Dispatch scheduling — Get each job to the right technician, with the customer kept informed
Dispatch scheduling suggests which technician should take each job, based on skills, location, parts and open time. The dispatcher reviews and approves the board. Customers get an arrival window and a text when the tech is on the way.
By Julia Ja, Owner
Tuesday board · suggested
Dispatcher approvesCustomers get
The restaurant gets an arrival window by text, and the outlet customer gets the new time to confirm.
Why it matters
The problem it solves
A dispatcher juggles new calls, tech skills, traffic and customer promises at once, often from memory. When one job runs long, the rest of the day gets rebuilt by phone.
Customers feel this as vague windows and no word on when the tech will arrive. They call the office to ask, which pulls the dispatcher away from the board again.
Example · illustrative
An electrical contractor's Tuesday
- At 9:15 am a restaurant calls about a breaker that keeps tripping in the kitchen.
- The system reads the job and suggests two electricians: one finishing a panel job nearby, one across town.
- The dispatcher picks the closer one and moves his 11 am outlet install to the afternoon.
- The restaurant gets a text with an arrival window, and the outlet customer gets a new time to confirm.
How it works
How dispatch scheduling works
- Starts whenA new job is booked, or the day's plan changes
- 1Step 1Read the jobJob type, address, equipment and urgency come from the booking or call notes.
- 2Step 2Suggest a matchBest-fit technicians are suggested by skill, certifications, location and open time.
- A person decidesApprove the boardThe dispatcher checks the suggestions, moves jobs if needed and confirms the day's plan.
- 4Step 4Tell the customerThe customer gets an arrival window and an on-the-way text with the tech's name.
- 5Step 5Adjust for changesWhen a job runs long or an emergency comes in, the affected jobs and customers are flagged.
Before · by hand
- The dispatcher builds the board from memory and a whiteboard.
- Techs get sent across town and back.
- Customers call to ask when the tech will arrive.
With dispatch scheduling
- Each job comes with a suggested tech and time.
- Routes make more sense across the day.
- Customers know when to expect the tech.
What we build
The parts of dispatch scheduling
Your systems
- ServiceTitan
- Housecall Pro
- Jobber
- Google Maps
- AppFolio
- Samsara
What we build
1Job reader
Pulls job type, address, equipment, urgency and notes from the booking, the call or the job software.
2Tech profiles
Skills, certifications, home base, truck stock and working hours for each technician, kept up to date.
3Matching and suggestions
Ranks technicians for each job by fit, distance and open time, and shows the reasons.
4Dispatcher board
Where the dispatcher sees suggestions, moves jobs and approves the plan, inside the job software when possible.
5Customer updates
Arrival windows, on-the-way texts with the tech's name, and new-time texts when a job moves.
6Change alerts
Flags jobs that will run late or clash when an emergency or an overrun comes in.
Your team decides
- The dispatcher approves the board and has the final say on every assignment.
- Techs can flag when a job needs a different skill or more time.
Industries it fits
What dispatch scheduling looks like in each industry
HVAC, plumbing & electrical
Sends a no-heat call to the nearest tech trained on that system, and moves a maintenance visit to make room. The maintenance customer gets a text with a new time to confirm.
Everything for hvac, plumbing & electricalYour industry isn’t listed, or works differently? Describe it and get an answer in a minute.
Getting started
What you need first
We go through these with you in the audit, before anything is built.
Before we start
5 things to have ready- Job software or a shared calendar where jobs, addresses and techs are stored.
- A current list of each tech's skills, certifications and working hours.
- A dispatcher or office lead who approves the board.
- Rules for priority: which jobs are emergencies, which can move and how much notice customers get.
- Phone numbers for customers who agreed to get texts about their job.
How a rollout runs
- 1Map how jobs are assignedWe sit with the dispatcher and write down the rules they use today, including the unwritten ones.
- 2Build tech profilesWe record skills, certifications and home bases, and connect truck stock if it's tracked.
- 3Connect the job softwareWe connect jobs and techs from the field-service system and set up the customer texts.
