> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.homespace.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Schedule and dispatch your crew with one board

> Drag jobs onto crew lanes, let Homespace optimize routes for shortest drive time, and watch every truck in real time — no whiteboard or group chat needed.

Homespace's dispatch board is built for teams that manage multiple crews across multiple stops each day. Drag a job onto a crew lane and the board checks for skill matches, time-window conflicts, and drive time before you commit. Route optimization reorders each crew's day automatically. Businesses using Homespace Schedule run an average of **1.8 more jobs per crew per day** and see a **41% reduction in customer no-shows**.

Go to **Dashboard > Calendar** to access the scheduling board.

## The dispatch board

The default view is the **Day board** — crew lanes across the top, time slots down the side, and draggable job pills filling the grid. Each job pill shows the job status (color-coded), estimated duration (pill length), and badges for any required parts or special skills.

### Views available

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Day board" icon="layout-grid">
    Crew lanes by time slot. The default view for daily dispatch. Drag jobs between crews or time slots without leaving the board.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Map view" icon="map">
    All crews, all stops, and live truck positions on a single map. Useful for real-time monitoring and rerouting mid-day.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Week board" icon="calendar-days">
    Seven-day capacity at a glance. Identify open slots before selling more work than you can deliver.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Route mode" icon="route">
    Optimize one crew's full day route. Reorder stops for shortest total drive time with a single tap, or override manually.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Capacity forecast" icon="bar-chart">
    See 14 days of crew load by trade and crew size. Use this before quoting large jobs to confirm you have the capacity to deliver.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Recurring planner" icon="refresh-cw">
    View and manage tune-up cadences 12 months out. Adjust individual visits by dragging without affecting the rest of the cadence.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Assigning jobs to crews

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the day board">
    Go to **Dashboard > Calendar**. The current day loads by default. Use the date picker at the top to navigate to any day.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Find the job to assign">
    Unscheduled jobs appear in the **Unscheduled** panel on the left side of the board. Jobs created from signed estimates appear here automatically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Drag the job onto a crew lane">
    Pick up the job card and drag it onto a crew lane at the appropriate time slot. As you drag, the board shows:

    * A green highlight if the assignment is valid
    * A yellow highlight if there's a soft conflict (tight timing, long drive)
    * A red highlight if there's a hard conflict (skill mismatch, time-window violation, missing parts)

    Release to confirm the assignment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Route optimization runs automatically">
    After you assign a job, the crew's route reorders for shortest total drive time. If you prefer to override the optimized order, drag the stops into your preferred sequence — the rest of the route adjusts around your change.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Route optimization

Each crew's day automatically reorders for the shortest total drive time whenever you add, move, or remove a job. You can:

* **Lock a stop** — pin a job to a specific time slot so the optimizer works around it
* **Override the full route** — drag stops into any order; the optimizer recalculates drive times between your stops
* **Apply route mode** — switch to Route mode for a map-based view where you drag stops directly on the map

<Tip>
  Lock the first and last stops of the day (yard start and yard return) to keep the optimizer from routing your crew across town at the end of their shift.
</Tip>

## Live crew GPS

Switch to **Map view** to see every truck's current position, updated every 30 seconds. For each crew you can see:

* Current location
* Current job (in progress or en route)
* Estimated arrival at the next stop, calculated from live position
* Whether they're running ahead of or behind schedule

Live GPS data also powers the customer-facing "on the way" notification — the ETA in the text is pulled from the truck's actual position, not an estimate from dispatch.

## Customer reminders

Homespace sends automatic text messages to customers at three points:

| Trigger           | Message                                                                                                     |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Job confirmed** | "Your appointment with \[Business Name] is confirmed for \[date] between \[window]. Reply STOP to opt out." |
| **Crew en route** | "Your tech is on the way and should arrive in \[N] minutes." (ETA from live GPS)                            |
| **Crew arrived**  | "Your tech has arrived. Have questions? Reply to this message."                                             |

Replies to any of these messages route directly into **Dashboard > Inbox** as a Capture conversation, so your team can respond without switching apps.

To enable or customize reminder messages, go to **Settings > Notifications > Customer reminders**.

## Recurring jobs

For services that repeat on a fixed schedule — weekly pool cleaning, monthly HVAC maintenance, quarterly gutter clearing — set a cadence once and Homespace books the next 12 months automatically.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the job or estimate">
    From any job or signed estimate, click **Make recurring**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the cadence">
    Choose the frequency: weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, or a custom interval. Set a preferred day and time window.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign a crew (optional)">
    Assign the recurring series to a specific crew member so the same tech shows up every visit. Customers appreciate consistency.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm and save">
    Homespace generates all future jobs up to 12 months out and places them on the dispatch board. Each visit appears as an individual job you can edit, reschedule, or cancel without affecting the rest of the series.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Recurring jobs created from a signed estimate automatically carry the accepted tier's line items and pricing into each future visit. If you update the price book, recurring jobs retain the original pricing unless you explicitly apply the update to the series.
</Note>

## Conflict detection

The board flags problems before you assign a job, not after the crew is already on the road.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Skill mismatch">
    If a job requires a certification or skill (licensed electrician, CPO certified, etc.) that the assigned crew member doesn't have, the board flags it in red before you confirm. Set crew skills from **Settings > Team > \[Member] > Skills**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Time-window violation">
    If a customer requested a specific arrival window and the proposed schedule would miss it, the board highlights the conflict. You can override and notify the customer, or find an open crew slot that fits the window.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Missing parts">
    If a job's materials list includes parts that are not in inventory, the board shows a parts badge on the job pill. Dispatch can flag the job to the office before the crew leaves so parts can be ordered or staged.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Back-to-back timing">
    If drive time between two consecutive stops makes the second arrival time unrealistic, the board shows a yellow soft-conflict indicator. You can override it or reorder the route to create more buffer.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Capacity forecast

Before you sell more work, check the **Capacity forecast** view to see your crew load for the next 14 days. The forecast shows:

* Total scheduled hours per crew per day
* Open capacity (hours available minus scheduled hours)
* Load by trade, so you can see if your HVAC techs are full while your plumbers have open slots

Use this view to make smarter commitments when customers ask for a specific day, and to identify gaps in the schedule where you can fit additional work or run promotions.