Smart Dispatch
Overview
Smart Dispatch is an intelligent technician assignment system built into autoGMS. When you start service on a confirmed booking, Smart Dispatch automatically scores and ranks your available technicians based on their skills, current workload, and vehicle preferences -- then presents the best matches so you can make a fast, informed assignment decision.
Instead of manually scanning through your team roster and guessing who should take the next job, Smart Dispatch does the analysis for you. It evaluates every technician against the specific requirements of the booking and surfaces the strongest candidates at the top of the list.
Why it matters:
- Matches the right technician to the right job based on skill, availability, and preference
- Reduces the guesswork and time spent deciding who to assign
- Balances workload across your team so no one is overloaded or underutilised
- Improves job quality by ensuring technicians are qualified for the work they receive
- Supports multi-technician assignments with automatic role allocation
How Smart Dispatch Works
Smart Dispatch activates automatically when you click Start Service on a confirmed booking from the Bookings page. Here is the sequence of events:
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Pre-inspection check. If your garage requires pre-inspections and one has not been completed for this booking, the system prompts you to complete it first. Smart Dispatch will not appear until the pre-inspection requirement is satisfied.
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Technician Assignment Modal opens. Once any pre-inspection requirement is cleared, the Technician Assignment Modal appears. This is the core interface of Smart Dispatch -- it shows your available technicians ranked by their match score for this specific job.
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You select one or more technicians. Review the recommendations, select the technicians you want to assign, and confirm.
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Booking moves to In-Service. After you confirm your selection, the booking transitions from Confirmed to In-Service. A job card is automatically created, the selected technicians are assigned with their roles, and the booking appears in the In-Service view.
The entire process takes just a few seconds once you are familiar with the interface.
Good to know: You can also skip technician assignment entirely and assign zero technicians. The booking will still move to In-Service. You can always assign technicians later from the Workshop or Job Cards page.
The Technician Assignment Modal
When Smart Dispatch opens, you see a modal dialog with three distinct sections: a booking context card at the top, a technician list on the left, and a selection panel on the right.
Booking Context Card
At the top of the modal, a blue card shows the key details of the booking you are starting service on:
- Customer name -- who the job is for
- Service name -- what type of service is being performed
This helps you confirm you are assigning technicians to the correct booking before making your selection.
Available Technicians List (Left Panel)
The left panel displays all technicians in your garage, sorted by their recommendation score from highest to lowest. Each technician card includes the following information:
Match Score badge. A percentage displayed as a coloured badge:
- Green (80% and above) -- Strong match for this job
- Blue (50% to 79%) -- Moderate match
- Grey (below 50%) -- Weak match
Skill match indicator. Shows how well the technician's proficiency aligns with the service requirements, displayed as a percentage (for example, "85% skill match").
Workload indicator. Shows the technician's current job count versus their maximum capacity (for example, "2/5 jobs"). This tells you at a glance how busy they are.
Availability status badge. One of three states:
- No badge (available) -- The technician has capacity and is ready for a new job
- Scheduled -- The technician has upcoming jobs but is not currently at capacity
- Busy -- The technician is at or near their maximum concurrent job limit
Best Match badge. Technicians who score 80% or higher and are currently available receive a green "Best Match" badge with a star icon. These are your top recommendations.
Current service name. If the technician is already working on a job, the name of their current service is shown so you can see what they are busy with.
Selected Technicians Panel (Right Panel)
The right panel shows the technicians you have selected for this job. As you click technicians in the left panel, they appear here with the following details:
Automatic role assignment. Roles are assigned automatically based on the order of selection:
- The first technician selected is assigned the Primary role (lead technician)
- The second technician is assigned the Secondary role (supporting)
- The third technician and beyond are assigned the Assistant role
Role badges. Each selected technician displays a badge showing their assigned role (Primary, Secondary, or Assistant).
Remove button. Each selected technician has a remove button. When you remove a technician, the remaining technicians' roles are automatically reassigned based on their new order.
Good to know: You do not need to select any technicians at all. If you confirm with zero technicians selected, the booking still moves to In-Service. This is useful when you want to start the job immediately and decide on technician assignments later.
Scoring System
Smart Dispatch uses a weighted scoring algorithm to calculate each technician's match score for a given booking. The score is a weighted combination of three factors.
Scoring Factors
| Factor | Weight | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Skill Match | 50% | How well the technician's proficiency level matches the service's required proficiency |
| Workload Balance | 40% | How much spare capacity the technician has relative to their maximum concurrent jobs |
| Vehicle Preference | 10% | Whether the technician has a stated preference for the vehicle type in the booking |
Skill Match (50% of total score)
The skill match compares the technician's proficiency level in the relevant service category against the proficiency level required by the service.
| Technician Proficiency | Required Proficiency | Skill Score |
|---|---|---|
| Expert | Expert | 100% |
| Expert | Intermediate | 100% |
| Expert | Basic | 100% |
| Intermediate | Intermediate | 100% |
| Intermediate | Basic | 100% |
| Basic | Basic | 100% |
| Intermediate | Expert | 0% |
| Basic | Expert | 0% |
| Basic | Intermediate | 0% |
The key principle is straightforward: a technician who meets or exceeds the required proficiency scores 100%. A technician who falls below the required level scores 0%. Being overqualified is never penalised.
