The Peak-Season Capacity System
Client identity withheld.
Results
$112K
Booked revenue over 90 summer days, at the shop's own prices
118
Service calls booked by the phone assistant during peak season
3.4 → 3.7
Completed jobs per service tech per day
14% → <2%
Peak-season calls left unanswered
2
New techs hired in six weeks
3 days → 9 min
Time from application to first contact
Company Profile
Company
Residential HVAC company. ~$2.6M revenue, 8 service techs, 3 installers, 1 dispatcher who also answers phones, 1 CSR, and an office manager. ~3,900 past customers and ~450 maintenance plan members.
Stack
Field-service management software with GPS tracking, VoIP phone system, Google Local Services Ads, Indeed job postings.
Operating Need
Handle summer demand without losing calls or burning out the team, and add techs before the next heat wave.
The Challenge
Houston summers brought more work than the company could handle. On peak days, the dispatcher answered phones while rebuilding the schedule by hand, and calls rolled to voicemail. Techs crossed town and back because there was no time to plan routes. The owner needed more techs, but job postings drew dozens of unqualified applicants, and by the time he called the good ones back, they'd taken other offers. Members waited in the same queue as everyone else.
The Audit
We reviewed the previous summer's call logs, dispatch and GPS data, membership records, and the last two hiring rounds.
Patterns Found
- About 14% of calls went unanswered on peak days, mostly while the dispatcher was rescheduling
- Service techs averaged 3.4 jobs a day, with about 26% of paid hours spent driving
- The dispatcher reshuffled the board by hand around 25 times on a heat-wave day
- Members got no priority before or during heat waves
- Applicants waited an average of 3 days for first contact, and about 70% lacked EPA certification or the needed experience
- The owner spent about 5 hours on phone screens per hire
The company didn't need more leads in summer. It needed more capacity from the team it had, and a faster way to add to it.
The Architecture
Four systems working as six parts, built for the summer peak.
Call Handling
An AI assistant in backup mode that picks up after 3 rings, on busy lines and after hours, identifies itself as virtual, follows the owner's no-cooling emergency rules, and books routine work.
Smart Dispatcher
Builds each morning's plan by matching jobs to techs on skill, location and drive time. When emergencies come in or jobs run long, it proposes changes for the dispatcher to approve and warns the next customer.
Customer ETA Texts
Tells customers when their tech is on the way, with name and arrival estimate, cutting "where's my tech?" calls.
Weather Trigger
Watches the forecast and texts members and older systems 5–7 days before a heat wave, and warns the owner about expected call volume.
Tech Hiring Screener
Texts every applicant within minutes, screens for EPA certification, experience, on-call availability and pay range, asks real-world diagnostic questions, and books interviews with the top-ranked candidates.
Monday Recovered Revenue Report
One page every Monday with calls answered, jobs per tech, bookings and the hiring pipeline.
How the System Operates
The system answers, routes and screens. The dispatcher approves every schedule change, and the owner makes every hiring decision.
- Every schedule change is approved by the dispatcher before techs or customers are notified
- Members are always contacted first before a forecast heat wave
- Every applicant gets a response, and only the owner makes hiring decisions
How It Flows
- 1The morning plan is built, and calls and applications come in through the day
- 2Calls are answered, routes adjust to new work, and applicants are screened
- 3The dispatcher approves changes, and the owner gets a ranked shortlist with interviews booked
- 4Every booking and hire is logged on the Monday report
Schedule changes are reviewed by the dispatcher before they reach techs or customers.
Implementation
| Stage | Focus | Key Results |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Peak-season audit | Missed-call pattern, drive time and dispatch reshuffling measured; hiring funnel reviewed |
| Stage 2 | Setup and approval | Skills matrix, dispatch rules, emergency rules and screening questions approved |
| Stage 3 | Pre-summer launch | Call Handling, Smart Dispatcher and ETA texts live before the first heat wave |
| Stage 4 | Peak season | Weather trigger and Hiring Screener live; Monday reports every week |
Ownership
The capacity the company gained is built on its own team, rules and data, and it stays with them every summer.
A skills matrix and dispatch rules for every tech
Screening questions and a scoring rubric for future hires
A member and older-system list ready for every heat wave
A recording and summary of every call, and every Monday report
Operational Impact
Summer is still the busiest season, but it no longer breaks the office. Calls are answered while the dispatcher plans, routes adjust without rebuilding the board by hand, and techs spend more of their day in homes than on the road. Members are booked before heat waves, and when the company needs another tech, qualified applicants hear back within minutes instead of days.