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Mantis: AI Routing [Beta]

[ Preview Available / Live Version Coming Soon]

Written by Catherine

Mantis is an AI-powered route optimization feature that intelligently clusters jobs by geographic proximity to help reduce unnecessary travel. It also takes your configured routing rules and scheduling requirements into account to create more efficient routes for your field teams.

This feature is available to Growth Plan users. Go to Add-Ons to activate Mantis AI.

Mantis is now available for preview on all Growth plans!

To activate it, go to Add-ons > Mantis AI.

Once activated, you can launch Mantis and navigate to Sandbox to see the optimized results.

Please note that the Sandbox is currently for testing purposes only. The option to push optimized results to the live calendar is not yet available.

We’ll send an announcement as soon as this feature is ready!

Set-up the following features after activating Mantis AI

  1. Scheduling Preferences (Power Up)
    Enable your customers' scheduling preferences for their different locations.

    Once enabled, open the customer's account and navigate to the Location tab, then go to the Preferences tab. Under Scheduling Preferences, click the Add Preferences button.
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  2. Preferred Technician (Power Up)
    Add you customers' preferred technicians to service their location.

    Once enabled, open the customer's account and navigate to the Location tab, then go to the Preferences tab. Under Technician Preferences, select the preferred technician.

  3. Technician Skills (Power Up)
    Add skills for your technicians and pair it to your existing service types to help Mantis AI make smarter scheduling and routing decisions.

    Examples of skills include:

    • Ant Control

    • Cockroach Control

    • Mosquito Control

    • Termite Treatment

    • Lawn Services

    You can add other service your business offers. Once skills are assigned, Mantis AI can automatically match the right technician to the right job, improving scheduling accuracy and service quality.
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  4. Regions (Power Up)

    Create regions and mark their location on the map to define the areas that schedules cross path.


    Examples of regions include:

    • Central Florida

    • North Side

    • South Side

    By assigning regions, Mantis AI can prioritize technicians who are already responsible for a particular area when building schedules and optimizing routes.

  5. User Preferences

    Assign Skills, Regions, and Shifts to your team members so Mantis AI can make smarter scheduling and routing decisions.

    1. Set-up Shift Settings

      1. Choose Work Days

        Select which days of the week your staff prefer working.

      2. Choose Work Time

        Select your shift hours.

      3. Set Non-Working Days

        • Federal Holidays

        • Religious Holiday

        • Company Holidays

        • Regional Holidays

        • Personal Days

        • etc

    2. Add Skills

      Add technician skills from Skills Manager. You can add multiple skills that are relevant to you or to your technicians.

    3. Add Regions

      Add the regions covered by your technicians.

Launch Mantis AI

Clicking the Launch Mantis AI Button takes you to the Mantis AI Page.

1. Dashboard

Gives you an overview of your routing stats, give you a quick glance how much mantis has saved your driving, fuel, etc.


Under dashboard you can see the following:

  1. Time Ratio – Displays the percentage of time spent working, driving, and in downtime.

    1. Work Time – The total time spent performing jobs.

    2. Drive Time – The total time spent driving between jobs.

    3. Downtime – The total time spent neither working on a job nor driving.

      1. Example: If a job is scheduled to start at 8:00 AM, but you arrive at 7:50 AM, the 10-minute wait before the job begins is counted as downtime.

  2. Route Optimization Metrics - Shows the specific metrics affected by Mantis route optimization and how they have changed compared to previous periods.

    1. Saved Mileage - Shows the total distance saved by optimizing technician routes compared to the original routes.

    2. Average Completed Jobs - The average number of jobs technicians complete per day, indicating overall route productivity.

    3. Delays - Shows the number of jobs that experienced scheduling or routing delays.

    4. Saved Drive Time - Shows the total reduced driving time by optimizing technician routes compared to the original routes.

    5. Downtime - Shows the total time technicians spend between scheduled jobs, indicating periods of unused time in their routes.

2. Sandbox

The Sandbox gives you a preview of what your route will look like based on the rules you have configured.
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You can also use it as a safe testing environment to experiment with Mantis AI features without affecting your live schedules. It allows you to test routing, scheduling, rules, and AI recommendations using your actual data, so you can confidently evaluate Mantis before turning on Auto-Pilot or applying changes to your live schedule.

  1. Calendar / Map preview toggle: Like your live calendar, you can display the map to view routes and access the following actions:

    1. Click to Select job.

    2. Drag and drop to move job.

      1. Click and hold one job to move it.

      2. Hold down the Shift key and select other jobs to move multiple jobs.

    3. Double click to view specific jobs on the calendar - This will show you the job summary including:

      1. Applied Rules - The adjustments and the rules applied to the optimization of the job's schedule.

      2. Job Details - Shows information about the job including schedule, customer name, location, and assigned technician(s).

