Whether you are a small business owner or the manager of a large fleet of vehicles, having an efficient dispatching system is essential in boosting productivity and profits. For this reason, more fleet managers are choosing to switch to an automated dispatching system, as this can help reduce human errors, minimize delays, and streamline the entire dispatching process to maximize efficiency.
Regardless of the size of your fleet, choosing the right automated dispatching system is essential to ensuring you are able to maximize productivity. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, you may wondering what exactly automated dispatching software does and why you should consider investing in these systems. Keep reading as we take an in-depth look at automated dispatch systems and the benefits they could bring to your company.
Understanding Automated Dispatch Systems
At this point, you may find yourself asking “What is an automated dispatch system?” Dispatch management involves assigning drivers and vehicles for effective deliveries or service calls. Traditionally, this process was handled manually and involved complicated spreadsheets to effectively manage vehicles and personnel, which was a time-consuming and costly process.
Automated dispatch software is designed to help dispatchers and fleet managers better control their delivery vehicles, field agents, or technicians by automating and streamlining the dispatching process. This software does the hard work for you, using data to automatically create schedules and track goods/personnel, which saves time and reduces labor costs. Within a single integrated system, dispatchers can schedule, reschedule, and monitor their workforce with just a few clicks of their mouse, greatly simplifying what was once a complicated, time-consuming process.
Why Are These Systems Important?
Automated dispatch systems are no longer a luxury only used by companies with large fleets; they are necessary for businesses of all sizes. The fact of the matter is that dispatch software can help reduce dispatching times, which in turn boosts your productivity and reduces operating costs. Additionally, improved dispatching means accelerated delivery times (or response times for service businesses), which can enhance the quality of service you provide, thus increasing customer satisfaction.
Nowadays, customer service quality is one of the biggest factors customers consider when choosing who to do business with, with 96% of respondents to a Microsoft survey stating that customer service is a critical differentiator when deciding between brands. Leveraging advancements in automated dispatching is then essential for companies looking to stay ahead of the competition and maintain customer loyalty.
Core Functions and Features of Automated Dispatch Software
While automated dispatching systems have revolutionized the way many companies manage their fleets, you must take your time when choosing dispatching software for your business. The right software can help you to provide shorter delivery times, increase driver productivity, and gain enhanced visibility into fleet operations. However, not all dispatch software is created equal, and you don’t want to choose software that doesn’t have the functions and features you need to keep up with the competition. To ensure that you experience all of the benefits that automated dispatching can provide, look out for the following key features:
Centralized Dispatching
For optimal automated route planning and dispatching, the dispatching center needs access to real-time data on driver positioning and availability from a centralized location. While many businesses run large fleets spread across multiple areas, centralized dispatching is essential to manage resources efficiently. This makes it important that your dispatching solution provides centralized driver data. Centralized dispatching streamlines operations by allowing fleet managers to monitor each driver’s progress and provide enhanced routing and updated assignment information from a single location to maximize productivity.
Route Optimization
Any good dispatching software will include automated route planning and optimization. This helps reduce costs by maximizing the number of stops on a route while also taking into consideration customer preferences and delivery windows. While route planning can be a complicated process when done manually, your dispatching software can come up with the best route plan that saves time and money while boosting productivity.
Performance Analysis
A quality automated dispatch system should also capture real-time data on deliveries including the number of deliveries completed in a day, how long deliveries took, as well as customer ratings/reviews. It can then monitor the performance of drivers based on this information, helping fleet managers provide data-driven feedback to their teams.
Real-Time Notifications for Customers
Automated dispatch software should provide real-time visibility at all stages of the delivery process to increase customer satisfaction. This makes it important that you look for software that provides automatic notifications that inform the customer where their driver is and lets them know when they will arrive. The fact is that traffic jams, vehicle breakdowns, and other circumstances can delay deliveries, but notifications can increase customer satisfaction by ensuring that they don’t feel left in the dark when their driver is late.
