Will-call trips

A will-call trip is a trip whose pickup time isn't known yet — most often the return leg after a medical appointment. The member "will call" when they're ready. ZeitRide parks these trips in a queue so nothing gets lost, then lets you dispatch them in seconds when the call comes in.

Marking a trip will-call

1. In the New Trip (or Edit Trip) slideout, go to the leg with the unknown time — usually Leg B, the return trip.
2. Check the Will Call box next to the pickup time field.
3. The scheduled pickup and appointment times clear, and the field switches to Estimated pickup time. Enter a rough estimate if you have one — it helps with planning but doesn't commit the driver.
4. Save the trip.

Will Call, a scheduled pickup time, and an appointment time are mutually exclusive — checking Will Call clears the other two.

Broker trips can also arrive flagged as will-call; they behave the same way.

Where will-call trips wait

• Dispatch board — a Will call section sits right under Unassigned, in both By stop and By trip, and always lists every will-call for the day, whichever driver you have selected. Each row shows the member, trip number, leg, pickup and drop-off, level of service and the member's phone, plus Held by {driver} when a driver already has it (or No driver yet).
• Run board — will-calls are listed in their own Will Call section of the Unassigned tray.
• Trip List — the Will call card counts the will-calls waiting today; use the Will call filter to list just those rows.
• On stop rows, the scheduled pickup shows Will Call instead of a time.

Dispatching a will-call

When the member calls in:

1. Find the trip in the Will call section (Dispatch board), the tray (Run board) or the Trip List.
2. Set the pickup time — it starts at right now (or now plus your company's will-call lead time).
3. Choose the driver. ZeitRide suggests the best drivers for that pickup time at the top of the list — for example "6 min away · on time · 2 trips today". Pick a suggestion or any other driver.
   • On the Dispatch board, click Dispatch ▾ on the row and pick the driver.
   • On the Run board and Trip List, click Dispatch, pick a suggested driver (or choose one from the list), then Dispatch to {driver}.
4. Nothing is assigned until you choose the driver — the suggestion is a suggestion, never automatic.

The trip immediately becomes a normal scheduled trip: it lands on the chosen driver's run, appears in the driver's app, and the will-call flag is cleared. ZeitRide records when it was dispatched and by whom.

Sending a will-call to Unassigned

Sometimes the member is ready but you don't want to pick a driver yet — or no driver is available to choose. You can activate the will-call without a driver and let it wait in the Unassigned list like any other trip:

• On the Dispatch board, click To Unassigned beside Dispatch ▾ on the will-call row. It appears when no driver holds the trip.
• In the Dispatch will-call dialog (Run board and Trip List), click Send to Unassigned in the footer.

The trip gets the pickup time shown on the row or in the dialog (it starts at right now plus your company's will-call lead time), the will-call flag is cleared, and it moves to Unassigned with no driver. A message confirms it, for example "Sent to Unassigned — pickup 3:40 PM". Nothing is assigned on the spot: you assign it from the Unassigned list yourself, or your regular auto-assign picks it up.

These buttons only appear when your company has turned on Suggest a driver for will calls in the Will Call card under Settings → Scheduling Settings → Auto-assign & time windows tab. The same card sets the pickup lead time: "Set the pickup [30] min after the member calls" (5–180 minutes). The dispatcher always confirms before a driver is assigned.

Tip: The member's phone number is right on the will-call row, so you can call ahead to confirm they're ready before dispatching.

How drivers see will-calls

In the driver app, will-call trips are grouped in their own Will Call section on the Trips screen with an orange WILL CALL badge, and the pickup shows "Pick up · Will Call" instead of a time. Once you dispatch the trip with a driver and time, it moves into the driver's normal upcoming trips — carrying a small Will call chip on its card so the driver can see it wasn't part of the original schedule.

Faster dispatching

• If the will-call trip already has a driver, that driver is preselected — activating the trip when the member calls is a single confirm.
• With the Will Call module turned on for your company (Settings → Driver app → App & marketplace tab → Driver app modules), a driver who already holds the will-call sees it in their app and can activate it themselves when the member calls them directly — no dispatcher round-trip needed.

Related: Same-day NEMT trip scheduling