      Note: Only jobs within your Optimization Window will be optimized in the Sandbox.
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      Example: If your system rule is set to optimize the next 31 days, the Sandbox will display the adjustments on jobs scheduled within those 31 days and its recommended schedule for those jobs, excluding the freeze window. 
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  2. Additional Options: Use the following options to better preview your routes.

    1. Period Selector: Select the length of time period to show on the calendar/map.

    2. Color Code: Display routes using color coding.

      1. Job Status

      2. Service Template

      3. Zip Code

      4. Country

    3. Technician Filter: Filter the preview by technician.

    4. Date Filter: Filter the preview by date.

  3. Accept Route: allows you to either accept the new route for selected schedules or apply the new route to all schedules and sync the sandbox to your live calendar. 

Inside the Accept Route button, you can do the following:

  1. Select Affected Schedules - You can choose to either apply the optimized route to certain schedules or to all schedules.
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    1. All Schedules - If Route Across All Tech Schedules is enabled in the Autopilot rules, the schedule selector will be disabled. Clicking Accept New Routes will apply the changes to all schedules.
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    2. Selected Schedules - If Route Across All Tech Schedules is disabled in the Autopilot rules, you can select which schedules the new routes will apply to.

  2. Preview Found and Optimized Jobs - Review the jobs identified by Mantis and compare their original and optimized routes using Agenda, Calendar, Map, or List view. You can get a better view by clicking the collapse button on the Accept Routes and Optimized Metrics panels. Also, just like the Sandbox calendar, you can filter by technician. 
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  3. Accept New Routes and Apply Changes - On the optimized metrics panel, you can review the updated time ratio, distance, fuel usage, assigned jobs, expected payments, and total savings before applying the optimized route to your live calendar. You can cancel the route optimization process by clicking the exit button.
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    ​Once the new route is accepted, you have the option to undo the changes by going to the Activity Feed > History.

3. Activity Feed

You can view Errors and History in the Activity Feed and filter them by date and mode, including Auto-Pilot, Manual, or All Modes.

  • Autopilot - Shows activities that were triggered by one of the Routing Triggers or the Regular Autopilot Schedule you set-up.

  • Manual - Shows activities that you initiated through the Accept Routes feature.

Activity Feed shows you:

  1. Errors - Check failed routings, review what went wrong, and fix it.

  2. History - Shows a list of successfully optimized routes, including a comparison of the original and optimized time ratios and metrics, affected schedules and jobs, and the specific rules applied. You can also add new rules or undo Mantis’ changes.

    Jobs already marked as Completed, Cancelled, or Terminated cannot be undone.

4. Chat with Mantis

Chat with Mantis lets you interact with Mantis AI to help manage your scheduling and routing operations. Simply ask a question or describe what you need, and Mantis AI will provide recommendations, explain scheduling decisions, or assist with supported tasks.

You can seek advice on creating routing rules by asking Copilot questions about your routes and routing requirements.

5. Rule Sets

  1. System Rules

    1. Autopilot Rules – Configure the core rules Auto-Pilot uses to build and optimize routes for your team.

      1. Autopilot Run frequency (cannot be turned off) - The schedule where Auto-Pilot will trigger auto-optimization.

      2. Freeze Window (cannot be turned off) - Jobs within this window are locked and will not be moved by Auto-Pilot.

      3. Autopilot Optimization Window (cannot be turned off) - How far ahead should Auto-Pilot optimize schedules.

      4. Restrict Job Movement - Set how many days a job can be moved from its original schedule.

      5. Keep Original Period - Keep the job scheduled within its original week/month, preventing it from overflowing into the next one.

      6. Route Across All Tech Schedules - Jobs will be redistributed across technicians.

    2. Route Efficiency – Customize the optimization goals that define the "perfect route" for your business.

      1. Optimization Priority (cannot be turned off) - Choose which should prioritize when optimizing schedules.

        • Best Drive Balance

        • Most Jobs per Day

      2. Do not reroute and route around jobs with status - Jobs with this status are excluded from rerouting, and all other jobs will be routed around them.

      3. Do not reroute and ignore jobs with status - Jobs with this status are excluded from rerouting, and other jobs may be scheduled into their slot.

      4. Minimize Travel Time - Minimize travel time between jobs toward this target.

      5. Minimize Travel Distance - Minimize travel distance between jobs toward this target.

      6. Maximum Travel Distance - Set the maximum total travel distance allowed per shift.

      7. Max Shift Travel Time Limit - Set the maximum total travel time allowed per shift.

      8. Preferred Technician Matching - Match your customer's preferred technicians. You can choose between Soft and Strict.

      9. Technician Skill Matching - Match service type to technician skills.

    3. Routing Triggers – Select when Auto-Pilot should automatically reroute schedules in response to changes.

      1. When a job is added - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute the optimization window when a job is added.

      2. When a job is moved - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute the optimization window when a job is moved.

      3. When a job is marked as cancelled - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute the optimization window when a job is marked as cancelled.

      4. When a job is marked as terminated - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute the optimization window when a job is marked as terminated.

