What is Ishtar.Shifts?
Ishtar.Shifts is an indispensable tool for organizations that need effortless shift planning, targeted adjustments and quick reactions to changes. With this application, you can see at a glance who will be on duty at what time and for what shift. With just the push of a button, you can easily request a change, making shift schedule management smooth and efficient.
How do I start Ishtar.Shifts ?
Ishtar.Shifts can be accessed via a tile in your organization's Ishtar.365 environment. If there is still no link to this application, contact your Ishtar.365 administrator.
Homepage
After starting the application, or by clicking the "home" button, you will be taken to the Ishtar.Shifts home page. This page provides a general overview of who is currently on duty and for which shift. If you want more information about a particular person, simply hover your mouse over that person to find all the contact information.
When a specific service is displayed with a red background color, it indicates that no one is currently available for that service.
Navigation
Through the menu on the left, you have an overview of some shortcuts to the different screens in the application. This can vary from user to user depending on his/her role and rights. The following button 
allows you to open and hide the menu. Clicking on a shortcut will immediately display the corresponding screen.
Permanent calendar
From the navigation menu, click the "Permanence calendar" button to view the overall schedule by shift in a calendar view. You can change the view at any time by selecting the desired view in the upper left corner of the calendar.
The displayed day/period (depending on the view selected) is indicated at the top of the calendar. To the left and right of this are arrows that you can use to navigate to a next or previous day/period.
If you are accessing the calendar on a mobile device, the navigation arrows may not be visible. In that case, you can simply swipe to a next or previous day/period with your finger.
It is also possible to navigate to another day/period via a date picker. Click on the displayed day/period between the arrows. This will open a calendar in which you can select the desired year, month and day. After selecting the desired day, the calendar will immediately display the schedule for that day/period.
The current day can be recognized by the blue background color. Should you have displayed a different period, you can switch back to the current day/period via the "Today" button.
At the top of the calendar, you also have the option to set a filter for specific services and/or persons, allowing you to get a more detailed overview. Both dropdowns allow you to select multiple services and people to add to the overview. If no filters are selected, all possible results will be displayed.
All shifts where an employee will already be present can be identified by the blue background color. When a specific shift is displayed with a red background color, it indicates that no one is available for that shift yet. This way, any gaps in the schedule, also known as blindspots, can be easily noticed by everyone. In addition to the blue and red background color, there is also an orange color to indicate that a replacement request for a particular service is pending.
Adding a new shift, you can do it in one of the following ways:
- In the permance calendar, you can click on the desired day
- Click on the desired starting block corresponding to the desired day and time
- Click on a red shift (blindspot)
A form is then displayed to add a new shift. The shift, start and end dates are already filled in automatically. After almost every adjustment, the system checks for any overlapping shifts. Make sure everything is filled in correctly before clicking "Save.
Only if you are an administrator or head of service of multiple services do you have the ability to change the selected service and employee.
It is not possible to add, change or delete a shift if it is in the past. However, it is still possible to change a particular shift if it has already started. In this way it is possible to respond to changing circumstances and the application can always be kept up-to-date.
A shift to which someone has yet to be assigned or which has already been scheduled can still be split if desired. Select the desired shift and move the start or end time. After saving, you will notice that next to the added shift another red shift is displayed for the remaining unscheduled part of the original shift.
To change an existing shift, right-click on the desired shift and then click "Edit Waiting Shift" (if available). You can only edit your own guard shifts, unless you have the role of shift head or administrator. After selecting the desired shift, all information will be displayed in the form. Make the desired changes and save your changes via the "Save" button.
While adding or changing a particular shift, you can add one or more backup persons if you wish. You add an additional line each time by clicking on the "+" button, then you can select the desired backup person.
To copy an existing shift, right-click on the desired shift and then "Copy Waiting Shift" (if available). Make the desired changes and save your changes via the 'Save' button.
It is also possible to add a recurring shift. To do this, click right, on the desired starting block or blindspot and then click "Add Recurrence." A similar form will then be displayed as for adding a new shift. Although here you can define until when and at what times, the shift will be repeated. For example, you can assign the shift on every Monday to yourself or a colleague within your shift (depending on your role). Be sure to specify until when you want the repeating shift to continue. Once you have determined the desired settings, click the "Validate" button to have the system run a check. Only after no errors or overlaps are detected can you save the repeating shift.
