Whiteboard planning stops scaling around van ten.
Most field service teams plan routes the same way they did with five vans, even once they’ve got fifty. A dispatcher works from memory, Google Calendar and a whiteboard, jobs get grouped by who shouts loudest rather than who’s actually closest, and any change to the day, a cancellation, an overrun, an emergency call, means starting the re-plan from scratch. The cost shows up as wasted mileage, missed SLAs, and engineers standing around waiting for the next job to be worked out.
How TotalCtrl’s route optimisation works.
Everything the optimisation engine covers.
- ✓Builds daily routes automatically, ranked by job priority, engineer skill match, time-windows, and location
- ✓Re-optimises in real time when a job runs long, gets cancelled, or a new emergency job comes in
- ✓Accounts for parts availability and van stock before a job is even scheduled
- ✓Shows drive time, job time and idle time on one screen, per engineer, per day
- ✓Works across single depots or multi-region operations without separate logic
Built for how different field teams actually work.
Same optimisation engine, tuned to the constraints of each sector.
Renewable & Solar
Routes span wide geographic areas between sites; TotalCtrl clusters visits by site density and matches engineers to the certification each installation needs.
Commercial HVAC/M&E
Balances planned PPM visits against reactive breakdown calls without one type crowding out the other.
Specialist Field Engineering
Routes jobs only to engineers holding the specific certification required, rather than whoever's geographically closest.
Grounds Maintenance
Handles cyclical, seasonal visit patterns and routes by site cluster, not just straight-line distance. Weather-aware and ready to adapt the schedule as required.
The operational shifts customers see.
- →Fewer miles driven per completed job (typically 20 to 30% reduction)
- →Fewer dispatcher hours spent re-planning by hand (typically 5 to 10 hours/week saved)
- →More jobs completed per engineer, per day
- →First-time fix rates improve because the right engineer with the right parts turns up first (typically 15 to 20% improvement)
Questions we get asked.
What is route optimisation in field service management?
It's the semi or fully automated planning of the most efficient sequence of jobs for each engineer each day, based on location, skills, time-windows, priority and available parts, replacing manual planning done from memory, Google Calendar and a whiteboard.
How is this different from just using Google Maps?
Google Maps optimises for driving distance between fixed stops. TotalCtrl optimises the whole field team, based on daily requirements. It decides which engineer should go where in the first place, based on skills, stock and time-windows, then sequences the route, and assists with pre-planning based on operational changes throughout the day.
Can it handle emergency jobs alongside planned maintenance?
Yes. Reactive call-outs are slotted into live routes automatically, and the system re-sequences the rest of the day around them rather than treating them as a separate process.
Does it account for engineer skills and certifications?
Yes. Jobs are only assigned to engineers who hold the required skill or certification. It won't route a job to the nearest available person if they're not qualified to do it.
How quickly does it re-optimise when something changes?
In real time. Suggestions can be provided to the planner in as little as 90 seconds. A cancellation, overrun, or new job triggers an automatic re-sequence of affected routes as soon as it happens, not at the next planning cycle.
Does it work across multiple depots or regions?
Yes. The same logic applies whether you're running one depot or coordinating engineers across multiple regions.