Two trips to the same business park
On Tuesday, an engineer drives to a client on a business park to replace a failed switch. On Thursday, a different engineer drives to another client on the same business park to install a printer. On Friday, the first client asks for someone to come back and move a desk phone. Each visit was booked separately from a different ticket.
On one of those trips, the engineer arrived without the right power supply, because the part was sitting in the office. On another, reception did not know they were coming and the contact was in a meeting.
Why site visits are inefficient
Site visits are the exception in a remote-first MSP, so there is no dispatch process. Each engineer books their own visits from their own tickets.
- Tickets needing a visit are not marked as such until someone decides.
- Nobody looks across all tickets for the same area or client.
- Parts and kit are not checked before the visit.
- Client contacts and access details are not confirmed.
- Travel time is not logged, so the cost of visits is hidden.
What ad hoc visits cost
| Pattern | Effect |
|---|---|
| Same area visited twice | Engineer time lost to travel |
| Wrong parts | A return trip |
| Contact unavailable | A wasted journey |
| Visits squeezed in around remote work | Remote tickets wait while engineers drive |
| Travel not recorded | Site visits look cheaper than they are |
Whether visits are included in each client's contract is set by the contract. The scheduling tool uses those rules when it books.
How we schedule visits
- A 'site visit needed' flag on PSA tickets, with a reason and estimated duration.
- A visit board showing all pending visits by client and area, with any deadline.
- Proposed visit days that group tickets by client and nearby clients, with route and travel time from a mapping service.
- A pre-visit checklist per visit: parts and kit (checked against stock or orders), access details, client contact and any out-of-hours requirements.
- Client confirmation sent automatically with the date, time window and engineer's name, and a reminder the day before.
- Travel time logged against the visit, so the true cost of on-site work is visible per client.
A week of planned visits
On Monday, the service coordinator looks at the visit board. The switch replacement, the printer install and the desk phone move are all on the same business park, so they are grouped into one Wednesday with one engineer. The pre-visit checklist shows the power supply is in the office, so it goes in the van. Both clients receive confirmation with the time window and the engineer's name.
The engineer spends one morning on site instead of three separate trips. Remote tickets are covered by the rest of the team. At month end, travel and site time per client are visible for account reviews.
Urgent visits still happen the same day when they must. The board shows where the engineer is going anyway, so an urgent job nearby can often be added to an existing trip.
Clients with regular on-site days in their contract fit the same board. If a client has a fortnightly visit, tickets flagged for that client wait for the next scheduled day unless they are urgent, and the engineer arrives with a list of jobs rather than a vague plan to walk round and ask. The client sees the list in advance and can add to it, which makes the visit feel planned and useful rather than a routine check-in.
Engineers who work mainly remotely benefit too. When site days are grouped, the rest of their week can stay remote, with fewer interruptions from short trips across town.
Is site visit scheduling costing you?
- Engineers visit the same area several times a week.
- Return trips happen because of missing parts.
- Clients are sometimes not expecting the engineer.
- Travel time is not recorded.
- Nobody can see all pending visits in one place.