Productivity is key to any successful business. Monitoring and improving that productivity can be a challenge, particularly if a large portion of your workforce are out in the field. These employees spend much of their time mobile as they must frequent various locations for customers, sometimes resulting in low visibility of their day-to-day activity.
This is where field service management software comes in. Not only can your workforce increase productivity which will lead to improved customer satisfaction, but it can also improve profits.
Let’s look into this in more detail…
Simplifying routine tasks with field service management software
Management of tasks
To start, you’ll benefit from increased awareness of the business as a whole. Allowing you to adjust to day-to-day challenges and make better informed decisions.
This also filters down into smaller, routine tasks that can become time consuming such as paperwork and administration. Field service software frees your team from writing up reports, making appointment reminder calls or filling out invoices. This enables them to be more productive in their roles and provide an improved customer service.
By automating these various tasks, you’ll also see an uptake in completed appointments as customers will be fully aware of the schedule. This results in less missed appointments and will minimise any downtime in your field team
The software also acts as a valuable record-keeper. From capturing e-signatures to storing invoices, the software can be particularly valuable when preparing for audits and ensuring you have all of the documents and details you need.
Inventory
A digitised inventory through your field service software will save you and your field team time with the simplest of tasks. These include:
- Mobile access so your technicians can check at any time whilst out in the field. They don’t need to make various calls to the warehouse team etc
- Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date inventory providing clearer visibility
- Monitoring what parts/supplies are present in the van, reducing unnecessary trips to and from the warehouse
- Knowing the status of parts ahead of appointments enabling them to plan
This clearer view of inventory allows your field team to concentrate on the job at hand with little time being wasted looking up part numbers and making orders. Additionally, this will help reduce errors and returns made when making orders. With these everyday tasks being simplified and made digital, your productivity will increase and so will customer experience alongside it.
Scheduling
Field service software allows you to monitor your field workers in real time, providing updates on both progress and location. This enables your team to keep track of their daily schedule and even adjust it if they are running ahead or behind. For example, if they complete a job more quickly than expected you could add in an additional job.
Being able to see this data real time also means you don’t have to contact them to get an update on their status. With no interruptions, your field workers can finish the jobs on hand faster with their full attention, this frees you up too, to focus on your tasks.
Your team will also have mobile access so they can also see their own schedule with any updates or changes made throughout the day or week, helping them to plan their time and routes better. This also gives management more visibility into the teams and ensures that they’re choosing the right worker to the right job based on inventory, skillset and location.
Reap the benefits with Dynamics 365 Field Service
When choosing field service management software, it’s important to make sure you’re choosing the right one for your business.
Take Dynamics 365 Field Service (D365 FS) for example, it provides all the features needed to increase your productivity for both your front-line field service technicians to your office-based management teams. With easy-to-use integrations and mobile access, your teams can collaborate with clear visibility.
To read more about why we think D365 Field Service is the ideal software, click here.
Choose the right field service management software
If you’re wondering how best to choose the right field service management software for your business, take a look at our blog below.
