs. | Visit templates, default duration, priority, and colors. |
| Skills and tags | Better metrics | Separates normal visits from visits that require specific qualifications. | Eligibility, continuity, and explanations for unassigned visits. |
Service area
The planning boundary: the team, clients, employees, and period scheduled together.
| Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | First schedule | Makes the area selectable in schedules and resources. | Planning, filtering, and reports. |
| Address and coordinates | First schedule | Provides route start when employees have no explicit start point. | Routes, travel time, and data readiness. |
| Districts | Better metrics | Splits an area into local groups without creating separate schedules. | Local capacity, route fit, and continuity diagnostics. |
Employees and shifts
The supply side of planning: who can work, when they work, and which skills they have.
| Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| First and last name | First schedule | Identifies the employee in lists and schedules. | Assignments, continuity, and reports. |
| Service area | First schedule | Connects the employee to the correct team. | Schedule selection and eligible capacity. |
| Shifts or capacity | First schedule | Shows when the employee can work. | First schedule and capacity diagnostics. |
| Skills, district, and cost | Better metrics | Makes matching more precise after the first schedule. | Unassigned visits, continuity, travel, and cost. |
Clients
The people receiving care. The client's address and care plan create demand.
| Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name and active status | First schedule | Shows which clients should be planned. | Schedule selection, lists, and reports. |
| Service area | First schedule | Connects the client to the correct team. | Schedule creation and local diagnostics. |
| Address and coordinates | First schedule | Defines where visits take place. | Routes, travel time, and geographic bottlenecks. |
| Designated and preferred caregivers | Better metrics | Gives Caire a clear continuity signal. | Continuity metrics and improvement suggestions. |
Care plan and visit templates
Recurring visits that later become dated visits in a schedule.
| Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service or description | First schedule | Names the visit template and links it to a standard service when available. | Lists, calendar labels, import traceability, and defaults from the service catalog. |
| Frequency and visit days | First schedule | States how often the template becomes concrete visits and which weekdays are fixed. | Materializing dated visits in a planning period. |
| Plan time window | First schedule | States when the visit should normally happen. | First schedule and the client's planned time. |
| Extended allowed window | Better metrics | Adds flexibility without hiding the planned preferred time. | Route optimization and peak-hour relief. |
| Duration, priority, and mandatory | First schedule | Describes how long the task takes, how important it is, and whether it may be skipped. | Capacity calculation, risk level, unassigned visits, and prioritization under capacity pressure. |
| SLA and time note | Advanced | Sets the latest preferred completion time and preserves free text such as Morning or Afternoon. | Soft end-time guidance, import explanation, and planner interpretation of clock-time data. |
| Skills and preferences | Better metrics | Shows which skills and caregiver preferences apply to this specific task. | Staff matching, continuity, and explanations for unassigned visits. |
| Dependencies, visit chains, and double staffing | Advanced | Describes relationships between visits and whether multiple people should be with the client at the same time. | Before/after ordering, minimum gaps, same caregiver rules, and group visits. |
| Service type, visit type, and address | Advanced | Classifies the visit and states whether it should be planned at another address than the client's home. | Reporting, filtering, schedule display, and geo-routing. |
| Scenario lock, employee lock, and notes | Advanced | Protects sensitive rows from scenario changes, locks to a specific employee, or stores operational free text. | Contractually fixed visits, fixed relationships, import metadata, and audit trail. |
Schedule
The dated planning period for one service area.
| Field | Level | Why it matters | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service area | First schedule | Determines which team is planned. | Materialization, metrics, and access. |
| Period | First schedule | Determines which dates are created. | Visits, shifts, and solution comparison. |
| Planning profile | Better metrics | Chooses how Caire should prioritize the run. | Baseline, scenarios, and reruns. |