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What is field service management software and why it matters?

Posted on by Saranya

Saranya

Adding to what you may already know,

Managing a team of field service professionals is the most operationally daunting duty. The efforts are enormous if one wants to streamline, manage and keep track of all the unexpected changes that could possibly occur at any time in the field servicing job, as there are plentiful variables that need to be logged, monitored and regulated by manual labour.

Oftentimes, firms have to tackle inadequate information, lags, and invalid or missing information in these instances and while some of it is handled by electronic databases, yet human error is non-negligible.

With the advancement in how we can stay connected with each other and the rest of the world via our mobile devices, all-the-time, it was obvious to come up with a technological solution that can help companies manage mobile workforces and field service operations seamlessly and efficiently.

This resulted in the development of advanced field service management (FSM) systems.

What is FSM software?

FSM systems use mobile equipment to automate and regulate field operations of service workers. The FSM market was worth more than $3.5 billion in 2019, and many bigger software firms such as Salesforce have since added FSM to their stack as one of their key offerings.

Due to the rise in consumer demands and the growing complexity of managing logistics, many business owners, as well as employees, stockholders and customers are seeking some sort of automation in their day-to-day jobs, thus seeing value in FSM software.

Industries that can/should leverage FSM

Since its inception, FSM software has entirely changed the way field service management has been done across a varied range of industries. For example:

  • Courier companies are using FSM software to improve their processes by removing
    inefficiencies and thereby save cost and enhance driver efficiency.
  • Telecom companies are using FSM’s intelligent scheduling and vehicle tracking
    capability to reduce missed appointments rate and consumer complaints.
  • Construction companies are using FSM software to make tracking and maintaining pricey
    machinery easier. And with the help of access to real-time data the progress of each job
    can be closely monitored.
  • In the healthcare industry FSM tools are used by doctors, nurses and paramedics to have
    accurate information on patient records.

In a nutshell, existing FSM software and the innovations in tools by new entrants are benefiting a wide range of SMB, Mid-market and enterprise companies across industries.

Importance of field service management software

Customers do not like service delays, miscommunications, and incoherent customer service. Hence it is essential for companies to have a defined coordination system between workers and the customers in order to offer the best customer service possible. With FSM software, companies can seamlessly keep track of customer requests and unprecedented internal changes in a more informed way.

What is the current role/impact of field service management?

The role and impact of an FSM software may vary based on the nature of the business, customer base, needs of the customers and employees, and other external parameters. So in order for a successful implementation of a FSM software what does it require?

In order to support the growing need of the work-from-home workforce, the nature of FSM software has been constantly evolving. Despite all the sudden shift in how people work and interact with the world, usage of software solutions has resulted in significant rise in productivity, reduction in cost and service betterment.

With the help of advanced FSM software consumers/customers can now have easy access to their service requests. And with no extra phone calls to the company, customers can receive information regarding service professional’s arrival time, status of their service request, so on and so forth.

Field service management uses

Field service management software don’t just aid companies with their customer service efforts, but also help them with cost control. Along with that, the FSM solution allows workers to be proactive and do their jobs on time and more swiftly.

Listed below are some of the benefits of Field Service Management software:

Defined workflows: FSM tools help workers adhere to a defined workflow from start to end, whether in the field or not, which directly impacts the efficiency of the work executed and service offered. It also helps workers organize their tasks, stay in sync with their fellow colleagues and also stay ahead of time. With this level of coordination, the service offered is always a hit.

Less/Zero-paperwork: By integrating FMS software with tools like EDMS (electronic document management system) companies can quickly cut down on the amount of paper and manual work done, and also eliminate the dependencies on old and outdated filing systems, altogether.

Seamless scheduling regime: FMS tool helps organizations/workers reduce service disagreements/conflicts, double down on offering better customer service, and save ample money and time. On the other hand customers are benefited with lesser wait time, service precision and overall a positive service experience.

Precise resource and task allotment: field service management software allows organizations to be on point with assigning the right person for service requests. Advanced FSM systems can identify workers’ strengths and match them with relevant service needs/activities, and also takes into account the job location, deadline and cost applied. This improves the overall quality of the service as well as employee morale, and lastly, the jobs are done efficiently.

