Dispatch board basics

Overview#

The Dispatch Board is where the office runs the day. It shows one company day at a time, laid out the way ServiceTitan users expect: a header with day navigation, a timeline with one row per technician, job list tabs underneath, and a map at the bottom. A live activity feed runs down the right side on wide screens. Everything is shown in your company's time zone.

Before you start#

• Who can see it: anyone with read access to jobs (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Customer service, Accounting, Viewer). Technicians use the field app instead.

• Who can change it: Owner, Admin, Dispatcher and Customer service can drag, assign and dispatch. Accounting and Viewer see the board read-only: blocks don't drag and the scheduling forms don't appear.

• Technicians appear as rows when their role is Technician (or when they are already assigned to something that day).

• Set the board hours and each technician's bookable hours in Settings › Dispatch Board › Board & Skills first, so the capacity numbers mean something.

Steps#

1. Open the board.

   • In the left nav, go to Dispatch › Dispatch Board. The board opens on today.

2. Move between days.

   • Use the left and right arrows next to the title, or press the ← and → keys.

   • Click Today (or press T) to jump back to today.

   • Click the calendar icon (Go to date) to pick any date.

   • Click the refresh icon to reload the board. The activity feed also triggers a refresh when something new happens.

3. Read the toolbar under the header.

   • The first line reads like "Day: 31 of 48 tech-hours booked (65%)". If no technician has bookable hours, it shows "—" instead of 0%.

   • It also shows the number of appointments, how many technicians are double-booked, and how many are over capacity.

   • On the right are the board tools: 7 days (a capacity strip for the week, if you can see availability), Alerts & move-up (only when there is something to look at), your work stream button, AI plan, Trucks (if you can see positions) and a More menu with Events, Member visits, Skills & hours and Fleet.

4. Read the technician timeline.

   • Each row is a technician. The left column shows their avatar, name, a live status dot and the time booked (for example "6h 30m"). If they are over their bookable hours you see "over by 1.5 h". An "overlap" note means two of their appointments overlap.

   • Hover the name to see their status, hours booked, time on the clock today and skills. A warning triangle by the name means one of their certifications has expired.

   • Click the arrow at the end of the name to open the technician panel: booked, worked and bookable hours, last known location, skills, today's appointments in order, and links to Fleet and Timesheets.

   • An Unassigned row appears at the top when an appointment on this day has no technician.

5. Read an appointment block.

   • The block shows the customer name and street. The dashed outline behind it is the promised arrival window. The red vertical line is now.

   • Colors follow the legend under the timeline: Scheduled, Dispatched, En route, Working, On hold, Done. A red left edge means Emergency priority; an orange one means High.

   • A red triangle means Overlap; an orange triangle means Missing skill. Small marks show the crew lead (crown), a Helper, a multi-day visit (for example "2/3") and a "wants earlier" arrow.

   • Click a block (or focus it and press Enter) to open the appointment panel.

6. Use the job list tabs.

   • Under the timeline are the tabs Unassigned, Scheduled, Dispatched, Working, Completed, Hold, Canceled and Future, each with a count.

   • Unassigned holds jobs waiting for an appointment and today's appointments with nobody on them. Future lists upcoming appointments on later days.

   • Filter with All Job Types, search by customer, address, job number, summary or technician, and sort by Received, Start, Customer, Priority or Value. On the Unassigned tab you can also sort waiting jobs by Priority, Oldest first or Highest value.

   • Click a row to open it. Canceled and future rows open the job page.

7. Use the map.

   • Job pins are colored like the blocks (red means unassigned). Technician avatars show where trucks are, for people allowed to see positions.

   • Click a pin to open that appointment, or a technician to open their panel. Click Trucks to swap in the live trucks panel; click Hide trucks to go back.

8. Watch the activity rail.

   • The Activity feed lists dispatches, arrivals, completions, cancellations, pauses and customer texts. It refreshes every 30 seconds while the tab is visible. Click an item to open it.

   • Hide or show it with the speech-bubble icon in the header. The board remembers your choice in this browser.

9. Filter by business unit.

   • If your company has business units, use All Business Units in the header to show one unit's jobs and the technicians who work it.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Board & Skills: board start and end hours, default bookable hours per technician, per-technician hours, skills and job type requirements.

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams: work streams that narrow what each dispatcher sees.

• Settings › People › Technicians: shifts and time off used by conflict warnings.

• Settings › Operations › Branches: when branches are set up, a branch picker appears above the board.

Tips#

• On a phone or small laptop the board shows a simple list of technicians and their appointments instead of the timeline. Dragging needs a wider screen.

• The board scrolls itself to "now" on today, and to the first appointment on other days.

• Value in the job list is the job's estimate (or invoice) total. Jobs without one show "—", never $0.

Troubleshooting#

• A technician has no row. Cause: their role isn't Technician, or a work stream or business unit filter hides them. Fix: check Settings › People › Employees & Role Permissions, your work stream button, and the business unit filter.

• The board is empty and asks you to pick a work stream. Cause: your company requires dispatchers to work one stream. Fix: click Pick a work stream and choose one.

• Capacity shows "—". Cause: no bookable hours are set. Fix: set Bookable hours per tech in Board & Skills.

• The map has no trucks. Cause: no GPS provider connected, the technician is off duty, or the position is over 12 hours old. Fix: see Settings › Integrations › GPS.

• The activity rail says "Paused". Cause: the last refresh failed. Fix: click the refresh icon or reload the page.

FAQ#

Can I see a week view? Not on the board. Click 7 days for a week of capacity, or use the Future tab for upcoming appointments.

Why can't I drag anything? Your role reads the board but doesn't dispatch, or you're on a narrow screen.

Does the board update by itself? The activity rail checks every 30 seconds and refreshes the board when something new arrives. Use the refresh icon any time.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same: technician rows on a timeline, colored appointment blocks, status trays under the board, a map and an activity panel.

• Different: the trays are tabs on one table with search, filters and sorting. Waiting jobs and unassigned appointments share the Unassigned tab. Capacity and double-booking counts sit in a toolbar above the board.

• Not here yet: a weekly dispatch board, saved board views and per-user board preferences.

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan's Dispatch Board is Dispatch › Dispatch Board here.