Companies are increasingly turning to app-based service management software to tackle the many day-to-day challenges that can be a real drain on resources if left unchecked.
These solutions are revolutionising how businesses manage their field operations, from scheduling and dispatching to customer interaction and compliance. In fact, they are the key to ensuring that the right technician with the right skills and parts reaches the customer in the shortest possible time.
This article explores the challenges field engineers face on a daily basis and how FSM apps tackle them – not only making life easier for workers, but saving costs, saving time, and improving customer satisfaction.
Challenges in the Field
In the day to day routine of field engineers, several challenges come up that cause inefficiencies, discussed below.
Scheduling and Dispatching
There are often difficulties in this area as engineers need to manage multiple service requests, often with conflicting times or locations, which can lead to overbooking or inefficient routing.
Access to Information
Engineers often struggle with limited access to vital information while on-site. This includes customer history, service manuals, parts inventory, and past service records, which are crucial for effective service delivery.
Communication Challenges
Keeping in constant communication with the office, other team members, and customers can be challenging, especially when dealing with dynamic schedules or unforeseen issues at a service site.
Inventory Management
Managing and tracking parts inventory, including knowing what is available, what needs to be ordered, and ensuring the right parts are brought to service appointments, is a significant challenge.
Work Order Management
Efficiently managing work orders, from creation to completion and invoicing, can be complex and time-consuming. This includes capturing customer information, service details, and ensuring accurate billing.
Customer Expectation Management
Managing customer expectations regarding service time frames, costs, and outcomes is a key challenge, especially when dealing with unforeseen complications or delays.
Data Entry and Paperwork
Excessive paperwork and manual data entry not only waste time but also increase the risk of errors. This includes writing service reports, filling out warranty forms, and recording time and materials used.
The Benefits of Using Apps for Field Service Management
The best field service management software, such as Zafire, comes with a mobile app, making it easier for engineers to carry out their duties while on site. Below are some more details about how apps can make life easier for your staff.
Enhanced Access to Information
The mobility and flexibility of an app allows technicians to gain immediate access to critical information such as customer history, service manuals, inventory levels, and previous service records, all accessible from their mobile devices. This on-the-go access to information is crucial for effective decision-making in the field.
Real-Time Communication
Apps facilitate better communication between the field engineers, office staff, and customers. Features like instant messaging, updates, and alerts keep everyone informed and coordinated.
Better Customer Service
With accurate scheduling, real-time updates, and quicker response times, engineers are able to meet customer expectations more effectively, leading to improved customer satisfaction.
With these benefits in mind, what concrete features does FSM software have that solves the challenges we mentioned earlier?
Features of Field Service Management Software
Field service management software is helping organisations achieve various targets. A survey by Verizon Connect demonstrated the following:
- Improved customer service (62% of companies)
- Improved compliance (54%)
- Improved routing (50%)
- Improved productivity (49%)
- Improved vehicle maintenance (41%)
In addition, 59% of service companies have seen ROI within a year of implementing FSM software. With that in mind, let’s examine some of the key features that lead to these improvements.
Field Workforce Management
One of the fundamental features of modern FSM software is field workforce management. This function allows companies to manage their field staff more effectively, ensuring that the right person with the right skills is assigned to the right job. It also facilitates real-time communication and collaboration among team members, enhancing productivity and job satisfaction. In fact, some companies have seen labour cost reductions of up to 15% thanks to FSM software.
Our applications equip workers with all the tools they need to manage their workload remotely. In addition, their changes immediately synchronise with your database so that managers are always up to date with the situation in real-time.
Accurately tracking time spent on each job for billing and productivity analysis can also be challenging, especially when dealing with multiple service calls in a day. Thankfully, our app comes with an expense form and timesheet submission feature and other tools that make it easy to stay on top of things.
Our software is also compliant with lone worker regulations. With GPS tracking, you will always know the last known location of each technician, protecting those that are working in remote or hazardous areas.
Route Optimisation
Efficiency in field services is not just about managing the workforce; it’s also about managing their movements. Route optimisation is a critical feature that determines the most efficient travel routes and automatically allocates engineers to the job based on their skillset.
This saves time and ensures that technicians can respond to service calls more promptly, enhancing customer satisfaction and conformance with SLAs. It also saves fuel costs (by 8% in some cases) and improves sustainability, an important differentiator for customers in today’s market.
Our app’s Route Optimisation algorithm is flexible and accommodates extensive configuration based on your needs. It also helps cut the time required for planning, enhancing productivity.
Inventory Management
An efficient FSM system includes robust inventory management tools. These tools help in tracking and managing the stock levels of parts and equipment, ensuring that field technicians have what they need to complete their jobs without unnecessary delays, thereby increasing the first-time fix rate and reducing return visits.
Service Desk Management
A well-integrated service desk enhances customer service by providing quick and accurate responses, enabling tickets to be managed effectively, and ensuring that issues are resolved in a timely manner.
Having mobile access to the service desk allows engineers to view and update tickets while in the field, and they can also view the history of service requests for a particular customer or equipment, providing context that can be crucial for effective diagnosis and repair.
In addition, they can receive real-time updates about new or changed service requests, allowing them to respond quickly to emergencies or changes in their schedule.
Conclusion
Field service management software is a transformative tool for forward-thinking businesses. It addresses the critical challenges faced by field engineers when it comes to scheduling, information accessibility, communication barriers, and more.
These solutions enable a streamlined work flow and pave the way for more efficient, responsive, and customer-centric service delivery. They also cut labour costs, fuel costs, and a range of inefficiencies.
Our recognition with IBM’s Platinum Award for Best Solutions Provider reflects our dedication to excellence in this field. To learn more about how we can help you or to book a demo, contact us today.
