Most MSPs turn on the ConnectWise Dispatch Portal and expect it to organize itself. It doesn’t. It’s a live view of whatever you’ve configured underneath it: your teams, your list views, your SLAs, your calendars. Set those up right, and dispatch runs itself most days. Skip the setup, and the portal just looks busy while the actual work slips.

Start With Your Teams

Before anything else, get your teams built on the service board.

• Go to the Service Board setup table > Teams tab.
• Create teams that match how you actually work: Help Desk Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and so on.
• Add every member to their team.
• On the Dispatch Portal, use the team drop-down, choose “existing service team,” and select yours. Now you can see every member’s calendar and availability in one view.

Build List Views That Match How Dispatch Actually Works

Set your view to Service Dispatch Board so you get the ticket list split-screen with the calendar. From there, build list views that filter to exactly what needs attention:

• New, unassigned tickets
• Tickets flagged as needing to be scheduled
• Customer-updated or reopened tickets that need to be re-dispatched
• Critical or high-priority alerts pulled in from the Alerts board

Name the view something obvious. “Needs Dispatch” works fine. Whoever owns dispatch works that view: setting ticket type, subtype, item, and priority as tickets come in. That’s the triage step.

Let SLAs Do the Sorting For You

Once a ticket’s priority is set, its SLA status shows right there in the list view: when it needs a response, when it needs to be planned, and when it needs to be resolved. That’s what lets dispatch sort by urgency and get tickets assigned in time to hit the SLA, instead of guessing.

Scheduling and Reassigning on the Calendar

• Drag a ticket from the list onto a tech’s calendar for a specific time block, or drop it into the To-Do section for a same-day assignment with no fixed time. That’s a good option for quick tickets or lower-priority work that doesn’t need a full block.
• Right-click any calendar entry to set the location (on-site, remote, in-house), which updates the icon shown.
• Status icons tell you what’s happening at a glance: an eyeball means the ticket’s been acknowledged, an exclamation mark means it hasn’t, and a clock means time has already been logged against it.
• If someone calls out sick, just drag their tickets onto another tech’s calendar to reassign. There’s no need to touch each ticket individually.

Use Display Options to See What You Need

• Upper left: switch the display type from “Schedules” to “Schedule Location” to quickly spot on-site visits that need rescheduling for someone who’ll be out.
• Upper right: toggle between Day, Week, Next 7, Month, or 90-day views. Day view is usually the cleanest for working dispatch: a clear read on everyone’s calendar for that day.

Keep the Calendar Honest

The portal is only as accurate as what’s entered, so a couple of habits matter:

• Everyone blocks their own PTO, meetings, and other unavailable time directly on the calendar. White space should always mean actually free.
• For non-standard shifts, build a custom calendar in the Calendar setup table and assign it on that member’s profile, so their availability reflects real hours instead of a default 8-to-5.

Automate Recurring Work With Ticket Templates

For recurring scheduled work, use ticket templates. You can schedule those entries 30, 60, even 90 days out. The actual ticket won’t generate until the day before. These show up on the calendar as purple entries, and you can drag and reschedule them ahead of time just like any other ticket.

Setup Checklist

1. Build your teams on the Service Board (Teams tab) and add members.
2. Create list views that filter to exactly what dispatch needs to triage.
3. Confirm SLAs are tied to priority so response/plan/resolve times show up automatically.
4. Schedule tickets on the calendar or To-Do list, and set locations as you go.
5. Switch display views (location, day/week/month) to match what you’re checking.
6. Get every team member blocking PTO and unavailable time on their calendar.
7. Set up custom calendars for anyone on a non-standard shift.
8. Use ticket templates to pre-schedule recurring work.

When to Bring in Outside Help vs. Fix It Yourself

A lot of this is a self-serve fix. An afternoon on the setup tables will get most of it sorted. Bring in outside help when the problem runs deeper:

• Teams, boards, and SLAs have drifted apart over years of ad hoc changes.
• Your reporting shows tickets landing in places that don’t match how the business really runs.
• Nobody on the team can explain why the current setup works the way it does.

That’s where specialist ConnectWise Consulting earns its place, whether you’re a lean three-person shop or coordinating ConnectWise Services across 800 employees.

Book a Free ConnectWise Assessment

In 60 minutes, we’ll walk through your Dispatch Portal setup: teams, views, SLAs, and calendars, and show you exactly where the gaps are.

Book your free ConnectWise Assessment with Pivotal Crew today.

FAQs

1. How do I see a whole team’s schedule in the Dispatch Portal?

Set up teams under the Service Board’s Teams tab first, adding each member. Then on the Dispatch Portal, use the team drop-down, choose “existing service team,” and select it. You’ll see every member’s calendar and availability at once.

2. What’s the difference between scheduling on the calendar and using the To-Do section?

The calendar assigns a ticket to a specific time block. The To-Do section schedules it for that day without a fixed start and end time. It’s useful for quick tickets or lower-priority work.

3. What do the icons on a calendar entry mean?

An eyeball means the ticket’s been acknowledged, an exclamation mark means it hasn’t, and a clock means time has already been logged against it.

4. How do I handle a tech calling in sick?

Pull up the Dispatch Portal and drag their scheduled tickets onto another tech’s calendar to reassign them.

5. Can I schedule recurring work months in advance?

Yes – use ticket templates. You can schedule entries 30, 60, or 90 days out; the actual ticket generates the day before. These show up as purple entries you can still drag and reschedule.