AI Field Service Dispatcher
Match the right technician to every job and optimize routes in real time.
- Project range
- $7,000–15,000
- AWS running cost
- $70–320/mo
- Time to deploy
- 4–6 weeks
- Best-fit industries
- HVAC, Plumbing
Executive summary
A dispatch brain that assigns each work order to the best-suited, best-located technician and continuously re-optimizes the day as new jobs, cancellations, and delays arrive. It weighs skills, parts, SLAs, and drive time, keeps customers informed with accurate ETAs, and turns a whiteboard scramble into a data-driven schedule.
Business problem
Dispatching by hand is reactive and error-prone: technicians are sent without the right skills or parts, routes zig-zag across town, and emergencies upend the plan. The result is wasted windshield time, missed SLAs, and frustrated customers waiting on vague ETAs.
Architecture
AWS services
Amazon API Gateway
Networking- — Work-order intake and status endpoint
- — Rate limiting
AWS Lambda
Compute- — Run assignment and re-optimization logic
- — Coordinate notifications and updates
Amazon Bedrock
AI / ML- — Triage incoming requests by urgency and type
- — Summarize job context for technicians
Amazon Location Service
Networking- — Routing, drive-time, and accurate ETA calculation
Assignment engine
Compute- — Match skills, parts, and SLA to the right tech
- — Re-sequence the day as conditions change
Amazon DynamoDB
Database- — Job, technician, and schedule state
- — Real-time availability
Amazon EventBridge
Messaging- — Propagate schedule changes and dispatch events
FSM / SMS adapters
Integration- — Sync to field-service software and the tech mobile app
- — Send customer ETA texts
Amazon CloudWatch
Observability- — Logs, metrics, and cost alarms
Data flow
- 1
A work order arrives via call, form, or FSM; Bedrock triages type and urgency.
- 2
The assignment engine matches required skills, parts, and SLA to the nearest suitable technician using Location Service drive-times.
- 3
The schedule is written to DynamoDB and dispatched to the technician app; the customer gets an accurate ETA by SMS.
- 4
New jobs, cancellations, or delays trigger EventBridge, and the day is re-optimized on the fly.
- 5
Managers see live status and exceptions, intervening only when needed.
Security considerations
- Customer and technician location data encrypted and access-controlled.
- Least-privilege IAM; FSM and SMS credentials in Secrets Manager.
- Assignment logic is transparent and overridable by dispatchers.
- Audit trail of every assignment and reschedule decision.
Cost considerations
- Location Service requests and Bedrock triage are the main variable costs.
- DynamoDB, Lambda, and EventBridge are pay-per-use and cheap at idle.
- Route optimization reduces fuel and overtime — often the larger real-world saving.
Scalability
- Serverless throughout; scales from a few trucks to a large fleet.
- Assignment weights (skills, SLA, distance) are configurable per business.
- Additional FSM, telematics, or messaging systems attach as adapters.
Deployment roadmap
Phase 1 — Model the operation
Weeks 1–2- — Capture skills, SLAs, parts, and territories
- — Provision AWS foundation and connect the FSM
Phase 2 — Build & integrate
Weeks 3–5- — Build the assignment and routing engine
- — Wire the tech app, SMS, and dispatch board
Phase 3 — Pilot & tune
Week 6- — Pilot with one crew or region
- — Tune weights for jobs-per-day and first-time-fix
Future enhancements
- Predictive parts pre-loading based on job type.
- Demand forecasting to guide staffing and on-call.
- Automated post-visit follow-up and review requests.
- Fleet utilization analytics into the executive dashboard.