Workload Balance (40% of total score)
The workload score favours technicians who have more spare capacity. It is calculated as a simple ratio of available slots to total capacity.
- A technician with 0 active jobs out of their maximum scores 100%
- A technician at 50% capacity (for example, 2 out of 4 jobs) scores 50%
- A technician at full capacity scores 0% and is effectively unavailable
For example, if a technician has a maximum of 4 concurrent jobs and currently has 1 active job, their workload score is 75% (3 out of 4 slots available).
Vehicle Preference (10% of total score)
This score checks whether the technician has a preference set for the type of vehicle in the booking (sedan, SUV, truck, and so on).
- If the vehicle type matches one of the technician's preferred types, the score is 100%
- If the vehicle type does not match or the technician has no preferences set, the score is 50% (neutral)
Vehicle preference is a lighter factor by design. It provides a small tiebreaker bonus rather than a decisive advantage.
How the Final Score Is Calculated
The final match score is the weighted sum of all three factors:
Final Score = (Skill Match x 0.50) + (Workload Balance x 0.40) + (Vehicle Preference x 0.10)
Example: A technician with Expert-level Maintenance skill, 1 out of 4 active jobs, and a preference for the booking's vehicle type would score:
- Skill Match: 100% x 0.50 = 50 points
- Workload Balance: 75% x 0.40 = 30 points
- Vehicle Preference: 100% x 0.10 = 10 points
- Final Score: 90%
Setting Up Smart Dispatch
Smart Dispatch works out of the box, but the quality of its recommendations depends on how well you configure two things: technician skills and service requirements.
Step 1: Configure Technician Skills
Before Smart Dispatch can make meaningful recommendations, each technician needs a skills profile.
- Go to the Technicians page from your garage sidebar.
- Find the technician you want to configure.
- Click the Skills button (the award icon) next to their name.
- In the Skills Editor dialog, configure the following:
Service skills:
- Select a Service Category from the dropdown (Maintenance, Repair, Inspection, Modification, Customization, Detailing, Emergency, or Other).
- Select a Proficiency Level (Basic, Intermediate, or Expert).
- Click Add. Repeat for each skill the technician has.
Maximum concurrent jobs:
- Use the dropdown at the top of the Skills Editor to set how many jobs this technician can handle at once (1 to 10). The default is 3.
Vehicle preferences (optional):
- At the bottom of the Skills Editor, select the vehicle types this technician prefers or specialises in (Sedan, SUV, Truck, Sports car, Van, Bus, Motorcycle, or Other).
- If no preferences are set, the technician is considered equally available for all vehicle types.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
Good to know: If a technician has no skills configured, Smart Dispatch will still include them in the list but they will receive lower scores because their skill match cannot be evaluated. Setting up skills for every technician ensures the best recommendations.
Step 2: Configure Service Requirements
Each service in your garage can specify what proficiency level is needed to perform it. This is what Smart Dispatch compares against each technician's skills.
- Go to the Services page from your garage sidebar.
- Find the service you want to configure and click Edit.
- Look for the Required Proficiency dropdown.
- Select the appropriate level: Basic, Intermediate, or Expert.
- Save the service.
How to choose the right level:
- Basic -- Routine, straightforward work that any qualified technician can handle (oil changes, tire rotations, basic inspections).
- Intermediate -- Work that requires solid experience and the ability to handle complications (brake repairs, suspension work, diagnostics).
- Expert -- Complex or specialised work that demands deep expertise (engine overhauls, advanced electrical diagnostics, performance tuning).
Good to know: If a service has no required proficiency set, Smart Dispatch will not be able to score technicians on skill match for that service. Setting proficiency requirements on all your services produces the most accurate recommendations.
Using Smart Dispatch
Here is a complete walkthrough of using Smart Dispatch during your daily operations.
Starting Service on a Booking
- Open the Bookings page from your garage sidebar.
- Find a booking with the Confirmed status.
- Click the actions menu on the booking row and select Start Service.
- If a pre-inspection is required and has not been completed, you will be prompted to complete it first. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the pre-inspection.
- The Technician Assignment Modal opens.
Reviewing Recommendations
- Look at the technicians in the left panel. They are sorted by match score, with the highest-scoring technicians at the top.
- Look for the green Best Match badge -- these are technicians with 80% or higher match scores who are currently available.
- Review each candidate's skill match percentage and workload indicator to understand why they scored the way they did.
- Check the availability status to confirm the technician is not already at capacity.
