Configure Dispatch Board appearance and settings

Overview

Dispatch Configuration allows you to customize the Dispatch Board so you can work quickly and effectively. You can manage which technicians are shown, change the board appearance, and more.

Things to know

• Technician Management settings apply to everyone's view of the Dispatch Board. The other settings in Dispatch Configuration only apply to your individual view of the Dispatch Board.
• For how to arrange technicians on the Dispatch Board, see Organize and reorder technician teams.

Configure Technician Management

Checking a technician in or out changes which technicians show up on the Dispatch Board for everyone in the office. When a technician is checked out, it means they're not available to work and can't be dispatched. It also helps declutter the Dispatch Board so dispatchers can find available technicians faster.

Keep in mind:

• Checking technicians in or out only applies to the day you set it for. If your company does not have technician clock-in and clock-out enabled, then changes to technician check-in and check-out persist until you change it again.
• Checking technicians in or out of the Dispatch Board is not the same as technician clock-in and clock-out. When you check a technician in or out, it has no impact on technician timesheets. If a technician is clocked in or has a timesheet, they remain on the Dispatch Board after checking them out.

To configure technician management:

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Dispatch.
2. Click Settingsat the top of the Dispatch Board.
3. On the Dispatch Configuration screen that opens, the default tab is Technician Management. You can use the Business Unit selector to narrow your view.

   Note: The business unit selector on this screen does not affect any other business unit settings.

4. Manage which technicians are displayed for everyone in the office on the Dispatch Board by checking them in or out.

   Note: If you check out a technician who has a scheduled job for that day, the job bubble disappears from the Dispatch Board and the technician can't dispatch to the job.

   
5. Use the Memo field next to each technician to add internal notes about them. These memos show up for anyone using the Dispatch Board when you hover over a technician's name.  

   Tip: Dispatchers can also add, edit, and delete memos directly from the Dispatch Board. For more, see Manage technician memos from the Dispatch Board.

6. Use the Shift Start and Shift End fields to set clock in and clock out times for technicians.

   Note: This only applies to the technician's clock in and clock out time. It does not affect the separate Technician Shifts feature.

7. When finished, click Save.

Tip: For how to arrange technicians on the Dispatch Board, see Organize and reorder technician teams.

Configure Board Appearance

Note: These settings apply only to your account, and the Dispatch Board view may look different for other users based on their personal preferences.

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Dispatch .
2. Click Settingsat the top of the Dispatch Board.
3. On the Dispatch Configuration screen that opens, click Board Appearance in the side menu.

In Board Appearance:

1. Select which business units show up by default on your view of the board.
2. Set your location view:
   1. Street view works for businesses that operate within a smaller geographic area, where you want to see the most detailed information possible.
   2. City view works if your business operates in different cities and you need a general overview of where work is being performed.
   3. Zip view is a good fit if you work in a dense geographic area and zip codes are more helpful than specific street addresses or cities.
3. Show or hide technician clock-in time.    

   Note: The behavior of the Dispatch Board based on what you selected for this option may vary:

   1. When the Show or hide technician clock-in time option is enabled, the Dispatch Board displays each technician's total time elapsed since they clocked in for the day.
   2. When the setting is disabled, the Dispatch Board displays only the elapsed time since the technician's last action, such as dispatching, starting a meal, and others.
4. Hide the side panel and maximize workspace visibility.
5. Select Medium or Large to set your preferred messaging side panel width.      

   Note: If you're using the older interface, you'll see the Hide SMS message side field option instead of Hide side panel and Side panel width. The functionality is the same; it lets you control the visibility of the side panel area.

6. Show or hide the Job Details Flyout after clicking an appointment on the Dispatch Board.
7. Select which columns show up in your view of the Job Tray.
8. Enter the number of job appointments that show up in your view of each column of the Job Tray.        

   Note: The default number of job appointments that are displayed in each tab of the Job Tray is 50. The maximum number of appointments you can set to be displayed is 250.

   
9. When finished, click Save.

Configure Notifications

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Dispatch .
2. Click Settingsat the top of the Dispatch Board.
3. On the Dispatch Configuration screen that opens, click Notifications in the side menu.
4. Select Yes or No to enable or disable desktop notifications.
5. Select the types of notifications you want to see.
6. When finished, click Save.

Note: This is only for Dispatch Board notifications. For customer notifications, see Customer notifications.

Configure the Job Details Flyout

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Dispatch .
2. Click Setting at the top of the Dispatch Board.
3. On the Dispatch Configuration screen that opens, click Job Details Flyout in the side menu.
4. Choose whether you want the full view of the Job Record to open in a new tab or in the current tab after you click Go to Job Page on the Job Details Flyout.
5. When finished, click Save.

Configure Optimize Technician Route

If you use Optimize Technician Route, you can configure settings for it through Dispatch Configuration:

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Dispatch .
2. Click Settingsat the top of the Dispatch Board.
3. On the Dispatch Configuration screen that opens, click Optimize Technician Route in the side menu.
4. Choose how you want multi-technician job appointments to be handled.
5. When finished, click Save.

Configure Dispatch Board Alerts

Dispatch Board Alerts provide visual indicators for jobs that started late or are running over. These help remind dispatchers when action might be needed, such as coordinating with the assigned technician. Dispatch Board Alerts are enabled by default, and appear automatically when a job is complete or is running ten or more minutes over its expected length.

You can configure Dispatch Board Alerts in Settings. For more, see Configure Dispatch Board Alerts.

Configure technician Clock In/Out

If you use technician clock-in and clock-out, you can set up your Dispatch Board so that only paid timesheet codes, like job appointments and paid non-job events, count towards the on-clock readout for a technician. Turn on this setting to make it easier to avoid paying technicians overtime.

To configure how technician hours are displayed:

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings.
2. In the side panel, go to Dispatch Board > Clock In/Out.
3. Turn on the Subtract unpaid hours from the technician on-clock time readout toggle.
4. Click Save.

Note: Idle time (when a technician has no job appointments or non-job events) and non-paid timesheet codes aren't counted when this setting is turned on.

Configure Job Confirmations

Use Job Confirmations to indicate that you've checked in with a customer regarding an upcoming appointment. Job Confirmations improve workflow efficiency and enhance the customer experience.

You can configure Job Confirmations in Settings. For more, see Use Job Confirmations.

Configure Teams Management

Technician teams help you organize your technicians by the work they perform. Use Teams Management to create, rename, and deactivate technician teams and to organize technicians and teams on your Dispatch Board in the way that works best for your business.

You can configure Teams Management in Settings. For more, see:

• Teams Management overview
• Manage and view technician teams
• Organize and reorder technician teams
• Use the Teams Management Audit Trail

Configure the Rescheduled Reason Survey

Configure and run the Rescheduled Reason Survey to learn why your team is rescheduling appointments. As you survey your employees, you can run the Rescheduled Reason Survey Report to gather data and understand why appointments are being rescheduled.

You can configure the Rescheduled Reason Survey in Settings. For more, see Ask dispatchers why appointments were rescheduled.

Set up and prioritize tags for the Dispatch Board

On the Dispatch Board, tags appear when you hover over job bubbles and when you view the Tags column in the Job Tray. Short codes for tags are also displayed in the job bubbles on the Dispatch Board. Tags, when properly prioritized, help you know what to focus on.

You can set up tags in Settings. For more, see Set up and prioritize tags for the Dispatch Board.

Want to learn more?

• Visit ServiceTitan Academy and enroll in Dispatching Basics
• See Use the Daily Dispatch Board
• See Use the Job Tray on the Daily Dispatch Board