Companies that send technicians to their customers keep asking us the same four questions about Odoo. Can we see our appointments on a map? Is there a smart way to plan visits and share them across the team? How do the parts a technician uses come out of stock? And how can AI help? This guide answers each one with screenshots from Odoo 20, the version Odoo released in September 2026.
For the screenshots we set up an Odoo 20 database for a made-up air-conditioning service company in Dubai, with four technicians, three vans and a normal day of visits. The customers and people are invented. Everything you see is standard Odoo 20, set up through its settings, with no custom code.
First, a change in Odoo 20
Up to Odoo 19, field service had its own app and each visit was a task in a project. In Odoo 20, Odoo moved it into the Planning app. Its release notes say: "The Field Service app has been discontinued. Its features are now integrated into the Planning app." A visit is now a shift in Planning, with a customer, an address, a worksheet and the parts used.
If you're on Odoo 17, 18 or 19, you already have most of what follows in a similar form, with tasks instead of shifts. If you plan to upgrade, your visits, worksheets and any reports or custom fields built on field service tasks have to move to the new model, so review them before you switch. Our Odoo 20 upgrade guide covers the rest of the release.
Can we see our appointments on a map?
Yes, at two levels. The dispatcher sees the whole team, and each technician sees their own day on their phone.
The Timeline screen in Planning shows today's visits on a map, with one pin color per technician and the day's schedule underneath. Visits nobody has taken yet are listed under Open Shifts. Once Odoo is connected to Mapbox, it draws each technician's route through the day and adds up the distance and driving time. In our example, Karim's four visits add up to 71.9 km and 1 hour 27 minutes on the road.
Mapbox is the map service Odoo uses for routes. Odoo shows the map and the pins without it, but routes and travel times need a Mapbox token, which you paste into the Planning settings. Odoo's settings link to Mapbox's sign-up page for a free token; check Mapbox's pricing if your team will open the maps all day.
On the phone, the technician opens My Map and sees today's stops and where they are. Each visit has a button that opens directions in Google Maps, and the customer's phone number is one tap away.
Where are the technicians right now?
Odoo 20 adds a Live Map of technicians at work. With the Geolocation setting on, Odoo tracks technicians' locations during work hours and records where they are when they start and complete a visit. That position goes into the visit's history with a "View on Map" link, so you can check later that the work was done at the customer's address. The Live Map itself states that location is recorded only after sign-in and with the technician's permission. Agree with your team on what's recorded and why before you turn it on, as you would with any location data.
Is there a smart way to plan visits and assign them?
Visits reach the schedule from several places: a confirmed sale order for a service, a helpdesk ticket, a request the office types in, or a form on your website (a setting in Odoo 20). They all land in one schedule with a row per technician and a row of open visits at the top.
The dispatcher drags visits between technicians and days. With Mapbox connected, the lighter band before and after each visit is the drive to it and away from it. You can see at a glance whether Lina can really get from Dubai Silicon Oasis to Mirdif by 11.
Auto Plan
Auto Plan, in the Actions menu of the schedule, gives open visits to technicians who have the right role and free time. Mapbox improves it too, according to Odoo's settings, since the drive between visits is then known. In our test it gave Tuesday's thermostat call to Omar and placed it at 10:14, right after his 9:00 visit plus 14 minutes of driving. It gave Wednesday's blocked drain to Youssef, who had nothing booked that morning.
Auto Plan also moved both visits to new times. The thermostat call had been set for 2 pm and the drain for 10 am. That suits flexible jobs, but when a customer has booked a time, check what Auto Plan proposes before you publish, or press the Undo button it shows right after. New visits stay as drafts (the striped bars) until you publish them, and publishing can send the customer an email with the date and time of the visit.
Repeating work, such as quarterly maintenance, can be set to repeat in Planning. Odoo 20 also adds maintenance contracts through the Subscriptions app.
The shortest route
Odoo 20 can draw a day's route in two ways: in the order of the planned times, or in the shortest order between the addresses, worked out by Mapbox for up to 12 stops. The standard screens we tested draw the planned order. If your team plans each day by area and wants Odoo to suggest the order of the stops, a partner can set the map up that way.
How do the parts come out of stock?
Odoo 20 can treat each van as a small warehouse. Turn on Stock by Vehicle, create a warehouse for each van and assign it to the technicians who drive it. In our database, Van 1 belongs to Karim.
