Are you running a construction business or a landscaping business? Do you want to keep track of your employees? Or do you just want to make scheduling appointments easier for your customers? Whatever the case may be, a field service app can help you in running your business better. But let’s face it: there are tons of field service apps out there and it’s hard to tell them apart. So we decided to come up with a list of features that are essential for any field service app and those that make a good field service app great.
A field service application is a mobile solution that helps service technicians, contractors, and other field workers manage their jobs from the field. Whether you’re a small business looking to track your field workers, or a large enterprise operating an extensive network of field workers, these apps can help you improve your business, enabling you to manage all your tasks, schedule and manage the workload, and provide more efficiency.
For many field service organizations, deploying mobile apps is no longer a secondary option but a critical technology component to help the business evolve and adapt to changing customer and workforce needs. Many field service organizations want to bring mobile strategies to the forefront. However, several questions arise when selecting a field service mobile app for their workforce.
When looking for the best field service app, you should consider what key benefits you want the app to provide. Some benefits may include GPS tracking, customer management capabilities, or appointment scheduling features. Other considerations to keep in mind when selecting a field service management software include ease of use, price, and customer support. By taking into account all of these factors, you can be sure to find the best field service app for your business needs.
The 3 big challenges faced by field service businesses are:
Process Inefficiency:
Is your company’s documentation constantly in a state of disarray? Do customers complain often about delays? Are bills not paid in a timely manner? Do technicians suffer from too much work overlap? You can put a stop to all of this. A Field Service Management platform allows you to organize all processes according to the workflow inside of your organization.
You see that you and your team are working hard, your prices are competitive, your bills are paid in time, and you rake in the cash. But why then is your net profit so miserable? If this is a common situation for your business, it can really hamper your growth. It is time to find the break in your budget pipeline. Here is where a Field Service Management platform can help you get control of your operational costs, fuel consumption, spare hours, routing complications, etc. A Field Service Management platform will help you optimize your budget by cutting back on wasteful spending in areas such as fuel, hours, and route efficiency.
Customer Satisfaction:
People are used to a certain level of convenience and service from apps like Uber, and they expect the same from other services. However, in reality, technicians often lack the means to provide the same 5-star level of user experience. They are focused on their job and don’t take the organizational formalities as seriously as expected. Using a field service management mobile app can help increase customers’ and technicians’ engagement.
Features to consider while choosing your field service app
- Time Tracking
If you’re looking for an easier way to track time on the job, consider choosing a field service management software with a time tracking feature. These kinds of apps can send friendly reminders about tracking time and automatically update the job status as techs move through the day. This way, there’s no risk of forgetting to click into the app and office staff can always assess a job’s status.
- Streamlining processes
Having a single portal would give you a complete view of field job status, making it easier to assign, track, and cancel job assignments. With this technology, dispatchers are able to view schedules, track locations, and conduct skill-based task assignments with greater ease. This will also help to eliminate overscheduling or job mixups.
- Fieldworkers mobility
Mobile workers are the face of your company, and that means more than just having a physical presence. The customer experience with a mobile worker is a reflection of your brand. That’s why it’s so important to deliver the best service possible, and mobile capabilities can help you do just that.
Mobility enables workers to have quick, easy access to customer information so they can give the best customer service possible. With a mobile connection, workers will be able to see everything they need to know about the customer before they even arrive for the appointment. This gives them a chance to plan for the customer’s needs and deliver excellent service.
- Workflow Automation
Managing your work orders with an automated workflow can significantly increase your job completion rate. By tracking all updates about the assigned field job in real-time, everyone involved will be able to stay on the same page and avoid any delays or misunderstandings. Additionally, digitizing your work orders will prevent lost or miscategorized forms, which can often lead to delays in invoicing.
- Visibility with Workforce Analytics
A field service management software that includes reporting and analytics will improve your operations by providing visibility into every aspect of your field service. You can track job scheduling, work status, and metrics like billable hours, logged hours, and work order completion rates. This will allow you to manage your field service more effectively and improve the quality of your work.
- Customer Personalization
Your connected field service solution should make life more convenient for tech-savvy customers by offering online appointment booking. This can be done with your customer-facing app or through a customer portal on your website. You may also want to consider issuing automated notifications and service reminders on a regular basis through your app, email, or text messages.
Conclusion
Service providing companies should have a very precise calculation that takes into account all expenditures related to fuel consumption, parts and material management, time-tracking and route optimization. Many companies are adopting field service management platforms that are mobile centric to address these challenges and help businesses spend more time on the analysis of their business in order to find ways to streamline and grow it. Implementing a Field Service Management system will reduce the routine tasks for employees and make your management more effective. Follow this link to know more about the features that get you the best results.