Skills, resource skills and skill requirements

A skill is a named competency, such as "Hindi", "Two-wheeler engine" or "AC gas charging", kept in one shared catalogue so that people and jobs can refer to the same thing. On its own a skill does nothing. It takes effect through two kinds of child records: a Resource Skill says that one person holds the skill at a level, and a Skill Line says that a work item needs the skill at a minimum level. Set up the catalogue first, then record who holds what. After that, the features that read skills (technician allocation on service orders, assignment rules, appointment booking and skill-based queues) can use them.

Overview

Skills are made of three records:

The features that read skills do not all read the same fields, so it matters which ones you fill in:

Nothing reads a skill's Description or Policy. They are notes for people.

When to use it

Use skills when the right person for a job depends on what they can do, not just on where they are:

• a workshop where only some technicians may work on certain jobs, such as engine overhauls or electrical work;
• a support team where some agents speak a language or know a product line;
• appointment types that need a qualified person, such as a demonstration that must be run by a certified trainer;
• certifications that expire, where an out-of-date certificate should stop counting.

If every person can do every job, you don't need skills. Allocation with no skill data offers everyone in scope.

How xMatix handles it

The catalogue is shared. Every Resource Skill and Skill Line points at a Skill record through its Skill field. Allocation and appointment booking compare records by that link (allocation) or by the linked skill's name (booking). So picking the skill from the list is what makes a resource skill count. Typing a similar name somewhere else does not.

Resource skills are numbered. A new Resource Skill gets an automatic name from the RS number series, for example RS-21102025-000014. The standard form has no Name box. This number is what appears on the technician cards' Holds chips. It is also the name a skill-based queue compares, so out of the box a skill-based queue never finds a match (see Common problems).

Levels are whole numbers. A higher number means more proficient. The scale is yours to define: 1–3, 1–5 or any other. A new resource skill starts at Proficiency Level 0. Allocation and skill-based queues need at least 1, so always set the level.

Requirements live on the work item. A Skill Line names a Work Item, the item on a service order line that represents the job. When you open Time Sheet on a service order, the allocation dialog reads the active Skill Lines of the order lines' work items. It then matches them against each technician's active, in-date resource skills:

• A Mandatory line is a gate. A technician without the skill at the level shows missing <skill> L<level> and can't be assigned to that line.
• A line with Mandatory cleared only ranks technicians. People who hold the skill sort higher, but nobody is hidden.
• Several lines for the same skill on one work item combine into the strictest one: the highest minimum level, and mandatory if any of them is.
• A work item with no Skill Lines has no requirement. The dialog says no skill required, and when none of the lines has a requirement it shows the banner No skill requirements configured on these work items — every technician in scope is offered, ranked by load and availability.

Nothing is enforced on save. You can save a time sheet line, a case or an appointment for anyone. The skill checks only decide who is offered or chosen automatically, and in the allocation dialog who can be picked.

Learning can grant skills. If your organization uses the learning features (added by a platform update), a course version or learning path can carry a Skill Granted and Skill Level. When an award is issued, xMatix adds a Resource Skill for the learner. It is linked to that skill and level, starts on the issue date, ends on the award's expiry date and is active. The award's Skill Evidence field links to it. If the award is revoked, the resource skill is made inactive and its end date is set to the revocation date. The row is kept as history. Allocation and assignment rules stop counting an expired or revoked skill. Skill-based queues and appointment booking do not check dates, so an expired skill still counts there until the row is made inactive (booking) or deleted (queues).

Prerequisites

• The people who hold skills exist as Resource records (see Resources).
• The jobs that need skills exist as items used on service order lines (see Items).
• You can open Support → Settings. In the standard security profiles only System Administrators can open it.

Procedure

Step 1 — Create a skill

1. Open the Support app and choose Settings, then Skills.
2. Choose New.
3. Enter the Name that people will recognise, for example AC gas charging. Keep it short and spelt exactly as you will use it elsewhere: assignment rules and appointment types refer to skills by this name.
4. Optionally fill in Policy (up to 100 characters) and Description, for example how the skill is assessed. They are for reference only.
5. Save. The skill opens on its record page, with a Related tab and a Details tab.

A skill keeps the name you type. Skill numbering exists but is switched off as shipped.

Step 2 — Record who holds the skill

You can add resource skills from the skill or from the Resource Skills list.

From the skill:

1. Open the skill and go to the Related tab.
2. In the Resource Skills list, choose New. The Skill is already filled in.
3. Pick the Resource: the person who holds the skill. This field is required.
4. Enter the Proficiency Level, 1 or higher. It starts at 0, and 0 counts for nothing in allocation or queue routing.
5. Tick Active.
6. Save. The row gets an RS number as its name.

From the list: open Support → Settings → Resource Skills, choose New, and fill in Resource, Skill, Proficiency Level and Active in the same way. Pick the Skill from the list. A resource skill with no Skill counts only for assignment rules, and only if an administrator has given it a name.