If you wish to delete an existing shift, right-click on the desired shift and then click "Delete Waiting Shift" (if available). You can do this only as an administrator or as a shift head for all colleagues within your shift(s). On the other hand, you must request a replacement under "My Waiting Shifts". To delete a shift completely, you will still be asked for confirmation. If you are sure you want to continue with this action click the "Delete" button, otherwise you can cancel the action via the "Cancel" button.
When you delete a recurring wait service, all future wait services are automatically deleted. For example, if there is a recurring standby service on every 1st Monday of 2024, and you delete it in June, all future standby services will be deleted starting in April.
My duties
Click on "My Duties" in the navigation menu to get an overview of all future shifts in which you are on duty. In this overview, if you wish, you can add a comment for each shift via the following button 
. Then enter your comment or notice and click on the "Add" button. When you do this, it will be visible to everyone on the home page during the execution of that shift. For each shift where you have already added a comment, the above button will be displayed as follows 
, to clearly indicate which shifts you have added a comment to. This button allows you to review the comment you added for a particular shift and change it if necessary.
Next to the comment button you will find the following button 
to request a replacement. This functionality allows colleagues to take over a shift from each other (in whole or in part). In a pop-up, adjust the start or end time for the period in which you cannot be available and for which you wish to request a replacement. Confirm this with the "Save" button.
After a person wishes to switch or split and makes a request for this, all other colleagues in the same department receive a notification. From this notification, one can open the request directly or via the "Waiting Changes Department" button. In addition to this button, one can always see how many pending requests there are. A colleague within your department who has the ability to take over the shift according to the request can then take over the shift via the following button 
, after which another notification is sent to the department head and the requester.
Contacts
Via "Contacts" in the navigation menu you can find the contact information of all employees of the various services.
You can change the display of the overview to suit your needs. Select which columns you want to display via the following button 
and change the order by dragging them to the desired position. In addition, you can sort the overview by clicking on the column title: the first click sorts from A-Z (or 0-9 in the case of numbers), the second click in reverse order, and the third click disables the sorting.
You can start filtering the overview of all contacts based on 1 or more search terms. You start on the left side by selecting the desired criteria. In addition, enter the desired search term. To activate the filter, press "Enter" or click on the search button 
. If desired, you can add additional filters. Please note that the results in the overview depend on all your added filters together. To remove an active filter, click the button next to the desired filter. To remove all active filters in one click, click the following button 
. After all filters are removed, all contacts are displayed again.
If your administrator has made certain parameters adjustable, when you open your own data you will see a button to adjust them. Click the "Edit" button and a list of all the data you can change will be displayed. Make the desired changes and save your changes via the "Save" button.
Absence calendar
From the navigation menu, click the "Absence calendar" button to view absence records in a calendar view. A block will be visible each time for each employee for the period in which they will be unavailable.
This separate module requires an additional license in Ishtar.Shifts and will only be accessible if your organization has purchased these licenses.
As with the permanence calendar, you can customize the desired view. More information on all other calendar functionalities, such as navigation and filtering, is explained in the "Permanence Calendar" section.
To add a new absence, please click on the desired day in the calendar view or on the desired start block corresponding to the desired day and time. A form is then displayed to add a new absence. Select the correct absence type, correct the start and end time if necessary. Once all completed information has been entered correctly, confirm the absence by clicking the "Save" button.
Only as an administrator or department head do you have the ability to edit past absences.
Only if you are an administrator or department head do you have the ability to manage absences for other employees.
To edit an existing absence, right-click on the desired absence and then click "Edit Absence" (if available). You can only edit your own absences, unless you have the role of department head or administrator. After selecting the desired absence, all information will be displayed in the form. Make the desired changes and save your changes via the "Save" button.
If you wish to delete an existing absence, right click on the desired absence and then click on "Delete Absence" (if available). After this, you will be asked for another confirmation. If you are sure you want to continue with this action, click the "Delete" button, otherwise you can cancel the action by clicking the "Cancel" button.
My absences
From the navigation menu, click on "My Absences" to get an overview of all your absence records.
To change an existing absence, click the following button 
next to the desired absence. After this, all information will be displayed in the form. Make the desired changes and save your changes via the "Save" button.
If you wish to delete an existing absence, right click on the following button 
next to the desired absence. After this, you will be asked for another confirmation. If you are sure you want to continue with this action, click the "Delete" button, otherwise you can cancel the action by clicking the "Cancel" button.