Field Service Management Software: The Secret to a Happy Workforce

Did you know that the global field service management (FSM) market size is projected to reach about USD 7.09 billion by 2027? It’s not a surprise that the technological advancements in today’s digitalized environment are efficiently driving field operations in addition to guiding the creation, distribution, and completion of on-field work. The ever-increasing dependency on smart phones and the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving field service scheduling companies to rethink the arrangement of their field service workers. For a long time before the technological advancements, organizing and field service operations had to bow down to unexpected variables like vehicle breakdowns, employee illness, and longer than scheduled field service visits which resulted in costly delays and setbacks. 

Problems Faced by On-Field Workers 

If you see your workforce struggling with a huge pile of paperwork that comes with the logistics, for instance, the never-ending list of work orders, customer quotes, part requisitions, time-sheets, or inspection checklists, understand that it is significantly hindering their productivity and indirectly costing you more. In fact, surveys have revealed that about 46% of field service technicians believe that paperwork and administrative work ruins an entire lot of their day in addition to being a highly error-prone way to work. The answer here is to modernize your field service scheduling with effective management software that utilizes innovation to provide you with a highly productive workforce.

How can intuitive software help develop quality field service management?

Investing in a well-functioning and reliable FSM Software helps your field service workers to automate, streamline and optimize everyday mundane tasks. It comes with a host of other benefits including:

• Improving workplace safety:

Ensuring the safety of your on-field technicians should be a priority to attain a happy workforce. Field service management software utilizes automation and technology with lone worker protection apps to give you the whereabouts of your technicians working in hazardous workplaces. With proper devices at their disposal, the technicians can notify about their whereabouts, issue emergency alerts, and override on-premises controls to switch off the power as and when needed. Such features assure your employees that your company cares about their safety. 

• Enabling intelligent scheduling:

Automated field service scheduling works with a multitude of factors to update and notify regarding employee location, job urgency, cancelling of the jobs from the schedule. The intelligent use of GPS assigns jobs to the technicians who are nearer to the customer for faster response. Surveys show that 89% of customers prefer modern, on-demand technology for their technician scheduling, and are even willing to pay additionally for it. Remote work in many industries has allowed managers to assign work without being in the same place as the workforce. 

• Enhancing productivity:

A field service scheduling software offers immediate retrieval of proper information to the on-field technician using a central database. That could be related to optimal route, the requirement of spare parts and tools, customer’s service history, crucial contact numbers, warranty, or contractual commitments, etc. Once the administrative hassle is out of the way, the technician can focus on the job at hand using their core competence of machinery repairing.

• Reducing stress levels:

Delayed task completion not only stresses the managers or customers, but also the technicians. Such pressure can be reduced by relying on the transparency of FSM software. It allows the seniors to view and understand where exactly the workforce is and the time required to finish a job before assigning the next one. By clarifying all the immediate and upcoming tasks, it allows the workers to have an improved work-life balance and minimal overburdening. 

• Promoting job satisfaction:

When the ideal technician reaches the site fully equipped with all the appropriate tools and information required to finish the task in the quickest possible time, job satisfaction automatically follows. The IoT used by the field service scheduling software self-diagnoses the components that require maintenance or repair and provides these insights to the technicians to enable them to finish the job in one visit. 

With accurately functioning field service software in place, you and your technicians can happily bid goodbye to countless hours wasted in administrative and logistical paperwork. Say hello to the digitalized databases which can be securely accessed anytime anywhere to bring forth an efficient and satisfied workforce.

##

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akhil Rajan is a Customer Success Specialist at Zuper, an intelligent workforce management platform for service-oriented businesses. Working with customers on a daily basis, he has a deep understanding of their needs and pain points and so he is able to contribute to the marketing strategies for Zuper with the content he writes. He writes on topics like how to increase workforce utilization, how to reduce the service turnaround time and increase workforce efficiency, customer adoption, cost reduction strategies, etc – to name a few. He is often found buried in books or playing chess in his free time.