Proof of Delivery
You should also look for dispatch software that provides electronic proof of delivery. Once a customer has received an order, they can sign for the delivery digitally and their signature can be captured by the dispatch software to complete the delivery process. This feature not only helps companies better track deliveries, but it can also help prevent disputes by providing proof that a customer received their shipment.
Provides a Reliable Communication Channel
Seamless communication between drivers and fleet managers is essential for successful dispatching. This means that no dispatch software is complete without a mobile app that gives drivers and dispatchers a proper two-way communication channel. With a built-in communication tool, drivers can update dispatch if there is traffic, and drivers can be updated if there is a schedule change, maximizing efficiency.
Industries That Benefit From Automated Dispatch Systems
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as much as 60% of a company’s budget can go toward their fleet’s fuel expenses. It is then no wonder why so many fleet managers are looking for ways to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs. While many industries can benefit from the enhanced efficiency automated dispatching systems provide, here are just a few examples of industries that can benefit greatly from this software:
Courier Services
In the era of one-day shipping, automated dispatch management has become an essential tool for courier services. Courier dispatch software can help keep customers updated on their parcels, provide delivery confirmations, and help fleet managers allocate deliveries across their fleet. Automatic dispatching software can then prove vital in helping courier services provide timely and reliable deliveries to their customers.
Truck Dispatching
The transportation of freight across cities and states is essential to the success of our country’s economy. Yet, managing so many vehicles across such great distances can pose numerous logistical challenges for fleet managers. Successful truck dispatching requires substantial coordination and communication among drivers, dispatchers, and customers. Fortunately, automated dispatching software can help streamline the process of managing trucks across the country. This software can help dispatchers communicate with their drivers, track vehicles to their destinations, and provide alternate routing to prevent delays due to construction or uncertain weather conditions.
Food Delivery
Time is of the essence for food delivery services, as customers want their food delivered quickly and still hot. This can be challenging for food delivery services, particularly during times of high volume. Automated dispatch software can then be critical in helping these companies succeed. The right route planning and dispatching software can help these services manage orders more efficiently and plan multi-stop routes that will help drivers maximize productivity while still getting orders to customers on time.
Field Personnel
Companies that offer onsite services such as inspections, repairs, and product installations often have to overcome many challenges when managing customer appointments. The scheduling team will not only have to account for the different lengths of time that different appointments can take when scheduling customers, but they will also have to factor in drive time, and the different expertise levels of their field technicians. Fortunately, the right dispatch software can help these businesses by creating schedules that take all of these factors into consideration. The software will use historical service data and driver skill information to create the best schedule that will maximize productivity and reduce the chaos that can surround scheduling service appointments.
Advantages of Automated Dispatch Systems
If you are still uncertain whether switching from legacy dispatching to automated dispatch software is the right move for your company, here is a look at just a few of the many benefits these systems can provide:
Increased Productivity
Automated dispatching and scheduling saves a lot of time and effort, allowing your team to refocus their efforts on more important tasks. This software can also provide continual route updates to ensure maximum efficiency. These systems can then help boost productivity and improve delivery/response times.
Efficient Route Planning
Route planning is essential in helping your drivers meet deadlines, reduce fuel costs, and maximize productivity. Dispatch software enables efficient multi-stop route planning by taking into consideration factors like driver availability, delivery addresses, and shipment volumes. This automation helps maximize productivity by ensuring driver routes and schedules are optimized.
Real-Time Tracking and Monitoring
Dispatch software can also enhance the visibility of your drivers and fleet with real-time asset tracking. Automation tools like GPS tracking allow you to see where your vehicles are at all times and receive automated updates when drivers make deliveries or arrive at service calls. No longer will you have to interrupt drivers for updates, as you can see real-time data at the touch of a button.
