Day-of-dispatching: A Dispatcher's Guide in ServiceTitan Max

Overview

In ServiceTitan Max, the Dispatch Board is your day-of command center — and Dispatch Pro is built right into it. Lightning icons on assigned jobs, alerts in the Job Tray, predicted drive times on hover, and the Troubleshooter all live on the same board, working together to keep jobs assigned to the right technicians at the right times.

Your role as a dispatcher shifts from manually placing every job to monitoring Dispatch Pro's activity, handling exceptions, and stepping in when the day takes an unexpected turn. As the dispatcher who monitors and guides Dispatch Pro, the final dispatching decision always rests in your hands.

This guide walks you through the dispatcher's day-of workflow with Dispatch Pro in Auto Mode, with a brief note on Assist Mode at the end.

How Dispatch fits into your day in ServiceTitan Max

In ServiceTitan Max, jobs reach your Dispatch Board through a connected workflow:

• Calls and bookings flow in through Contact Center and Scheduling Pro, where CSRs (or the customer using self-scheduling) capture the job details and apply tags.

• Dispatch picks them up the moment they're booked, evaluating each job against your configured routing, technician, and prioritization settings.

• Technicians receive their assignments in their mobile app and use Atlas and Field tools in the field to execute the work.

With Dispatch handling the routine assignment work, your day shifts toward the problems only a dispatcher can solve — the real-world judgment calls Dispatch can surface but can't fully contextualize. A technician calls in sick mid-route, a high-value customer needs a same-day add-on, a job runs long and cascades into the afternoon — these are the moments where your decision-making matters most. The time Dispatch frees up also opens room for higher-value work, whether that's running through the Dispatch Pro Console, supporting the office, or coaching the field team.

Step 1 — Open and orient the Dispatch Board

Dispatch Pro works with your regular ServiceTitan Dispatch Board. Keep the Dispatch Board open throughout your day to monitor Dispatch Pro assignments and manage unexpected circumstances.

When you open the board, get oriented with three things at the top:

1. Dispatch Pro status indicator — Look at the top of the Dispatch Board to confirm Dispatch Pro is live.

2. Dispatch Pro dropdown — Your quick access to Dispatch Pro Settings and the Troubleshooter tool.

3. Job Tray — Below the Dispatch Board, this is where unassigned jobs and alerts surface.

Check Dispatch Pro status

Check the top of the Dispatch Board to see the status of Dispatch Pro:

• An Off icon next to Dispatch Pro means it is not live. Setup check warnings with an Off icon need to be addressed before Dispatch Pro can go live. For more, see:        

  • Dispatch Pro setup step 1: Run the Dispatch Pro setup check

  • Step 2: Understand Dispatch Pro setup check findings

  • Dispatch Pro setup step 2: Resolve issues found by the Dispatch Pro setup check

  Note: Setup Check warnings with a Check icon are suggestions only.

• A Check icon next to Dispatch Pro means it's live and running every 10 minutes.        

  Note: Dispatch Pro runs every 10 minutes during business hours. Outside of business hours, it runs every hour.

Use the Dispatch Pro dropdown

When Dispatch Pro is live and running, you can click the Dispatch Pro dropdown and:

• Select Settings. This takes you directly to Settings > Dispatch Pro > Settings, where you can adjust your settings in detail.

• Select Troubleshooter. This allows you to troubleshoot job appointments that didn't end up where you expected.

Step 2 — Read Dispatch signals on the board

Dispatch communicates with you through icons on job appointments and technicians. Learning to read these at a glance is the core skill of day-of dispatching in ServiceTitan Max.

Dispatch Pro icons on jobs

Note: Jobs that are not enabled for Dispatch Pro do not display an icon.

Note: If an appointment was last updated (assigned, reassigned, or rescheduled) by Dispatch Pro, you see a lightning icon next to it. If you manually change a job, the lightning icon is replaced with a lock icon. The lock icon appears alongside the lightning icon when you select a lock time other than zero minutes. For more, see Adjust Dispatch Pro Locking Jobs settings.

Note: Auto-locking also appears in the job audit trail with the note: Dispatch Pro locked this job [number] hours before the job start time to prevent last-minute changes.

Hover for more detail

Hover over an appointment bubble to see the predicted revenue number calculated by Titan Intelligence, and exactly how long the drive is expected to take.