Improved work quality: As all the real-time data points on employees, customers and software usage get fed into the FSM software, the team can leverage these insights and drive new process innovations. With multiple data points, the system can easily identify service gaps and predict possible breakdowns, time frame to finish a specific type of job, etc. which can aid organisations with workforce planning and much more.

In the closing…

For a company like yours a FSM software can help with automating critical processes like auto-filling work order forms, notifying clients with service status updates, dispatching workers, monitoring asset usage, regular maintenance of critical machinery, etc. But before opting for a Field service management (FSM) software it’s important to focus on the cost of the tool, customer experience with the product so far, process digitization capabilities offered, and mainly the scalability of the system to fit all your future business expansions.

Well, checkout how field service management software can amp up your field service management game!

6 Ways to build customer trust & loyalty with your FSM software

Posted on by Gavaskar Rajagopal

Gavaskar Rajagopal

Great customer experiences breed loyal, repeat consumers. As a result, field service companies can expect to build stronger client connections by providing services that are faster, more consistent, and exceed customer expectations. Field service organizations can achieve so by implementing clever techniques that will improve the customer experience.

Well, remember that the customer is one of the most crucial aspects of running a field service company. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the service or product and forget that consumers are the lifeblood of any company. While every company needs to employ technology to improve customer service, combining the human element with FSM software is a winning strategy.

Customer service might be difficult to come by in the field service industry. For starters, your consumers are served in the field, away from your “sight.” Coordination of service work is crucial, and it is more important than ever for everyone to be on the same page. Keep these 5 customer service recommendations in mind when you create your business plan.

Deliver a dynamic and transparent experience to FSM software to your customers

Remember that your clients are continuously receiving offers from brands who want to sell them a fresh and immersive customer experience tied to a specific product in their private life. Don’t be surprised if these same customers have the same expectations in their work lives. That implies you’ll need to devise a strategy for engaging clients from beginning to end. You must establish a client experience that begins with their initial service request and continues until the invoice is received. At each stage of the service life cycle, it must also include the use of various channels to communicate with clients.

Using several channels to increase communications — text messages, and emails — provides a vivid and dynamic interaction with customers. It also assists you in improving your brand image and customer perceptions of your organization. Furthermore, because consumers are often worried when equipment breaks down or stops performing properly, increasing communications and customer experience across the entire life cycle is a great approach to boost loyalty.

Improve the efficiency of your service agreement procedure in FSM software

Service agreements might assist you in securing repeat business. They also make customers’ lives easier. Customers should find agreements to be more cost-effective and involve less effort. Agreements must, however, be simple to understand and completed on time in order to be successful. Service agreements can be managed with the use of FSM software. When agreements are up for renewal, the software should keep track of them and send out automatic service reminders. Some field management apps allow customers to pay for services while they are still in the field. Clients will appreciate how simple and quick agreement and invoicing are. Customers and office personnel will have less to manage if service agreements are automated with software.

Make appointment scheduling easier

Nobody wants to spend 15 minutes on the phone trying to schedule an appointment with a technician. Customers want prompt service. If you can’t give this experience, you can bet your consumers will go to one of your competitors that can accept their calls right away or schedule service appointments online. Offer consumers a flexible schedule and many ways to contact you based on their preferences – phone, text, email, or the web — whether they’re setting up or adjusting an appointment time.

Tailored customer experience

Instead of a conventional service window, provide service when the consumer needs it and on their schedule. Allow consumers to schedule an appointment at their leisure. Allow personnel to access a customer’s past service history as well as common pain points linked with system and equipment failures so that they may better handle the customer’s unique issue. This not only allows your personnel to deliver a more customized service experience, but it also allows them to better manage their time.

