Managing company assets that are not physically in your building can, at times, be challenging. You have to maintain schedules, track moving inventory, submit work orders, document everything, and more. That's where Field Service Management comes in.
What is Field Service Management?
Field Service Management, sometimes referred to as field service automation, helps you sync your office with your distributed workforce. It allows your company to maintain a high quality work standard and simple workflows regardless of location.
It includes the detection of a field service need, scheduling and optimization of field technicians, dispatching those technicians, part or product delivery and information, and support through the process. It helps manage your work on location and ensures that workers are assigned properly depending on their location, skill level, and availability.
Essentially, field service management is a type of software developed to help your company simplify field operations by automating them. This can be anywhere from receiving and scheduling service orders, dispatching agents, status updates, time tracking, and submitting documentation. While Field Service Management applications exist in all industries, it is more common with companies that employ contract or mobile workers such as facility management, mobile healthcare, utilities, and logistics.
Delivering Results: UPS's Field Service Management Software
A perfect example of Field Service Management is UPS's system, ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation). According to UPS, each day their drivers will deliver between 125 and 175 packages. There are millions of route combinations that they could take, but ORION will calculate the most cost-effective and timely course for the driver to take. It properly manages discrepancies like distance, fuel consumption, and time to provide the best service possible. Because of this system, UPS is able to save over $50 million a year in costs. To learn more about ORION, you can check UPS's company fact sheet here.
Benefits of Using Field Service Management
The benefits of using field service management automation software are limitless. Organizations that have migrated to field service management software have seen a noticeable increase in completed jobs per day – some as high as 47% -- which increases job productivity, customer satisfaction, and efficiency.
The common issues that exist for companies with a distributed workforce are that there is poor communication, hyperextended resources (for example, being double-booked or with no relaxation time), and technicians being subbed out with those that aren't as qualified as the anticipated tech being delivered. This can quite clearly cause some concern.
But, when you utilize field service management automation, you can drastically reduce these errors and more -- and improve satisfaction across the board.
- Avoid lost paperwork: Everything is digital, so no papers flying out an open window or getting stuck to one another!
- Prevent wasted trips: Miscommunication is one of the worst things a field service worker can deal with. Prevent them showing up at the wrong place or wrong time by up-to-date information.
- Confirm inventory: Being able to keep inventory in check will prevent overpromising and underperforming to your clients.
- Quickly resolve issues: Get small problems solved before they become big problems.
- Improve communication between departments: Keep everyone in the loop with real-time updates.
Best Field Service Management Software
We have done the research for you and have come up with our top 5 list of software for field service management:
1. ServiceNow
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Price: $$$$
Business Size: Medium-Large
Description: ServiceNow is changing the way people work. With a service-orientation toward the activities, tasks and processes that make up day-to-day work life, we help the modern enterprise transform the delivery and management of services. ServiceNow provides service management for every department in the enterprise including IT, human resources, facilities, field service, and more.
2. Salesforce Service Cloud
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Price: $$$
Business Size: All
Description: Service Cloud empowers you with a complete set of productivity tools to deliver faster, smarter, and more personalized customer service for every customer anytime, anywhere. Best of all, it’s easy to use and customizable to the way you work. With Service Cloud, you can simply add more seats or upgrade to another edition that has more features when your company grows.
3. ServiceMax
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Price: $$$$$
Business Size: Medium-Large
Description: ServiceMax is a cloud-based, mobile-ready field service solution that provides a fully integrated suite of applications. ServiceMax supports the full work order management process, including looking up parts, providing service level agreements and collecting signatures, and more, even with offline capabilities. The system is scalable and flexible, making it a great choice for any growing company.
4. The HindSite Solution
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Price: $$
Business Size: Small-Medium
Description: The self-proclaimed Swiss army knife of field services, HindSite is a comprehensive field service software solution. HindSite provides a single, centralized system to manage and optimize the core functions of the entire workday. With HindSite, companies have a total business management tool that encompasses every aspect of field service management, from scheduling work orders to tracking time, materials and contacts, to invoicing.
5. ServiceTitan
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Price: $$$
Business Size: Any
Description: ServiceTitan is a mobile, cloud-based field service management platform that offers scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, sales, and marketing ROI and conversion tracking capabilities. ServiceTitan also provides a mobile solution for technicians, which they can use to provide visual sales presentations in the field and provides the ability to process invoices and take payments digitally.
Do you have any questions about field service management or the benefits of automating it? You can always reach out to one of our talented specialists to learn more.
