Field service management software is a huge benefit to frontline employees. It makes their work lives simpler and more enjoyable, and for businesses, this translates to improved efficiency and less operating expenses.

With the right field service management software to shorten your workflow, you can turn challenges into profitable opportunities, and keep customers happy with great service. But how would you know which software is best for your needs?

You’ll need to understand your business needs first and also the capabilities of field service management software. Below are some helpful tips to get you started:

1. Know your needs and the features of field service management software

Begin by listing out what your current operational workflow needs to improve on and what extent of improvement you wish to see. Focus on resolving your biggest pain points. Are you having trouble with tracing work order details due to messy paperwork? Or perhaps your staff can work a lot faster if they can lessen the steps needed to coordinate job scheduling and follow-ups.

If you’re searching for your first digital tool for field service or upgrading from the one you already have, make sure the following capabilities are present when shortlisting the software:

• Work order management
• Staff scheduling
• Mobile app availability
• Digitalisation of work order forms
• Vehicle or staff tracking
• Analytical reports

By combining these capabilities, you’ll be guaranteed to have a complete field service management platform that can help you overcome business challenges.

2. Get your field technicians involved

Don’t forget to find out what challenges your technicians are facing. What is their job process like on a daily basis and how can it be improved? Show them the advantages of the field service management software and pay attention to their feedback to promote acceptance of new technology adoption.

While you are listing out the enhancements you want to make in step one, you will need to confirm that these enhancements will truly benefit your staff in their daily work operations. After all, they are the ones who will best know what issues are slowing down the work or are the root cause of customer complaints.

Once you understand the issues your field staff are facing, knowing what you need in a field service management solution becomes much clearer.

3. Ensure your field service management software is user-friendly and supports your workflow

Bear in mind that your major objective is to increase revenue while maintaining customer satisfaction. Therefore, your field service management software should be designed to accomplish this. Look for features such as:

• The ability to function offline and store data, especially if your field technicians may lose their internet connection at job sites.
• Accessibility of data – Your staff should be able to access work order information with ease whenever they need it.
• A user interface that is simple to grasp so that your field technicians can concentrate on their task at hand.
• Software scalability and integration, so that even when there are more users or a greater demand placed on the servers, interruption to workflow is zero to minimal.

4. Verify field service management software scalability

When it comes to scalability, it is important to make sure your software will fit your company as it goes through stages of downsizing or upsizing.

Watch out for field service software providers who continuously roll out new features without updating the old ones. This demonstrates that they are more focused on quantity than quality. There is no assurance that the abundance of features the field service solution the companies offer will be accompanied by the necessary support knowledge or the promised degree of usefulness.

5. Look for features that automate workflow

Ticket routing, job assignment, and resolution handling are just a few of the repetitive operations that can be automated to expedite frequent service requests.

Field service management software with automated job scheduling functions and tools that aid in speeding up work coordination are recommended. With such tools, you can reduce wait times for deliveries and services, quickly attend to problems, and identify which jobs require more effective solutions.

You can also manage appointments and schedules more effectively with the aid of field service management software with forecasting capabilities.

6. Ensure your field service management software integrates with third-party systems

The field service management software you choose must be capable of integrating with your existing software such as billing software, customer relationship management platform, delivery and service tracking, and so on.

Data integration is crucial, as it will enhance the user experience and enable your staff to serve customers faster and with better attention to detail.

7. Get software that’s available on mobile and consolidates data in one place

Your field service technicians and field service managers should have an easy time when coordinating tasks so as to hit KPIs for work order completion and customer satisfaction. However, collaboration in traditional processes is extremely challenging since data is hard to transfer between the back-end and frontline. As a result, workflow will be a lot slower with higher likelihood for mistakes to happen along the way.

Your field service management software should give a full context regarding a customer’s interactions across many channels from a single view. With a centralised platform to do everything from staff location tracking to work order management and automatic work report sending, your staff should no longer need to constantly switch between several tools or windows.

In conclusion

Using field service management software is the first step to digitally transform your field service business. Make a list of the features your business needs when choosing the ideal field force software, and try it out before making a decision. With a compatible field service management software, you can greatly boost the productivity of your on-site staff and remote employees.

Want to go more specific into how field service management software can benefit your particular industry? Browse our Industries sections on our website.