Before rolling Veras out to your entire team, it's worth taking it for a test drive. Running a short pilot with a small group of staff lets you get comfortable with the system, work out any kinks, and build confidence, so that when launch day arrives, you're ready. This article walks you through how to set up and run a pilot in just a few simple steps.
Why Run a Pilot?
A pilot gives you a low-stakes environment to practice before going live with everyone. Here's why it's worth the extra step:
Build confidence as a scheduler. Practicing with a small group means mistakes don't affect your whole team.
Spot issues early. You might discover a setting that needs adjusting or a workflow that you need clarification on. Better to find out early!
Create internal champions. Your pilot participants become familiar faces who can help answer questions and encourage adoption among your team when you go live.
Reduce launch-day friction. A team that's already seen the app in action will have fewer questions and concerns.
Step 1: Identify Your Test Staff
Choose 2–5 team members who are tech-comfortable and willing to give honest feedback. Ideally, pick people across different roles or shifts so you get a well-rounded picture of how Veras performs in your day-to-day.
Tip: Let them know upfront that they've been selected to help test the system. Most people appreciate being included early — it builds buy-in.
Step 2: Publish Only Their Schedules
Publishing shifts makes them visible to staff in the Veras app. During your pilot, you'll only publish shifts for your selected test group. Everyone else's schedules will stay unpublished, meaning other staff won't see anything in the app even if they download it and sign in early.
To publish shifts for a specific team member:
Go to the Schedule page.
Find the team member's name in the list on the left side.
Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to their name.
Select Publish/Unpublish Shifts.
Set the Status to Publish Shifts, then click Update Shifts.
Repeat for each pilot participant.
Related article: How to Publish the Schedule
Step 3: Send App Invitations
Once schedules are published, invite your pilot staff to the app so they can sign in and get started.
Go to the Team page.
Search or scroll to find each pilot participant.
Check the box next to their name to select them.
Click Invite to Veras at the top of the page.
Each selected team member will receive an email and text message with their username and instructions for signing in. Once they log in, they'll be able to see the shifts you published in Step 2.
Related article: Invite Staff to Veras App
4. Test run
This is where the real learning happens. For the pilot to be effective, treat Veras as the single source of truth for these team members' schedules — not a secondary system running in the background. Most schedulers run their pilot for 1–2 weeks, which is usually enough time to get comfortable with the core workflows without delaying your full launch.
Ask your pilot staff to:
View their schedules in the app
Request open shifts when available
Message you through Veras instead of calling or texting
On your end, practice:
Keeping their schedules current in the system
Making any schedule adjustments they need
Logging call-offs as they come in
Entering time off requests
Sharing open shift invitations when you need coverage
The more realistic you make it, the more useful the pilot will be.
Once your pilot wraps up, you'll have hands-on experience with the core features of Veras and a small group of staff who are already familiar with the app. From there, publishing the rest of your team's schedules and sending out invitations is the same process, just at a larger scale. When you're ready to launch, your Veras onboarding specialist can help you plan the rollout and answer any questions that came up during testing.