Using Ontrac Pro (Geotab) for Dispatch
Overview
Dispatching in MyGeotab works by obtaining the addresses of zone, and then by sending the addresses to the third party routing device. There are two main ways of dispatching with MyGeotab: dispatching vehicles to zones and dispatching routes to vehicles.
Dispatching Vehicles to Zones
Before you can begin to dispatch vehicles to zones, you will first need to add some zones into your MyGeotab database (see how to add zones here). Ontrac Pro offers simple tools for zone creation which allows you to easily draw a zone shape in an area of the your choice. In addition, a large number of zones can be created by importing a bulk list of latitude and longitude information prepared in an Excel spreadsheet. Once the zones have been imported into the database, you can then start dispatching to vehicles by finding the zone on the map and clicking on it. Clicking on the zone opens a list of options which includes one that is called Dispatch Vehicle Here.
When clicking on the dispatch button, you can select one or more vehicles to receive the request. Additionally, a message can be sent along with the dispatch address which can provide additional instructions for the driver. Once the dispatch message is sent, the routing device receives the address and begins routing to the destination once the driver reads the message and chooses to accept the dispatch instructions.
Dispatching Vehicles Anywhere on the Map
Similar to dispatching a vehicle to a zone, you can dispatch a vehicle to anywhere on the map by simply left clicking the location on the map where you want the vehicle to go. After you left click the map, click Dispatch vehicle here and a new window sholuld open that allows you so send the location (and/or a message) to either an individual driver or multiple drivers / vehicles.
Dispatching vehicles nearest to a location
After left clicking the map to dispatch a vehicle to a location, when the options show up you click Nearest and this will allow the system to analyse the map and highlight the vehicles nearest to that location so that if response time is important to you, you don't have to guess which available vehicle is nearest to the location.
After you click Nearest, the system will determine the close vehucles to the location and show them by order of distance on the left hand vehicles list. Click the black arrow for the option to Dispatch asset to location.
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