This guide is for Administrators rolling out Dispatch HQ to their team. It covers what to confirm before go-live, what to communicate to your dispatchers and technicians, and what to watch for in the first week.
Note: Dispatch HQ is available as Triage only, Ticket Dispatch only, or both modules together. Some sections of this guide may not apply depending on which modules your organization has enabled.
For step-by-step configuration instructions, see Dispatch HQ Setup.
In this guide:
What Needs to Be in Place
Before your team's first day in Dispatch HQ, confirm the following:
Dispatch HQ is enabled, and the AI Services Addendum has been accepted
At least one service board is configured with Triage and/or Dispatch enabled
Triage statuses, Unassigned statuses, In Progress status, Pending statuses, and Completed statuses are all mapped correctly to your PSA
ConnectWise users: the API user's security role has Agreements > Inquire Level set to All
All dispatchers and technicians have active licensed Ticket Dispatch profiles in TimeZest
If any of these aren't done, complete Dispatch HQ Setup before rolling out to the team.
What Your Dispatcher Should Know
Share the Dispatcher Guide with anyone who will be managing triage and dispatch. Key things to set expectations on:
Nothing reaches technicians without going through Triage first. Unconfirmed tickets don't move. Triage needs regular attention throughout the day, not just once in the morning.
Review AI suggestions; don't just rubber-stamp them. The AI learns from the changes dispatchers make to its suggestions. Every correction improves accuracy over time.
Get priority right above everything else. Priority drives the ranking in the Unassigned queue. A wrong priority means the wrong ticket gets pulled first, which is how SLAs get missed.
Check the technician suggestions, not just the classification. The AI matches on skill, but dispatchers know things the system doesn't — who has the client relationship, who just got certified, who's already on a call with that company.
The system ranks the Unassigned queue automatically. Dispatchers step in when they have context the AI doesn't.
Stay consistent as a team. AI triage creates standardization only when overrides are consistent. Agree on standards before go-live.
What Your Technicians Should Know
Share the Technician Guide with your tech team. Key things to set expectations on:
They won't see the full ticket queue. That's intentional.
When they're ready for a new ticket, they click Grab Next Ticket. The system picks the best match. They confirm and work it.
They don't browse or choose. This is the change that matters most for adoption.
Tickets waiting on a client or approval will move out of their active view automatically.
What to Expect in the First Week
Day 1: The dispatcher's most important job is to review the AI's suggestions intentionally, not just confirm them. Check that tickets are being categorized correctly and that the technicians surfaced as best matches are actually the right people for that work. The AI learns from the changes your dispatcher makes, so early corrections are what calibrate it to your team.
Days 1-3: Technicians will need reminders to use Grab Next Ticket instead of their old workflow. The habit takes a few days to stick. Check in with the team and reinforce it.
End of week 1: Check that the Triage queue is being cleared regularly and that techs are pulling tickets through Dispatch HQ. If tickets are piling up or techs are going around the system, it's usually a status configuration issue or a habit that hasn't formed yet.