Field Service in Odoo 20: everything is now in Planning

For companies with technicians, installers or service engineers, the Field Service app was a familiar part of Odoo. In Odoo 20, Odoo takes a different approach: planning on-site work is merged into the Planning app. That sounds like a technical shift, but it affects the daily work of planners and technicians. In this article you can read what changes, which new possibilities are added and what you need to arrange if you currently use Field Service. All other new features of this version can be found in Odoo 20: the most important new features for SMEs.

Why Field Service is merged into Planning

In earlier versions you planned service visits in Field Service and employee schedules in Planning. So two places, which did not always know what was happening in the other. In Odoo 20 that comes together. The planner sees in one overview who is available, where the customer is, how long the journey takes and which job has priority. That prevents double bookings and makes it easier to shift things at the last minute.

1. Live map of technicians

In Odoo 20, Planning has a live map showing where your technicians are. There is also a map view that shows who is available at what time. When a customer calls with an urgent job, the planner immediately sees who is nearby and has time.

2. Routing and automatic planning

In Odoo 20 the auto-plan feature takes the customer's location into account. So Odoo distributes the work not only based on availability, but also based on distance. You choose between two routing modes:

• Ordered: the visits are carried out in the order you determine yourself.
• Optimised: Odoo itself looks for an efficient order of the visits.

You can also give shifts a priority, link several resources to one shift and schedule shifts by drag and drop from a side panel.

3. Travel times and travel costs

In Odoo 20, travel times become visible in the Gantt view of Planning, calculated via Mapbox. The planner sees not only how long a job takes, but also how much time is needed between two jobs. A day that looks full on paper sometimes turns out to be unfeasible, or to have room after all.

Travel costs are built in as well. You choose a fixed amount or a cost per distance. That helps with correctly charging call-out costs to the customer.

4. Customer equipment and maintenance contracts

For maintenance companies this may be the most important innovation. In Odoo 20 you record a customer's equipment, including the maintenance contract that belongs to it. Per device you see the intervention history: when something was done and what. When a technician visits a customer, he knows in advance which installation is there and what was done to it before.

5. Worksheets

Worksheets remain, but they are more flexible. You create worksheet templates with property fields, so you have the right questions and fields for each type of job. You can also link those templates to shift templates. When you schedule a certain type of shift, the right worksheet is ready straight away.

Want extra information on the field service report for the customer? Fields you add with Studio can now also be shown on that report.

6. Customer ratings after the visit

After a visit, the customer can leave a rating. That gives you insight into satisfaction per technician and per type of job, without separate surveys. Use that feedback to spot recurring problems early.

7. Service requests via the website

In Odoo 20, customers can submit a service request through a form on your website. The request then lands directly in Odoo, so the planner can pick it up. That saves retyping emails and phone calls, and less gets lost.

8. Schedule via WhatsApp and more

In Odoo 20, technicians can receive their schedule via WhatsApp. When the planning is published, a confirmation email is also sent. There are also a few practical improvements for field staff:

• Linking shifts to tasks: a shift in Planning belongs to the task the work is for.
• Material per employee: Odoo handles the material per employee automatically.
• Barcode scanning: you scan products with a barcode.
• Working offline: Odoo 20 has an offline mode, useful for technicians in places without good coverage. Changes are synchronised as soon as there is a connection again.

What does this mean for installation and service companies?

For installers, maintenance companies and service companies, planning in Odoo 20 becomes more complete. Everything related to on-site work is in one app: who goes, when, how long the journey takes, which equipment is there and which worksheet belongs to it. Do you combine service work with projects? Then in Odoo 20 you can also make a printable planning from the Gantt view, and assign tasks to portal users. How we set up project-based work in Odoo is described under project-based work.

What to arrange during the upgrade if you currently use Field Service

If you currently use the Field Service app, the upgrade to Odoo 20 changes something in the way you work. Prepare it well:

1. Test on a copy first. Check how your existing interventions, worksheets and templates look in Planning after the upgrade.
2. Review your customisations. Customisations to Field Service, custom fields and Studio changes on the report almost always need to be checked.
3. Check integrations. Do you use integrations through the external API? In Odoo 20 the "db" service of the old XML-RPC/JSON-RPC API has been removed. So have integrations tested.
4. Set up the new features. Think of customer equipment, maintenance contracts, travel costs and the website form. They only work once they have been set up.
5. Bring planners and technicians along. The planning board looks different. Schedule a short training before you go live.

Our full step-by-step plan for an upgrade is in Upgrading Odoo to the latest version.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Field Service app still exist in Odoo 20?

No, not as a separate app. In Odoo 20 the Field Service features are in the Planning app, such as the live map of technicians, routing, travel times, travel costs, customer equipment and worksheets.

Can Odoo 20 plan routes for technicians?

Yes. Auto-plan takes the customer's location into account, and you choose between an ordered or an optimised route. You see travel times in the Gantt view.

Can customers submit a service request themselves?

Yes. In Odoo 20 customers can submit a service request through a form on your website. After the visit they can also leave a rating.

What do I need to arrange if I currently use Field Service?

Test the upgrade on a copy first, check your worksheets and customisations, have integrations tested and train planners and technicians on the new way of working in Planning.

In conclusion

Odoo 20 makes planning on-site work clearer, but the move from Field Service to Planning requires preparation. Want to know what this means for your company, or have your upgrade planned? At DAADit, AI builds and a consultant checks, at a fixed price of €1,000 per app. Contact DAADit Group or take the free Business Scan.