Key Advantages of Field Service Software
Managing field service can be pretty challenging – more so when you rely on manual and paper-based methods.
It is extremely essential in today’s competitive world to have a robust field service management software that enables the efficient management of your workforce, machines, equipment, vehicles, and more.
Unlike managing business property, field management requires managers to handle company resources that are either on the way to customer sites, or already employed there.
You need to schedule work orders, dispatch technicians, track the hours they worked, the progress of the jobs, and issue invoices to customers.
Typically, repair, maintenance, inspecting, consultations, and customer support fall under the ambit of field service.
Field service management software can help you do all these tasks seamlessly.
What is Field Service Management (FSM) Software?
Field service management solutions enable you to achieve your business goals and boost productivity, eventually enhancing revenues.
Business owners and managers aim at using resources optimally and boosting customer satisfaction to improve profitability; these are the important goals, regardless of industry or size of the business.
With a spike in customer expectations, it is becoming more and more imperative to provide superior customer service.
FSM software can deliver numerous benefits as it can give you practical and much-needed solutions, like better communication with not just employees, but customers and managers too.
FSM solutions can give you a competitive edge by enabling you to deliver superlative customer experiences.
Industries that Require FSM
1. Telecom
To access work order management, use the software to execute jobs, report issues, and specify the time and method used for completion.
2. Shipping
Accurate delivery times can be maintained, and cost of fuel can be saved with the correct routing and scheduling, along with greater visibility of packages.
3. Utilities
Engineers can view job progress, customer availability and local delays, allowing them to adapt to changing situations
4. Property Maintenance
Tenants can have an online portal to report issues of leaks, air conditioning problems, and maintenance requests, and they can be taken care of easily and safely.
5. Mining
Reporting issues in safety, reducing workplace injuries etc. can be achieved
6. Healthcare
Patients can be treated at home without expensive and time-consuming hospital visits.
Pharmacists, therapists and healthcare providers can collaborate to provide enhanced patient care.
Advantages of Field Service Software
Now that we have understand what field service management software is, let us take a look at the benefits it offers:
1. Integrates Disparate Systems
FSM software transforms manual processes, paper files, whiteboards, calendars, spreadsheets and so on into user-friendly digital formats.
This allows you and your teams to access data on jobs and service tickets from any location whenever you want to easily and without hassles.
Anyone in your company will be able to access information about technicians on the field.
You don’t need disparate systems once you have a field service management solution, as everything can be managed from a single unified platform.
2. Schedules Events Properly
Some of the biggest challenges faced by field service providers are issues with dispatching, improper workflows, and confusion in scheduling – failing to send a technician to a particular job, or duplicate scheduling for some other.
However, GPS can help in allocating tasks to technicians located nearer your customers.
This not only saves time, but also makes things more orderly within the company.
A real-time system for scheduling allows field personnel to quickly adjust and adapt without causing delays in service to customers.
Remote work has become a quintessential part of many industries – especially so in the construction industry.
It enables builders, managers, and teams to collaborate on projects, share ideas, and assign jobs regardless of where they are at the time.
3. Enhances Productivity
When all tasks related to field services are automated, you no longer need manual effort for form filling, data entry, and log updates in the office.
Your team can spend their time more productively – on their actual tasks, allowing them to be more efficient and deliver better customer service.
When time is utilized more fruitfully, your team can complete more jobs daily – straight away boosting productivity along with an increase in the accuracy of dispatches.
4. Field Employees Function Efficiently
All the field technicians will have the app on their mobile devices, allowing them to access information from the FSM software whenever they require it, regardless of where they are.
They can query the data, connect to tech support, and access specific tools they need to execute a specific task.
The backend team can communicate in real-time with the field technicians, enabling them to do a better job and deliver excellent service, achieving a high rate of customer satisfaction.
Field techs can give updates about job status, ask for parts replacements, and access inventory on the fly, without having to go to the office.
It gives them the freedom, leeway and wherewithal to perform their tasks on the field efficiently and quickly.
With GPS tracking, it becomes easier to get to jobs that require accurate geographic locations.
GPS can also record their arrival time, and notify the office if the field techs travel beyond the prescribed area, with the geo-fencing feature.
5. Work Automation
FSM software enables automation of monotonous tasks, and helps the flow of tasks to be smooth and hassle-free – similar to a sequence of several events occurring outside the office premises.
When there is smooth task flow, there is less resource wastage, and fewer ineffective activities.
It also enables you to focus on more value-adding tasks.
