Field service management involves coordinating field service operations, efficiently routing personnel to customer locations, optimizing inventory, and ensuring high customer satisfaction.
Field service management services are offered in a wide variety of industries, such as:
The right technician with the correct expertise should be assigned to the relevant servicing task. The efficiency of field service operations is primarily determined based upon optimal resource allocation and effective utilization of manpower.
Fuel and service costs should be anticipated in advance. Effort should go into evaluating the shortest possible route for the technician's travel to the service location to ensure the least consumption of fuel. This will result in cost savings and will be environment friendly.
Monitoring field service technicians remotely is needed to ensure productivity and the high standards of services. Constant updates and coordination between the field service technicians, customers, and the organization will provide a smooth experience for all stakeholders.
The need to ensure a high "first-time fix rate" is essential for improved customer satisfaction. This will also result in helping field service technicians avoid revisiting the customer's location for the same request.
Effective management of field services is essential for optimal resource allocation, cost optimization, real-time monitoring, and improved customer satisfaction.
When field service operations were carried out manually, using pen and paper, it was very cumbersome, time-consuming, and inefficient. Enter field service management software.
Field service management software refers to dedicated software that assists in the seamless execution of field service operations and aids the field service technicians.
The demand for field service software is due to several factors:
Field service management software is crucial for organizational viability.
Field service technicians form the core of field service operations. It is essential that FSM software possess comprehensive modules with a vast array of features to help service managers effectively manage field service technicians.
Features this module must possess:
This feature is necessary to know the technician's skill and expertise. This will help in choosing the right technician for the task at hand.
A historical rating of the technician's past service assignments to determine their efficacy and shows the quality of work they executed in the past.
This feature serves to assign the right technician to the relevant task. This will ensure the service request matches the technician's expertise.
The tracking module is one of the most important modules in an effective FSM software solution. It is used to track:
Where they are and what their distance is from the assigned service location. Once the technician has been assigned to a task, this feature is needed to track their location in real-time and also assist with navigation.
The movement of inventory in and out of warehouses, the location of inventory while it is being shipped to the service location, and if the inventory needs to be shipped separately due to size constraints.
The tracking module is usually integrated with a GPS interface to facilitate the tracking of assets and personnel wherever they may be in the world at any given instant. Sometimes, a geo-fencing capability might be programmed into the tracking module to notify stakeholders instantly (both customers as well as the service organization's members) whenever a technician enters/leaves a service location.
Aside from tracking the physical location, the tracking module also keeps track of the status of service requests from inception to resolution. Technicians can update the job status remotely from the service location, the organization's stakeholders can keep track of task status, and customers can track the status of their service requests.
Time is of the essence when it comes to resolving customer requests. The time taken by the technician to reach the service location is an important factor. The routing module needs to handle the responsibility of assigning the technician who is located nearest to the customer.
There's one other scenario that needs to be taken into account by the routing module: routing subsequent customer requests. For example, a request raised by customer A is resolved, and customer B has raised a newer request. The routing module needs to provide the optimal route for the technician if he or she is in proximity to customer B, from customer A's location. In case the technician is far away from customer B's location, another technician who is in proximity to customer B needs to be assigned.
Contemporary FSM software has automated routing. Routes are automatically analyzed, and technicians who are in proximity to customer service locations are assigned service requests automatically by the software, avoiding the need for manual intervention and eventually saving time.
The customer is king. Diligently managing customer interactions and ensuring high customer satisfaction is vital for the positive reputation of the organization. The customer management module can even be integrated with dedicated CRM software for optimal results. This software creates dedicated pipelines to track customer interaction with the organization.
The customer management module can also maintain a repository of all requests serviced, and this data can be used for gaining insights in the future to improve the quality of services rendered by the organization.
Traditional field service management was carried out on pen and paper. This took ages to complete, paperwork got lost, and it was highly inefficient.
Digitization facilitates accelerated stakeholder interactions. Approvals are done in an instant. Paperwork doesn't get lost because it is digitized. It is also readily available; all that is required is a browser and an internet connection to access data.
Digitization leads to reduced turnaround times and is a game changer when it comes to field service management.
What used to take ages with manual field service ops now takes only a few moments to complete with digitization. An automated process equates to the manpower of ten personnel. Line-of-business stakeholders can get more done in less time, leading to vastly improved organizational efficiency.
Reduction in manpower due to software/application utilization scales down operational expenditure. Automated routing facilitated by field service management software assisted navigation saves time and reduces fuel expenditure, resulting in smaller operational costs. With field service management software, mundane tasks can be automated, reducing time spent on trivial tasks by personnel, allowing them to focus on innovation instead.
With paperwork, it used to take ages to keep track of inventory manually. Inventory assets got misplaced, and tracking them accurately was difficult. Searching and cataloging inventory assets was difficult. Specialized software—for field services—helps overcome these hurdles in inventory management. Also, they can be accessed by mobile devices, anywhere and anytime, with the only requirement being an internet connection.
