Field service management (FSM) businesses have embraced AI-powered business operations. This business transition will increase the global market income to $4.45 billion by 2025. Around 77 percent of field service operations use field service management software. However, some FSM owners are still skeptical about accepting it. They believe in a hands-on approach to scheduling, work order relay, contacting customers, and timesheet management. A field service technician faces struggles when they are—predicting the exact time taken by the technician, are not sure about the resources needed, and not getting all the customer’s information. Guess what happens because of this struggle? You risk losing your customer and gaining a bad reputation. Why risk your reputation? Adopt FSM software and streamline your business. Once you make the switch to field service management software, you can reduce the risks of:
- Mismatched scheduling
- Delay in customer service
- Low productivity
- Unavailability of technician at the scheduled time
- Variations in billing and quotation costs
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If you are unconvinced about implementing a field service management solution, continue reading further to learn the advantages of switching to FSM software.
Why should you switch to field service management software
Seamless processes and reducing manual intervention are only the beginning. The right field service management software can give you a ton of benefits. Below are some significant reasons you should take that big step towards switching to FSM software.
Efficient job scheduling
Manual processes are prone to double-booking or incorrect technician assignments. To avoid such errors, you can implement a software solution—no more shuffling through piles of paperwork, spreadsheets, and manual receipts. By seamless scheduling, we mean
- Effortless dispatching of technicians
- Allocation of technicians based on their skill set
- Avoiding conflicting appointments
- Assigning jobs based on current location and
- Drag-and-drop scheduling
Seamless route optimization
Manual scheduling leads to inefficient routing and unnecessarily long travel times. With route optimization, technicians will be aware of the customer’s location. With Zuper’s route optimization, technicians can geo-tag or geo-fence the customer’s location. This lets the backend team update the customer with the technician’s exact location. Also, with route optimization, technicians can:
- Check the route for better movement through the traffic
- Know the path technician will be working for the day
- Visit the next closest customer on time
- Receive job allocation based on priority and location
Real-time location updates
Everyone is on the same team. Back office personnel are there to answer customer questions, and if they are not able to do this, the whole company looks bad. Constantly checking on technician locations is exhausting and time-consuming. But with FSM software your back office staff will be able to track, monitor, and allocate jobs based on location as well as send updates through the mobile app. The back office team, and the next customer in line, will both be kept in the loop as a technician departs one call on their way to the next.
Completely digitized work orders
Manually, work order completion is a heavy task. You require even more time when you need to check for—orders placed, contract renewal, next appointment date, and previous service provided. At times like this, field service management software will make your job easier. All the customer’s information is available at your fingertips. With the FSM software, your technicians can:
- Look up the complete history of the customer
- Place an order for a new/replacement parts
- Update images, video, and notes for the next technician visit
- Foresee the job details
Increased employee efficiency
The mobile field service management app connects technicians to the back office team. Excellent real-time communication allows technicians to gain much quicker access to—customer information, get technical support from the back office, and check the necessary tools to complete the task. The technicians can address all questions promptly. With improved response time, completion of work becomes more efficient—allowing technicians to get to their next job faster.
Improved customer service
Field service management software keeps the customers in the loop. Further, an automated alert is triggered before technicians visit. These automated alerts include the time of service, en route notification, and appointment booking details. The mobile app allows customers to create a service request and check technician availability. With field service management software, your business has these added advantages creating a better customer service experience.
Digitized contracts and asset management
Once you start doing recurring services, you must start offering an agreement for maintenance. Checking and rechecking the agreement every year for renewal is time-consuming. Opting for field service management software will reduce the need of shuffling through paperwork. FSM software manages all your customer data securely, and automatic updates will be triggered by events, such as—a product needing to be changed, it is time for annual service or contract renewal is approaching. Bonus: you can also program custom events if you need something special.
Conclusion
The field service management industry is moving at a rapid pace. This increased growth represents and exciting opportunity to adopt new technologies that will solve old problems and bridge many of the communications issues that have existed between customers and technicians. Zuper offers field service management software that fulfills all your business needs of scheduling, route optimization, live location tracking, and mobile-app alerts to customers. You can customize the software as per requirement. Click here to try our software for free!
