Intelligent Scheduling & Route Clustering
Stop losing money to windshield time. Plenum groups jobs by geography so your techs work neighborhoods instead of crisscrossing town. Dispatchers see the route impact before offering a time slot.
The Problem with Manual Dispatch
Most HVAC shops dispatch jobs as they come in. First available tech gets the next call. This creates inefficient routes where techs drive past each other all day.
Jobs booked only by availability can send technicians back and forth across town.
Drive time consumes capacity that could be spent serving customers.
Long gaps between calls make it harder to fit useful work into the day.
What Changes with Plenum
Fit more work into each route
Plenum groups nearby jobs so technicians spend more of the day on customer work.
See route impact before booking
Plenum groups nearby jobs and shows dispatchers the route impact before they assign a time slot.
Higher customer satisfaction
Tighter arrival windows. No more 4-hour ranges. Customers know when to expect the tech.
How Geographic Clustering Works
Jobs appear on the dispatch map
Appointment addresses give dispatchers a geographic view of the work already on the schedule.
Algorithm finds natural clusters
DBSCAN identifies job groupings based on proximity and time windows. It finds patterns humans miss.
Dispatch sees scored time slots
When booking, dispatchers see which slots cluster well with existing jobs. Green means efficient. Red means drive time.
Techs get optimized routes
Morning routes are pre-calculated. Techs hit the road knowing their path minimizes total drive time.
The Algorithm
Plenum uses DBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) to identify natural job groupings. Unlike k-means clustering, DBSCAN doesn't require you to specify the number of clusters upfront. It finds them based on job density.
The algorithm considers:
- Geographic proximity: Jobs within X miles of each other
- Time windows: Customer availability constraints
- Job duration: Estimated time on site
- Technician skills: Who can do what
- Equipment needs: What's on each truck
The result is a daily schedule organized around focused service areas. One tech can cover the north side while another handles downtown, with route impact visible to dispatch.
Common Questions
How is this different from Google Maps routing?
Google optimizes a single route. Plenum optimizes your entire schedule. It considers which jobs to group on which days, not just the order of today's stops.
Does it work with emergency calls?
Yes. When a priority call comes in, Plenum rescores the day. It finds the nearest available tech and adjusts other appointments to minimize disruption.
Can dispatchers override the recommendations?
Absolutely. Clustering scores are recommendations, not mandates. Dispatchers see the efficiency impact of their choices but make final decisions.
What about techs with specialized skills?
Plenum factors in technician capabilities. A commercial install won't get assigned to a maintenance-only tech, even if they're closer.
How long until we see results?
Week one. The algorithm works from day one with your existing schedule. Results compound as more historical data trains the system.