Mobile App: A Proven App for the Field Service Industry
Table of Contents
“The field has become the office.”
We all know the importance our mobile devices play in our lives. However, for the Field Service Industry, these mobile devices mean a lot more than just entertainment, emails, or phone calls. The field service industry uses mobile devices to manage every aspect of its business. They keep track of work orders and estimates, manage timecards, keep track of technicians, and invoice customers, all from the palm of their hands. The field has become the office!
Field service mobile apps have become a vital part of every Field Service Business. It connects the technician to the office, the office to the customer, and the customer to the technicians, all in real-time. With this powerful tool, a business can gain transformational efficiencies and increased profits.
Increase your business efficiency with a TOUCH!
Here are ten mobile field service app features essential for the field service industry.
Mobility
With all the data in the cloud, technicians have access to their work orders in real-time and from anywhere. Dispatchers can schedule and assign work orders on the go. Changes to work orders are immediately reflected in the mobile app. Customer requests are instantly conveyed to the technicians in real-time, providing the opportunity to deliver quality service. Owners, dispatchers, and technicians can communicate, resolve problems and deliver their services with operational excellence.
Accept or reject work orders
The mobile app provides functionality to accept or reject a job. This is crucial to any business to ensure that no appointments are missed, and no work order is left unattended. A technician’s day is always challenging and dynamic by its very nature. The job may take longer or shorter depending on the severity of the issue. As a result, he may run late and need to reject a job. When a technician rejects a job, the dispatcher is immediately notified and can make arrangements to reassign the work. Such functionality saves time and keeps the ever-changing landscape running smoothly.
SMS
Text messaging plays a vital role in field service mobile apps. Technicians are notified when a work order has been assigned to them or when changes are made to existing work orders. Reminders are also sent to them at predetermined intervals. Text messaging functionality is also extended to the customers as work orders are created or changed. Customers are also notified when the technician is en route, ensuring that the customer is available to receive them. This creates an environment of trust and professionalism with the customer.
Calendar
Field Promax provides numerous calendar views to manage work orders. Daily, weekly and monthly views map out work orders by technician and time of day. Technicians are represented by different colors for ease of viewing. Calendars are also configured to change work order colors to reflect the status of the work orders. (e.g., the work orders on the calendar turn green when the technician starts and turn black when the work is complete). Days off scheduling is also incorporated into the calendar to provide a comprehensive view of the operation while ensuring that technicians are not assigned work on PTO or vacation. Field Promax also syncs with the Google calendar to accommodate folks with all their appointments in Google.
Generate invoices
After completing the work, it is time to get paid. With the Field Promax mobile app, Invoices are generated immediately on the field and emailed to the customer for payment. Invoices indicate labor and materials used. It provides the ability to capture a signature and upload images. These are all essential features to articulate the value that has been provided for the services. Often invoices are sent through the office from QuickBooks after the pricing has been double-checked. In such cases, Field Promax provides the ability to send the invoice as a work order. The work order provides all the elements of an invoice but omits the price. This then becomes an acknowledgment of work.
Collect payments
With faster invoices come faster payments. Once the invoices are digitally sent to the customers, it is easier to collect the payments. The mobile app comes with the functionality to record payments. Businesses use their payment gateway to collect payments and record them through the Field Promax mobile app.
GPS
The Field Service Mobile App is integrated with GPS. This allows dispatchers to view the location of the technician on the map in real-time. The mapping functionality within Field Promax maps all the work orders to provide a bird’s eye view of the operation. The technician’s current locations are also indicated on the map. This provides a real-time view of the locations of all the technicians and the open work orders. Such functionality provides the platform to attend to emergencies by locating the closed technician to the customer.
Checklist and forms
A checklist in any job ensures that repetitive tasks are performed with accuracy, and nothing ever gets missed. Field Promax provides the functionality to create your checklist that dispatchers can then assign to a technician to fill out in the field. Field Promax mobile app also provides the functionality to upload and download editable PDFs. Editable PDFs are a great mechanism to create custom forms that can then be filled out in the field and uploaded into the work order.
Customers
According to a Forrester study, “80% of businesses using mobile apps in the field have seen an increase in overall customer satisfaction.”
The mobile app ensures that services are delivered to the customer on time. The technicians have all the information they need about the work order ensuring that the work is completed with the detailed specifications from the customer. The technician is also able to remind the customer when in route. This provides for a good customer experience and satisfaction.
Timekeeping
Timekeeping is integrated with the work orders in the Field Promax mobile app. As the technician works through his work orders, the information is also pushed into his daily timecard. As a result, the timecard provides detailed information about the technician’s day. Business owners and dispatchers can better understand each technician’s productivity levels with this information. Needless to say, this information is used for payroll purposes.
Field Promax is a field service software that works with various industries to help them work efficiently. Their mobile app has been developed to be a one-stop destination for technicians and business owners. It is loaded with functionalities and, at the same time, user friendly. It is the bedrock of efficient field service businesses.