6. Optimizes Resources
Companies are able to manage fundamental aspects of their work like assignment and routing of field tech based on expertise and experience more efficiently and hence are able to improve profitability.
Manual dispatch systems are automated, and excellent service levels can be maintained.
7. Cost Reduction
Field service management software helps reduce expenses and earn more revenue.
With digitization of paperwork and aligning of forms in a single network, your team can execute more jobs.
Tranquil FSM software is user-friendly and allows you to create your own forms to gather information, reducing your dependency on IT professionals, and making the process more efficient.
This helps in executing more jobs, accept more assignments, and earn higher profits.
8. Securing Cloud Data
Cloud storage offers better security than on-site storage, thanks to sophisticated encryption methods.
According to industry experts, businesses report heightened security after moving to the cloud.
It also makes it easy to maintain compliance with government and industry regulations.
FSM software which is cloud-based and has a security strategy specific to your business can mitigate risk and prevent security breaches.
9. Dealing with Emergencies
Field service management software will be able to immediately identify a field tech who is nearby and available.
The maps’ location can be easily seen by dispatchers as the map has complete functionality in the software.
The field tech can be quickly rerouted to where he is needed urgently.
In the absence of such software, whenever there are urgent or emergency service calls, it can cause tension and panic among office staff and field tech alike.
10. Knowledge Base and Customer History
For any business, having a database that contains every bit of data about your customers, history of interactions with them and services performed for them, requisite technical instructions etc., is an extremely treasured asset.
Even if specific employees are unavailable due to illness or other reasons, or they quit, the company will be able to continue the work process smoothly thanks to the database and detailed customer history.
11. Quick Invoicing
Invoices are generated by a field service providing company to customers once the service call is successfully completed.
The field service management software allows the field techs to send job-related info like the hours spent, the status of the work, what materials, tools and equipment were used, and so on.
They can also upload photos of the job performed, and the digital signature of the customer.
Tranquil FSM can generate invoices, calculate charges, identify warranty products and pending commitments automatically, and assign discounts based on the data provided.
12. Minimizes Waste
One of the most important responsibilities of field service management software is managing and reducing waste.
By implementing the software in your company, you can minimize wastage by encouraging the essential functions of the system.
Consequently, field techs can perform in a more efficient and systematic manner, boosting the business sense and reputation of the company.
13. Supports Expansion
Field service management solutions are capable of handling complicated data and increasing customer requirements every single day, smartly and efficiently, because it’s designed to scale.
Thanks to this feature of the software, business owners need not worry about scaling or growing their business; in fact, they can plan it more effectively now.
FSM software is also capable of adapting to the increasing needs of the growing company, and alerting you to what must be added so that you can make sure your jobs are properly executed.
14. Efficient Processing of Work Orders
Several companies still rely on manual methods and paper documentation, or outdated software to record details of work orders every day.
More often than not, this leads to delays and overlaps in scheduling, problems with dispatch, erroneous data entry, and high costs.
One of the best advantages of field service management software is that it sends the task straight to the field tech’s mobile device, including the customer history, the optimal route to the customer site, tools required, inventory information, and service reports which may also include photos along with descriptions, so that they can deliver superior service to the customer.
By eliminating manual and paper-based processes, companies can effectively streamline field service processes.
15. Team Coordination
By implementing FSM software in your field service business, you can significantly improve team communication and coordination.
This is because field techs and office staff can all access the same info, and office staff can provide any additional info the field tech wants.
Field service software can enhance user experience for clients by executing more tasks and field operations to boost productivity, efficiency, and save costs.
16. Promotes Innovation Continuously
Field service management software evaluates statistical data and gathers feedback from clients and workers to drive continuous improvement in service levels.
When a system gathers additional information, identifying where the service is lacking and needs improvement becomes very easy.
You can also identify the time taken to execute a task and helps to plan your workforce efficiently.
With feedback loops in place, it becomes simpler to improve efficiency across processes.
Thanks to field service management software, engineers and field techs can view customer availability, local delays on the route, status of the job, and more.
This helps them to respond to sudden changes in the situations without much delay or having to wait for approvals from the office.
Conclusion
Field service management software has drastically changed the way in which field service companies function, how their business processes run, how customer expectations are managed, and customer experiences are delivered.
Tranquil provides no-code software, offering you a speedy and reliable option that boosts productivity and reduces wastage and expenditure, eventually enhancing your bottom line. Schedule a FREE demo to see how exactly our software can benefit your business.