Dispatch HQ uses AI to power ticket ranking, triage suggestions, and technician matching. To activate it, you will need to review and accept the AI Services Addendum, which governs how your ticket and scheduling data is processed using AI providers to perform that analysis. This includes ticket content such as summaries, types, and statuses, as well as scheduling data such as technician availability.

You will also want to have a general sense of which service boards in your PSA you want Dispatch HQ to manage from, and which ticket statuses map to each stage of your workflow. Having that context ready before you start will make the setup process much smoother.

If you are unsure how your PSA statuses map to each stage, it can help to trace a single ticket manually through your current workflow before configuring these settings. Note what status it starts in, when it gets assigned, what status it moves to when a tech begins working it, and what status it carries when it is waiting on someone else. That mental map translates directly into the fields above.

Who can enable and configure Dispatch HQ?

Only TimeZest users with an Administrator role can enable Dispatch HQ and manage its settings. If you do not see the Dispatch HQ icon in the left navigation menu or cannot access Settings > Dispatch HQ, check with your TimeZest Administrator to confirm your role and permissions.

Enable the Ticket Dispatch toggle on your profile

When Dispatch HQ is first activated on your account, the Ticket Dispatch toggle is turned off for all users by default. Until this toggle is enabled on your profile, the Dispatch HQ icon will not appear in the left navigation menu.

Before proceeding with the steps below, go to your user profile in TimeZest and turn on the Ticket Dispatch toggle. Once enabled, the Dispatch HQ icon will appear in the left navigation menu and you can begin the setup.

Click the Dispatch HQ icon in the left navigation menu. If this is your first time accessing Dispatch HQ, you will land on the Enable AI-powered Dispatch HQ screen rather than the main interface.

Before activating, take a moment to read through the information on this screen. It explains how Dispatch HQ uses AI providers to process your ticket and scheduling data and links to the full AI Services Addendum if you want to review it in detail.

When you are ready, you have two options:

Preview Dispatch HQ — This launches a guided walkthrough of the interface using sample tickets so you can explore what Dispatch HQ looks and feels like before committing. This is a great option if you want to orient yourself or walk a team member through the experience before going live.

Enable Dispatch HQ — To activate, first turn on the toggle labeled Allow Dispatch HQ to process ticket and scheduling data using AI providers, then click the Enable Dispatch HQ button. By enabling Dispatch HQ, you are agreeing to the AI Services Addendum.

Once enabled, you will be taken directly to Account Settings > Dispatch HQ to complete your service board configuration.

On the Dispatch HQ settings page, you will see a prompt indicating that no service boards have been configured yet. Click + Add Service Board to get started.

A modal will appear where you will define how tickets move through this service board inside Dispatch HQ.

Use the Service Board dropdown to select the board from your PSA that you want Dispatch HQ to manage. This should be a board where tickets are actively being created and worked by your team, such as your general support board.

After selecting a service board, choose how tickets will be handled once triage is complete.

All ticket stages stay on the board you selected. Tickets flow through triage and dispatch entirely within this board.

After triage is complete, tickets are sent to other boards for dispatch. Use this if your team triages tickets on one board and dispatches them from another.

Two toggles will appear after you select a service board: Enable Triage and Enable Dispatch. These control which stages of the Dispatch HQ workflow are active for this board.

You can enable one or both depending on how you want to use Dispatch HQ with this board. Here is what each one does:

Enable Triage — Activates tickets from this service board to appear in the Triage tab of Dispatch HQ. Newly created tickets that match the statuses you define will appear here for a dispatcher to review and classify before they move into the dispatch queue.

Enable Dispatch — Activates tickets from this service board to appear in the Unassigned tab of Dispatch HQ. Tickets that have been triaged and are ready to be worked will flow into the dispatch workflow.

If you want the full end-to-end Dispatch HQ experience on this board, enable both.

If you enabled the Enable Triage toggle, the Triage Settings section will appear.

Use this dropdown to select the ticket statuses from your PSA that represent brand new, unreviewed tickets. When a ticket on this board enters one of these statuses, it will appear in the Triage tab for your dispatcher to review.

How to think about this: Ask yourself, "What status does a ticket have the moment it comes in before anyone has touched it?" Common examples include statuses like New, Open, or Awaiting Triage. Those are the statuses that belong here.

At least one triage status is required to save the configuration.

If you enabled the Enable Ticket Dispatch toggle, three configuration sections will appear: Unassigned Settings, Assigned Settings, and Exclusions. Work through each one carefully, as these statuses define how tickets move through the rest of the Dispatch HQ workflow.

Unassigned Statuses (Required)

Select the statuses that represent tickets that have been triaged and are ready to be worked but do not yet have a technician assigned to them. Tickets in these statuses will appear in the Unassigned tab, where they will be ranked by the system and made available for technicians to pull.

How to think about this: These are tickets that have cleared triage and are sitting in a "ready and waiting" state. Common examples include statuses like Waiting Assignment, Ready to Dispatch, or Triaged. They are no longer brand new, but they have not been picked up yet.

At least one unassigned status is required.

In Progress Status (Required)

This is a single-select field. Choose the one status in your PSA that means a technician is actively working on a ticket. When a technician pulls a ticket from the Unassigned tab, Dispatch HQ will automatically update the ticket's status to whatever you select here.

How to think about this: This is the status that signals work has started. Common examples include In Progress, Active, or Being Worked. Choosing the right status here ensures your PSA data stays accurate and your team can trust that a ticket showing this status has genuinely been picked up by someone.

These two settings define statuses that Dispatch HQ should be aware of but treat differently from active work.

Pending Statuses (Optional)

Select any statuses that represent a ticket that is temporarily on hold or waiting for someone outside the tech team, such as waiting on a client response, a vendor, or a third-party approval. Tickets in these statuses will appear in the technician's Not Actionable Right Now section and will be hidden from the active working view until their status changes.

How to think about this: These are the "it's out of my hands right now" statuses. The ticket still belongs to the tech, but there is nothing they can do with it until something external happens. Common examples include Waiting on Client, Pending Vendor, or On Hold.

This field is optional, but configuring it keeps your technicians' active work views clean and focused only on what they can actually act on right now.

Completed Statuses (Required)

Select the statuses that represent tickets that have been fully resolved and closed. Tickets in these statuses will be removed from Dispatch HQ entirely and will not appear anywhere in the interface.

How to think about this: These are the "done" statuses. Once a ticket reaches one of these statuses, Dispatch HQ no longer needs to track it. Common examples include Closed or Resolved.

At least one completed status is required.

Once you have configured all required fields, click Add Service Board to save. Your board is now active in Dispatch HQ, and tickets will begin flowing through based on the statuses you defined.

If your team operates across multiple service boards, click + Add Service Board again and repeat the process for each additional board. Each board can be configured independently, so different boards can have different triage and dispatch settings to match how your team actually operates.

The most common setup challenge is selecting the wrong statuses, either too broadly or too narrowly. If Dispatch HQ does not seem to be pulling in the tickets you expect, the first place to check is your status configuration in these settings. You can update your service board configuration at any time by returning to Settings > Dispatch HQ.