Note: If you manually reschedule a job, the drive time is shown as N/A until it's recalculated by Dispatch Pro.

Hover over a technician name to get more information about their day. On the hover-over screen, you see:

• Projected revenue for the day from all the jobs already assigned to that technician

• Current value (how much was already collected)

• The last time Dispatch Pro ran

Step 3 — Watch how Dispatch is matching technicians and drive times

Once Dispatch Pro is running, the assignments it makes reflect settings your administrator has already configured. Your job on the board is to watch the resulting matches and step in when something looks off.

Two signals from the source articles are worth watching closely:

• Predicted drive time on each appointment. Hover over an appointment bubble to see exactly how long the drive is expected to take, alongside the predicted revenue number calculated by Titan Intelligence. If you manually reschedule a job, the drive time is shown as N/A until it's recalculated by Dispatch Pro.

• The technician warning icon. A warning icon on a technician's profile means the starting location address is not validated. Flag this to your administrator so Dispatch Pro can route that technician accurately.

Tip: If no other technician is available, Dispatch Pro may assign a technician to a job that is far away within your maximum allowed drive time range. Use the hover-over drive time to spot these and decide whether to intervene.

If an assignment doesn't look right, use the Troubleshooter to understand Dispatch Pro's reasoning before manually overriding it (see Step 5).

Step 4 — Manage individual jobs

When jobs are booked, the workflow is the same with Dispatch Pro as it is without it. The only difference is there are Dispatch Pro-related toggles on the job record. Use these toggles to enable or disable Dispatch Pro for a particular job and manage assignments as needed.

The two job-level toggles

• Dispatch Pro: This toggle is turned on by default when booking jobs with a job type that has Dispatch Pro enabled. If needed, you can turn on or off the Dispatch Pro toggle for a particular job.        

  Note: Turning off the Dispatch Pro toggle for a job does not unassign the technician or modify the job in any other way.

• Technician-specific Job: This toggle is turned off by default. You can turn it on if you want to ensure that Dispatch Pro doesn't unassign or reassign the job.

Notes on the Technician-specific Job toggle

• If turning on the Technician-specific Job toggle leads to a double booking, Dispatch Pro shifts the start time within the arrival window to try to avoid overlap. If double-booking can't be avoided, dispatchers should use the Dispatch Pro Technician Performance Report to help them decide how to proceed.

• If you manually assign a technician to a job at the same time as Dispatch Pro (resulting in double-booking), the manual job is kept and the Dispatch Pro job is removed. The Dispatch Pro toggle is also disabled on the job record.

As with other actions taken on a job, turning these options on or off shows up in the job audit trail. For more, see Use the Job Details Flyout to view and edit job details on the Dispatch Board and View job history.

Enable or disable Dispatch Pro from the board

You can enable or disable Dispatch Pro on any eligible job by right-clicking the job appointment.

Open the Job Details Flyout

Open the Job Details Flyout to see recommended actions or run the Troubleshooter tool directly from the job.

Step 5 — Handle alerts and unassigned jobs

If Dispatch Pro can't assign a job, you see it below the Dispatch Board in the Unassigned and Alerts tabs of the Job Tray along with an alert explaining why. Hover over an alert to see more details.

This is where day-of dispatching becomes most active. Common reasons Dispatch Pro can't assign include:

• Multi-technician or multi-day jobs (Dispatch Pro will not assign these)

• Jobs whose only viable technicians are on an on-call shift, a time off shift, or have a non-job event

• Jobs that can't be placed within the arrival window or business hours

When you see an alert, hover for the reason, then decide whether to:

• Manually assign the job yourself

• Adjust the underlying issue (for example, reschedule into a different arrival window) and let Dispatch Pro try again on its next run

Use the Troubleshooter tool

For jobs that didn't end up where you expected, run the Troubleshooter from the Dispatch Pro dropdown or from a specific job's Details Flyout. The Troubleshooter helps you understand why Dispatch Pro made a particular decision so you can either accept it or step in.

Step 6 — Handle handoffs to the field

Once jobs are assigned, your day-of work continues with the actions Dispatch Pro doesn't automate. Dispatch Pro assigns, reassigns, and reschedules jobs — but dispatchers still need to unassign, dispatch, arrive, hold, complete, and confirm appointments and jobs as needed. For more, see Use the Job Details Flyout to view and edit job details on the Dispatch Board.

