Dispatch
Definition
Dispatch is the process of assigning field technicians to service calls and routing them to customer locations in the most efficient order.
What Dispatch Means for Your Business
What it means
Dispatch is the daily operational heartbeat of any field service business. It is the coordination function that matches incoming work orders with available technicians based on skill, location, priority, and parts availability.
Why it matters
Good dispatch compresses windshield time, maximizes billable hours per tech, and keeps customers informed. Bad dispatch leads to missed appointments, idle trucks, and lost revenue.
How contractors use it
Most shops run a dispatch board showing every tech, job, and time slot at a glance. Dispatchers drag and drop calls, confirm ETAs by text, and rebalance the schedule whenever a call runs long or an emergency drops in. Modern platforms use smart automation to suggest the best tech for each job, cutting average dispatch time from minutes to seconds.
Real-World Example
A plumbing shop in Dallas runs 8 trucks. Their dispatcher handles 60 calls a day, with an average ticket of $420. By tightening dispatch decisions and cutting drive time by 15 minutes per call, they added $1,800 in daily revenue.
Related Terms
Dispatcher
A dispatcher is the person or role responsible for assigning service calls to field technicians and keeping the daily schedule on track.
Work Order
A work order is the digital or paper document that authorizes and records the work performed on a specific service call.
Route Optimization
Route optimization is the practice of sequencing a technician's daily stops to minimize total drive time and fuel cost.
GPS Dispatch
GPS dispatch uses real-time vehicle location data to assign the closest qualified technician to each new service call.
Service Call
A service call is a single customer request for a technician to come onsite, diagnose an issue, and perform repair or maintenance work.
Put This Into Practice with Free Software
Kaldr Tech handles dispatch and everything else you need to run your shop. $0/month, 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction.