For: Admins and managers · Permission: Manage Account Settings · Time: ~2 minutes
Quick summary
- Go to Settings › Workflow and open Approvals & Alerts.
- On the Service Order Settings card, click Edit.
- Turn on Use ETA Increased Alarms and Alerts and Use ETA is Too Long Alarms and Alerts.
- Click Save and confirm both read On.
Before you start
- You need the Manage Account Settings permission to change this card. Users with Read Account Settings can see it but not edit it.
- Both alerts may already be on. Check the card first (see Open the alert options).
Open the alert options
Click Settings, then Workflow. The Approvals & Alerts tab opens first. The other tabs are Sounds and Dispatch.
On the Service Order Settings card, find Alarm/Alert Options. It shows an On or Off badge for each alert.
Turn on both alerts
- Click Edit at the top right of the card.
- Turn on Use ETA Increased Alarms and Alerts.
- Turn on Use ETA is Too Long Alarms and Alerts.
- Click Save at the bottom right of the card.
The card goes back to read-only. Both lines should now say On.
Edit mode also shows Team Communication and Service Order Options. Leave those as they are.
What each alert does
| Alert | Fires when | Appears as |
|---|---|---|
| ETA Is Too Long Alerts | The start of the technician's arrival window is 2 hours or more from now. | A high-priority Long ETA alert, and a red banner on the order: "Technician eta is too high." |
| ETA Increased Alerts | A new arrival estimate starts at least 15 minutes later than the previous one. No alert if the new estimate comes from a different technician. | A low-priority ETA increased alert, and a yellow banner on the order: "Technician eta has increased." |
The alert goes to the order's lead dispatcher. The banner shows on the order for the assigned dispatcher, with a dismiss button. Neither limit can be changed in settings.
What to do when an ETA alert appears
- Contact the technician for the real ETA and the reason.
- Update the customer with a new arrival window.
- Reassign or reschedule the job if the delay will break the day.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| ETA alerts never show | Both alerts are off, no job has met the conditions yet, or the assigned technician is not clocked in | Check that both lines read On in Alarm/Alert Options. Turn them on and click Save. An assigned order whose technician is not clocked in gets no estimate, so no alert. |
| No alert reached the dispatcher | The order has no lead dispatcher | Assign a lead dispatcher to the order. The banner still shows on the order. |
| ETA alerts show too often | Your jobs often start 2 hours or more out, for example in a rural service area | Each order raises Long ETA once. Dismiss the alert on orders you expect to be far out. The 2-hour and 15-minute limits can't be changed. |
| ETA Increased alerts seem random | An assigned order is estimated from its technician's own queue, so the estimate changes with traffic, job stacking and location updates | Open the order and check what changed. Call the technician if the new time is real. |
FAQs
Are ETA alerts sounds, pop-ups or just visual?
They appear as alerts in the platform. Whether they play a sound depends on your sound settings. See Adjust Notification Sounds in Workflow Settings.
What is the "too long" limit?
The alert fires when the start of the arrival window is 2 hours or more away. MetaFleet calculates that window for the job. The limit is fixed.
Should I turn on both?
Yes for most dispatch teams. ETA Is Too Long Alerts catches jobs that are far out. ETA Increased Alerts catches delays early.