Reduction in Human Error
One of the biggest weaknesses of manual dispatching is the risk of human errors such as double-booking drivers or under-booking a truck given its capacity. Such mistakes can be costly lead to delays, wasted resources, and frustrated customers. Fortunately, dispatch software reduces the risk of mistakes by streamlining and automating the dispatching process, which can save money and improve efficiency.
Reduced Operational Costs
Dispatch software can also help you control and even reduce the costs associated with managing your fleet. Not only can route optimization boost productivity and capacity, but it can also help curb rising fuel costs. Automated dispatching can also reduce administrative expenses as not as many man hours will be needed to handle dispatching, contributing to a more cost-effective operation.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Additionally, automated dispatching systems can improve customer satisfaction by keeping customers informed about their driver’s location. The fact is that customers like being kept updated on their delivery or service call, and they are less likely to become frustrated by delays if they are kept updated. Your automated dispatching software can help keep customers informed by letting them know when their product/technician should arrive and by providing automatic updates should delays occur.
Scalability and Flexibility
As your business grows, your dispatchers may struggle to keep up if you rely on traditional dispatching methods. Fortunately, the right dispatch management software will be scalable, helping you keep up with demand as your business grows. The right software should be capable of dealing with a sudden increase in volume (such as during the holidays), complex route management, and the addition of users. Your dispatch management system will provide the flexibility you need to provide quality customer service even as demand fluctuates.
Why You Should Choose Elite EXTRA
Finding the right dispatch management software for your business is essential to help streamline your logistics processes, improve customer satisfaction, boost productivity, and drive growth. If your company is looking for last-mile logistics software that will simplify dispatching and improve your customer service offering, look no further than Elite EXTRA’s industry-leading software. Our automated dispatching software will give you the tools to streamline your business’s operations by providing the features and solutions that you need including:
Integration With Existing Systems
Our software allows you to integrate your current business systems to ensure orders pass smoothly into the software to be dispatched. Our software integrates with a variety of systems, whether that be an ERP, POS, eCommerce, etc. This seamless integration ensures an easy transition that gives you greater control over your operations.
Scalability and Flexibility
As we previously discussed, one of the biggest advantages of an automated dispatching system is that this software gives you the flexibility to easily scale your operations as demand evolves. At Elite EXTRA, we know that your dispatching needs can fluctuate drastically throughout the year due to seasonal demand changes such as during the holidays. Fortunately, our software provides you with the flexibility you need to scale your dispatching as needed.
Driver and Vehicle Allocation
Our software also gives you total visibility over vehicle and driver locations and availability, helping you to make informed dispatching decisions. With our robust manager’s dashboard, you can quickly access details about whether drivers and vehicles are available and make scheduling changes accordingly to maximize productivity.
Route Optimization
Automated dispatching software can also help ensure that your drivers use the best routes, saving time and reducing fuel costs. Our software has an advanced route optimization engine that follows your rules. You can choose to optimize routes based on efficiency, time windows, customer priority, and much more.
User Experience
Our software also helps you to keep customers informed with email and text notifications as well as a tracking page to help them follow their orders. ETAs and order updates can also be viewed by your team to help you quickly and efficiently answer customer queries. This helps optimize the user experience, leading to high customer satisfaction and retention rates.
Ready to Learn More?
The right automated dispatch software can help streamline your last-mile deliveries, saving you time and money while boosting productivity. If you are still handling dispatching manually, contact our team today to discover how Elite EXTRA can streamline your last-mile logistics or learn more in our latest white paper: Steps to Automating Last-Mile Deliveries in 2024 & Beyond.
Sources
https://info.microsoft.com/rs/157-GQE-382/images/EN-CNTNT-Report-DynService-2017-global-state-customer-service-en-au.pdf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ forbestechcouncil/2023/06/02/what-companies-should-know-about-route-optimization-technology/
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/ feg/pdfs/811681.pdf
https://www.business.com/articles/the-importance-of-scalable-business-models
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ forbestechcouncil/2021/02/22/why-you-should-consider-the-cost-of-human-error/