- 4Suggest in the backgroundThe system suggests matches while the dispatcher works as usual, and we compare the two.
- 5Switch to approvingOnce suggestions match the dispatcher's judgment, the dispatcher starts from them and approves the board.
What to measure
How to know it's working
Weekly report · dispatch scheduling
IllustrationSuggestions accepted by the dispatcher
Shows whether the matching rules match real judgment.
Drive time between jobs
Tells you whether routes are tighter across the day.
Jobs started within the promised window
The promise customers notice most.
Calls asking when the tech will arrive
Fewer of these means the texts are doing their job.
Return visits for a wrong skill or missing part
Shows whether matching uses skills and truck stock well.
We measure the baseline before building, so the change can be compared afterwards.
When it’s not a fit
- It only matches as well as the tech profiles. Out-of-date skills or hours lead to poor suggestions.
- A team with one or two techs may not need matching at all. Customer texts alone may be enough.
- Job lengths are estimates. If estimates are often wrong, the board will keep needing moves.
- If dispatchers don't trust the suggestions, they'll ignore them. Run suggestions side by side first.
Tool or custom build
Do you need a custom build?
Option A · a ready-made tool
An off-the-shelf tool may be enough
ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro and Jobber include dispatch boards, and some plans add routing. For many shops, using those features fully is the right first step.
Option B · built around your systems
When a custom build is worth it
A custom build is worth it when your assignment rules are specific or jobs come from several systems. It also fits matching that the built-in board doesn't do.
Not sure which fits?
What it typically costs
Typical ranges as of October 2026. Not a quote.
Ready-made tool, set up by us
An existing platform on your own account, configured for your business.
- Setup, one timepaid to Lorryn
- $1,000–$2,000
- Tool subscriptionpaid to the provider
- $50–$200 / month
Fits when your process matches what the platform already does.
Custom build
Built around how you work, with no platform subscription. You own it.
- Build, one timebasic version to full version
- $2,000–$9,000
- Running costshosting and usage, on your accounts
- ~$10–$50 / month
Fits when your systems, rules or exceptions don't match a ready tool.
Optional Automation Care: $125 · $250 · $375 / month
1, 2 or 3 hours of support a month, with monitoring and alerts included. Without it, you run it yourself after handover.
Typically works with ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, Google Maps.
Booking into or writing to your field-service, practice or shop software adds up to $500 to the ready-made tool (often a built-in feature) and $500–$1,500 to a custom build.
Your price depends on volume, the systems involved and how many exceptions need a person. Our team confirms a fixed price before any work starts.
Proof and who stays in charge
From our results · Heat pump & HVAC contractorPlannedAn HVAC contractor's plan: one job record feeds dispatch, parts and invoice.A planned project: target times, not results yet.Read the case studyWho does what
The automation does the routine steps. A person makes the call.
- 1Read the jobAutomated
- 2Suggest a matchAutomated
- 3Approve the boardA person
- 4Tell the customerAutomated
- 5Adjust for changesAutomated
Consent and privacy
Customer texts go only to people who booked the job. Each says it's automated and offers STOP.
FAQ
Questions about dispatch scheduling
No. It does the matching and the customer messages, and the dispatcher decides.
Yes. It can read jobs and techs from those systems and write assignments back, within what each system's API allows.
Emergency jobs are flagged right away with the best options for fitting them in. The dispatcher picks which jobs to move.
If truck stock is tracked in your software, it can favor the tech who has the part. Otherwise it flags parts the job may need.
Yes. Each suggestion shows its reasons, like skill, distance and open time, so the dispatcher can check them.
Yes. Texts can go out in the language stored for each customer, or in two languages.
The dispatcher overrides it. Repeated overrides show us which rule to change.
Related use cases
Often built together
- Team & HRStaff schedulingDrafts staff schedules from availability and demand, sends them out, and fills open shifts.
- Customer communicationCustomer status updatesSends customers a text or email when their job, order or case moves to the next stage.
- SchedulingOnline self-bookingLets customers book, reschedule and pay online from your live calendar and booking rules.
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