NOC Utilities

Free tools for running an operations desk. Work out how many people around the clock coverage actually takes, build the rota across timezones and see the gaps, keep the plans you build, and stash the fixes you keep reusing. Nothing here needs a signup, and nothing leaves your browser.

Three of them are one loop. The NOC Coverage Calculator answers the headcount question, and the answer is five for 24/7, because a week is 168 hours against a 40 hour week and four people leave a day uncovered however the shifts are arranged. The NOC Schedule Planner takes that week and makes it yours, drawing every shift in your own clock while labelling it in the crew's local time, checking coverage as you build, and exporting to calendar, spreadsheet or print. The NOC Schedule Manager keeps what you built, so the next revision starts from the last one instead of from a file somebody has to find.

Signal9 Stash is the other job. It is a pad for the person actually on shift, holding the fixes, scripts, queries and prompts you reuse plus a list of what you owe, and searching the contents rather than the titles so the matching line comes back with a copy button beside it.

They are free because we build alert and on call software, and the same week shows up in both. Working out who is on the desk at three on a Sunday morning is the same problem whether you are drawing a rota or deciding who to page.

What tools does a NOC need for shift scheduling? Three things, and they are usually spread across a spreadsheet and somebody's memory. A way to work out how many people the coverage you want actually takes, a way to lay the shifts out across timezones and see the gaps, and somewhere to keep the plan so the next revision starts from the last one. Signal9 gives you all three free, as the NOC Coverage Calculator, the NOC Schedule Planner and the NOC Schedule Manager.

Are these NOC tools really free? Yes. Building a plan, checking coverage, and exporting to calendar, spreadsheet or print all cost nothing and need no account. Saving a plan so you can reopen it from another machine needs a free Signal9 account, and that account is free too.

Do I need an account to use them? Not to use them. The Coverage Calculator, the Schedule Planner and Stash all run in your browser with nothing sent anywhere, and the file you export is yours to keep. An account matters when you come back and want to reopen something you saved, rather than at the moment you are trying to get work done.

Why are the NOC tools free? Because Signal9 builds alert and on call software, and the same week keeps showing up in both. Working out who is on the desk at three on a Sunday morning is the same problem whether you are drawing a rota or deciding who to page, so the tools we needed anyway are worth giving away.