Service Fusion provides three primary tools for managing jobs: the Jobs Dashboard, the Calendar, and the Dispatch Grid. Each tool emphasizes a different aspect of job management and is designed to support specific workflows.
- The Jobs Dashboard focuses on job progression visibility, job status management, and invoicing workflows
- The Calendar supports longer‑range planning and date‑based visibility
- The Dispatch Grid enables real‑time technician scheduling and same‑day dispatch coordination
Understanding how these tools differ helps users choose the right view for the task at hand.
At‑a‑Glance Comparison:
| Capability | Jobs Dashboard | Calendar | Dispatch Grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | job progression and status management | Schedule visibility and planning | Real‑time dispatch coordination |
| Required fields to display | Status | Start date | Technician and specific date and time |
| Status reflected | Overall job status and sub‑status | Overall job status and sub-status | Technician status and job sub-status |
| Visual time‑of‑day scheduling | No | Limited | Yes |
| Arrival windows displayed | No | Yes | Yes |
| Bullpen for unassigned work | No | No | Yes |
| Drag‑and‑drop scheduling | No | Limited | Yes |
| Automatic refresh | No | No | Yes - every 90 seconds |
| Invoicing actions | Yes | No | No |
Jobs Dashboard:
What It Does Best
The Jobs Dashboard centralizes job records by status and status category, providing a structured view of the job progression across the organization.
Best Suited for
- Back office users managing the job progression
- Accounting teams handling invoicing and closing workflows
- Administrators reviewing job status across the company
Advantages
- Organizes all jobs by status and sub‑status
- Includes My Jobs for signed-in user‑specific visibility
- Supports the Quick Edit Dialog for fast updates
- Best suited for invoicing workflows such as:
- Invoice Now
- Invoice Later
- Paid in Full
- User‑created sub‑statuses (e.g., Parts Ordered, Ready to Invoice) add layered context
- Clicking the job number opens View Mode, while clicking the customer name opens the customer record
- Opening jobs in new tabs preserves dashboard position during research
Limitations
- Does not visually represent time‑of‑day scheduling
- Does not display technician availability windows
- Drag‑and‑drop scheduling is not available
- Less effective for coordinating same‑day dispatch activity
Calendar:
What It Does Best
The Calendar provides a date‑based scheduling view ideal for longer‑range planning and overall workload visibility.
Best Suited for
- Users scheduling longer‑range planning
- Users managing the schedule on a weekly or monthly review
- Geographic planning using dispatch zones
- Users who need overall job status visibility
Advantages
- Displays jobs across days, weeks and month view
- Color‑codes items by
- overall job status
- Tech Assigned
- Dispatch Zone
- Shows items with a date but no arrival time in the All Day section
- Supports filtering by:
- Technician assignment
- Category
- Job Statuses
- Priority
- Customer
- Requires only a start date for items to appear
Limitations
- Less granular than the Dispatch Grid for time‑slot management
- Does not show arrival windows or technician availability bands
- Does not provide a Bullpen for unscheduled or unassigned work
- Reflects job overall status rather than technician‑level status
Dispatch Grid:
What It Does Best
The Dispatch Grid is a technician‑centric, real‑time scheduling tool designed for managing the day or week in progress.
Best Suited for
- Dispatchers managing same‑day technician assignments
- Users monitoring real‑time technician progress
- Coordinating overlapping arrival windows
- Managing schedule changes throughout the day
Advantages
- Automatically refreshes and updates the page every 90 seconds with the most updated details
- Displays technician status through job block colors
- Shows arrival time windows and can show estimated durations (based on setting in Company Preferences)
- Includes the Bullpen for organizing:
- Unscheduled jobs (Jobs with no date)
- Unassigned jobs (Jobs with no technician assigned)
- Jobs With Open PO's
- Jobs in the Partially Completed status
- Jobs in the Paused status
- Jobs that are Marked For Follow Up
- Supports filtering by:
- Date
- Jobs, Estimates, Tasks
-
Technician assignment
- Including crew assignment
- Category
- Job Statuses
- Priority
- Offers drag‑and‑drop scheduling with automatic status changes
- Indicates technician clock‑in or clock‑out status
- Offers call and text ability per technician
- Right‑click creation auto‑populates date, time, and technician
Limitations
- Requires technician assignment and specific date and time
- Less effective for long‑range planning than the Calendar
- Reflects technician status rather than overall job status
- Can become visually dense with many technicians displayed
Choosing the Right Tool:
Most users interact with all three tools throughout the day. A common workflow includes:
- Using the Jobs Dashboard for triage, job tags, statuses linear progression, sub‑status tracking, and invoicing
- Using the Calendar to plan upcoming days, weeks or months
- Using the Dispatch Grid to manage the active workday and technician coordination
Each tool complements the others rather than replacing them.