Schedule Suggestion takes the guesswork out of dispatching. Instead of manually checking driver locations and workloads, you get a ranked list of nearby jobs, sorted by proximity, so you can put new work on the right truck the first time.
The tool factors in driver proximity, job type, total same-day jobs, and total distance traveled. Using it helps you cut down on windshield time, keep workloads balanced across your team, and run a more fuel-efficient day.
There are 3 ways to open Schedule Suggestion:
- While creating a new job.
- While creating a new rental.
- While rescheduling an existing job.
Before You Start
Here are a few things to know before you continue:
- To see if you have access to this feature in ServiceCore, please check out this article on user permission levels.
- Distances shown for "Closest Job" and "Total Daily Miles" are straight-line distances. They don't account for natural barriers like lakes or mountains, or for roads and bridges that may not work for your trucks.
How Schedule Suggestion Works
Schedule Suggestion looks at the site location of the job you're creating, compares it against everything already on your schedule, and surfaces the jobs with the closest matching location.
For each nearby job, you'll see:
- Technician name.
- Distance to the job site.
- Job type.
- Scheduled date.
- Total same-day jobs for that technician.
- Total miles for that technician that day.
Open Schedule Suggestion
The steps look slightly different depending on where you start, but each one opens the same Schedule Suggestion window.
While Creating a Job
Once you've selected a date, click "Schedule Suggestion" below the "Date" field. If this link is grayed out, make sure you've selected a site location first.
To learn how to fill out the rest of the job form, please review this article on creating a job.
TIP: If you're creating a Repeat Job, Schedule Suggestion only checks the technician's schedule for the first job in the series. If a different technician should be assigned for future jobs, you'll need to assign those individually or all at once.
While Creating a New Rental
Once you've selected a date for a delivery, service, or pick-up job, click "Schedule Suggestion" to view your technicians' availability. If this link is grayed out, make sure you've selected a site location first.
To learn how to fill out the rest of the rental form, please review this article on creating a rental.
While Rescheduling an Existing Job on the Schedule
You can open the reschedule window from the schedule. In Day view, you can hover over a job and click the “Edit job schedule” icon.
Once you're in the "Edit Job Schedule" window, click the calendar icon and select a new date, then click "Schedule Suggestion" below the "Day Of" field.
TIP: You can also open Schedule Suggestion by rescheduling from a job's details page instead of the Schedule. To learn how to get there, please review this article on managing jobs.
Schedule Suggestion Window Overview
However you opened it, the Schedule Suggestion window works the same way.
At the top, you'll see a map with numbered pins showing the closest matching jobs, plus a red pin marking your new job's site.
Below the map, you'll see a ranked list of technicians, closest to farthest. Each row shows the technician's name, their closest job and how far away it is, job type, date, total same-day jobs, and total miles for that day.
Use the "View" dropdown to change how many technicians appear per page, and the pagination arrows to move between pages.
Click "Week" in the top right if you want to see jobs across the full week instead of just one day. The list and map pins will update to match.
Once you've found the best match, click the radio button next to that technician, then click "Select Technician".
Finish Scheduling
What happens next depends on where you started:
- If you opened Schedule Suggestion while creating a job or rental, you'll return to that form with the technician and date filled in. Verify the details, finish filling out the rest of the form, and click "Save".
- If you opened Schedule Suggestion while rescheduling, you'll return to the "Edit Job Schedule" window. Check the box next to "Send Appointment Confirmation Email to Customer" if you want to notify the customer, then click "Reschedule".
If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@servicecore.com!