Offer FSM software with self-servicing options to your customers

Self-servicing options will improve service to your customers by allowing them to enter service request tickets from a secure web interface. It will help reduce your administrative and overhead costs by providing customers with the ability to enter requests on their own, and at their own convenience. With self-servicing ability, customers can instantly create new service requests, order parts and materials, review sales orders, track job request statuses, etc all in a single app/web portal. More advantages of offering self-service options to customers include:

  • Reduce expenses of service and improve productivity
  • Save time for you and your customers by accelerating the information flow
  • Higher service satisfaction for your clients

Automate Workflows

The advantages of using a field service management solution to improve client satisfaction are enormous. Even if customers have no involvement in the automation of workflows, the improved procedures can assist to reduce mistakes and improve customer satisfaction. Your field technicians are automatically scheduled, and deployed, arrive at the customer location at the appropriate time with the proper equipment, finish the work assigned, collect customer feedback, take a photo, access crucial client data through the app, and bill and invoice in a legible manner. These steps must be completed without leaving any room for consumers to become frustrated or have a negative impression of your organization or professional. Your consumers will appreciate the smooth, well-managed operations, and the first-time fix rates have a significant influence on customer satisfaction.

Finally, whatever method you use to conduct field service customer satisfaction surveys, the goal is to gain actionable information. In other words, give consumers the opportunity to tell you how you can improve your performance and increase customer happiness with field service.

So, instead of asking a series of questions to get feedback on how excellent (or poor), your field service customer satisfaction is, ask a series of questions. Also, inquire about specific suggestions for how you could have done things better. Even if your field service operations have a high level of client satisfaction, there’s always something you can improve.

Our team of experts developed FSM software for the customers and has many more ideas handy on how to build a loyal customer base and ways to retain them. Drop us a line here.

What are the top 6 characteristics to see in a field service management software?

Posted on by Rose

Rose

It’s critical to understand what features are available and what they can accomplish for your company before selecting the finest field service management software.

The world may be at a standstill, but your stack of documents on your desk isn’t. This is the primary reason for the existence of Field Service Management. By opting for Field Service Management software, we can put an end to endless papers loaded with repair orders and customer evaluations, nonstop phone calls to instruct your technician, and the inconvenience of printing, filing, and walking from office to office.

The characteristics of most field service management software systems are similar. The characteristics listed below are common in most systems. We categorised common features by overall business function to make navigating easier

1. Dispatching and scheduling in field service management software

This feature is at the top of the list and is a necessity when it comes to defining Field Service Management Software. Companies need a smart scheduling and dispatching solution to allocate personnel to work orders based on their availability, capabilities, geographic location, and severity codes. It eliminates the stress associated with drawing columns and printing schedules. It speeds up dispatching and gets the work done more quickly.

2. Field service management software with integrations

It is a necessary feature for Field Service Management Software to give consumers smooth service. GPS, QuickBooks, IoT, API, and many more connections that are common in most FSM software that aids businesses in data analysis and sorting. Finance, inventories, customer relationships, and time tracking may all benefit from integrations.

3. Work order management in field service management software

The appropriate and timely processing of work orders is known as work order management.
FSM tool with work order management capability will allow facility managers to keep track of and manage all work orders from a single dashboard.

The programme provides a single location for creating service requests, tracking job completion, and receiving real-time progress updates. It provides location managers with an advantage by allowing them to handle orders across many locations.

4. Field service management software with mobile app

When it comes to measuring the reality on the ground, the state of customer experience with field services (plumbers, electricians, drivers, HVAC, engineers, physicians, and so on) is still generally poor, and management is powerless to intervene since they cannot observe what is going on in the “field.” But does that imply that things will remain the same in the future?

What if FSM organisations could be empowered in a very easy way to operate in real-time and take a proactive approach to field management? What technologies are available to make Field Service Management more visible for both management and customers?

A suitably tailored Field Service Management mobile app is the answer. It also provides for the resolution of three major issues:

  • Improves productivity
  • Saves expenses
  • Boosts customer happiness
5. Inventory management in field service management software

Having an inventory management system comes with a slew of advantages. Inventory management saves time and money while helping you to quickly and efficiently meet your customers’ demands. Not only that, but when employed technicians have access to inventory components management, they are more productive and effective. Investing in inventory management improves communication across departments and simplifies communication from the field to the warehouse.

6. Data management in field service management software

Data is critical for enhancing visibility of your business operations, and being able to collect data from remote locations is especially crucial for field service companies.

