Dispatch alerts and conflict warnings

Overview#

The Dispatch Board watches the day for problems and lists them under Alerts & move-up. Each alert says what's wrong in one line and offers one suggested fix. Separately, every appointment you move gets a conflict check, and blocks on the timeline show overlap and missing-skill marks. Warnings never block your work; only a few hard rules do (see Troubleshooting).

Before you start#

• Anyone who can see the board sees alerts. The fix buttons that change the schedule need a role that dispatches (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Customer service).

• Timing alerts are only worked out for today. Certification and time-off alerts show on any day.

• Better data means better alerts: set the drive buffer and arrival windows in Settings › Communications › Web Appointments, skills in Board & Skills, and shifts and time off in Settings › People › Technicians.

Steps#

Open the alerts#

1. On the Dispatch Board, look at the toolbar. When there is anything to see, an Alerts & move-up button shows with a count.

2. Click it. The Alerts card lists up to eight alerts. The Move-up card next to it lists open move-up offers.

3. Click the button again to hide the cards.

Know the alert types and their fixes#

Work an alert#

1. Click the fix button.

2. In the panel, use Suggest under Best tech for this job to see ranked technicians. Each line gives reasons such as "Has every required skill", "Works this zone" or a drive time, and warnings such as "Not working then" or "Overlaps job #…".

3. Click Assign next to a technician, or use Reassign or move.

4. The alert clears when the board refreshes and the problem is gone.

Read the conflict warnings#

1. After each move, the message at the bottom adds problems found for each crew member:

   • "… is also on #10198 at 1:30 PM" (overlap)

   • "… doesn't have: Gas furnaces" (missing skill)

   • "… has time off then"

   • "… is at "Safety training" then" (a non-job event)

   • "… isn't working all of that time" or "… doesn't work that day" (outside their shift)

2. The appointment panel shows the same list in an orange box whenever you open it.

3. On the timeline, a red triangle marks an overlap and an orange triangle marks a missing skill. The toolbar counts double-booked and over capacity technicians.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Communications › Web Appointments: the drive buffer used for "window at risk".

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Board & Skills: skills, required skills, and bookable hours (over capacity).

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams: certifications and move-up mode (whether early finishes become offers).

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

Tips#

• "Running late" uses the arrival window, not live GPS. A technician who is on the way but hasn't tapped En route still counts as late once the window ends.

• An early finish also creates a move-up offer by itself when move-up is on. The alert's button is for when you want to offer a time by hand.

• Alerts follow your work stream, so a dispatcher on one stream sees alerts for that stream's work. The business unit filter in the header doesn't narrow the alert list.

Troubleshooting#

• No alerts on a future day. That's expected: timing alerts are today only.

• An expired-certification alert won't clear. Cause: the tech is still assigned. Fix: reassign, or renew the certification in Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams.

• A move is refused instead of warned. Hard stops are: an expired certification for a required skill, assigning across branches when your company doesn't allow it, a job outside your enforced work stream, and closed appointments.

• "Text the customer a new ETA" didn't send anything. That button only opens the job. Send the text from there.

FAQ#

Do alerts notify me anywhere else? No. They live on the board. The activity rail shows dispatches, arrivals and completions as they happen.

Are alerts saved? No. They're worked out fresh each time the board loads.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same: an alerts area on the board for late and at-risk appointments.

• Different: each alert comes with one suggested fix, and there are alerts for early finishes, expired certifications and time-off clashes. Conflict checks run after every drag.

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan's Alerts tray maps to Alerts & move-up on Dispatch › Dispatch Board.