Step 3 — Set a validity window (optional)

For a certificate or licence that expires:

1. Open the resource skill (choose its name in either list).
2. On the record page, open the Validity Period section and edit Start Date and End Date in place.

From the start date until the end date, allocation and assignment rules count the skill. Before or after that, they ignore it. The row stays active and visible. Queue routing and appointment booking don't read these dates. To stop a skill counting everywhere, clear Active (booking, allocation and assignment rules), or delete the row (queues).

Step 4 — Say which jobs need the skill

1. Open the skill and go to the Related tab.
2. In the Skill Lines list, choose New. The Skill is already filled in.
3. Enter a Name for the requirement, usually the skill's own name, for example AC gas charging. The allocation dialog shows this text followed by the level (AC gas charging L2), so don't add the level to the name.
4. Pick the Work Item: the item that represents the job on service order lines.
5. Enter the Minimum Proficiency Level. Blank counts as 1. Don't enter 0: a minimum of 0 is met even by technicians who don't hold the skill at all.
6. Leave Mandatory ticked to make the skill a must-have, or clear it to make it a preference that only ranks technicians.
7. Leave Active ticked. Clear it later to switch the requirement off without deleting it.
8. Save.

Add one Skill Line for each skill the job needs. A work item can need several skills, and the technician must meet every mandatory one.

Step 5 — See skills at work when allocating a service order

1. Open a service order and choose Time Sheet in the header.
2. In the Time Sheet Allocation dialog, select a line. Each requirement shows as a chip, <skill> L<level>.
3. Each technician card shows can work or the reason they can't, for example missing AC gas charging L2. Can work N of M says how many of the pending lines they qualify for. The Holds panel lists their in-date skills as <name> L<level> chips, or no skills recorded.
4. Use the All / Skilled filter to show everyone in scope, or only those who hold the required skills.
5. Assign a qualified technician and save, as described in Service time sheets.

The mobile app's Assign technician sheet shows the same information.

Step 6 — Change or retire a skill

• Change a level or dates: open the resource skill and edit the field in place. Changes count from the next time a feature reads it.
• Someone loses a skill: clear Active on their resource skill. That stops it counting for allocation, assignment rules and booking. Delete the row if you also use skill-based queues.
• Rename a skill: use Edit on the skill. Allocation follows the link, so it is unaffected. Assignment rules and appointment types that name the skill must be updated to the new name.
• Delete a skill: deleting it does not delete the resource skills or Skill Lines that point at it. Clear their Active flags, or delete them, first.

Fields

Skill

Resource Skill

Skill Line

Business rules

• A resource skill counts for Time Sheet allocation only when it is Active, today is between its Start Date and End Date (blank means open-ended), its Skill is the required skill, and its level is at least the required minimum. If a person has the same skill twice, the higher level counts.
• A blank Proficiency Level counts as 1 in the allocation dialog but fails a skill-based queue. A level of 0 fails both.
• Assignment rules need every listed skill. Names are compared ignoring capitals, against the resource skill's name or the linked skill's name. With no At proficiency set, any level counts. Validity dates are compared with today's date in UTC.
• Skill-based queues compare the requested skill with the resource skill's stored name only. When work is declined or transferred to another queue, the next offer is made without the skill filter. Inbound calls never carry a skill, so on a call a skill-based queue picks the least-loaded agent.
• A new resource skill is named from the RS series, and any name typed through an import or a customised form is replaced on save.
• There is no check against duplicate skills, duplicate resource skills or overlapping validity windows.

Example

A two-wheeler workshop wants only trained technicians on fuel-injection jobs.

1. The service manager creates the skill Fuel injection, with Description Completed the fuel-injection module and passed the bench test.
2. On its Related tab they add three resource skills: technician T-104 at level 3, T-117 at level 2 and T-122 at level 1. All are active, and T-122's has an End Date at the end of the month, when their provisional certificate lapses.
3. Still on the Related tab, they add a Skill Line named Fuel injection for the work item FI system diagnosis, with Minimum Proficiency Level 2 and Mandatory ticked.
4. A service order arrives with an FI system diagnosis line. In Time Sheet Allocation, the line shows the chip Fuel injection L2. T-104 and T-117 show can work. T-122 shows missing Fuel injection L2. With Skilled selected, only T-104 and T-117 are listed.
5. The manager assigns T-117 and saves the time sheet.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox:

1. Create a skill called Practice skill.
2. Add a resource skill for yourself (or a test resource) at Proficiency Level 2, with Active ticked.
3. Add a Skill Line for a labour item used on service orders, with Minimum Proficiency Level 3 and Mandatory ticked.
4. Open Time Sheet on a service order that has a line for that item.

Expected result: your card shows missing Practice skill L3 for that line. Change your resource skill's level to 3 and reopen the dialog: your card now shows can work.