Assigning Technicians
- Click on a technician in the left panel to select them. They move to the right panel and are automatically assigned the Primary role.
- To add a second technician, click another name. They are assigned the Secondary role.
- To add a third or more, continue clicking. Additional technicians are assigned the Assistant role.
- To remove a technician, click the remove button next to their name in the right panel. Roles are automatically reassigned.
- When you are satisfied with your selection, click Confirm (or the equivalent action button at the bottom of the modal).
What Happens After Confirmation
Once you confirm your technician selection:
- The booking status changes from Confirmed to In-Service.
- A job card is automatically created for the booking.
- The selected technicians are assigned to the job with their respective roles (Primary, Secondary, Assistant).
- The Bookings page automatically switches to show the In-Service status filter so you can see the active job.
- A success notification appears confirming the assignment.
The assigned technicians will see the job on their personal dashboards immediately, thanks to real-time updates.
Best Practices
Set up skills before you start dispatching. Take 10 minutes to configure skills for every technician on your team. Smart Dispatch can only make strong recommendations when it has skills data to work with. Without skills, the scores are based solely on workload and vehicle preference.
Set required proficiency on every service. This is the other half of the equation. When both technician skills and service requirements are configured, the 50% skill match factor becomes meaningful and dramatically improves recommendation quality.
Trust the Best Match badge. Technicians with the green Best Match badge have been evaluated across all three scoring factors and come out on top. When you are busy and need to make a quick decision, the Best Match technicians are your safest choice.
Pay attention to the workload indicator. Even if a technician has excellent skills, assigning them a new job when they are already near capacity can slow down all their active work. The workload factor is weighted at 40% for this reason -- Smart Dispatch naturally steers you toward technicians with more availability.
Use multi-technician assignments for complex jobs. For large or time-sensitive jobs, assigning a Primary and a Secondary technician improves throughput and quality. Use the Assistant role for junior staff who are learning on the job.
Review and update skills periodically. As technicians gain experience and complete training, update their proficiency levels in the Skills Editor. A technician who started at Basic and has since handled dozens of jobs independently might now warrant an Intermediate or Expert rating.
Keep concurrent job limits realistic. Setting a technician's maximum concurrent jobs too high defeats the purpose of workload balancing. Be honest about how many jobs each person can effectively manage at once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use Smart Dispatch?
Smart Dispatch appears automatically when you start service on a confirmed booking, but you are not required to follow its recommendations. You can select any technician regardless of their score, or skip the assignment entirely and assign zero technicians.
What happens if I assign zero technicians?
The booking still moves to In-Service and a job card is created. You can assign technicians later from the Workshop page or the job detail view.
Can I assign more than three technicians to a single job?
Yes. The first technician is assigned as Primary, the second as Secondary, and all subsequent technicians are assigned the Assistant role. There is no hard limit on the number of technicians per job.
Why is a technician showing a 0% match score?
This typically means the technician does not have a skill configured for the service category required by this booking, or their proficiency level is below what the service requires. Check the technician's skills in the Skills Editor and the service's required proficiency setting.
Why are all my technicians showing similar scores?
This usually happens when technician skills or service requirements have not been configured. Without skills data, the scoring algorithm relies only on workload balance and vehicle preference, which tend to produce similar results. Configure skills and service proficiency levels to get more differentiated recommendations.
Does Smart Dispatch prevent me from assigning a busy technician?
No. Smart Dispatch shows you the workload information and scores technicians lower when they are busy, but it does not block the assignment. A technician at full capacity will show a "Busy" status badge and a low workload score, but you can still select them if needed.
Does Smart Dispatch consider the technician's current jobs?
Yes. The workload balance factor (40% of the score) directly evaluates how many active jobs a technician has relative to their maximum capacity. Technicians with fewer active jobs score higher.
How often is the technician data refreshed in the modal?
The technician list uses cached data that refreshes every 30 seconds. Recommendation scores are cached for up to 10 minutes. If you need the absolute latest data, close and reopen the modal.
Can I change the technician assignment after starting service?
Yes. You can change the assigned technicians at any time while the booking is In-Service. Go to the job card or booking detail page and update the technician assignment from there.
What if none of my technicians have skills configured?
Smart Dispatch will still work, but the skill match factor will not meaningfully differentiate technicians. Scores will be driven primarily by workload balance and vehicle preference. For the best results, configure skills for your entire team.
Do I need to configure vehicle preferences for every technician?
No. Vehicle preferences are optional and carry only 10% of the total score weight. If a technician has no vehicle preferences set, they receive a neutral score (50%) for that factor rather than being penalised. Configure vehicle preferences only when a technician genuinely specialises in certain vehicle types.
I see "Pre-inspection required" before Smart Dispatch opens. What do I do?
If your organisation has the pre-inspection feature enabled with a "required" policy, every job must have a pre-inspection completed before service can start. Complete the pre-inspection first, and Smart Dispatch will open immediately after.