PestBossPro Blog — Scheduling & Routes

Tech GPS on the Office Map: Pest Control Dispatch Without the Phone Tag

“Where are you right now?” is a question pest control offices ask techs many times a day. Each call interrupts a tech in the middle of a treatment, and the answer is often rough: “Somewhere off Oak, two more and then I head north.” Seeing techs on the office map answers the question without the call.

The Office Side of the Route

The customer app shows customers their place in line, as covered in You're Stop 12 of 20: Showing Customers Their Place on the Pest Control Route. Tech GPS is the office's version: a view of where each truck is so the office can make decisions during the day.

What It Shows

In PestBossPro, tech GPS shows on the office map. As techs work their routes with the tech app, their locations appear on the map. Combined with the dispatch board, which shows which stops are started, completed or skipped, the office has a clear picture of the day.

The map and the board answer different questions. The board tells you what each truck is supposed to do today and what it has already done. The map tells you where each truck is right now. Put them side by side and you can see whether a tech who has finished six stops is on the seventh street or still sitting at the fifth, without picking up the phone.

Same-Day Calls to the Closest Truck

The biggest use of tech GPS is placing same-day work. A customer calls at 11am with a wasp nest over the front door. Without GPS, the office calls each tech to ask where they are, then guesses. With GPS, the office looks at the map, sees Truck 2 a few streets away, and adds the job to Truck 2's route. The tech sees it on their phone.

The same goes for urgent call-backs, a customer who missed their window and is now home, or a commercial account with a sudden problem. Same-day work lands on the right truck, not just the first one that answered the phone.

Answering Customer Questions

Most customers check the customer app or wait for the on-the-way text. But some will still call, and some will want more than a stop count. With GPS and the dispatch board side by side, the office can give a real answer: “The tech is two stops away, about thirty minutes out.”

It also helps with disputes. A customer who says nobody came can be checked against the completed stop, the arrived text and the tech's photos.

Spotting a Route That Is Running Behind

Routes slip. An interior service runs long, a truck has a flat, traffic stacks up. Looking at the map against the dispatch board shows which routes are behind before the customers start calling. That gives the office time to act:

• Text customers later on the route that the tech is running behind.
• Move a few stops to another truck nearby.
• Move the last few stops to tomorrow and let the customers know.

Catching it at noon is much better than hearing about it at 4pm from a customer who waited all day. Rescheduling and skips are covered in Rescheduling and Skips: Handling the Pest Control Stops That Didn't Happen.

Talking to Techs About GPS

Some techs are wary of GPS. It helps to be clear about why you use it: placing same-day calls, answering customers and helping when a route runs behind. It is about running the day, not checking up on anyone.

Tell techs how it works, when it is used, and what it is not used for. Most techs come around quickly once they see that GPS means fewer “where are you?” calls in the middle of a treatment. Check your local rules about tracking employees, and put your policy in writing.

Small Offices and Owner-Operators

In a two-truck company, the owner is often running one truck and dispatching from the cab. GPS still helps. Between stops, the owner can glance at the map and see whether the other truck is on pace, without calling. For an owner-operator with one truck, GPS matters less for dispatch, but it is ready the day the second truck arrives.

Putting It Together

Tech GPS is one piece of a dispatch picture that also includes the board, the route order, skips with reasons, and customer texts. Together they let a small office run several trucks without spending the day on the phone. To see how tech GPS fits with the rest of scheduling and dispatch, visit the PestBossPro pest control scheduling software page.