Quick reference

• Catalogue: Support → Settings → Skills. People: Resource Skills. Jobs: the skill's Related tab → Skill Lines.
• Always pick the Skill on a resource skill, and set Proficiency Level to 1 or more.
• Tick Active. Use Start Date / End Date for certificates that expire.
• Mandatory Skill Lines block; non-mandatory ones only rank.
• No Skill Lines on a work item means everyone in scope is offered.
• Policy and Description are notes only.
• Skill-based queues match the resource skill's stored name, which is an RS number out of the box.

Permissions

Resource skills are owned records. Without a profile grant, other users can only view a resource skill; the standard profiles listed above grant full access to everyone's.

Configuration

• Skill numbering: Setup → Feature Hub → Platform → Document Settings. Resource Skills Name Setting (series RS) is active as shipped and names every new resource skill. Skill Name Setting (SK) and Skill Line Name Setting (SKL) are inactive, so skills and Skill Lines keep their typed names. If you activate SK or SKL, typed names are replaced by numbers. That would break assignment rules and appointment types that name the skill, and make allocation chips unreadable.
• Using skill-based queues: queues compare the resource skill's own name. To use them, deactivate Resource Skills Name Setting, add Name to the Resource Skill create form (see Design a form layout), and give each resource skill the exact text your routing rules request. Existing rows keep their RS names until you rename them.
• Queue routing model and required skill: set a queue's Routing model to Skill-based (see Skills, capacity and work routing). A business rule's Route to queue directive has a Required skill box. Inbound telephony routes have no skill setting.
• Assignment rules: Setup → Process Studio → Assignment rules. With Candidates set to a pool of resources, use Must hold every one of these skills (skill names, separated by commas) and At proficiency (0–100).
• Appointment types: the resource requirements of an appointment type can name a skill for a person requirement (see Field service configuration). The skill name is not validated, so check its spelling against the catalogue.
• Forms: the Resource Skill create form holds Resource, Skill, Proficiency Level and Active; Start Date and End Date are on the record page only. Resources have no Skills tab out of the box. To see a person's skills on their record, add a Resource Skills related list to the Resource record page.

Common problems

A qualified technician shows "missing <skill>" in the allocation dialog

Open their resource skill and check four things:

• Skill is the same catalogue skill the Skill Line asks for, not a look-alike.
• Active is ticked.
• Today is between Start Date and End Date.
• Proficiency Level is at least the line's minimum.

A level left at 0 is the most common cause.

The Holds chips show numbers like RS-21102025-000014 instead of skill names

The chips show the resource skill's own name, which comes from the RS number series. The matching still works, because it uses the linked skill. To show readable names, deactivate Resource Skills Name Setting and give the rows names. See Configuration.

Work on a skill-based queue always stays Pending

The queue compares the requested skill with each resource skill's stored name, and out of the box that name is an RS number. Rename the resource skills and stop the numbering as described in Configuration. Also check that Proficiency Level is at least 1. If that is not possible yet, use a different routing model.

An assignment rule with a skill never picks anyone

Every skill in Must hold every one of these skills must be held: active, in date and at or above At proficiency. Check the spelling against the skill's Name. Capitals don't matter, but spaces and spelling do.

Everyone is offered for a job that should need a skill

The work item on that service order line has no active Skill Line. Add one on the skill's Related tab, naming that exact work item. Also check that the line's Skill is filled in, because a Skill Line with no skill is ignored.

An expired certificate still gets someone booked or routed

Appointment booking and skill-based queues don't read the dates. Clear Active on the resource skill to stop booking. Delete the row to stop queue routing.

Common questions

Do I need the Skill record, or can I just type skill names on people?

Use the Skill record. Allocation matches through the Skill link, and appointment booking compares the linked skill's name. A resource skill with no Skill counts for neither. Only assignment rules and skill-based queues can match on a resource skill's own name, and out of the box that name is an automatic RS number. Keeping one catalogue also stops spelling variations, such as "AC Gas Charging" and "AC gas-charging", from splitting one skill into two.

What scale should I use for Proficiency Level?

Any whole-number scale your team agrees on: for example 1 = trained, 2 = independent, 3 = can train others. Only the comparison matters. A Skill Line's minimum, or an assignment rule's At proficiency, is met when the person's level is the same or higher. Avoid 0: a resource skill starts at 0, and 0 fails allocation and queue checks. Write your scale in the skill's Description so that everyone grades consistently.

Does assigning an unqualified technician get refused?

Not on save. The allocation dialog won't let you assign a technician who misses a mandatory skill, but a time sheet line, case or appointment saved another way, for example by import or by editing the technician on a saved line, is not checked. Skills guide the choice; they don't lock records.

What does the Policy field do?

Nothing automatic. It is a short free-text note, up to 100 characters, kept with the skill, for example "re-assess yearly". No routing, assignment, booking or allocation feature reads it.

Related topics

• Skills, capacity and work routing
• Service time sheets
• Field service configuration
• Resources
• Resource groups
• Skill — entity reference
• Resource Skill — entity reference
• Resource — entity reference