The companies surveyed come from the mechanical and plant engineering, energy supply, facility management, medical and healthcare sectors as well as the IT and telecommunications industries. In most companies, 20 to 40 dispatchers plan the deployment of technicians and other resources. The more dispatchers a company employs, the fewer technicians a single dispatcher tends to schedule. In the facility management sector, the planning ratio is highest at 25.4 technicians per dispatcher, while in the IT and telecommunications sector it is only 3.6 technicians per dispatcher. The most important reasons and goals for using scheduling software were cited by the respondents:

1. Optimize the utilization of technicians: The best possible distribution of jobs among technicians is at the top of the list of objectives for using IT-supported deployment planning. The aim is to plan assignments in such a way that overtime is avoided, all technicians are equally well utilized and there are no gaps between individual assignments. Using the workload overview in the scheduling software, the dispatcher can see at a glance which technicians still have free capacity.
   
   
2. Save costs: The main economic benefit of scheduling software is the time and effort saved in scheduling and rescheduling in the event of breakdowns. In addition to manual planning using drag-and-drop, semi-automatic or fully automatic planning offers even greater time savings. This allows dispatchers to focus more on other tasks such as customer contact, preparing orders and checking feedback.
   
   
3. Improve customer satisfaction: Dispatching software helps improve customer satisfaction by helping dispatchers effectively schedule appointments with customers by showing them available appointments at a glance, which they can then pass on to the customer. It can also be used to assign a preferred technician.
   
   
4. Increase the number of scheduled technicians per dispatcher: Efficient planning of service assignments plays a major role, especially in industries where there is a high level of competition and price pressure, such as facility management. By using software, dispatchers can schedule significantly more technicians and keep a better eye on them than with conventional planning.
   
   
5. Optimize the number of assignments per day: The number of jobs per day and technician can also be improved with software. Route optimization ensures an ideal route and the shortest possible travel times. The dispatcher can also use the technicians' qualifications to find the most suitable technician who can carry out the job most efficiently.
   
   
6. Improve adherence to schedules: Setting the right planned time for an assignment plays a major role in the adherence to schedules for this assignment and all subsequent jobs. In an assignment planning software, the planned times can be compared with the actual times and thus permanently optimized. This improves adherence to schedules and customer satisfaction.
   
   
7. Optimize driving times: Leaving as little time on the road as possible can be a goal of route optimization in scheduling software and is something many companies strive for.This allows companies to improve their ecological footprint, save costs and allow technicians to spend more time with customers.