In ServiceTitan, the dispatch action also kicks off the field-side workflow: technicians pick up the job in their mobile app and use Atlas and Field Pro tools to navigate, communicate, and execute the work. Your timely dispatch keeps that field-side workflow on track.

Note: Dispatch Pro only reschedules jobs within the arrival window or business hours (depending on setup). Dispatchers need to manually reschedule jobs when moving to the next day or a completely different time frame.

Things to know about Dispatch Pro behavior

Keep these behaviors in mind as you work the board:

• Dispatch Pro treats non-job events without timesheet codes and jobs booked with job types that are not enabled for Dispatch Pro as locked calendar blocks and optimizes around them. Dispatch Pro only responds to non-job events that include timesheet codes.

• If no other technician is available, Dispatch Pro may assign a technician to a job that is far away within your maximum allowed drive time range.

• Jobs may go from assigned to unassigned or vice versa as Dispatch Pro runs. All jobs unassigned by Dispatch Pro will have an alert explaining the reason.

• Dispatch Pro will not:        

  • Assign a job to a technician who is on an on-call shift, a time off shift, or has a non-job event.

  • Assign multi-technician or multi-day jobs.

  • Place a job on the Dispatch Board before or after its arrival window or business hours.

A brief note on Assist Mode

If your administrator has set today (or any of the next four days) to Assist Mode, Dispatch Pro doesn't optimize the board automatically. Instead, you generate, review, and approve suggested optimizations one job at a time — giving you tighter control over every change.

How to tell which mode you're in

You can see the active mode above the Dispatch Board titled either Dispatch Pro Assist or Dispatch Pro Auto.

If your administrator changes the Dispatch Pro mode mid-day, you receive a real-time alert on the Dispatch Board notifying you of the change so you can adjust your workflow.

Generate and review suggestions for a job

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Dispatch.

2. On the Dispatch Board or in the Job Tray, locate and select the appointment you want to optimize. Jobs with Dispatch Pro turned on show a Dispatch Pro icon on the job bubble — those are the jobs Dispatch Assist can optimize.

3. On the Job Details Flyout that opens, click Dispatch Pro > Generate suggestions.

4. Review what comes back:        

   • If no suggestions are available, review the message and take appropriate action.

   • If suggestions are available, you'll see three data points for each set of suggestions:                

     • Job count change — the change in the number of jobs

     • Drive time change — the predicted change in drive time

     • Predicted value — the predicted monetary impact of the changes

5. Click Accept suggestions to apply the changes. To skip them, close the Job Details Flyout without accepting.

Things to know about Assist Mode behavior

• Dispatch Assist requires the same setup as Dispatch Pro Auto Mode, and Dispatch Pro must be enabled on a job for Dispatch Assist to optimize it.

• Dispatch Assist treats non-job events without timesheet codes and jobs booked with job types that aren't enabled for Dispatch Pro as locked calendar blocks and optimizes around them.

• If no other technician is available, Dispatch Assist may suggest a technician for a job far away but within your maximum allowed drive time range.

• Dispatch Assist will not:        

  • Recommend a technician who is on an on-call shift, a time off shift, or has a non-job event.

  • Recommend multi-managed-technician or multi-day jobs. (It does generate recommendations for one managed technician plus one or more non-managed technicians.)

  • Recommend placing a job on the Dispatch Board before or after its arrival window or business hours.

For more, see Use Dispatch Assist in Dispatch Pro.

Best practices for your day on the board

• Keep the Dispatch Board open all day. Dispatch Pro is running every 10 minutes — staying on the board is how you stay ahead of changes.

• Watch the Job Tray. Unassigned jobs and alerts are where your attention is most valuable.

• Use hover-overs. Predicted revenue, drive time, and technician day summaries give you fast context without opening every job.

• Reach for the Troubleshooter early. When something looks wrong, the Troubleshooter explains Dispatch Pro's reasoning and can save you a manual investigation.

• Flag settings issues to your administrator. Unvalidated addresses, missing tags, or unexpected assignments often point back to configuration — not to a Dispatch Pro problem you need to solve at the board.

Want to learn more?

• See Dispatch Settings Reference Guide in ServiceTitan Max