At the customer, the technician opens the visit, taps Products and adds what they used. The list shows how many of each part is in their own van. Karim had 12 air filters with him, while the main warehouse held 60. Adding parts creates a sale order for the visit automatically. When he completes the visit, Odoo validates the delivery from his van to the customer (VAN1/OUT/00001 in our test), takes the parts off the van's stock and marks the order as ready to invoice, with the parts and the time spent.
Odoo's release notes add two details. Technicians can add a product by scanning its barcode, and parts used on a visit marked Under Warranty aren't invoiced. Refilling the vans is a normal transfer from the main warehouse, and reordering rules on each van can propose it when stock runs low.
What happens on site
The visit screen is built for a phone. The technician presses Start, and Odoo records the real start time. They fill in the worksheet, add photos and parts, then press Complete. Odoo turns it all into a customer report with the worksheet, the time and the materials, and the customer signs it on the technician's phone. Odoo can email them a copy.
Worksheets are your own checklists, for example the unit model, the fault found, the supply air temperature and a box for "follow-up needed". In Odoo 20 they're built with simple custom fields and no longer need Odoo Studio, which Odoo 19 installed for them. In our database the worksheet feature installed without Studio.
After the visit, Odoo can ask the customer to rate it. Turn on Customer Ratings in the settings and the ratings show up on each visit and in the reports.
How can AI help?
Start with what Odoo 20 already does. Odoo AI, in the top bar of every screen, answers questions about your own data. We asked it: "Which technicians have open visits tomorrow, and who still has free time in the afternoon?" It searched the schedule and replied with a table of tomorrow's visits by technician, with the times and notes, and said that all four technicians were free from noon. Every line matched the schedule.
Users can also dictate to the AI instead of typing, which helps a technician with gloves on. In Odoo 20, AI features use credits bought from Odoo, so plan for that cost.
On top of what ships, a partner can build these for a service company with Odoo's AI agents and automations:
- Turning a technician's quick notes or voice memo into a clear report for the customer.
- Suggesting the parts to load for tomorrow from each customer's equipment and past visits.
- Reading requests that come in by WhatsApp or email and preparing the visit for the dispatcher to confirm. Orbit, our AI agent for WhatsApp and websites, can take these requests, depending on your setup.
- Spotting customers whose units keep failing, so you can offer a replacement before they call again.
Each of these should be tested on your own data before it goes live. Our guide to Odoo 20 AI agents explains how they're built.
What you need
- Odoo Enterprise. Planning and its field service features aren't part of Odoo Community. Licence prices differ per country, so check Odoo's pricing for yours.
- A Mapbox token for routes, travel times and better Auto Plan results.
- Customer addresses Odoo can place on the map. Odoo finds the coordinates from the address. In the UAE, where many addresses are a building and an area, check the pins once and fix the ones that land in the wrong place.
- Phones for the technicians, with Odoo in the browser or in Odoo's mobile app.
How NavyBits sets it up
- Assess. We look at how jobs reach you, how you plan the day, what technicians record and how you bill, then tell you what standard Odoo 20 covers and what it doesn't. If you're on an older version, we list what the upgrade has to move.
- Build. Our Odoo business solutions team sets up Planning, the vans, worksheets, reports, Mapbox and your data, and connects the channels your requests come from.
- Maintain. We train your dispatchers and technicians, and our Odoo support team stays with you after go-live.
FAQ
Does Odoo 20 still have a Field Service app?
No. Odoo 20 moved field service into the Planning app. Visits are Planning shifts with a customer, a worksheet, parts and a signed report. Odoo 17, 18 and 19 still have the separate Field Service app.
Can Odoo show my technicians' routes on a map?
Yes. Odoo 20 shows each technician's visits on a map and, with a Mapbox token, draws the route with its distance and driving time. Technicians see their own day on their phone and can open directions in Google Maps.
Does Odoo optimize the order of visits?
Odoo 20 can calculate the shortest order between addresses for up to 12 stops through Mapbox. The standard screens draw the route in the order of the planned times, and a partner can set a map to use the shortest order.
Can technicians use parts from their van?
Yes. With Stock by Vehicle, each van is a warehouse assigned to its technicians. The parts they add to a visit come out of their van's stock when the visit is completed, and go on the customer's invoice.
Do I need Odoo Studio for worksheets?
Not in Odoo 20. Worksheets are built with custom fields on the visit. In Odoo 19, turning on worksheets installed Studio.
Is field service part of Odoo Community?
No. Field service, Planning and the map view are Odoo Enterprise features.
See it with your own jobs
A map, a schedule and a phone app only help if they match the way your team really works. Book a free 30-minute call and tell us how jobs reach you and how your technicians spend their day. We'll show you how Odoo 20 handles it and what it would take to set it up for you.