In FSM, the concept of first-time fix rates holds great importance.
A high first-time fix rate bodes well for the field service technician, the organization, and ensures customer satisfaction. To get high first-time fix rates, the assistance of specialized field service management software is mandatory. High first-time fix rates also ensure operational efficiency.
This is because software alleviates and removes the hurdles posed with manually resolving service requests.
The first-time fix rate is the percentage of customer requests that are resolved during the first visit of the field service technician.
A high first-time fix rate serves to enhance customer satisfaction and improves the reputation of the organization among its customers. The goodwill gained this way improves the reputation of the organization in the market and brings in more business. Field service technicians are also empowered by field service management software, making the organization a good place to work.
Good field service management software does a lot to improve the organization's reputation. A stellar reputation means sustained business, ensuring business viability.
An optimal field service management solution must be:
1User-friendly
2Customizable
3Affordable
4Scalable
5Scalable
Field service software should strive to meet the demands of field service teams. It should help field service teams render exceptional customer service.
Let us take a look at each of the above attributes in detail.
The interface of the field service management solution should be simple, elegant, and easy-to-use. It should be devoid of clutter. Users should be able to interact with the software seamlessly. The user-interface should also be intuitive. The customer portal should have a simple, pleasing interface so that the customer experience is smooth.
Business processes are unique. What works for one business won't work for another because each business, like business processes, is unique. The right FSM should be capable of being customized by the end-user, as this will allow them to adapt the FSM according to the specific requirements of the organization.
Field services organizations require solutions that are affordable. Investing a lot of money upfront on a software solution is not pragmatic. Cost-effective solutions are required.
The size of an organization is subject to change over time. Sometimes upscaling might occur, sometimes downsizing. The FSM software should have the capability to automatically scale according to changes in the organization's size.
Choosing a FSM software solution that meets the above criteria will be optimal.
Field service data should always be secure. Stringent data encryption measures should be put in place so that field service businesses provide secure service delivery to their clients.
There are several types of field service management solutions available in the market today.
Ready-made software solutions that match the common needs of most FSM organizations. They ship with a common set of modules and functionalities. They tend to be expensive and cannot be customized according to the unique needs of organizations. Field service businesses relying on off-the-shelf software solutions will have their service delivery constrained by the limitations of the software.
Hosted on the cloud, all that is required to access this type of FSM software is a subscription to the software vendor, a browser, and an internet connection. The updates made to this software by its vendors are automatically applied. It is somewhat cheaper than off-the-shelf software because it is subscription based. However, they have downsides, such as:
1) A requirement to be constantly connected to the internet (which is not possible if the service technicians are in a remote location with limited connectivity/network coverage).
2) The risk of being locked to the vendor who supplies the software.
3) Limited customization options: Similar to off-the-shelf software solutions, SaaS software cannot be easily customized by the customer.
4) Long-term costs: If you're subscribed for a long period of time, then the cumulative costs will exceed even that of off-the-shelf software.
5) Compliance, data security, and privacy issues: With SaaS software, you are forced to rely on the vendor to safeguard your data. The vendor needs to adhere to stringent data privacy regulations to ensure the security of your data.
Built from the ground up for the company requisitioning the software, custom-built software is a bespoke solution. Though they are custom, they take a lot of time and money to develop, and are not viable for most FSM organizations because of the prohibitive upfront investment costs.
This is software hosted on the internal network of the FSM organization. It can be granularly managed, as the hosting organization has complete control over how this software is implemented in the internal infrastructure. On-premises solutions also help reduce costs.
The advantages of on-premises software when it comes to FSM are:
i) No dependence on internet connectivity
This is a boon when field service technicians go to remote locations to service clients. Service efficiency is enhanced, as field operations can be rendered effectively at the customer's site without a dependence on internet connectivity.
ii) Enhanced privacy, security, and control over data
As the organization hosts the FSM software on its premises, it has complete freedom to specify how the software is protected, how securely it is stored and transmitted. This reduces the concerns organizations may have with storing their data with the vendor (as is the case with SaaS).
iii) Control over upgrades
With on-premises solutions, the organization decides when the software is updated, providing more control over the deployment of the FSM software.
What is a viable solution for developing software for field service management? The solution needs to be easily customizable, affordable, governable, and accessible. One technology that fits this bill is low-code.
Low-code means the usage of minimal coding to develop applications. Using low-code platforms, applications are created using a visual "What You See Is What You Get"drag-and-drop interface.
A low-code application development platform such as ManageEngine AppCreator can be suitable for field service management, due to the various advantages it confers upon the field services management organization as seen above. If you're on the search for an optimal software solution for your FSM needs, contact the AppCreator team today for a free proof-of-concept.
Field service management is an industry with lots of exigencies. Effective field service needs to be supplemented by bespoke, diligent software, such as applications built on low-code platforms. Platforms like ManageEngine AppCreator are a viable choice for field service organizations seeking to achieve high first-time fix rates (FTFR) and gain a good reputation in the market.
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