Leave room for the drive.
Travel-aware scheduling is how Patcher leaves room for the drive when you visit customers. Suggested times account for the job, the drive, and your team’s availability.
Set it for the whole business, or per service if you do both. Travel still counts between different locations.
The video isn’t available right now. The transcript below has every word of it.
Chapters
Read the transcript
When you go to your customers, the drive is part of the job.
A customer in Williamsville needs a toilet repair.
Patcher suggests times that fit the job, the drive, and your team’s availability.
Luis is already on Main Street that morning, so the best fit adds just one minute of driving.
Book it, and the drive is already counted.
Patcher. Make tomorrow easier to schedule.
From where you work to a booked time.
Tell Patcher where the work happens once. Every time you find a time after that, the drive is part of it.
- 01
Set where the work happens
Choose We visit customers, Customers visit us, or both. If you do both, set it per service, so a house call leaves room for the drive and a visit to your location doesn’t.
- 02
Keep your customers’ addresses
The drive is worked out from each customer’s address, so a visit needs an address Patcher can find. Online bookings ask for it when you go to the customer.
- 03
Find a time
Pick the service and Patcher suggests times. Sort by Best fit to see the times that sit best in the day, or by Earliest for the soonest. Each shows how close it is to the jobs around it and the driving it adds, like “Nearby (0.3 mi)” and “+1 min detour”. Choose one to see its drive in and drive out.
- 04
Book it, and the day is checked
When you book a suggested time, Patcher checks it against the rest of the day again before it saves, drive included. Picking your own time instead? Patcher shows what it runs into and asks “book anyway?”.
The details.
What you set
- Where the work happens: We visit customers, Customers visit us, or both, for the whole business.
- Per service, when you do both. Travel still counts between different locations.
- Service lengths and buffers, team hours and blocked time. Suggested times respect all of them.
What customers see
- When you go to customers, your booking page asks for their address, and the times it offers account for that address.
- Available times only. Drive times and distances are never shown to customers.
What to know
- Drive time is an estimate worked out from the distance between addresses.
- A customer needs an address Patcher can find. Without one, times still fit the job and your team’s hours, but aren’t checked for travel.
- Patcher suggests times around the jobs already booked. It doesn’t plan or reorder your team’s route.
Questions about travel-aware scheduling
Does it work if customers come to us?
Yes. Set your business to "customers visit us" and suggested times only need to fit the service and who's working. There's no drive to leave room for, so appointments at your location can sit back to back.
What if we do both?
Set it per service. A service you do at the customer's place leaves room for the drive; a service at your location doesn't. Travel still counts between different locations.
What if a customer's address can't be found?
Patcher still suggests times that fit the job and your team's hours, but it can't work out the drive, so those times aren't checked for travel. Add or correct the address to bring the drive back into the suggestions.
Does online booking account for travel?
Yes. When you go to customers, your booking page asks for the customer's address, and the times it offers account for that address. Customers see available times, not drive times or distances.
Can I still pick a time myself?
Yes. Suggested times are there to help, not to decide for you. Type or drag in any time; if it overlaps other work, skips a buffer, or falls outside someone's hours, Patcher asks "book anyway?" before it saves.
Related features
- Cancellation filling
When an appointment cancels, Patcher lines up customers booked later who could move into the opening, checking the added drive when you visit customers.
- Appointment scheduling
Book a caller into a time that fits before you hang up.
- Online booking
A booking page where customers pick a service and an available time.
See Patcher with a sample business.
Try the live demo, no signup required. Travel-aware scheduling is included on every Patcher plan.