Calculating activity due dates

A target date (or due date) suggests the date to complete an activity. Settings in the New Activity Pattern editor determine how PolicyCenter calculates the due date for an activity. PolicyCenter can calculate a target due date in hours or days. PolicyCenter calculates due dates using the following pieces of information:

• How much time? How much time to take or how many hours or days to allow to complete the activity. You specify this using the Target days or Target hours value.
• What is the starting point? What point in time does PolicyCenter use as the start point in calculating the target date? You specify this using the Target start point field.
• What days to count? PolicyCenter can count calendar days or only business days. You specify this with the Target Include Days field.

PolicyCenter reports deadlines only at the level of days. For example, if something is due on June 1 of a particular year, it becomes overdue on June 2 of that year, not some time in the middle of the day on June 1. PolicyCenter does track activity creation dates and marks completion at the level of seconds so that you can calculate average completion times at a more granular level.

If you do not specify Target Days or Target Hours as you define an Activity Pattern Detail, PolicyCenter uses 0 for both. A target date is optional for activities.

The maximum number of hours that you can specify is 23, and the maximum number of days that you can specify is 1825. Any value greater than the maximum is automatically limited to the maximum.

While the target date can indicate a service-level target (for example, complete within five business days), there can possibly be some later deadline after which the work becomes dangerously late. (This can be, for example, a 30 day state deadline.) PolicyCenter calls this later deadline an escalation date.

The escalation date is the date at which activity requires urgent attention. While work is shown as overdue after the target date, PolicyCenter does not actually escalate (take action on) an activity until the escalation date passes. Within Studio, you can define a set of rules that define what actions take place if an activity reaches its escalation date. For example, it could be company policy to inform a supervisor if an activity passes an escalation date. You might also want to reassign the activity.

PolicyCenter calculates the escalation date using the methodology it uses for target dates. You can specify escalation timing in days and hours. If you do not specify Escalation Days or Escalation Hours as you define an activity pattern, PolicyCenter uses 0 (zero) for both. An escalation date, like a target date, is optional for activities.

The maximum number of hours that you can specify is 23, and the maximum number of days that you can specify is 1825. Any value greater than the maximum is automatically limited to the maximum.