Scheduling is what you did yesterday evening. Dispatching is what you do at ten in the morning when two technicians are running late, a no-cool call has come in from an agreement customer, and a part did not arrive. HVAC dispatching software is the tool that lets one person rebuild the day without a phone in each hand, and the difference between a dispatch app and a calendar is exactly that morning. This page is for the owner or dispatcher of a US HVAC contracting business asking what dispatch software for HVAC has to do and how to judge it.
The board: every truck, every job, right now
The dispatcher needs one screen with every technician's day as a column, each job as a block, and the live status of each block: scheduled, en route, on site, done. Moving a job from one truck to another should be a drag. Judge any HVAC dispatch app on whether that board exists on a tablet and a phone, because dispatchers are not always at a desk.
Priorities dispatch programs for HVAC must know
A no-cool for a family with an infant in July is not the same as a spring tune-up, and the software should know it. Good dispatching software for HVAC lets the dispatcher tag urgency, slide agreement visits a week without losing them, and see which technician is nearest with the right skill and the right parts. Ask to see a heatwave day rebuilt in the demo with the displaced visits rebooked rather than deleted.
The technician's side of HVAC dispatching software
Dispatch fails when the technician does not see the change. The app should push the new job to the technician's phone with the customer, the unit and the reason, and should let the technician mark en route and on site so the board updates itself. A dispatcher who has to text the change and wait for a reply is dispatching by hand with a subscription.
HVAC scheduling and dispatching are two jobs
Scheduling builds the week from agreements, quotes won and calls booked. Dispatching keeps the day alive. Dispatch programs for HVAC that do the first well and the second badly leave the dispatcher with a beautiful plan and a phone that never stops. Test both: build a week, then break a day.
What dispatch software for HVAC costs
Dispatch software is usually part of a broader product priced per user, and the dispatcher's seat is one of them. Jobber lists Core at $49 per month for one user and $29 per month for each additional user; Housecall Pro lists Basic at $79 per month for one user. Count the crew and the office. CoilDesk Pro is $29 per month for the whole business.
Questions people ask about hvac dispatch app
Does a three-truck shop need a HVAC dispatch app?
It needs someone able to rebuild the day quickly. With three trucks that can be a whiteboard and a group text; the app pays for itself when the changes come faster than one person can relay them.
What is the most useful dispatch feature nobody asks for?
The technician's live status updating the board without a phone call. It turns the dispatcher from a switchboard into a planner.
Should dispatching software for HVAC route the trucks?
Nearest-technician suggestions help; full route optimisation matters more for maintenance days than for service days, where the next call decides the route.