Crew dispatch that keeps the office and the field in the same picture
Drag-and-drop reassignment, real-time crew app updates, same-day intake that respects the live route. Unmetered dispatcher seats and an audit log that answers every 'who was supposed to be there?' question.
Dispatch is the difference between the plan and the play
The calendar holds the plan: who is supposed to be where, when, for what scope. Dispatch is what happens between 7:00 and 7:00, when the calendar meets reality. A crew calls out sick. A customer cancels at 9. A new customer calls at 10 and asks if the crew can swing by today. The week's plan never quite survives the morning. The question is whether the office is reshuffling on a whiteboard with three phone calls per change, or whether it is dragging one card to another column and watching the field update in seconds.
Simple Scheduler is built around the second shape. The dispatch board is a real-time view of every crew's day, the crew app is the receiving end of every change, and the audit log is the answer to every dispute that comes up two weeks later. Multi-crew operators usually describe the move from manual dispatch to a real dispatch board as the single biggest operational change they have ever made, because the friction it removes is invisible until it is gone.
What the dispatch surface does.
Six capabilities that turn the messy day into a workspace the office and the field share.
Drag-and-drop board
Every crew's day in a side-by-side column view. Drag a visit between columns to reassign; drive-time impact previews before you confirm.
Live crew app
Every assignment, reassignment, and customer note publishes to the crew app in seconds. The field sees the same picture as the office.
Same-day intake
Emergency calls land in dispatch with a placement engine that respects each crew's live route. ETAs to customers are pulled from the live day, not a generic window.
Skill and certification routing
Some visits require a specific certification or crew member. Dispatch enforces those rules so the wrong crew never gets the wrong job.
Audit log
Every assignment and reassignment is logged with timestamp and operator. Disputes get answered from the record, not from memory.
Two-way messaging
Crews mark on-the-way, arrived, and complete from the truck. The office can reach a crew without phone tag, and customer-facing reminders fire from the same record.
The dispatch board: every crew's day side by side, with visit status, drive-time gaps, and reassignment by drag.
Same-day intake that fits in the live route
The hardest dispatch decision is what to do with the customer who calls at 10 a.m. and asks if you can be there today. The wrong answer ("yes, we'll squeeze you in") usually means a crew running late on the last three visits of the day. The right answer requires knowing where each crew is, how much room is on each crew's day, and which crew has the right skill match for the call.
Simple Scheduler answers all three at once. The intake form creates a visit with the customer address, the system proposes the best crew based on live location and route capacity, and the dispatcher confirms with one click. The customer gets an ETA window pulled from the live route, the chosen crew gets the new stop on their phone, and the rest of the day re-orders to absorb the addition without anyone missing a planned visit.
Office and field in the same picture
The crew app is not a passive viewer. Crews mark on-the-way, arrived, and complete from the truck. They capture photos, signatures, and notes that attach to the visit record in real time. The dispatcher sees status without phone tag, the customer's "tech on the way" message fires automatically, and the next day's recap report writes itself. The friction that used to live between the office and the field disappears into the workflow.
Frequently asked questions.
- A calendar shows you the week. Crew dispatch shows you the day in motion: which crew is where, what they have completed, what is next, and what changed in the last five minutes. The dispatcher view is built for the live decisions a calendar cannot make, and the crew app is the receiving end of those decisions in real time.
Run a real dispatch day in your workspace.
Start a Simple Scheduler trial, load a sample crew list, and see the board and the crew app stay in sync through a busy morning.