Important: Access to the Callout feature requires a product code. Customers without a product code cannot use this feature.
A Callout is a process by which planners send offers for Open shifts to healthcare professionals. Callouts are manual or automated.
You can send a Callout to healthcare professionals in a defined sequence and in accordance with the healthcare professionals’ collective agreement.
Healthcare professionals respond to a Callout by accepting or declining the shift. Callout responses are updated in real time and appear in the Petal application.
You can complete a Callout after assigning at least one healthcare professional to the shift.
Manual Callouts versus Automated Callouts
You can launch Callouts manually or you can use automation. Each method differs in how you contact healthcare professionals and record responses.
Comparison of Callout methods
| Action | Automated Callout | Manual Callout |
| Choose the Callout method | In the Callout profile, you select an automated Callout profile. | In the Callout profile, you select a manual Callout profile. |
| Contact healthcare professionals | The Petal application sends notifications by email or text message, or both. | You call healthcare professionals directly. |
| Collect and record responses | Healthcare professionals respond by text message or by using the link in the email. Responses are recorded automatically. The planner can still enter or edit responses manually. | You collect responses by telephone. You record responses manually. |
| Complete the Callout | You complete the Callout. You can complete the Callout even if the minimum number of resources is not reached. | You complete the Callout. You can complete the Callout even if the minimum number of resources is not reached. |
Automated Callouts (text message)
For automated Callouts sent by text message, healthcare professionals receive a text message with shift details, such as the shift name, date, and time. They can reply Yes or No to the Callout.
To receive text messages, healthcare professionals must:
- Have at least one valid mobile phone number in their Petal profile. (They can do this by selecting Mobile in Number type.) If multiple mobile type numbers exist, the Petal application only uses the first number for Callouts.
Note: Planners cannot add or update phone numbers for healthcare professionals. To check whether a healthcare professional has a valid mobile number, planners can open the Track Callout Progress window.
Responses
Healthcare professionals are not automatically assigned to a shift when they reply Yes. As the planner, you must complete the Callout to confirm assignments.
When the required number of healthcare professionals is reached, the automation stops. For example, if two resources are required, the automation stops as soon as two healthcare professionals accept the offer. Healthcare professionals further down the Callout list do not receive the Callout.
Callout completion
When you complete the Callout, healthcare professionals who accept the Callout are assigned to the shift. They receive a confirmation either by email or by text message.
You can complete the Callout after assigning at least one healthcare professional to the shift. The minimum required number of resources is not enforced. For example, if the minimum is two, you can still complete the Callout with only one assigned healthcare professional.
Callout configuration
Before sending a Callout, complete the following configuration:
- Seniority list: Add healthcare professionals to the Seniority list. Only healthcare professionals who are on the Seniority list can receive Callouts.
Note: To add healthcare professionals to the seniority list, first configure their seniority status in Members and Teams (in the Access tab). - Seniority sequence: Set the seniority sequence to ensure that the Petal application sends Callouts in your preferred order.
- Callout profile: Create a Callout profile. A Callout profile is a collection of saved Callout settings that you can reuse.
Callout requirements
To receive a Callout, there are several conditions.
- Availability: The healthcare professional must be available to work. A healthcare professional who is absent cannot receive a Callout.
Note: A healthcare professional who uses an absence category with the Preference type can still receive a Callout. - Scheduling conflict: The healthcare professional cannot accept an Open shift in the Callout process if the healthcare professional already has a scheduled shift at the same time as the Open shift.
- Seniority list membership: The healthcare professional must be on the Seniority list.
- Scheduling period: The healthcare professional must be in a scheduling period.
- Scheduling dates: The healthcare professional can accept a Callout that occurs on or after his or her scheduling start date and before or on his or her scheduling end date.
- Shift configuration: Open shifts with the Assignable by member setting turned on are not eligible for the Callout process. Deactivate the Assignable by member setting for the Open shift.
Reporting
You can generate a Callout report to review the Callout details. You can download the report in Excel format.
If you cancel a Callout and then relaunch it, the Callout report shows the details of the most recent Callout only, not the full history of the canceled Callout.