Overview
Workstreams are custom boards that define the scope of work a dispatcher is responsible for. You build each workstream from a combination of business units, Zones, and teams, and you choose which dispatchers can use it. Configuring workstreams helps you organize tasks and divide work for your dispatchers.
Who uses this feature
Administrators and managers
Primarily for Residential Service and Replacement business types
Feature configuration
To get started with Dispatch Pro, review pricing and select your package here. You can also request a demo on our Pro Products page, or reach out to your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Pro Account Manager (PAM).
Certain permissions are required to set up and manage Dispatch Pro. To have these enabled, please contact the account administrator on your team. For more, see the Required permissions section of Dispatch Pro.
The Access settings and Edit Dispatch Pro settings permissions are required to set up Dispatch Pro Console. Please contact the account administrator on your team.
Things to know
The console shows tasks for all jobs and all technicians, not just Dispatch Pro-enabled jobs and technicians. This is helpful, for example, if you use Dispatch Pro for service and maintenance jobs but not for install jobs.
Tasks for jobs scheduled on past or future days may take up to one hour to appear in the console. Tasks for jobs scheduled for today appear within 1–5 minutes.
After a task is resolved, it may take a minute or so to disappear from the console task list.
Open Workstream Settings
Go to the navigation bar and click Settings
.In the side panel, go to Dispatch Pro > Console Settings.
On the Console Settings screen that opens, click the Workstreams tab.
When you first open the Workstreams tab, you see that an All work items workstream is preconfigured for you by default for all business units, zones, teams, and dispatchers. You can edit, deactivate, or delete this workstream and you can also create new workstreams.
When dispatchers open the console from the Dispatch Board, they can select the workstreams they have access to. Dispatchers can't see workstreams they aren't assigned to.
Turn on workstream enforcement
Coming Soon (ST-81)
By default, workstreams apply only to Dispatch Pro Console. You can also enforce them on the Dispatch Board, which makes a dispatcher’s selected workstream a firm boundary rather than a filter they can switch off. To enable workstream enforcement:
Go to the navigation bar and click Settings
.In the side panel, go to Dispatch Pro > Console Settings.
On the Console Settings screen that opens, click the Workstreams tab.
Click Enable Workstreams.
Click Save to confirm your choice.
With enforcement turned on:
A dispatcher’s workstream scopes the Dispatch Board, the Jobs Tray, and the Activity Center, not just the console.
They are asked to choose a workstream at the start of each day. They can select Don’t ask me again to skip the prompt until they change their selection.
They can still use the business unit, team, and zone filters to narrow their view, but the filter lists only offer values inside their workstream.
Changing the active workstream in one browser tab updates their other open tabs.
A dispatcher who has not been assigned a workstream is asked to contact an administrator, and will not see work on the board until one is assigned.
Enforcement applies to your whole organization at once. It cannot be set for individual roles or business units. When you turn it on, a warning explains that dispatchers using workstreams will be limited to only the jobs and technicians in their assigned workstream on the board.
Note: Workstream enforcement applies to the Dispatch Board, the Jobs Tray, and the Activity Center. Other scheduling screens, including the dispatch map, the Master Schedule, and Crew Scheduling, keep their own filters and are not limited by workstreams.
Add a workstream
We recommend that you add custom workstreams for the responsibilities your dispatchers typically cover. For example, you could create an HVAC workstream for HVAC-related tasks or individual workstreams for specific dispatchers.
To add a new workstream:
On the Workstreams tab, click Add Workstream.
On the pop-up that opens, edit the name, business units, zones, teams, dispatchers, or description as needed.
Select Activate this rule after creating to activate the workstream immediately after you create it. If you don't select this, the workstream will be inactive and won't be visible to dispatchers.
(Optional) Enter a description of the workstream.
When finished, click Add.
The workstream is now ready for your dispatchers to use.
Edit a workstream
To edit an existing workstream:
On the Workstreams tab, click Edit
next to the workstream you want to change.On the pop-up that opens, edit the name, business units, zones, dispatchers, or description as needed.
When finished, click Save.
Deactivate a workstream
To deactivate workstream without permanently deleting it:
Go to the Workstreams tab.
Turn off the Active toggle next to the workstream you want to deactivate.
The workstream is now no longer visible to your dispatchers. If needed, you can reactivate the workstream later to make it visible again.
Delete a workstream
To permanently delete workstream:
On the Workstreams tab, click Delete next to the workstream you want to permanently remove.
On the confirmation pop-up that opens, click Delete.
A message appears letting you know the workstream was removed.
