Manual dispatching can be performed in many ways. In Dispatch Science, three different boards are available to meet a wide variety of business requirements and manual dispatching styles and preferences: Map-based, Card-based and Grid-based. This user guide covers the Grid-Based manual dispatch board. 

Definition

The release notes refer to different sections of the application:

Back Office: Where Customer Service Representatives (CSR) create and edit orders, create accounts, review drivers, etc.

Dispatch Board: Where Dispatchers assign orders to drivers, get notifications for invalid orders, etc.

Auto-Dispatch: This section refers to the automated order assignment setup and its process.

Administration: This section is in the Back Office but refers to sections only an administrator will use like Settings and Pricing.

Customer Portal: Where account users log in to create orders, view their order history, enter a credit card, etc.

Tracking site: Where customers enter a tracking number like the order ID or a reference number to view the status of their order.

Account API: API provided to your accounts to create, update and get orders. For documentation, please follow this link:https://api.dispatchscience.com/
Tenant API: API provided to you to create orders for your accounts, retrieve invoices and change invoice status. For documentation, please follow this link: https://api.dispatchscience.com/  

Dispatch Board

Grid-Based Dispatch Board 

Analytical personalities and spreadsheet aficionados will appreciate the Dispatch Science Grid-Based dispatch board. This board offers sophisticated sorting and filtering capabilities plus several visual cues associated with each order or driver. Because it is not map-based, the filtering and sorting capabilities make it a particularly productive tool in the hands of experienced dispatchers who know their territory or their fleet.  With this tool, dragging multi-selected sets of orders on the left side of the screen to match them with drivers on the right side is easy.

Interface Overview

The Interface is split in two: Orders are listed on the left panel while drivers are listed on the right panel. The application supports multiple Boards for each on the same account. Users can navigate between different grids by selecting them on the left side of the screen. A search filter and numerous other filters and grid column editing options are available at the top of the screen.

Setup

To setup a new grid-based dispatch board, first click on the Dispatch icon then click on the Boards icon.

Click on the + sign at the top left of the screen. This will launch a dialog box from where you can choose the type of dispatch board you wish to build:

Give your Board a title and select Grid as your Board Type, then click on the Create button.

The board tab will show on the left hand side and the new board will appear on screen.

Navigation

The application supports any number of Card and Grid boards on the same account. Users can navigate between different boards by selecting them on the left side of the screen.* A search filter and other filters are available on the top of the Grid. Any changes applied to an order or a dispatch instruction on one board will be reflected on all the other boards in real-time. 

*Use the mouse scroll wheel to navigate to your desired board if there are more boards than the screen can show. 

Hovering on any order on the left pane will trigger a contextual popup information window that provides details about the order, including Order number, Driver Name if dispatched, Account name, Caller name, Phone number, and more.

Order Icons

Delivery service level. Different colors distinguish different service levels
Driver. Identifies the driver by color, if assigned. Icon is blue if no driver is assigned
Driver status. Identifies that the order has been dispatched to a driver
Order number. By default, clicking on the order number opens a panel that slides in from the right side of the screen. The panel contains all details about the order as well as a breadcrumb history of everything that has happened with it
Edit order. Clicking on the edit order icon launches the Order Details window where the order can be edited
Vehicle type. Identifies the type of vehicle assigned to the order
Attribute. Identifies any special attributes assigned to the order. If more than one attribute is assigned, the icon will be black and followed with a +x sign indicating the number of special attributes. Hovering on the icon will provide details about the special attribute(s) assigned to the order.
Delivery status: BLUE: Not late and hours left before due time, RED: Late and hours past due.
Order status. Identifies if the order has been Received (RC) Picked-up (PP), Dispatched (DP), On Hold (HL), Delivered (DD) or Cancelled (CX)

Driver Icons

Driver
Driver status: Red=Off Duty, Green=On Duty
Driver name and number (if assigned).

Clicking on the driver name opens a panel that slides in from the right and provides details about the driver's deliveries for the day, including a general overview, current status, total orders, earnings summary, dispatch notes, order list and stop list:

In Overview, click on the  icon to toggle between showing numbers of orders and their commission dollar value.

In Order list, click on an order to bring up order details. Clicking on the > at the top left of the panel brings back the order list.

