An automated dispatch system cuts down on the errors, slowness, and dependence that comes from using traditional dispatch methods.
In this post, we'll explain everything about our automated dispatch system at Tap for Service, how it works, its key features, and its benefits.
Automated Dispatch System Explained
An automated dispatch system automatically imports orders in real time from your business website and gets them ready for dispatch.
At Tap for Service, our automated dispatch system is built to streamline logistics operations and reduce the time spent manually assigning orders.
Traditional dispatch systems required using pen, paper, or spreadsheets to assign dispatch orders to drivers.
With the increasing demand for same-day or two-day deliveries from customers, this traditional method won't cut it anymore.
Businesses now have to find a way to improve customer experience by automating the entire dispatching process and shortening delivery time.
A report by Businesswire revealed that 85% of marketers say delivery is important to their customer experience.
Customer expectations are at an all-time high as buyers now look beyond the price and goods they're receiving to the brand experience they're getting.
And a good part of customer experience is receiving all dispatched goods on record time.
That's where an automated dispatch system comes in.
Regular dispatching involves manually assigning goods for delivery to drivers, while an automated dispatch system automatically dispatches orders and creates a central interface to manage the movement of goods, drivers, and the best possible routes in real time.
Aside from optimizing the dispatch processes, this system drastically reduces the operational costs of dispatching.
Before now, dispatch drivers are prone to running into unexpected traffic and places with unfriendly weather conditions, prolonging the delivery time.
With the arrival of an automated dispatch system, route planning based on the shortest possible time it takes to reach a destination is possible.
Drivers can foresee roadblocks on their way using the automated route planning feature on dispatch software to deliver goods to customers quickly.
Businesses have now found a way to seamlessly integrate automated dispatch software into their processes and satisfy the new craving for faster deliveries by customers.
How Automated Dispatch System Works
Our automated dispatch system at Tap for Service automatically pulls orders from your business and assigns them to providers.
The good thing about Tap for Service is that it lets you decide how orders get routed to providers, and you can choose to determine how these orders get routed by using round-robin, random, or distance-based scheduling.
It frees you from the job of manually assigning orders to providers, as time can quickly add up that way.
Immediately an order gets ready for dispatching, Tap for Service sends an automated SMS text to providers, alerting them of the new orders.
The text message contains details about the order and has a link for providers to accept or decline the dispatch.
Tap for Service allows you to set a time range for quiet hours, like nighttime, so you won't get a text notification while you sleep.
Orders won't alert or disturb providers that set up quiet hours in Tap for Service.
When providers accept an order, they immediately set out on delivery.
From your Tap for Service dashboard, you can view all aspects of the dispatching like the route planning, and location of the provider's vehicle, and you can manually intervene if needed.
You get to control the entire dispatching process from one central location without lifting a finger to manually work it out.
If your client would like a particular provider to dispatch their order, Tap for Service allows them to request for the specific provider to handle the current order and all future orders.
Otherwise, orders will get evenly routed to different providers based on real-time availability and skillset.
Tap for Service uses software logic and sound machine learning to automatically route orders to providers immediately after they're created, organize the vehicle fleet of providers, and determine the optimal routes for fast deliveries as you monitor the entire dispatching process from your dashboard and make some adjustments when necessary.
Key Features of An Automated Dispatch System
Tap for Service offers the following features for its automated dispatch system.
1. Companies decide how incoming orders get routed to providers
Tap for Service offers the flexibility of modifying how orders get assigned to providers for dispatching.
You can choose from three types of dispatch scheduling options -- round-robin, random, and distance-based scheduling.
Round-robin scheduling automatically assigns orders in a circular pattern from one provider to the next at a time.
Random scheduling routes orders to any provider without a specific pattern. Orders are assigned randomly to any available provider.
Distance-based scheduling routes an order to a provider that is nearest to the delivery destination.
Any of these order scheduling options can be selected to optimize your dispatch process.
2. Orders ready for dispatching trigger automatic text messages to providers
Be rest assured that your providers will be instantly alerted the minute an order is ready for dispatch on Tap for Service.
SMS texts are configured to go out immediately after it's time for an order to be delivered.
This efficiently cuts out the time taken before you're aware that an order is ready and you manually reach out to a provider.
By using an automated dispatch system like Tap for Service, the provider kickstarts the dispatch process as soon as the text message is received, even before you're aware.
3. SMS text contains basic order details with a link to accept or decline orders
The text message providers receive has basic details about the order such as the description, pickup location, and others.
This reduces the back-and-forth calls between you and a provider, smoothening the dispatch process and shortening the turnaround time.
There's also a link contained in the text message for the provider to either accept or decline the dispatch of the order.
4. Set a time range to avoid text notifications while you sleep
At times when you or providers wouldn't like to be disturbed by text messages, Tap for Service lets you set "quiet hours" -- a time range where the dispatch software wouldn't notify you with SMS text.
Your quiet hours could be at the night or at specific hours during the day when you'd rather not be disturbed.
5. View all aspects of dispatching and intervene when needed
Tap for Service allows you to monitor every part of the dispatching process, the upcoming deliveries, and the deliveries in progress.
You can adjust the dispatch settings to make the overall process better for your business.
It also allows you to manually intervene in case your provider encounters an emergency or your customer has special needs concerning the delivery.
6. Request specific logistics providers for your dispatch orders
Over time, your customers will come to know and like certain providers and prefer them over others.
Tap for Service makes it possible for your customers to request specific providers for the delivery of their orders.
An administrator at Tap for Service can also assign a provider to a client if the need arises.
When a client chooses a particular logistics provider, the client skips the dispatching process and all future orders will be assigned to those providers.
Benefits of Automated Dispatch Systems
- Scale your business without manual work
With the automated dispatch feature on Tap for Service, thousands of orders can be dispatched every day without you lifting a finger.
This results in a drastic drop in late deliveries, increased capacity of your business to handle orders on a massive scale, enhanced utilization of the fleets and fuel usage due to automated route planning, and an improved customer experience.
- Evenly distribute jobs across your provider workforce
Dispatch orders are equally distributed to all providers to keep things fair.
All providers under your workforce are sure to take turns in getting assigned delivery of goods. The onboarding of new drivers as your business grows into Tap for Service is relatively easy.
- Rapid turnaround time
Better coordination of providers, route planning, and dispatch of orders speeds up the time it takes to deliver goods to customers.
Tap for Service skyrockets the customer experience and adequately manages their expectations as they'll be alerted of upcoming delays in the arrival of their deliveries.
The end result of using automated dispatch software is that customers get their goods earlier than they would if traditional dispatching methods were used.
- Control and update dispatch settings to optimize them for your business
From a central dashboard, you can control how everything works at Tap for Service. The settings can be updated and tweaked till your business processes are optimized.
You can manage the fleet of vehicles for dispatching, your providers, order progress, and view the routes, all in one place.
Schedule Automated Dispatching with Tap for Service
Assign new dispatch orders automatically using Tap for Service and have your service providers get alerted instantly via SMS texts.
With a single-day dispatch map on Tap for Service, you can be sure of same-day deliveries for your clients.
You can request a demo of Tap for Service today.
