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Tag: field service management

5 Ways field service management software can increase your ROI

Posted on by Priya

Priya

By 2025, the onsite services industry is expected to surpass $5.1 billion in market share. As a result, customers expect to receive enhanced service, at the right time and at the right place.

However, technicians have to combat several obstacles, such as: slow functioning equipment, limited access to data, activities that require manual entry, and so on and so forth.

With all the given obstacles, how can field service providers give their best? The answer is by opting a Field service management software. Field service management software can help organisations address 2 of the main concerns:

  • Ensuring workforce efficiency
  • Customer satisfaction

Field service management software and mobile apps have a variety of advantages, including making field technicians’ duties easier, increasing customer and staff happiness, and streamlining internal operations.

Continue reading to learn more about the advantages of field service management and how they relate to ROI of the business.

Field service management advantages

Tools like augmented reality (AR), cloud-based knowledge sharing, and field service management (FSM) systems are expected to be used in more than half of the field service organisations by 2025. In order to cater to the growing customer expectations, an exceptional FSM tool should reap ROI by not just reducing paperwork but also by speeding up invoicing and doing much more. It should also raise the productivity of the workforce, elevate customer experience, cut costs, and aid in boosting the company’s bottom line.

1. Seamless and streamlined communication

FSM software makes communication seamless and keeps the workforce connected, by helping them share information without having to go through tedious workflow. FSM software can be used to plan service calls by dispatchers. Additionally, field technicians can use the FSM tool’s mobile app to stay informed about their assigned jobs and also keep the customers aware about their arrival.

2. Time efficiency

FSM software helps contractors save time by making the processes efficient, also by making communication easier. With the mobile version of FSM software, technicians can save time by accessing and offering information to customers on the go. Similarly, dispatchers can save time by gaining visibility into customer data through a single platform.

3. Optimized staff management

Managing and scheduling a whole group of deskless workforce demands a lot of time and energy. Additionally, adding a last-minute emergency task can be extremely painful. By implementing a FSM tool, field service offering organisations can certainly benefit by bridging the gap between office, customer and the field.

4. Invoicing accuracy and efficiency

Field workers/technicians can make use of the field service management software to take notes in the CRM, generate invoices, and make sure they record signatures on the spot. With the paperless workflow of managing field jobs, technicians do not have the need to return to the office or produce papers once the job is finished.

5. Boost customer satisfaction

Customers always demand a seamless and more modernised service experience from companies. In order to satisfy their service-facing demands, companies use FSM tool to offer fully customizable portals with real-time notifications, two-way chat with their assigned technician, warranty coverage, and more.

With some of the FSM tools out there, customers can also be provided with technicians or specialists they are already familiar with, they will also have a database where they can view their whole order history.
This type of accessibility to historical information can certainly boost the consumer experience, having a great impact in the ROI.

FSM software solves some of the most prominent and frequent issues that often affect the continuous client experience a field service firm can/should offer a customer. Such as,

  • Inability to move the job to nearby technicians, due to the lack of visibility into technician’s location
  • Inaccessibility to real-time information on client’s requests, availability and more
  • Workflows that demand paperwork

With FSM tool field technicians can gain access to the information they need on their way to their next appointment and can stay aware of the whereabouts of a specific job.

Well,

The ultimate aim of a Field Service Management software is to eventually boost your bottom line. In order to get there, your entire field operation should be more efficient, by lowering operational costs, managing inventory efficiently, streamlining customer communication, etc. By cutting costs and by improving how your field service processes are executed, your ROI for investing in a FSM software can be multiplied many times.

Summary:

A field service management software is one of the critical investments you can make to improve the overall operations and revenue of your company.

Field service management software: 4 top must-haves

Posted on by Kiran Kumar

Kiran Kumar

One of the most difficult operational responsibilities for most field service providers is managing a team of technicians. They may still rely on antiquated manual techniques to assign work and track their mobile workforce, which is a time-consuming and error-prone process.

Furthermore, field technicians respond to emergency calls on a daily basis, which must be prioritized over their usual process and necessitate immediate schedule modifications. Poor customer service, idle technician time, and low efficiency can all be caused by minor misunderstandings, delays, or missing information.

Let’s look at 4 key features of a Field Service Management tool that will help you make the most of the software and deliver desired results for your field service business.

1. Work order management

Work orders, like everything else these days, have gone digital. Who wants to deal with paperwork orders in the first place? Work order management is a typical component of field service software that simplifies and clarifies the process. When a project is received and allocated, the technician who was given it is noted on the work order so that everyone knows who was in charge of doing it.

This function also allows technicians to record their work at a specific task. Techs have the ability to take notes, capture video and audio, and photographs. In this manner, information about the job may be quickly retrieved in the future by office employees or various specialists without worrying about poor handwriting or misplaced notepads.

Then, after work is completed, your experts may label it as such in the system. Nobody will have to wonder if a project was finished since they can simply check the system to view the status of all of the work orders. Work orders are retained even after they’ve been completed so you may review them later if necessary. However, double-check your vendor’s data storage plans to ensure you have access to documents going back as far as you need.

2. Inventory management

By keeping track of the components your technicians utilize on a regular basis, field service management may aid your asset management efforts. Because your field personnel is likely to utilize many of the same parts to accomplish a variety of jobs and repairs, you must ensure that those parts are always in stock. You can keep track of your inventory levels with field service software that includes parts inventory management tools.

The system keeps track of every time a technician takes or uses a tool, allowing you to keep track of your inventory in real-time. Many providers will give you an alert when a part’s inventory reaches a specific level, so you’ll always know when you need to purchase more. Furthermore, several systems combine analytics with inventory software to provide demand projections. This informs office employees about which components are most frequently utilized and when they should anticipate restocking.

3. Scheduling and dispatching

Supervisors have comprehensive insight into the performance of field service executives, which aids in task scheduling. FSM software can automate the whole scheduling process with a centralized hub for day-to-day operations. Executives are automatically alerted of the nature and location of their next task once it has been arranged. This eliminates work duplication and ensures that the proper executive and tools are on hand when and where they are needed.

Smart scheduling: Allows dispatchers to make last-minute changes to schedules while techs are automatically updated. For allocating new work, technicians are also sorted by competence, availability, and other factors.

Text alerts: In this case, text notifications are customer-facing and may be used as a service reminder as well as a message that a technician is on the way or that the appointment has to be rescheduled.

4. Ongoing billing and service-based billing

When you manage a field service firm, you rely on a variety of income sources, the most common of which are fee-for-service and service contracts. Each of these tasks necessitates tracking, administration, and payment processing. Each of these can be difficult to manage—fee-for-service may necessitate invoicing, mobile app payments, and more; service contracts may necessitate functional billing and recurring revenue management. Add in-warranty repairs or maintenance, and the processes for each of them need having the correct information at the right time.

When it comes to choosing a field service management software that works for you or your company, all of the factors stated above are critical. Well, while you are deciding which product to go with you might as well want to check out how efficient field service management software is.

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!

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.