We're pleased to announce a significant enhancement to the Already Assigned at that Time assigning rule in Ref Insight. This improvement now accounts for drive time between venues for same-day assignments, making scheduling more realistic and efficient.

What's New

The Already Assigned at that Time assigning rule has been enhanced to consider travel time between assignment locations. If a proposed assignment does not allow sufficient time for an official to travel between venues, the system will now mark the official as unavailable and provide specific details in the rule violation area.

Benefits

This enhancement prevents scheduling conflicts where officials might technically be available based on game times alone, but would struggle to arrive on time due to travel distances between venues. The improvement creates more realistic scheduling that accounts for the practical challenges officials face with multiple same-day assignments.

Important Notes for Assignors

1. Same Day Assignment (SDA) Column
   Use the SDA column to quickly identify officials who have other assignments on the same day, including those from other assignors.

2. Drive Time Calculation
   When calculating drive time between locations for the first time, the system may need a few seconds to process. During this calculation, the system will display a distance of 9999 (meaning "unknown") and assume an estimated drive time of 120 minutes. Simply refresh the page after a few seconds to see the accurate drive time calculation.

3. Match Length Settings
   Be sure to include the total match length for all matches in your schedules. If left blank, the system will default to assuming a 90-minute total match length, which could affect whether the system determines there is sufficient time between assignments.

This enhancement brings greater precision to the assignment process and helps ensure officials can fulfill their responsibilities without unrealistic time pressures.

Learn More

For a detailed walkthrough of this feature, please visit our tutorial: Already Assigned at that Time: Account for Drive Time Between Two Sites

Thank you to the assignors who suggested this enhancement! We appreciate your feedback and hope this enhancement will benefit both assignors and officials.

Happy assigning!

The Ref Insight Team