Dispatcher Guide
For Narqix dispatchers who run a home services client's daily board. After this page you will know how to build tomorrow's schedule, run today's in real time, protect arrival windows, insert emergencies and keep every customer and technician informed.
Track: HVAC & Home Services · Role: Dispatcher · Time to complete: 35 min
What you own
The dispatcher is the air traffic controller of the company. The CSR fills the board; you make it work in the real world, where jobs run long, parts are missing, technicians get sick and emergencies arrive at 2 PM.
You own:
- Building tomorrow's board so technicians start close to home and drive as little as possible.
- Confirming tomorrow's jobs with customers.
- Making sure every technician knows their first job and has what they need.
- Tracking job status all day: dispatched, on the way, working, done.
- Warning customers before a window is missed, with a new time.
- Inserting emergencies and moving displaced jobs with care.
- Closing out the day: every job completed, rescheduled, on hold with a reason, or cancelled.
You do not own: pricing, approving technician overtime, changing a technician's skills or license scope, or making refund decisions. Those belong to the operations manager.
KPIs that matter
| KPI | Narqix standard | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| On-time arrival within window | 95 percent or higher | Customers judge the company on punctuality first |
| Customers told before a missed window | 100 percent | The late rule protects trust and reviews |
| Next-day confirmations attempted | 100 percent by 5 PM customer local time | Fewer no-shows and wasted trips |
| Unconfirmed jobs called | 100 percent before end of day | Catches wrong numbers and changed plans |
| Emergency insert time | P1 assigned within 10 minutes (client may set its own) | Safety and revenue |
| Displaced customers called | 100 percent before the technician leaves | Prevents surprise no-shows |
| Technician utilization (awareness) | Strong teams run about 60 to 80 percent | Too low wastes paid hours, too high burns people out |
| End-of-day board closed | 100 percent of jobs in a final state | Clean data for follow-up and billing |
| Note quality | 95 percent or higher on audit | Everyone reads your notes |
Your daily rhythm
Dispatch shifts may follow the US morning (Bangladesh evening and night) for live dispatch, or the US afternoon for board building. Your campaign sets your scheduled shift.
Start of the US day
- Read the overnight emergency log and the previous shift handoff.
- Check the weather. Adjust priorities per client weather rules.
- Confirm every technician is rolling to job one, has the address, access notes and any parts. Note who is late or out.
- Fix gaps: a sick technician's jobs go to others by zone and skill, or get rescheduled. Call every affected customer.
During the day
- Watch job statuses. A job "working" far longer than its normal length may need a check-in with the technician.
- Thirty minutes before a window would be missed, call the customer (late rule).
- Insert P1 and P2 calls per the Priority and Dispatch Standard.
- Move cancellations: fill freed windows from the cancellation list or with P2 calls.
- Send "on the way" messages if your client does not automate them.
- Route replacement opportunities from technicians to the comfort advisor calendar.
- Answer technician questions in the team channel quickly. A technician waiting on you is not earning.
Afternoon: build tomorrow
- Review tomorrow's jobs by zone and skill.
- Put each technician's first job near their start point.
- Keep a floating slot in peak season if your client wants it.
- Check job types and durations: an install cannot sit in a 2-hour service slot.
- Send confirmations by text by 5 PM customer local time. Call anyone unconfirmed.
- Flag jobs that need parts, permits, a ladder, or two technicians.
End of day
- Every job completed, rescheduled, on hold with reason and date, or cancelled with reason.
- Holds passed to the follow-up team.
- Shift handoff written for the next shift or on-call.
Tools you use (generic)
- Field service management system: dispatch board, job statuses, technician schedules, maps, customer records
- Phone and texting platform for customer updates
- Team channel for technician communication
- Calendar for comfort advisor and install crew scheduling
- Your client's skill matrix (who can do what) and zone map
Handoffs
| You receive from | What | You pass to | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSR | Booked jobs, emergencies, schedule questions | Technicians | Jobs with complete notes, access info, history, parts needed |
| Technicians | Status updates, delays, parts needs, replacement leads | Customers | Confirmations, on-the-way updates, delay calls |
| On-call shift | Overnight emergencies and outcomes | Follow-up rep | Jobs on hold, open estimates from today |
| Operations manager | Technician availability, overtime approvals, rules | Comfort advisor | Replacement leads with technician notes |
| Review assistant | Completed jobs list for review requests |
The confirmation and on-the-way standard
Day before: text confirmation with the window and a simple reply option. Call anyone who does not confirm by your client's cut-off.
Morning of: if your client sends a morning reminder, check it went out.
On the way: the customer gets a message when the technician leaves for their home, ideally with the technician's name and photo link if the client provides one.
Running late: a call (not just a text) before the window closes.
Full wording is in the script "Dispatch Confirmation and On-the-Way Call".
Quality checklist
- Tomorrow's board built by zone and skill, first jobs near start points
- Job types and durations match the work
- All next-day confirmations sent by 5 PM customer local time, unconfirmed called
- Every technician confirmed rolling to job one
- No window missed without a customer call beforehand
- Every emergency insert approved per client rules and displaced customers called
- Every status change noted with time and reason
- End-of-day board fully closed
Common mistakes
- Building the board by booking order, not by map. Technicians spend their day driving.
- Trusting a status without checking. If a technician has been "on the way" for 90 minutes, something is wrong. Ask.
- Texting bad news. A delay deserves a call. Text only if you cannot reach them, and say you tried to call.
- Inserting an emergency without telling displaced customers. You fixed one problem and created three.
- Booking the wrong skill. A residential service technician sent to a commercial rooftop unit, or a plumber without the right gas license.
- Leaving holds without a date. Holds without follow-up dates become lost revenue.
Never do this: Never tell a customer a technician is on the way when they are not. Never promise an exact arrival minute. Never let a technician go to a home without the safety and access notes. Never cancel a customer's job without speaking to them or leaving a clear message and noting it.
Escalation rules
| Situation | Escalate to | How fast |
|---|---|---|
| Technician unreachable for more than 30 minutes during working hours | Operations manager | Immediately |
| Technician reports an accident, injury or unsafe home | Operations manager | Immediately |
| Customer refuses entry, is aggressive, or a technician feels unsafe | Operations manager, technician leaves | Immediately |
| P1 with no qualified technician available | On-call manager | Within 10 minutes |
| Customer complaint about a technician | Operations manager | Same day |
| Board cannot absorb the day's demand (for example after a heat wave starts) | Operations manager, to decide overtime or overflow | As soon as you see it |
Coach's note: Great dispatchers think one hour ahead. Every 30 minutes, look at each technician and ask: "Where will they be in an hour, and is the next customer going to be on time?" If the answer is no, call the customer now, while you still have good options to offer.
Check yourself
- By what time are next-day confirmations sent, and what happens to the unconfirmed?
- A technician calls in sick at 7:30 AM with five jobs booked. What are your first three actions?
- Why is a missed window communicated by phone rather than only by text?
- Name the four end-of-day job states.
- A technician says the customer wants a quote for a new system. Who gets that lead?
Answers
- By 5 PM customer local time. Unconfirmed customers get a phone call before end of day.
- Tell the operations manager, re-assign jobs by zone and skill to available technicians, and call every affected customer with a new window or new day.
- Because a call shows respect, lets the customer choose a new option, and confirms they actually got the message.
- Completed, rescheduled, on hold with reason and date, cancelled with reason.
- The comfort advisor, booked through the client's replacement consultation process.
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