Dispatch zones and dispatch zone management allow you to more effectively manage your drive time and quickly identify a technician's proximity to created estimates and jobs. Dispatch zone management allows you to view, create, and edit multiple dispatch zones. Dispatch Zone Management is available from Dispatch > Dispatch Menu > Settings > Dispatch Zones.
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Dispatch Zone Management
This section displays the name of each dispatch zone, a map containing an overlay that corresponds to each selected dispatch zone, and offers the ability to view, create, edit, and delete zones. The name display in the left pane displays all dispatch zones and a check mark box adjacent to each. The zones that display on the map to the right are based on which zones are selected in the menu on the left (indicated by a blue checkmark):
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Dispatch zones can also be edited and deleted from this screen:
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Creating Dispatch Zones
You can create dispatch zones by searching for an address, city, or zip code, by using circles to create boundaries of the zone or by using custom polygons to create the boundaries of the zone to your exact specifications.
Creating Dispatch Zones using the Circle Zone Type Option
First, select to '+ Add New' Under the Dispatch Zones Screen:
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Enter an address, city or zip code into the 'Search an address' field:
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Choose from the drop - down menu the best fit for the search. If an address, city, or zip code is entered, the map pane on the right will focus on the center of the search:
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Next, choose to interact with the type of Dispatch Zone that will be used - choose the circle type:
Next, click on the map in order to begin defining the boundaries of the dispatch zone. Using a circle type, click the desired center of the dispatch zone. When using the circle type of dispatch zone, you can manually expand this circle once it appears on the map, or you can define the number of miles from the center of the circle in order to customize the boundaries of the zone. When defining a radius measured in the number of miles from the center of the zone, the area of the dispatch zone will change based on the number of miles entered:
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You can also manually adjust the size of the circle by interacting with boundaries of the dispatch zone utilizing a click-and-drag method with your mouse. This allows a customization of the zone boundaries without using a defined number of kilometers of the radius from the center of the zone:
The defined radius will update based on the manual adjustment of the zone boundaries.
In order to complete the creation of this dispatch zone, enter the dispatch zone name, choose a color for the dispatch zone, and optionally, choose to include a description of the dispatch zone. Select to save the dispatch zone to create the zone.
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Creating a dispatch zone based on the Custom option type
You can also choose to define the boundaries of the dispatch zone based on a custom polygon type. When this type is selected, and the map section is clicked, a rectangle will appear on the screen:
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Interact with the boundaries of this polygon in order to change the boundaries of the dispatch zone:
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Continue to interact with the boundaries until the zone is accurate and complete:
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In order to complete the creation of this dispatch zone, enter the dispatch zone name, choose a color for the dispatch zone, and optionally, choose to include a description of the dispatch zone. Select to save the dispatch zone to create the zone.
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Working with Dispatch Zones
The Dispatch Map
The dispatch map will update to show site visits that are located within a particular dispatch zone. The dispatch map will show all dispatch zones along with a site visit indicator for each. Each dispatch zone will be included as both an overlay to the map and identified with a color icon in the site visit list.
In the example below, we can see that the job for 12/15 has a number 29, indicating it's the 29th job on the list for jobs that day. We can see that there's a small purple dot to the right side of the job within the list, indicating it's withing a Dispatch Zone we have set to the color purple. When we hover over the dot, we can see the name of that particular Dispatch Zone (in this case, Grapevine)! When we look at the actual map to the right of the listed jobs, we can see the number 29 located within the purple Dispatch Zone!
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The Dispatch Grid
The dispatch grid can include a color notification in the top right corner of each site visit to help easily identify the dispatch zone the visit is in. The color that appears is the color of the dispatch zone that the service location is in. Each tech's dispatch zone location will also be captured on the dispatch grid, based on clock-in, clock-out activities and job drive and labor time entries. If Service Fusion GPS fleet management fleet trackers have been installed and configured, the dispatch zone identification for the technician will be identified from the fleet tracker location.
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This color notification can be enabled or disabled from the dispatch configuration menu. This menu is available from Dispatch > Configuration. In the section of controls labeled Job/Estimate Block Indicators, toggle the Dispatch Zone option to 'Display'.
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The Jobs Dashboard
The jobs dashboard will display the color icon associated with the dispatch zone that the service location is in:
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Viewing a Job
When viewing a job, the dispatch zone color will be identified adjacent to the service location:
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