Why is it more challenging to manage field service businesses? This is because the operations of such businesses happen at dispersed locations and the service manager doesn’t get proper visibility of field activities. Thus, it becomes challenging for him to manage his team. Without the aid of the right kind of technology, it is nearly impossible to achieve accurate field visibility. Keeping a tab of field activities through phone calls is an outdated process and also not desirably efficient.
The reason for calling it an inefficient way of service management is that there are better field service management solutions available. Field Service Management software is one such industry-specific solution that has been designed primarily for streamlining the field service and workforce management processes.
Field Service Management Software- An Overview
There are many benefits of using this software but for understanding them collectively, the software can be defined as a cloud-based platform that digitizes field operations or processes so that everything gets to a real-time mode. Be it monitoring, reporting, team collaboration, communication, data sharing, or analytics, every aspect of your business gets into the online space, and thus its visibility increases beyond geographical limitations.
Digitization and Automation of Field Service Operations
In the current times irrespective of what kind of field service management solutions you are using, it is essential to support your field operations with automation solutions. Without automation, it is impossible to stay competitive in the market, because without automation your processes will get slow, service delivery can never be prompt, and field workforce management and service management will go haywire.
To leverage the power of automation, you need field management software. It can easily automate processes like :
- Scheduling & Dispatch
- Route planning & tracking
- Work order management
- Pre/Post inspection reports
- Customer management
- RFQ & quote management
- Time-tracking & timesheet
- Invoice & payments
- Contract & warranty management
- Inventory management
- Claims & Reimbursement
- Reporting & analytics
Applicability of Field Service Management App
These software suites are also compatible with smartphones. The field team can install the Field Service Management app on their personal devices and have complete mobility solutions right under their fingers.
- They can get the schedule notifications and reminders on their phones and thus they don’t need to manually maintain any calendar of schedules
- Using the field Service Management app they can access the enterprise database from any location and retrieve information right at the time of need. They don’t need to depend on any back-office staff for accessing information like service history, customer detail, warranty records, inventory status, parts availability et cetera.
- One of the major challenges faced by a field serviceman is that to conduct self-services like applying for leave, applying for reimbursement claims, submitting reports, or for team meetings, etc., he needs to visit the office premises, which means extra traveling. This is a kind of productivity leak for him or an extra burden on him. By using a Field Service Management app he can carry out all his self-services right over from his phone and that too from any location. There is no need to travel to and fro to the office premises regularly, at least not for carrying out the self-services
Conclusion
To efficiently run a field service business, firstly you need to provide your service managers the technology that can help them have better field visibility, then only they will be able to manage the field workforce in the right way. Secondly, you also need to provide your field workforce access to the right kind of tools and technology that can help them do their jobs more efficiently and productively. To meet these two objectives, the best tools you can have are the field service software and the field service management app.
