Glossary
Dispatch Board
What is a dispatch board in field service software? The live-job assignment screen that replaced the whiteboard.
Definition
A dispatch board (also called a schedule board or job board) is the central screen in field service software where dispatchers assign, reassign, and monitor field technicians in real time. It replaced the physical whiteboard that most trade businesses used before FSM software.
What it looks like
A dispatch board is typically a calendar-style grid where:
- Rows = individual technicians or crews
- Columns = time slots (hourly or half-hourly, scrollable across days)
- Cards = individual jobs, colour-coded by status (scheduled, en-route, on-site, complete, cancelled)
Drag-and-drop is the standard interaction: a dispatcher reassigns a job by dragging its card to a different technician or time slot. The underlying work order updates automatically, and the assigned tech receives a push notification on their mobile app.
Why it matters when choosing FSM software
The dispatch board is the screen your dispatcher will spend 4–8 hours per day on. Differences in drag-and-drop responsiveness, map overlay, and real-time status updates translate directly into dispatcher hours saved or lost.
Key evaluation criteria:
- Drag-and-drop responsiveness, does reassigning a job feel instant or laggy?
- Map integration, can you see technicians’ GPS positions alongside the job schedule?
- Status propagation speed, how quickly does a tech’s “on-site” status update on the board?
- Capacity view, can you see which techs have open time slots without scrolling?
Tool comparison on dispatch board quality
- Housecall Pro: polished drag-and-drop, map overlay included. Consumer-grade UX applied to a dispatcher screen.
- Jobber: clean and fast, strong mobile-to-office sync. Route optimisation on Connect and above.
- Workiz: solid dispatch board with the added VoIP integration (you can call a customer directly from a job card).
- ServiceTitan: the most feature-rich dispatch board in the market, but requires training to use efficiently.
Related concepts
- Route optimisation, the algorithm that orders jobs by geography
- Work order, the job record the dispatch board displays
- Field service management, the broader discipline
Further reading
- What is field service software, full category introduction
- Jobber review, dispatch board scoring
- Housecall Pro review, polished dispatch UX