What is Field Service Management Software?
Field Service, Job Dispatch, Task Management, Job Management Software, call it what you may there are many names that this solution is referred to within the service industry.
The ultimate goal; increasing efficiency, accountability and customer service.
But what is entailed within Field Service Management solution?
What should you be on the look for? and how does it improve your businesses output?
Let us give you some guidance into the field service management world to help you better understand what exactly you are getting yourself into.
Firstly, what is Field Service Management software?
It is the software that helps businesses streamline daily operations required to manage field workers such as couriers, tradies or technicians who perform one-off or recurring jobs in the field.
Field workers may include HVAC, plumbers, electricians, mobile mechanics, landscapers, and general contractors.
What exactly are the benefits of Field Service Management Software?
Work Management Field Service Dispatch software allows businesses to eliminate the use of phone calls, paper notepads, SMS, emails, Outlook calendars & WhatsApp usage in the field as well as eliminating whiteboard scheduling within the office.
Apart from the obvious benefits in streamlining daily business processes, job dispatch software & apps allow managers to have easy to access historical data on field service activity which may include day time records, photos, signatures, forms, parts used, quotes, invoices and more.
All data recorded in the office and in the field is at your fingertips and easily retrieved for audit and transparency purposes.
What should A Field Service Management System offer?
A great task management solution should include the following:
How exactly will a field service management solution help me, my business & my clients?
A Field Service/Job Dispatch Solution can let everyone who works in your organisation log into the same system to better communicate and perform tasks they previously had to do manually on paper.
Office staff simply schedule and assign job details into the system rather than on paper job cards which can easily get lost, torn or wet.
Office staff no longer need to call field workers every time there is a job update, therefore reducing interruptions for the field worker whilst they are trying to complete their work.
Many companies also provide access to their regular clients so it can help them see that their scheduled works or projects are being completed in a professional and timely manner.
As for your clients, most clients expect fast and personalized service and with a great job dispatch solution you can provide text and email reminders of appointments and can also provide further confirmations and estimated time of arrival on the day, it helps build a create a great customer service reputation for your business.
When the work is completed, a job dispatch solution can also automatically advise your clients by SMS and Email and package up information such as forms, photos, quotes or invoices and automatically send them to your client.
How will my staff adapt to using field service & job dispatch software?
Most field staff are very intuitive, always trying to find more efficient & productive ways of completing the job. That being said, a lot of field staff will love the use of technology over the old pen and paper as it operates within their smartphone/device and is very easy to use.
Let’s look at it this way, 95% of people use their smartphone every day. Whether that be to surf the web, engage with social media or purchase via online shopping, you can almost guarantee that your staff will easily be able to pick up their smartphone and access/use a job dispatch software.
Ultimately, a job dispatch solution will always provide training and learning material if it is deemed by field staff too hard to learn.
Is the software hard to use?
Just like using your iPhone or Android phone, software engineers work hard to make job dispatch software user friendly and intuitive as possible.
Asking for training is always a good idea to guide and streamline your learning process with anything new and a good field service solution will offer comprehensive training.
Many also provide online training manuals and training videos with indexes so you can get to the topic of choice and quickly familiarise yourself with exactly what you need to know.
A local support team who can assist you is also a major benefit, either over the phone, via online webinars or via email.
What are the costs of having a field service & job dispatch software solution?
Software of this kind comes in an array of combinations, purely dependant on the requirements of any company. Generally speaking, there are several factors to consider when purchasing a Field Service & Job Dispatch solution for your business.
Most providers price their solution based on the following:
- Pay a per-user software licencing fee monthly or annually in advance.
- Pay a per job software licencing fee monthly or annually in advance.
- Pay a software licencing fee monthly or annually in advance, based on modules chosen & customisable options chosen.
- Pay a once-off enterprise licence and annual software maintenance.
It is extremely important that when choosing your software that you are transparent with your requirements so you can ensure you have every aspect of your business covered.
Any recommendations?
There are hundreds of field service & job dispatch solution out there in the Australian & global markets that all have good offerings and cater to many businesses’ operations. A good starting point is visiting Capterra, a comparison site for software, with over 700 categories, you’ll be sure to have an idea of what to look for.
If you ask us, narrowing it down can be hard, however, if you are looking for an integrated, streamlined solution, look no further than Bizzow.
Bizzow is an extremely flexible and scalable solution, that covers every aspect of any business and industry.