Here are some aspects that are prevalent in data collecting and processing:

  • Time and expenditure tracking: Technicians may clock in and out of jobs to keep track of how much time they spend on each one.
  • Customize your contracts and forms to improve consumer knowledge and familiarity with your brand.
  • Electronic signature capture: Complete a contract in one email and allow field staff to capture digital signatures.
  • Reporting: Make use of the information obtained to develop business insights.

In the closing…

Every company needs a pillar to help it grow and chart its course to success. Field Service Management Software lives by this credo. Many are summoned, but only a handful have a chance due to their unrivalled characteristics.

Check out how FSM software can help you out in the journey of building a successful FSM business.

Five predictions for field service management for 2021

Posted on by Gavaskar Rajagopal

Gavaskar Rajagopal

The field service management industry is a business that is always changing at a rapid rate.

Field service procedures are working hard to meet growing customer expectations for services as well as the demand for high efficiency in equipment-related activities. And this was before the market was confronted with the new reality brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Without a question, companies that want to stay on top must be well-versed in new technologies as well as current techniques and concepts for AI, machine learning, and augmented reality deployment. When these areas are properly understood and implemented, they ensure an acceptable degree of expectation and commercial value. The purpose of this article is to provide a quick overview of the top 5 predictions for Field Service Management for 2021 and their business implications.

1. Automation in field service management

Almost every field service discussion includes the phrase “automation.” Every well-known FSM solution on the market includes this as a standard feature. It is feasible to automate job assignment procedures with the appropriate scripting and pre-configuration. That, however, is no longer sufficient.

Field service software automates tasks including establishing a task to conduct maintenance services, scheduling and assigning field service professionals, and tracking the position of workers, among others. The following are some of the major advantages of adopting field service automation software:

  • The productivity of field labourers has increased. All customer- and service-related data is centralised in one location, making it easy for technicians to evaluate repair orders and service-level agreements, for example.
  • Dispatchers can use automated intelligent scheduling to allocate the best personnel to the project based on their talents, work schedules, and GPS location. As soon as a new work order is given to them, technicians will receive real-time notifications.
  • Resolution time is reduced. Workers may remotely monitor an asset, look for information on comparable work orders, read knowledge articles, and watch video lessons to help them solve the problem faster.

2. Technician enablement

Incoming technologies like augmented reality and holo-lenses, which allow for the execution of complicated tasks with real-time supervision and direct access to a knowledge base, help field technicians as well. Every aspect that enhances a technician’s work style improves overall efficiency, first-time fix rate, and, ultimately, customer happiness.

Other options, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, are also available to assist field technicians.
Drone inspection of hard-to-reach regions offers significant advantages over the old, human-based method, particularly in the telecommunications and oil and gas industries (see our white paper to discover how integrating drones with AI/ML may cut field service maintenance costs).

When combined with cloud services or an IoT platform, the site survey and inventory procedures may be completely automated. In this scenario, the job may be done more easily and swiftly owing to a wearable that shows the extent of work to be done by the technician and checks their health status.

3. Proactive and predictive maintenance

People are spending more time at home, which makes them more conscious of the state of their appliances. It’s having an effect on their utility costs as well. As a result, there is a shift in concentration. Customers want to ensure that their home gadgets are completely working, thus they want to be aware of any potential breakdowns or malfunctions. The Internet of Things can link household equipment to management software provided by a service provider.

When a possible or imminent problem is detected, the IoT system monitors performance and sends an alarm to the consumer and provider. This level of predictability allows for maintenance to be planned ahead of time. As more individuals take measures to make their houses smarter, boosting functionality for remote working and socialising, it’s a metric that’s becoming increasingly significant.

4. Mobile apps

Digital apps are just now beginning to be used in the field service business to improve service delivery. Not every business is ready to integrate mobile app features into its field service management software. Those that are able to do so will have a significant edge.

Within the field service software package, mobile applications allow personnel and consumers to connect. They can also be used by field service employees to record and track task progress.

5. Upgraded risk management process

Field service personnel have never had to be concerned about where they — or their clients — have been, but businesses are increasingly taking steps to guarantee that in-person site visits are as secure as possible. Field service companies are developing pre-screening questions that their technicians may use to assess the risk of exposure for various activities, particularly those in high-risk environments like nursing homes or hospitals. For the foreseeable future, this will most likely be a risk management trend.

