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Intelligent Auto-Assignment

Intelligent auto-assignment automatically matches incoming jobs to the best available technician based on skills, location, workload, customer preference, and SLA urgency. Instead of manually dispatching every job, you define the rules and let the system handle the rest.

Navigate to Settings → Auto-Assignment to configure the engine.

Pro feature

Auto-assignment — including what dispatch checks, required skills on jobs, rebalancing, and assignment logs — is available on the Pro plan and above. Enterprise adds custom skill categories. See Plans and pricing.

Owner access required

Only users with the Owner role can configure auto-assignment settings. See Roles and permissions for details.

Auto-assignment is always on

Auto-assignment is on for every plan that includes it, and there is nothing to switch on. The Master Control switch at the top of Settings → Auto-Assignment shows as on and locked: it is managed by FSM Navigator and cannot be turned off from your account.

New jobs without a manually assigned technician are routed to the best available match automatically. You can still override any assignment manually after it is made, and you can tune how matches are chosen with the settings below.

Prerequisites

Make sure your technicians have skills assigned and up-to-date schedules. The engine relies on accurate data to make good decisions.

What dispatch checks

FSM Navigator®'s rule-based intelligent dispatch evaluates each available technician across the items listed under What dispatch checks. You control which items take priority so assignments match how your business actually operates.

Factor What it measures Priority
Skill match How well the technician's skills match the job requirements High
Location-based matching Favors technicians who can reach the job sooner, based on drive time from their location High
Workload balance How many jobs the technician already has that day Medium
Customer preference Whether the customer has a preferred technician Medium
SLA urgency How close the job is to its SLA deadline High
Parts availability Whether the technician carries required parts in van stock Medium
Booking window Whether the technician can arrive within the customer's requested window High
Overtime awareness Whether the job would push the technician past shift end Medium
Job continuity Whether the technician has prior history at the location Low

Adjusting priorities

  1. Open Settings → Auto-Assignment.
  2. Use the sliders to set each matching factor's priority from Low to Critical.
  3. Click Save.

Prioritize what matters most

If your business covers a large service area, raise the Location-based matching priority to minimize drive time. If customer relationships are critical, raise the Customer preference priority.

Enterprise feature

Custom priorities under What dispatch checks are available on the Enterprise plan. Pro plan users receive the default priorities.

Rebalancing

Rebalancing continuously redistributes jobs among technicians to account for changes — such as a technician going off-schedule, a cancelled appointment, new urgent jobs arriving, or a job running late.

Rebalancing is part of auto-assignment, so it comes with every plan that includes auto-assignment. There is nothing to switch on and no schedule to set: it checks your open jobs every few minutes and again whenever a technician becomes available.

Rebalancing only moves jobs that have not yet been started (Pending or Assigned status). Jobs that are In Progress or Completed are never reassigned.

Rebalancing responds to schedule changes

When a technician's schedule changes — for example, through an approved schedule change request — the rebalancing engine picks up the change immediately and redistributes affected jobs as needed.

Assignment logs

The assignment log shows a history of every auto-assignment decision, including which technician was selected and why.

Column Description
Job The job that was assigned
Assigned to The technician who received the job
Match strength Overall match quality summary
Factors Breakdown of how each matching factor contributed
Timestamp When the assignment was made

Viewing assignment logs

  1. Open Settings → Auto-Assignment.
  2. Scroll to the Assignment Log section.
  3. Use the date filter to narrow results.

Logs help you fine-tune what dispatch checks by revealing how the engine makes decisions.

Frequently asked questions

Can I override an auto-assignment?

Yes. After the engine assigns a technician, any Owner or Dispatcher can reassign the job manually. The auto-assignment is a recommendation, not a lock.

What happens if no technician matches?

If nobody available holds every skill a job requires, the job goes to the available technician who holds the most of them, so work keeps moving. If no technician is available at all, the job stays unassigned in the dispatcher queue.

Does auto-assignment consider technician schedules?

Yes. The engine only considers technicians who are scheduled to work during the job's time window. Technicians who are off-duty or on leave are excluded.

How does customer preference work?

If a customer has a preferred technician set on their profile, that technician is given preferred status during matching. See Auto-assignment in Jobs for details.