Inputting the “shift” structure of the business is important in DispatchDirectTM because it provides an option for you to charge customers differently, and/or pay drivers differently based on when a call is dispatched. (Note: this time-based differentiation is available, but optional.)

• For example, you may choose to charge customers more for services delivered outside of normal business hours, or not
• You may also want to charge a premium for work that is required over the weekend, or not
• Similarly, many companies have a “shift differential” for driver commissions - e.g., drivers earn higher commissions when working a second or third shift or when working weekends. Other companies make no such differentiation.

Any shift-related differences in rates (including weekday vs. weekend) for both customer charges and driver commissions are specified in “Pricing Templates”. However, the available structural options for differentiating these rates are based on the set-up in “Shift Definition”
Because of the added pricing flexibility that is created, the operational “shifts” of the business should be specified before setting up Pricing Templates. From the Main menu, the shift structure is defined in “Pricing setup - Shifts/commission”. You can define up to three shifts. The Pricing Templates will provide an opportunity to set different rates for each pre-defined shift and to mark-up weekend work by a percentage. The time stamp when a job is assigned to a driver is used for selecting the appropriate time (shift and weekday/weekend).