Field service is now proactive rather than reactive. These emerging field service trends can help you pivot in the aftermath of COVID-19 if your objective is to empower technicians, enhance customer interaction, and convert field service into a profit-generating arm of your organisation.

The next step is to look at a comprehensive solution that will give you the tools you need to implement these trends.

Fieldy is a comprehensive field service management system with a robust feature set designed to improve every element of field service operations, including client asset management, work order management, predictive maintenance, and more.

Please don’t hesitate to contact our trained field service specialists field service management software 2021 if you’d like to learn more about these and other field service trends, as well as how Fieldy may benefit your company.

How to Strengthen Data Security and Privacy With FSM Software?

Posted on by Priya

Priya

On a daily basis, field service management (FSM) software can be quite beneficial in eliminating counterproductive losses. An integrated field service software may save your company money on everything from costly communication gaps to outright thievery. However, there are several risks to be aware of when using field service management software. It’s critical to select the best software for your sector, both in terms of functionality and security features.

Continue reading to discover the most common causes of risk for your business and how to mitigate them with effective field service management software.

The Most Common Risk Sources in FSM Software

Minimizing risks is one of the most significant aspects of preventing problems in your regular tasks, and in order to do so, you must first understand risk. While the majority of high-quality field service management software helps to mitigate these challenges, less-than-stellar software might leave you exposed and possibly worsen them.

The following are some of the most typical sources of risk for field management firms:

The Security Isn’t Up to Par

Many organizations aren’t aware of the dangers that come with cybersecurity failures. This is especially true for cloud-based software and applications. While the benefits and dangers of cloud computing tend to favor cloud-based services in general, many firms that use cloud-based management software fail to recognize the risks. It’s extremely simple to avoid security issues in cloud computing if you know that low-quality web-based field service management software frequently fails to properly encrypt business-sensitive data like customer information, quotes, and invoices.

Unsecured Devices

As mobile device capabilities improve, the use of mobile devices in the workplace has increased dramatically. This is especially true for labor-intensive jobs like construction, electrical, and HVAC services, where mobile devices allow staff to stay in touch with the office while on the job. While field service software with mobile capabilities might be a huge productivity gain for most businesses, one that is poorly built can cause even more issues.
When it comes to connecting to Wi-Fi networks, many mobile devices offer fewer security safeguards than laptops.

When you connect your mobile devices to these Wi-Fi networks, they become vulnerable to viruses and cyberattacks. While many high-quality field service management software providers create mobile apps with built-in security against such attacks, low-cost software may include apps that do not. Using such an app may result in an employee’s device unwittingly disclosing secret financial or identity information about your company and customers, thus exposing your company to financial and security risks.

How can FSM Software Help You Reduce Data Privacy Risks?

All of the above hazards can be mitigated using field service management software, lowering the likelihood of your company incurring avoidable costs and losses. You and your staff may be more empowered and connected than ever before by enhancing communication and integrating your whole field service business activities into one integrated application.

The following are some of the risk-reducing features that an efficient field service management software can provide:

Improved Security

It can provide the highest level of security. Not only are all of the servers housed in secure hosting facilities designed to thwart any attempted theft, but all of the data will be encrypted, the same as that used by Fortune 500 banks and financial organizations. It will make sure that your information is kept as safe as possible.

Storage and Accessibility

Storing all of your company’s data within your internal systems might quickly fill up your digital storage space, especially after years of operation. An efficient FSM software can provide you with 100 gigabytes of storage space on a highly secure cloud-based system instead of clogging up your hard drive and paying for your own server hosting. Do you require more? At a modest cost, the tool can expand your storage plan as needed. The cloud-based system not only gives you extra storage, but also allows you to access your data from anywhere in the world using your mobile device or home computer.

The software can perform regular data backups at each facility, including digital backups every hour, and take backups every week for media redundancy. This data backup ensures that your data is safe in the event of a problem with any of the servers.

Maintaining Compliance

The software’s capacity to automatically and continuously update data as it is collected allows your company to stay in compliance with regulatory organizations at all times. You may reduce risks and avoid violations and complaints against your firm by organizing all of your company’s information and keeping it at your fingertips. Furthermore, the software’s strict security features help to ensure that all information is kept as safe and secure as possible.

