Route planning

Align route planning with your business goals, and see where the day still has slack

For most service teams, the daily route comes together in someone’s head, between a map app and the phone. That works until an urgent job comes in.

RDO's automated planning puts the technicians' day together in one click, and you decide what matters more: fitting in as many jobs as possible, or having colleagues travel as little as possible.

In one minute: one-click planning, your priorities, the “Tight” flag and where a new job fits.

Automated planning

One click, and the day comes together

“Auto-plan day” builds the technicians' daily routes from the waiting jobs. Nearby jobs go to one technician, and the order leaves time for travel, too. Along the way, it takes all of these into account:

The planner's day view: waiting jobs, the technicians' day and the state of the day on one screen.
  • Working hours and shifts

    Nobody gets more work than fits into their day.

  • Skills

    The job goes to a colleague who can actually do it.

  • Job length

    It plans with the estimated service time, not just the addresses.

  • The customer's time window

    Only appointments that suit the customer go into the plan.

  • Travel time

    It counts the travel between jobs as part of the day, so the schedule stays realistic.

  • Deadline and priority

    Urgent jobs and those due soon don't slip back.

The machine suggests, you decide. The dispatcher reviews the finished plan and can change it at any time.

Planning priorities

Rank what matters to your company

In the summer peak, what matters to an air-conditioning team is fitting as many jobs as possible into the day. At other times, it is colleagues driving less, or putting the higher-value quotes first.

In RDO, you can rank six priorities: the number of scheduled jobs, priority, scheduling risk, travel time, distance and quote value. For the less important ones, you can set how much you give up for the sake of the more important ones.

So planning doesn't look for a generic “shortest route”, but for the one that serves your goals best.

Planning prioritiesDrag to reorder
  1. 1Number of scheduled jobsPrimary goal
  2. 2Priority
  3. 3Scheduling risk
  4. 4Travel timeAllowed +10%
  5. 5DistanceAllowed +15%
  6. 6Quote valueAllowed +20%
An illustrative example: the number of scheduled jobs comes first, so the system accepts up to 10% more travel time.

Hold back time for unexpected jobs

With protected capacity, you set for each day how much time planning should leave free. That leaves room for a burst pipe or an urgent repair, without replanning the whole day.

Capacity and risk

See at a glance where the day is tight

The top of the planner shows the state of the day: how many jobs are waiting, how full the schedule is, and how many hours are still free. Route ratings show which day is calm and which is risky, before the technicians even set off.

  • Free time

    Where another job still fits without anyone's day falling apart.

  • Missing reserve

    Where there is no room left between two jobs.

  • Tight timing

    Where a job that runs over affects the next customer, too.

  • Expected delays

    They show up before the customer calls to ask where the technician is.

Scheduling recommendations

A new job? It shows where it fits, and what it means

When a new job comes in, RDO goes through the technicians' days and ranks the possible slots by time, distance or risk. For every suggestion, you see how much extra travel it adds.

Alongside the suggestions, you also see why they are good or risky:

  • a status for every possible slot,
  • how much buffer remains before and after the new job,
  • how it affects later appointments and the return to the depot,
  • where data is missing to make the plan certain.
If you depart from the suggested order, the expandable explanation shows the consequence in a before-and-after comparison. For example, if two jobs end up too close together and the first one runs over, the second customer will have to wait, too.
Inserting a new jobBoiler service · Hajó utca, DunakesziEstimated time: 1 h 30 min · Customer's time window: Thursday 9–15
  1. 1 Bence Kovács · Thu 10:30+6 min travel Ideal
  2. 2 Péter Nagy · Thu 14:00+14 min travel Good
  3. 3 Ákos Szabó · Thu 11:15+4 min travel · tight timing Risky
    Why is it risky?Before – after
    BeforeAfter
    Buffer before the job25 min5 min
    Buffer after the job20 min0 min
    Next customer, arrival13:0013:20 (late)
    Return to the depot16:4017:05
An illustrative example with made-up data.

Urgent call

The system shows who is closest and who can fit in the unexpected visit, then replans the affected day.

Absent colleague

In case of illness or leave, it takes minutes to find out who can take over their jobs, and how the others' days change as a result.

Excel vs RDO

Couldn't this be done in Excel, too?

In principle, yes, but it isn't worth it. Excel doesn't plan routes on its own: you would need a separate program written and maintained for that, and it would still struggle to keep up with changes during the day.

What you end up with is a good record. You still have to put the day together yourself.

See point by point what RDO adds

Get to know RDO in a demo

Let's look at your days

In a 20-minute demo, we plan a day from your own jobs and look at which priorities matter most for you.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask about route planning

Can I change the plan the machine made?

Yes. The planner suggests; the dispatcher decides on changes. You can move a job to another day or another colleague, and the system shows how that affects the rest of the day.

Does it include real-time tracking?

The system provides a map overview of jobs and planned routes, but it is not real-time GPS navigation. There is a practical reason: a maintenance round is often arranged weeks in advance, rather than put together that morning.

All frequently asked questions

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