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Automatic assignment

Automatic assignment assigns available units to open calls, processes calls by priority, and can be overridden for a dispatcher session.

Automatic assignment assigns available units to open calls without a dispatcher acting on them. Automatic assignment appears only when enabled for your community.

How many units a call requests

Priority sets the number.

  1. P1 or P2 requests two normal units.
  2. P3 or P4 requests one normal unit.
  3. Signal 100 requests three normal units.

A call marked as requiring a supervisor, and any Signal 100, requests one additional supervisor beyond that number.

Units you assign by hand count toward the total.

Which units are eligible

A unit is eligible when it has the 10-8 AVAILABLE status and is not attached to a call.

Department routing limits the eligible set further. A call routed to a department assigns only units in that department. A call routed to a service assigns units from every department of that kind.

Among eligible units, the longest idle unit is selected first.

Supervisors are considered after other eligible units unless the call requires a supervisor, in which case they are considered first.

A user working in the dispatch view is not eligible.

Smart dispatch

Smart dispatch changes which eligible unit is selected. It does not change who is eligible: department routing, supervisor requirements, and the rule that a call waits rather than taking a unit off another call all still apply and cannot be overridden by it.

Turn it on under COMMUNITY PANEL > OVERVIEW > SMART DISPATCH. It is off by default, and turning it off restores the longest-idle behaviour described above exactly.

With it on, each eligible unit is ranked on five things:

  1. Whether the unit is free right now.
  2. How close the unit is to the call, from game coordinates reported by the PlateNet FiveM resource. Calls raised in game carry coordinates; calls a dispatcher types do not, and those are simply not scored on distance.
  3. How long the unit has been waiting.
  4. Whether the unit's department and subdivision match what the call asked for.
  5. Whether the call wants a supervisor.

How much each one counts is adjustable under "Advanced: what the ranking weighs".

A unit that satisfies a requested subdivision is always offered before one that does not, whatever the weights say.

Recommended units

Open a call in CALL CONTROL and the RECOMMENDED UNITS list shows the top five, each with the reasons it was chosen: how close it is, how long it has been available, what it matches. ATTACH assigns it in one click.

The list is shown whether or not smart dispatch is enabled - with it off the list is marked PREVIEW, meaning it is advisory and automatic assignment is not using it.

Units already committed to another call appear at the bottom, greyed, with COMMITTED and their status. Attaching one asks for confirmation first.

A unit is re-checked at the moment you attach it. If it went off duty or picked up another call while you were reading the list, the attach is refused and says why rather than going through quietly.

Escalations

The dispatch board raises a notification when:

- A call has had no unit attached for longer than the limit set for its priority. - A unit has been ON SCENE longer than the on-scene limit.

Both limits are set under COMMUNITY PANEL > OVERVIEW > SMART DISPATCH. Each breach raises one notification and writes one note on the call, however many dispatchers are on duty. The notification clears itself when the call is assigned or the unit clears.

Escalation notifications do not require smart dispatch to be enabled.

The order calls are processed

Calls are processed by priority, oldest first within a priority.

A P4 call is skipped while a higher priority call is still short of the units it requested.

A call waits for a unit to become free rather than taking one off a call it is already attached to. Moving a unit between calls is done by hand. See assigning and detaching units.

The session override

The dispatch toolbar shows AUTO-ASSIGN UNITS THIS SESSION with YES and NO. This overrides your community default while you are on duty.

Only the first dispatcher on duty can change it. Other dispatchers see the buttons disabled with "Only CTRL01 can change AutoDispatch for this session."

Setting it to NO stops ordinary calls being assigned automatically. Signal 100 calls continue to be assigned.

When no units are assigned

Check that AutoDispatch is enabled for the community, the session setting is YES, units have the 10-8 AVAILABLE status and are unattached, and the call's department has units on duty.

A call routed to a department with no units on duty stays unassigned.

Related pages

  • DispatchThe dispatcher workspace, the two tabs, what changes when you enter the dispatch view, and what happens with two dispatchers on at once.
  • Assigning and detaching unitsAssign a unit to a call by hand, set the primary unit and detach somebody from a call.
  • Call routing and requirementsThe routing editor sets which department owns a call, requests a specific subdivision, and marks a call as needing a supervisor.
  • Unit statusWhat each entry in the STATUS dropdown means and which one makes you eligible for assignment.
  • Self dispatchUnits can create and attach their own calls when no dispatcher is active. The form, the banner shown when it is unavailable, and when it returns.
  • Signal 100Signal 100 creates an emergency priority-zero call, attaches your unit and assigns additional units even when automatic assignment is disabled.

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