In Order list, click on the  icon to toggle between a regular view of the order and a compressed view.

In Order list, click on the  icon to launch a popup to dispatch, unassign or set an order at a checkpoint:

In Stop list, click on an order to bring up order details. Click on the > at the top left of the panel bring to back the stop list.

Searching for Orders or Drivers

To search for specific orders, click on the search icon at the top of both Order and Driver panels:

Start typing an order number, driver name, address or any kind of information. After the 2nd letter or number is typed, items that do not match the term being written will be removed from the panel and only orders or drivers that contain matching data will be displayed:

Click on the X on the right side of the search icon to remove the search filter.

Configuring the Grid Board

Users can configure each grid to suit their requirements and facilitate navigation and dispatching. To configure a grid:

1) Click on the  icon below the grid name:

This will launch the Board Settings panel that will slide in from the right side of the screen:

2) Edit the board Title and Description.

3) Setup filtering on Drivers by Zones, by Attributes, or by Vehicle Types. For instance, click on Attributes and check the Attributes for which your board will display Drivers:

Drivers that do not support those Attributes will not be visible on the board.

4) Check or Uncheck Exclude Offline Drivers. If you choose to Exclude offline drivers, these will not appear on the board.

5) Set up filters on Orders by Zones, by Attributes, by Accounts, or by Vehicle Types. Apply the same filter functions as in step 5.

6) Click Apply or Cancel at the top of the panel.

To delete a Board, click on Delete Board at the bottom right of the Board Settings panel.

Users can also adjust the width of their panels by dragging the center line to the right or left:

The Order and Driver panels are also configurable.

For Orders:

Click on the Status box to filter by order status
Click on the Calendar icon to filter by date:
Click on the Columns icon to select the columns you want to see on screen
Click on the Funnel icon next to each column title to apply an additional filter:
Select a Column title, then drag & drop it to change its order in the grid:
click the Reset Grid icon to revert to the original panel layout.

Similar filters and column editing capabilities are available on the Driver panel.

Dispatching Orders

Dispatching orders is a simple multi-select, then drag & drop process:

1) Multi-select orders by pressing the Ctrl+ key and clicking on the orders you want to assign to a driver:

2) Drag & drop the orders on to a driver:

3) Continue selecting and dragging orders over to drivers until all your dispatching is up to date.

Ability to Select Date Range in Dispatching Boards

You can filter and search orders on Dispatch Boards using a date range.

This feature is available for all “View By” options, as defined below:

• Open : All orders where the pickup window or delivery window falls into the date range in any status other than delivered and cancelled.
• Received : All orders that are in Received status with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Unassigned : All orders that are in received or picked up status with no driver with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Dispatched : All orders in dispatch status with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range 
• Assigned: All orders in assigned status with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Picked Up : All orders that are picked up with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Delivered : All orders delivered for a date within the date range
• All : All orders that are opened with a pickup or delivery window that falls within the date range, the delivered order within that date range, the cancelled order within that date range
• At Risk : All orders marked at right with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Late : All orders that are late with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Late or At Risk : At risk and late with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Held : All orders that are on Hold with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Invalid : All invalid orders with a pickup or delivery window that falls into the date range
• Cancelled: All orders cancelled within that date range

Route Icon Added to Driver Details

In the Dispatching Grid Boards, the route icon has now been added to those orders among the drivers’ orders which are of type Routed. The icon is for information purposes.

Ability to Modify Windows when Releasing from Hold on Reattempt

When releasing an order from hold in the dispatching board for reattempt, there is an option to modify the windows directly from the reattempt pop-up, by selecting the “Calculate windows with Reattempt Service Level” checkbox.

Once selected, the checkbox opens a “New Ready At” field, permitting the user to update the ready at time, which will then coordinate pickup and delivery windows to the reattempt service level in question. 

The change to these windows is documented in the history of the order.

Warning Message Pops Up When Optimizing a Dispatch Route

A warning popup will now display when a user attempts to optimize a route which has already been allocated to a driver.

Navigation Overlay Remains When Inactive

The navigation overlay pane, with the different navigation icons, now remains active even when the user has been inactive, allowing the user to navigate freely even once inactive.