Dispatch - Definition and Overview

A Dispatch can be:

• A report sent to a newspaper by a correspondent.
• A message, often military or diplomatic, sent by secure means and quickly to the recipient.

Dispatch is a form of logistics as used in the taxi, courier, and service delivery industries and for emergency services, whereby clients are matched to vehicles according to the order in which clients called and the proximity of vehicles to each client's pick-up location. Telephone operators take calls from clients, then either enter the client's information into a computer or write it down and give it to a dispatcher. In the first scenario, a central computer then communicates with the mobile data terminal located in each vehicle (see computer assisted dispatch); in the second, the dispatcher communicates with the driver of each vehicle via two-way radio.

In many countries, Emergency services are accessed by dialling a distinctive emergency telephone number.

Dispatch is also a band.