      5. Automatically reroute scheduled jobs to next optimal available time slot - When a job is marked as reschedule, AutoPilot will automatically reroute it into a future schedule.

      6. When a batch move is performed - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute schedules when batch move jobs is used.

      7. When a batch reassign is performed - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute schedules when batch reassign jobs is used.

      8. When a time off event is added - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute schedules when a Time Off is created.

      9. When a custom event is added - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute schedules when a Custom Event is added.

      10. When a pending booking is marked as unconfirmed - Trigger AutoPilot to reroute when a job status is updated from Pending Booking to Unconfirmed.


        ​Note: Routing triggers only work if Auto-Pilot is enabled.

    4. Service Commitments – Protect customer expectations by ensuring Auto-Pilot honors appointment commitments, service areas, and routing restrictions.

      1. Max Last Appointment Departure Time - Set the time technicians should stop taking jobs before shift end.

      2. Arrival Window Duration Override - Sets the time window communicated to customers around their scheduled service.

      3. Region Enforcement - Ensure jobs stay within technician regions.

      4. Customer Scheduling Preferences - Schedule jobs within the customer's scheduling preferences.

      5. Add Drive Buffer Time - Add a drive time buffer. This will be added on top of the original drive time.

    5. Workforce Boundaries – Define the scheduling and operational constraints that Auto-Pilot must follow when assigning work.

      1. Default Service Hours - Set service hours. Jobs will only be scheduled during these hours.

      2. Day Exclusions - Set dates when technician(s) or company cannot provide service. You can add multiple exclusions.

      3. Max Jobs per day - Set the maximum number of jobs allowed per schedule per day.

      4. Preferred number of jobs per day - Set the preferred number of jobs per schedule per day.

      5. Pre-Shift & Post-Shift Travel Time - Set the amount of time it takes for technicians to get to and from work.

      6. Max Shift End Time & Overtime Protection - Set the maximum shift end time so jobs are completed before the shift ends.

      7. Workload Fairness - Balance hours, travel time, and breaks evenly across technicians.

      8. Include Schedule Address Travel in Shift - Determines whether travel from the schedule start address to the first job and from the last job to the schedule end address counts toward the technician's shift.

  2. Custom Rules

    Custom Rules are like an expansion of System Rules but allow you to add specific scheduling and routing instructions for Mantis to follow during route optimization. These rules can be applied to specific service types, ZIP codes, locations, customers, or other scheduling conditions.

    For example, you can configure rules to:

    • Keep Rat Trap and Bed Bug service appointments within the same week.

    • Weekly services should remain within their original week.

    • Monthly services should remain within their original month.

    • All customers in ZIP code 12345 should be assigned to Region 2.

    • Customers with ZIP code 1125 should only be serviced on a month's 1st and 2nd week.

    • Customers with multiple services scheduled within the same month should have those services grouped together.

    • Jobs within the same region and only 2 weeks apart at most should be scheduled together.

    • Jobs with Beehive Removal and Wasp Extermination can only be assigned to Max Collins.

      Go to Mantis AI > Custom Rules to view the list of all the Custom Rules you have created.

    Create a Custom Rule

    • Launch Mantis AI and go to Custom Rules.

    • Click the "Add Custom Rule" button.

    • Explain the conditions of the custom rule you want to add.

    • The AI will ask follow-up questions to clarify information then draft a custom rule.

    • Check the custom rule created by the Mantis AI to see if its conditions fit your requirements, click "Verify Rule" to save the current draft.

    • After verifying, you can either add more constraints/conditions or save the custom rule.

  3. Specific Rules

    Create customer-specific routing rules for unique customer or appointment requirements without affecting your global routing settings.

    Examples:

    • Schedule Ameriza Smith's Quarterly and Monthly services together.

    • Always route Christine Dy and Monica Yu together.

    • Services for John Doe can only be done within the second week of the month.

    • Jobs for Mary Sue should always be assigned to Linda Brown.

Custom Rules and Specific Rules are interchangeable, and there is no right or wrong place to add them. As long as a rule is valid, it will work regardless of which section it is added to.

However, we recommend organizing rules by their scope:

  • Use Specific Rules for rules that apply to an individual customer or a small group of customer types.

  • Use Custom Rules for rules that apply to a larger group of customers.

This helps keep your rules list organized and easier to manage.

Configure ​Scheduling Preferences (Power Up) and Preferred Technician (Power Up) on your customer's account.

  1. Open customer profile

  2. Go to Locations and open a location where you want to configure the preferences.

  3. Choose Preferred Technicians

    For repeat customers, you can set which Technicians they prefer to be assigned on their job requests. Mantis AI will cross check the Technicians' availability when creating bookings or optimizing job routes.

  4. Add, Edit, or Remove Scheduling Preferences
    Set custom availability windows for your customers based on their scheduling preferences. Mantis AI will take these preferences into account when scheduling jobs.

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