Our plumbing scheduling page covers why plumbing jobs are hard to size and why the end time, not the start time, is what breaks a plumbing board. This page assumes the board is built. It is about what happens when a call comes in that has to be answered today, and every truck already has work.
Plumbing dispatch software earns its keep at the moment an emergency meets a full board: it has to show who can actually get there, what that truck is in the middle of, and which promise you break to make room. Heating and cooling emergencies come in seasons. Plumbing emergencies come every day of the year, at any hour, and they get worse by the minute.
Not every call that sounds urgent is an emergency
The person on the phone hears panic and wants to send a truck. Dispatch needs a sharper question: is water still going where it should not, and can the customer stop it?
| Situation | Can the customer stop it? | Dispatch target |
|---|---|---|
| Burst or leaking supply line, water spreading | Usually, at the fixture valve or the main shutoff | Today, but after the customer has shut the water off |
| Sewage backing up into the home | Not by shutting a valve; they can stop using the drains | Today, ahead of booked work |
| Main line blocked, no drains usable | Partly, by not running water | Today, early as possible |
| No hot water | Not urgent for most homes | Today if it fits, otherwise next open time |
| Slow drain, dripping faucet, running toilet | Yes, or it can wait | Next open time |
The column in the middle does the work. A customer who has found the main shutoff while still on the phone has turned a flood into a repair. Train whoever answers to walk them through it before anything is dispatched. That one step changes how much you need to bump the rest of the board.
Choosing the plumber: when they can leave, not where they are
The nearest plumber is often the wrong pick. Plumbing jobs are hard to stop partway: a toilet half-reset or a drain line half-cleared cannot be left for an hour. So the useful number is not distance but when each truck can leave its current job, plus the drive from there at this hour.
Arrival = Time the current job can safely stop + Drive from that job now
Cost = Booked jobs that become late or need moving, weighted by how much each customer was promised
Skills belong in the same decision. A sewage backup needs a tech with the machine and the camera on the truck. A plumber three minutes away with only service stock is no help.
Plumber B is farther and the better answer for a sewage call. You can only see that when the board shows where each truck is, when it can leave and how far the drive is from there. That is what a dispatch board is for.
Keeping the rest of the day
Inserting an emergency moves something. Make that move a decision.
- Pick the cheapest promise to move. A drip repair with a flexible customer moves before a commercial account with a fixed opening time.
- Call the moved customer before their window opens. A plumbing customer often took the morning off. Tell them at 9:45, not at 11:30.
- Widen only the windows that need it. If one tech absorbs the emergency, their later customers need new windows. The other trucks' customers do not. Our guide to arrival window math explains how window width follows from the uncertainty before it.
- Expect the emergency to run long. A main-line clear that needs a camera and a dig estimate is not a 60-minute job. Plan the rest of that tech's day as if it will run over, and give it back if it does not.
Whether to hold a slot open for emergencies or insert and bump is covered with the arithmetic in emergency call scheduling. For after-hours work, the companion term is after-hours service.
Running long is the normal case
The plumbing scheduling page explains why durations are so uncertain. For dispatch, the consequence is simple: the late signal has to come from the tech, early. The plumber who has just found a collapsed line under the slab knows at 10:15 that the 1:00 is not happening. If the office finds out at 12:50, it has three hours of options left unused.
Ask for a check-in partway through every job: on track, or how much more time. Then act on it before the next customer's window starts.
How CrewLink handles plumbing dispatch
CrewLink is in early access, built for companies running 5 to 50 trucks. For plumbing dispatch the parts that matter are:
- Same-day emergencies. CrewLink finds a qualified tech who can still get there today, or says why no one can.
- A live board with each tech's status dot, what they are doing and their ETA to the next job. Green means they will arrive at least 5 minutes early or are on site; yellow, between 5 minutes early and 10 minutes late; red, more than 10 minutes late; grey, done for the day.
- The mid-job check-in. About halfway through a job the tech app asks if the plumber is on track or needs +15, +30 or +60 minutes. An extension re-flows the rest of that tech's day straight away. Later jobs that no longer fit go to a teammate who can make the same time, or move to the nearest open time, and the affected customers are texted.
- On-the-way texts with an ETA, so the customer with water on the floor knows when the truck is coming.
- Photos and parts used recorded in the tech app, and time on site recorded when the job is marked done so future bookings use it.
CrewLink does not answer calls, run a phone system or track vehicles by GPS. Positions come from the tech's phone app. The triage questions are yours to set.
What to take away
- Plumbing emergencies arrive every day of the year. The first dispatch question is whether the customer can stop the water, and getting them to do it changes everything after.
- Choose the plumber by when they can safely leave their current job plus the drive from there, and by whether they have the right equipment, not by distance.
- Move the cheapest promise, tell that customer before their window opens, and plan the emergency to run long.
- CrewLink, in early access, finds a qualified tech who can still make a same-day call or says why no one can, and re-flows a plumber's day when a job runs over.
Common questions
What does plumbing dispatch software need to do?
Show every truck's current job, when it can leave and the drive from there, and which techs carry the right equipment. Then help you move the right booked job and tell that customer early. Building the schedule itself is covered on the plumbing scheduling page.
How do you prioritize emergency plumbing calls?
Ask whether water is still going where it should not and whether the customer can stop it. Sewage backups and blocked main lines usually come first because a shutoff valve does not fix them. A supply leak the customer has shut off becomes an urgent repair rather than a flood.
Should the nearest plumber take the emergency?
Only if they can leave. Many plumbing jobs cannot be stopped halfway. Compare when each qualified plumber can actually leave plus their drive from there, and what each one would displace.
Can CrewLink move the rest of a plumber's day automatically?
When a plumber asks for more time at the mid-job check-in, CrewLink re-flows the rest of that day. Jobs that no longer fit go to a teammate who can make the same time or move to the nearest open time, and those customers are texted.