What are the characteristics of a good purchase? Well, a question about a question is probably not what you were hoping for, but because it allows for introspection, we’ll give it a shot. What qualities do you search for in a company product? A typical “must-have” would be a product that solves the main problem while being economical and user-friendly.
Whether you’re purchasing office equipment or a software solution for your field service company, the fundamental issues of the acquisition remain the same. The goal of purchasing a field service app could be to streamline operations, gain visibility into procedures, or fix productivity difficulties.
Also, read – Automation in Field Service Management
Table of Contents
Typically, field service App aids in the management of the following business challenges:
Dispatch and scheduling
Scheduling and dispatch are complex processes because they link back-office services with field operations. A slight error in resource allocation could cause the entire operation to be disrupted, resulting in a delay in responding to the problem, poor service, and poorer customer satisfaction.
The scheduling and dispatching operations are intricate. You must be able to track every member of your field service team so that you may assign them to jobs that are appropriate for their skills and guarantee that they are close to the task site. In addition, you’ll need inventory visibility to figure out what tools your team will need to address the problem the first time.
When you manage the majority of your procedures on paper, major conflicts arise. That means you can’t see what’s going on in the field in real-time. A field service CRM could give you complete visibility into your processes, allowing you to assign the assignment to the most qualified expert on hand. Typically, software solutions are powered by developing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and data analytics capabilities, which consider a variety of characteristics when recommending work to a technician.
Data analytics tools like Power BI have artificial intelligence capabilities and a unified, scalable platform for self-service and enterprise business intelligence (BI). If you are new to this tool, then consider taking Power BI Course to enhance your skills.
Taking care of recurring tasks
A recurrent job usually has the same job, but on a different day and at a different hour, or even at the same time. These duties are vital to operations, but because they must be completed on a regular basis, schedule managers frequently either compromise on these jobs in order to perform priority tasks, or they become too absorbed in scheduling for these jobs, causing priority tasks to be avoided.
Management of dispatches
Dispatch management is frequently overlooked in the midst of the scheduling process. To effectively manage field service dispatch operations, you must be able to provide information to your field service technicians on-the-spot. Although most teams use chat communication tools like Whatsapp or chat messengers, they are unreliable for a field service firm due to the amount of time and unpredictability involved.
You need to know that your team got the right message at the right time and that they’re acting appropriately based on the information. A good field service app ensures that information is sent at the correct time and to the right person.
Because the app allows you to simultaneously track and monitor field activity while sending notifications regarding timelines and requirements for service request resolution, you can determine whether or not your team made the right decision. You need real-time visibility into the field service team’s activity for effective dispatch management, which a field service app will undoubtedly give.
Information accessibility
It’s never easy to keep field teams and back-office workers in sync. One of the most serious issues is determining how one should know, i.e. separating information for each team. Because not all information is relevant, this is an essential step. It is possible that burdening your field service professionals with heaps of data from which they must dig into the critical one in the field will impede their performance.
Field service professionals should have access to accurate information in a simple and organized manner. Anything crowded or incorrect should be avoided in your activities. This issue is unique to paper-based processes, which might be readily solved with a field service app.
Field activity tracking and monitoring
What is the benefit of tracking and monitoring field activity? Because this capacity allows you to keep track of every member of your team, you must be certain of what you want from it. If you solely use it to point out your team members’ mistakes, it is rarely beneficial.
Once you’ve figured out how to track and monitor the field team’s activities, you can utilize that information to coach them, identify their strengths so you can appreciate them, and discover their deficiencies so you can train and reskill them. A field service app may provide you with not only tracking and monitoring skills but also a comprehensive picture of your team if it is backed by data analytics capabilities.
Final thoughts
The only issue is that not all software would approach these operational issues in the same way. You require software that is adaptable to your workflow and allows you to conduct in-depth analyses of organizational data in order to make educated decisions.
