Emergency call scheduling is the process of inserting urgent jobs, such as no heat, a burst pipe or a power loss, into a schedule that is already booked, while keeping as many existing promises as possible.
How emergency scheduling is measured
Two numbers matter: how fast the emergency was reached, and what it cost the rest of the board.
Response time = Technician arrival − Call received
Displaced jobs = Existing jobs moved, late or rescheduled because of the emergency
Say a no-heat call comes in at 10:00. Truck 2 is 15 minutes away but has a 10:30 job. Truck 5 is 45 minutes away and finishing early. Sending Truck 2 gets there by 10:15 and makes one customer wait. Sending Truck 5 gets there by 10:45 and displaces no one. Which is right depends on how urgent the call is and how much the 10:30 customer was promised.
Why it matters for scheduling
Every emergency inserted into a full day has a knock-on. The truck that takes it is late for everything after it. If the drive to the emergency was not calculated from where that truck actually is, the knock-on is bigger than expected.
There are two common approaches:
- Reserve capacity. Leave a truck, or a block on each truck, unassigned for urgent calls. Simple and reliable, but empty when emergencies do not come.
- Insert and reshuffle. Take the nearest qualified truck and move its later work. Uses capacity fully, but depends on seeing drive time from each truck's real position.
Either way, the decision is a dispatching call that needs the whole board in view. CrewLink gives the company a dispatch board where drive time sits next to each job and is computed from the previous job, so you can see where each truck will be before choosing who takes the call. How much of this judgment to leave with a person is discussed in Dispatcher or software?.
A common mistake
Sending whoever is closest right now. The closest truck at 10:00 might be about to start a three-hour job, and the second-closest might be free in twenty minutes. "Closest" depends on when each truck can actually leave, not just where it is.
Related terms
- Dispatching is where emergency decisions are made.
- Drive time from each truck's actual position decides who can respond fastest.
- Overtime cost is often where emergencies end up on payroll.
Common questions
How do you schedule emergency calls in a full schedule?
Either keep reserve capacity for them or insert them on the best-placed truck and reschedule displaced work. Track both response time and displaced jobs to see which works for you.
Should emergency calls cost more?
Some companies charge a premium for after-hours or same-day emergency service. It is a pricing decision, and it helps cover the displaced work.
How much capacity should be reserved for emergencies?
Use your own history. Count urgent calls by day of week and season, and reserve close to the typical daily volume during peak periods.