Scheduling and dispatching the right technician at the right time is crucial especially when running a field service business. Customers tend to want to get their services from companies that have experienced technicians that get the job done the right way the first time. The dispatching process is constantly evolving as it was once done all manually through the phone to now being done through many digital dispatching tools.
In this blog post, you will learn what dispatch management is and how ServiceEcho’s mobile robust solution has implemented a dispatching feature that seamlessly handles the dispatching process.
What is Dispatch management & Importance of Dispatching
According to Selecthub, Dispatch management systems are invented to help automate routing and scheduling processes, by providing a simpler way to manage routes and deliveries efficiently. The dispatching process is implemented because it is a crucial part of providing quality service to customers. The complexity of work orders varies and only certain technicians are qualified or experienced in completing them so it’s best that the dispatcher is able to acknowledge the technician’s experience and dispatch accordingly. As when customer’s request service, they expect it to be delivered fast with no delays or drawbacks. With that being said, having a dispatching process or system is important as it allows your dispatcher to coordinate technicians to the right work order efficiently.
Manually dispatch vs Digital dispatching
The dispatching process has evolved over the years, however, the dispatching goal has stayed the same but the level of efficiency has increased when using an automated system. Manually dispatching technicians to work orders can become frustrating especially when dealing with a larger team of technicians. The manual dispatching method is where the dispatcher contacts the technicians via phone to inform them of their work orders. With technicians out completing a number of tasks, the chances of them missing a phone call is considerably high. With that being said, having the line of communication between technicians and the company being via phone is not the most efficient method. With the manual dispatching approach comes a lot of daunting tasks especially for the dispatcher as they are expected to be near a phone in case of an emergency or changes in work orders. The manual dispatching approach gets the job done but in the least productive way.
With digital dispatching features, dispatchers are able to assemble a schedule with the right technicians with a matter of a few drags. Technician experiences and credentials are also available to dispatchers when scheduling which ensures that the most experienced candidate is selected for the job. With a mobile dispatching feature, technicians can also edit or change their work orders in real-time in case of any sudden changes to their day. A digital dispatching tool increases productivity and visibility, making it an effective dispatching and scheduling tool.
At ServiceEcho, we acknowledge the importance of having a seamless dispatching approach and is why we implemented a scheduler feature in our solution. The scheduler feature allows dispatchers to assign and reassign technicians in real-time through a few drag and drops.
This feature alerts dispatchers when technicians add or drop tasks from work orders, which allows dispatchers to reschedule the tasks and get the job done immediately. To learn more about our dispatching and scheduling feature in our solution, book a Demo today and speak to an expert.