Contact us today to learn about FSM software for smart scheduling and dynamic dispatching and the extraordinary potential of our field service management software, as well as to set up a free demonstration!

Key performance indicators for field services

Posted on by admin@fieldy

admin@fieldy

Identifying the right metrics to gauge the outcome and success of your field service operations can certainly help you understand how well your company is performing and help determine areas that need to be improved for you to accomplish all your business goals. But the question is, what are some field service metrics or field service management software KPIs that you need to track?

In case you identify the wrong ones, there is a higher chance that you will be overlooking some of the main issues that are impacting your organizational performance. And also if you focus on too few or too many metrics it will get difficult for you to make informed decisions in your daily business operations.

Here are the top 6 field service management metrics/KPIs you should be tracking to accomplish all the set goals of your company:

The Efficiency of Field Service Management

When analyzing field service operations, people always consider and prioritize the quality of the service that is being offered in the field.

The effectiveness of field service management is measured based on how sooner the jobs are responded to by the company and the technicians, faster resolution time, FTFR, and more.

These are some of the important data that can help us gauge the quality and performance of your field services and offer the best service to your customers.

Customer Retention in Field Service

To know if the customer base of your company is regularly growing and if the repeat customer count is increasing too, continually examine your overall customer retention rate.

Analyze the profiles of long-term and repeat customers to understand the most effective ways that keep consumers satisfied and encourage them to continue servicing with you. Always ensure that customer service representatives follow up with customers after finishing every job, and address any issues that might have come up post the repair and focus on improving the entire customer experience.

In order to be on top of the quality of the service provided, CSRs and technicians should be well-groomed to ask for service ratings from clients and ask the customers to fill out survey forms as soon as the work is done. Continually aim to improve the quality of your customer service to reduce the churn rate and work on improving the chances of customers referring your business to others.

Average time to finish the job

This metric offers a critical insight into the amount of time each of your technicians takes to execute a specific task/resolve the issue. This metric is primarily utilized to plan the capacity of your field service team and also help modulate the scheduling and dispatching steps of your operations.

By using the advanced FSM tool, you can effortlessly monitor the performance of your entire time and the amount of time consumed to finish the task by letting your field service professionals/technicians update their check-in time when they reach the client’s location and the time they check out post task completion.

FTFR

Your technicians need to be equipped to be able to finish the job/resolve the issue in a single visit and need not have to revisit the customer’s place to deal with the same issue many times. This metric is important for a company to run in the most productive way possible. To monitor this metric, calculate your first-time repair rate and get to know if there are too many follow-ups from your staff side which might lead to several missed opportunities and profits from new jobs. Make sure that correct technicians are dispatched to perform relevant jobs based on each of their experience and expertise which will eventually garner the best score of the service. Additionally, it is also important for the technicians to get to the job site with all the needed gear and equipment they’ll need to accomplish the job.

Per lead, revenue rate

To determine your bottom line look no further than revenue per lead rate. The total volume of sales divided by the total number of leads (including canceled leads) amounts to revenue per lead.

When looking at field service performance indicators it’s critical to look at the % of closed leads. It’s also necessary to revisit the primary business processes if your company has been closing only a small % of all the generated leads.

LTV (Life Time Value)

The total revenue you aim to receive from a single customer over the course of their relationship with your organization is termed LTV. To calculate this number you need to know how long customers stay with you on average. Multiply that number by the anticipated monthly revenue to find their LTV. The LTV will help you discover what constitutes a good service operation, different methods to implement while prioritizing tasks/jobs, whether or not the job is worth the time of your technician, and more.

Metrics like these eventually lead to one thing: it is immensely important for you to know what needs to be measured in field service projects/processes if you want your business to flourish. And in order to do so, you’ll require a heightened understanding of FSM software’s analytics capabilities/features.

The good thing is that Fieldy will allow you to measure all these indicators and much more. It’s built with the purpose to assist all FSM businesses and field service personnel to make timely and accurate decisions and measures. It is an essential tool for all FSM project managers and administrators, as it will provide them with clarity on success, income, and performance.

There is a free demo available for you to check out our services. You can register for the free demo here.