AI Dispatcher: plan the day and re-plan

Overview#

The AI Dispatcher proposes a board for a day: who does which job, in what order, and when they arrive. It weighs skills and certifications, crews, promised arrival windows, shifts, time off and events, parts on trucks, job value, priority and membership. Nothing moves until you approve. The planner itself is rules-based and works without AI; the optional AI pass only writes a plain-English summary and reads your free-text note into rules.

Before you start#

• Plan and apply: Owner, Admin and Dispatcher. Applying also needs the dispatch permission.

• Read plans only: anyone who can see jobs (Customer service, Accounting, Viewer) can open the page and read plans, without the controls.

• Planner settings: Owner, Admin and Dispatcher can set the goal. Only an Owner or Admin can turn auto mode on or off.

• AI write-up and notes need AI to be set up in Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences and a role with AI tools. Without it, plans still work and the page says why there's no write-up.

• Drive times come from your routing provider when one is configured. Otherwise they are straight-line estimates, and the page labels them "est." with a "~".

Steps#

Plan a day#

1. Open Dispatch › AI Dispatcher, or click AI plan on the Dispatch Board toolbar (it opens on the day you were viewing).

2. In Plan a day:

   • Pick the Day (today or later; tomorrow is the default).

   • Optional: type in Anything to keep in mind?, for example "Keep Luis near the shop today". AI turns this into rules such as "don't change this person's day", "no new work", "stay near base", "prefer this tech for job #…" or "don't move job #…".

   • Leave Place waiting jobs too ticked to schedule unassigned jobs as well.

   • Tick May move promised windows (customers get a text) only if customers may get a new arrival window.

   • Leave AI write-up ticked for a summary.

   • Open Hold people to mark a technician Don't change or No new work.

3. Click Propose a board. A banner says how many changes there are to review.

Re-plan today#

1. In Re-plan today, pick What happened: A job is running long, A technician called out, An emergency came in or Re-check the rest of today.

2. Fill in the matching field:

   • Running long: which job and Extra min.

   • Called out: who. This only re-plans; record their time off separately.

   • Emergency: which waiting job.

3. Click Re-plan. Re-plans never move promised windows and touch as little as possible.

Review and apply a plan#

1. At the top, compare before and after: Drive, Utilization, Windows kept, Unassigned, Revenue at risk and Parts runs. Green is better, red is worse. A headline sums it up, for example "Saves 47 min of driving, no promised window broken, places 3 waiting jobs."

2. Read the AI summary if there is one, what was understood from your note (Applied / Not applied), and any warnings.

3. Under Changes, each row shows the type (Schedule, Assign, Reassign, New window, Unassign), the job, who and when before and after, and the reason. "Window changes: customer should be told" flags a moved window.

4. Untick anything you don't want.

5. Leave Text the [n] customers with a new window (quiet hours respected) ticked to text them as part of applying.

6. Click Apply selected, or Discard to throw the plan away.

7. Check Not placed for jobs the planner couldn't fit and why (for example "No one working that day has Backflow testing"), and Proposed routes for each technician's stops.

8. If you didn't text customers when applying, use Customers with a new or moved arrival window, tick them and click Text them.

Planner settings and auto mode#

1. In Planner settings, pick a Goal: Balanced, Least driving, Most revenue or Keep every promise.

2. An Owner or Admin can tick Auto mode. In auto mode, a re-plan that keeps every promised window and unassigns nobody applies by itself, recorded as the owner who turned it on. Day plans always wait for approval.

3. Under Apprentices and mentors, set each technician to Needs a mentor or Mentor. The planner only places an apprentice on crew jobs that include a mentor, never on solo jobs.

4. Click Save.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Board & Skills: skills, required skills and bookable hours.

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams: certifications, zones, home bases ("stay near base" needs one) and work streams. Dispatchers bound to a stream only plan and apply within it.

• Settings › People › Technicians: shifts and time off.

• Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences: turns on the optional write-up and note reading.

Tips#

• Applying re-checks the board first. If any touched appointment or technician's day changed since the plan was made, nothing applies and the plan is marked Stale: the board changed. Plan again.

• Recent plans list every plan with its status: Waiting for approval, Applied, Partly applied, Discarded or Stale. Auto mode marks plans applied by themselves.

• AI never sees customer names, addresses or phone numbers. It gets first names, job numbers, job types and times.

Troubleshooting#

• "Pick today or a later day." You chose a past date.

• "The board changed since this plan was made. Plan again." Someone moved something. Make a new plan.

• "Notes need AI: …" or no write-up. AI isn't available for your company or role. Plans still work without it.

• A crew job isn't placed. The planner needs crew jobs to have a promised window. Give it one first.

• Texts show "Text not sent". Texting isn't connected or the customer opted out. The job's messages say why.

FAQ#

Does auto mode re-plan on its own during the day? No. Someone still starts a re-plan. Auto mode only skips the approval step for safe re-plans.

Can I apply just some changes? Yes. Untick the rest; the plan shows Partly applied.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Similar to: ServiceTitan's Dispatch Pro add-on, which proposes assignments for the day.

• Different: every change shows a reason, you can apply only the changes you want, and nothing applies without approval unless an owner turns on auto mode for safe re-plans. It's included, not an add-on.

• Where it lived: Dispatch › AI Dispatcher (/dispatch/plan), also reached from AI plan on the board.