This new feature lets you set how far past the end of a technician's shift Dispatch Pro can assign a job, so you can fill more appointment slots and reduce manual scheduling adjustments.
What's new?
Before this feature, Dispatch Pro followed shift boundaries strictly. If a job's estimated length would push even a few minutes past the end of a technician's shift, Dispatch Pro skipped that technician entirely. This meant open time at the end of shifts often went unused, and dispatchers had to step in to assign jobs manually. Now, a new Extend jobs beyond shifts setting on the Dispatch Pro Settings screen gives you control over how much overtime flexibility Dispatch Pro has. You set a maximum extension at the global level, and you can override it for specific business units or individual technicians.
Resources
Before and after
Before (Current)
Open the dispatch board and review unassigned jobs near the end of the day.
Notice that a job with an estimated duration of 2.5 hours needs to start by 2:45 PM, but your best available technician's shift ends at 5:00 PM.
Dispatch Pro skips the technician because the job could run 15 minutes past the shift end.
Manually assign the job to the technician or leave the slot open.
Impact: The technician's last hour goes unused, or you spend time manually overriding the assignment.
After
Go to the navigation bar and click Settings.
In the side panel, go to Dispatch Pro > Settings.
On the Dispatch Pro Settings screen that opens, click the Routing tab under Settings.
In Settings 1.8, select the Extend jobs beyond shifts slider and set it to 30 minutes.
(Optionally) Override the value for specific business units or technicians using the Job extension limit column in the respective tables.
Dispatch Pro now considers the technician for jobs that may run up to 30 minutes past the shift end. The job is assigned automatically without manual intervention.
Impact: End-of-shift time is used more fully, and dispatchers spend less time on manual overrides.
Who uses this feature
Residential Service and Replacement, Commercial Service and Replacement
Administrators, Dispatchers
Region availability: All regions
How it works for your industry
Residential Service and Replacement
An HVAC company's lead technician finishes a repair at 3:30 PM and has a shift ending at 5:00 PM. A 2-hour diagnostic call comes in. With the extension set to 30 minutes, Dispatch Pro assigns the job knowing a slight overrun is acceptable, rather than leaving the technician idle for the last 90 minutes of the day.
A plumbing company sets the global extension to 1 hour but overrides the setting to Off for apprentice technicians. Senior plumbers can take late jobs that may run past their shift, while newer team members stick to strict shift boundaries.
A garage door company notices that most end-of-day service calls run 15 to 20 minutes over shift. The dispatcher sets the global extension to 30 minutes and reviews the dispatch board to confirm that Dispatch Pro now assigns those borderline jobs automatically.
Commercial Service and Replacement
An electrical contractor manages technicians across multiple business units. The admin sets a 2-hour extension for the emergency response unit but keeps the default at 15 minutes for scheduled maintenance crews, matching each team's overtime tolerance.
A commercial HVAC company has a rooftop unit repair that needs to start by 3:00 PM. The assigned technician's shift ends at 5:00 PM, but the job is estimated at 2.5 hours. With the extension set to 30 minutes, Dispatch Pro assigns the job instead of skipping the technician.
A plumbing company's dispatcher reviews the Job extension limit column in the technician table and adjusts individual overrides based on each technician's willingness to work past shift. Technicians who prefer strict hours are set to Off, while those open to overtime are set to 1 hour.
How to prepare
Review your current Dispatch Pro Routing settings and decide on an appropriate global extension value based on your company's overtime policies.
Identify business units or individual technicians that should have different overtime tolerances, and plan which overrides to apply.
Align with your dispatch team on how the new setting will change end-of-shift job assignments, so they know what to expect on the dispatch board.
Bookmark any knowledge base articles or Academy videos for team training.