A burst pipe at 2 a.m. A server that stops responding on a Sunday. A tenant locked out in a snowstorm. Some calls cannot wait until the office opens, but you also can’t have your whole team on call every night.
An urgent dispatch service solves that problem. A live team answers your calls around the clock, decides which ones are truly urgent based on your rules and makes sure the right person responds.
How it works, step by step
- The call is answered live. A trained agent picks up, in English or French, using your company name.
- The situation is assessed. The agent asks a set of questions you approved in advance to understand what happened and how serious it is.
- Urgent calls are escalated. If the call meets your criteria for an emergency, the agent contacts your on-call person by phone, text or both, following your call list in order until someone confirms.
- Non-urgent calls are handled. Routine requests are recorded and sent to your team for the next business day.
- Everything is documented. You get a record of every call, who was contacted and when.
Who needs urgent dispatch?
- Property managers: floods, heating failures, lockouts and security issues.
- Trades and service companies: plumbing, HVAC, electrical and restoration emergencies.
- IT and managed service providers: outages and critical system alerts.
- Healthcare and dental clinics: after-hours patient concerns that need a call back.
- Any business with an on-call rotation that is tired of missed calls and voicemail tag.
Setting it up
A good urgent dispatch setup starts with clear rules. Before going live, decide:
- What counts as an emergency, with examples.
- Who is on call, the backup contacts and how long to wait before trying the next person.
- What information the agent should collect on every call.
- How you want to receive summaries of non-urgent calls.
Review the rules every few months. If too many calls are escalated, tighten the criteria; if something urgent was missed, add it.
Urgent dispatch vs. an answering service
A standard after-hours answering service takes messages and answers common questions. Urgent dispatch adds the decision-making and escalation, so emergencies reach a person who can act right away. Many businesses use both. See 7 signs your business needs an after-hours answering service.
HuPrin Systems provides urgent dispatch 24/7 for businesses across Canada, with bilingual agents who follow your escalation rules exactly.
Talk to HuPrin Systems
Want emergencies handled the right way, every time? Book a free consultation or call +1 (888) 576-8234. We answer in English and French.
