Field Service Management Technologies You Need in 2023
The global shift to digital transformation has forced field service organizations all over the world to accelerate their endeavors toward automation. As a result, companies are rethinking their technological needs and adapting to digital tools so that can quickly and efficiently cope with the changing market scenario. In fact, more than 75% of field service business owners reported that emerging technologies have been small businesses the most significant competitive advantage in the last couple of years. So, it is no surprise that they are leaning towards digital tools and technologies such as CRM software, field service management software, mobile apps, cloud-based platforms, and so on.
In today’s time, it is a proven fact that embracing automation could do wonders for any business. The field service industry is naturally following suit. From automated scheduling & dispatching to real-time monitoring, from digital invoicing to remote collaboration, it is leveraging every possible tool to maintain the competitive advantage. But more importantly, by making use of these tools and technologies, you can optimize your resources and streamline your business processes, thus improving both your productivity and profitability. So, it is time you keep up with the changing times and learn about the options available to you.
Having said that, it is true that the current market is overflowing with different new technologies. Some of them offer unique features while some offer lucrative deals. But it is important to choose the right tool for your business. Not all of them will bring you the desired advantages, rather you would be stuck with an expensive subscription and tedious training process that yields little to no benefits to your company.
That leads us to the question—what digital tools are absolutely necessary at this point for your company? Which software or apps would help your business grow without fail? And most importantly, what are the technologies that you can trust with your eyes closed? Well, here is the answer.
Table of Contents
1. Connected Field Service Management
Most field service providers will swear that it is impossible to render efficient customer service without full context. That is to say, you need to know the real issue, understand what type of skill do you require to fix the problem, how long would it approximately take to get the job done, what parts and items would you need to fix the problem, and what kind of budget your customers are willing to set aside for the job.
A connected field service management software provides service providers, technicians, dispatchers, and business owners with the same data, giving them complete insight into the work order. With this software solution, you have access to the customer information, asset history, job details, and warranties. You can also view your inventory to ensure that you have the right equipment, as well as the technicians with a skill set matching the job requirement. As a result, it improves your decision-making process and increases the chances to first-visit resolutions, which is a crucial element to customer experience.
A connected system enables proactive service as well. For instance, suppose you are scheduling a field technician to work at a client’s property to repair an air conditioning system. Thanks to the automated recurring work order management feature of the software, you may notice that the machine is due for routine maintenance when they review the customer information. Then, you might inform the customer right away and with their approval, you may schedule a maintenance work order at the same time, thus eliminating the need for another technician visit.
2. Digital Work Order Management
When a field service team has access to the most updated information, there is no more wasted time. Digital work order management enables managers and technicians to instantly track all the updates about the potential and assigned work orders. For example, if your technicians are aware of their entire schedule for the day, or better yet, the week or the month, they can plan accordingly.
Using a digital work order management tool, you can organize all your service requests and schedule technician visits. Your technicians can then view this through the field service management app integrated with the management software. This way, they will never miss an appointment or waste time in figuring out the best route for the next job on the given day.
The advantage extends to the business owners/dispatchers as well. If you have all your work orders in one place, you have a complete picture of your resources and their availability. So, in case of any further work order or emergency service request, you can assign a technician with just a few clicks on your computer or smartphone.
Digital work order management tools also allow you to track updates about ongoing job status, review warranties, and assess current inventory volumes. This ensures proactive service
3. Real-time Scheduling and Automated Dispatch
For any field service organization, the key element to success is their efficiency to schedule and dispatch technicians with promptness. Imagine you get a service request saying they need an emergency inspection 10 kilometers away from your office. Now, if you are still relying on the same pen, paper, and excel sheets, you would spend an awful lot of time and effort to find out which technician is available to attend to that job. Instead of asking for emergency service, if your customer says that they are only available on a particular date and time (say next Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), you would have to bring out all your ledgers to find out which technician is available at that given window, still dealing with the risk that their skill set might not match the job requirement. Worse still, a customer tries to reach you during the weekends or beyond your business hours. If you are still operating manually, there is a high probability that you are going to miss the business opportunity. Because by no means, you would have the resources available to assign and dispatch a technician for the job.
Although the situations look rather gloomy, the solution is rather easy. You just need a smart scheduling and dispatching tool. This digital solution will connect your customers and technicians with you seamlessly, giving you access to all the necessary information round the clock. This way, you can keep track of all emergency and regular work requests as well as your technicians’ real-time location and schedule. Assigning a technician for a particular job thus becomes a child’s play. Better still, you can access the information from anywhere, anytime. This means you would never have to miss a job opportunity ever again.
4. Remote Collaboration Tools
Digital transformation has accelerated the trend of remote collaboration across all sorts of industries. What was once a novelty for certain businesses has become a major trend in the business ecosystem.
To keep up with the changing financial ecosystem, therefore, you need to employ certain remote collaboration strategies as well. And as a field service provider, your best bet is a field service management app. If you can provide your technicians with an integrated mobile app that they can use to be connected with the office in real-time, it is most likely to increase the efficiency, productivity, and transparency in your business operations, which in turn will result in increased profit.
With this mobile app, technicians can clock in and clock out, check their schedule, update current job status, add items to the invoice, and do much more. On the other hand, you can also view their location in real-time, keep track of the total time they spent on the job site, and monitor route plans.
5. Self-Service Options
With the widespread popularity of mobile applications and online shopping, customers are leaning more and more towards self-service channels. In an age, when millennials are even refusing to talk over the phone and instead, prefer texting or sending emails for any of their communication needs, the significance of developing transparent communication channels and self-service portals is becoming paramount.
This is where digital solutions could come to your aid. If your customers can reach you any time of the day via a portal and ask for estimates, place service requests, or ask for an inspection, then your chances of delivering an improved customer experience are higher.
Field Promax—Your One-Stop Solution
Now imagine, what if you get all these indispensable technological support in one place? Sounds unbelievable, right? But that is what exactly Field Promax does for your business. As one of the leading field service management software, this incredible digital tool offers you all these features and functionalities, and some more.
Apart from work order management, scheduling & dispatching, connected digital ecosystem, and remote collaboration, Field Promax also helps you with billing and invoicing. It allows QuickBooks online integration, which means you can import all your customer data from the leading accounting software and use it for a variety of tasks, including creating work orders, assigning technicians, dispatching, and managing invoices.
The benefit? You can handle all your office work from one single platform, saving valuable time and effort from eliminating tedious paperwork. The integration also eliminates the need for redundant data entry, chances of mismanagement, and bookkeeping errors. So, why wait? It is time you go for the best field service management software solution for your business. Sign up for a free trial today.
