A Day In The Life Of HVAC & Plumbing Dispatchers

Armstrong Emergency 24 Hour Service Dispatcher

Have you experienced this frustrating scenario? Your air conditioner quits working during a wicked-hot Lubbock summer day or maybe your water heater starts leaking, so you pick up the phone and call a service company for what you feel is an emergency. To your dismay, the level of urgency and concern at the other end of the line doesn’t match yours and you hang up the phone anxiously wondering when the service call will be made.

Armstrong Plumbing, Air, Electric understands that providing the utmost in customer service means treating your emergency like ours and that’s why we offer 24/7 emergency service. Make the call and we will have our Lubbock, Texas service technicians on the way in no time. Integral to getting our pros to you as fast as possible is our dispatcher. Our HVAC/plumbing dispatcher is one of the unsung behind-the-scenes heroes in our business and keep our technicians headed in the right direction at the right time.

So, what exactly does it take to become an Armstrong HVAC/Plumbing/Electric dispatcher? Well, the best place to start with enlightening you would be with Armstrong’s Call Center Supervisor, Elizabeth Shipp.

Shipp said criteria for joining the Armstrong dispatching team includes the ability to multitask under pressure: working in many computer software programs while answering and making calls. Another important trait is to be able to evaluate and prioritize a service request, following the company guidelines for 24-hour emergency service, HVAC replacement, HVAC repair, and plumbing maintenance. Additionally, of course, our dispatchers must exhibit integrity and cheery, professional attitudes at all times.

Our dispatchers will need all of those skills and then some because our call center is always abuzz with activity. How much? Well, let’s take a look at a day in the life – and a week – of our dispatchers. Shipp said call volume “is not based on incoming or outgoing calls, but on service calls required to meet daily/weekly goals.” She shares that a typical week shows 270 calls. The breakdown of those calls is:

  • HVAC – 140 calls (avg. 2-hr per call)
  • Plumbing – 100 calls (avg. 2-hr call)
  • Electrical – 10 calls (avg. 2-hr call)
  • HVAC Replacement – 10 calls (avg. 2 8-hr calls per day)
  • Plumbing Install – 10 calls (avg. 2 8-hr calls per day)

All impressive numbers to be sure, but here is an equally important stat, especially when it comes to the aforementioned emergency call you may have made. On average, once Armstrong’s dispatcher has made the call to one of our technicians, they are going to arrive to the emergency site within 20 minutes if the call is within the Lubbock city limits.

Yes, our dispatchers are the best of the best, or as Shipp likes to say: “To quote Mary Poppins, ‘They are practically perfect in every way’.” So, when your HVAC or plumbing issue turns into an emergency, you Better Call Armstrong. Rest assured our dispatchers will make it their emergency. Thanks for your business and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook and Twitter.