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When all the parts work as they should, life in the field service operates like a well-oiled machine. However, when sections of the machine get neglected, the whole system can come crashing down.
When one thinks of the field service industry, from electrical work to repaving, they think of the workers on site. However, the office is just as crucial to the company as the technicians. Without workers in the office dispatching, invoicing, and supporting the technicians in the field, nothing could get done! As a company grows and more orders need processed through the office, it can quickly become a struggle to keep up with the workload. Without the proper tools, a dispatcher or accountant can easily get buried.
No matter how many technicians you have, business will slow if the office cannot supply their services in a timely manner. From sending invoices and estimates to dispatching technicians, crucial processes must take place for work in the field to continue. Each of these tasks may only take a short amount of time to complete, but as orders come in more and more frequently, they quickly add up to nightmare proportions. If the office can’t keep up with this demand, then a mistake is far more likely to occur. Sending notifications to customers, tracking the status of current jobs, and tracking labor times... these tasks can start off small and begin to snowball out of control once demand grows.
Keeping Customers in the Loop
Sending a notification to a customer to inform them that a technician is on the way, a part is in stock and work can be scheduled, or any number of other small courtesies is a simple enough matter. An email or message can get sent out with a quick word and a few clicks of a mouse. However, custom requests and various types of notifications, coupled with the number required to reach each technician on a daily basis, will turn this into a task that needs constant attention.
Technician Tracking
An even more demanding task? Keeping track of technicians out in the field. Having technicians reach out to the office regularly with status reports gives the office a great way to get an idea of where technicians are in the field. Calling when they are on the way, just arriving, or wrapping up a job can help track of billable hours and drive time.
Of course, this system quickly becomes cumbersome if a technician forgets to report. And, even with regular status reports, those in the office will still have to tally up labor hours on a daily basis. This takes valuable time away from other tasks and slows down the process, as customers must wait on their completed invoices.
Fortunately, the proper tools can make even these tasks (that seem to demand constant attention) easy to handle.
Field Service Management Software for Better Organization
With the field service software Smart Service, you can handle all of the pesky and demanding tasks described above! The Smart Service mobile app allows technicians to connect with office workers with just a few taps on a mobile device.
Tired of having to manually send job notifications to customers every day? Automatically send notifications when a technician is on the way, even when the job was originally scheduled months in advance! Not only will this save time on a daily basis, it ensures customers get the notification they expect to stay in the loop.
Tired of reaching out to technicians for a status update or fretting over when they will report in? Technicians can supply real-time reports as the job progresses, supplying documents and pictures of the work taking place in real time.
Does calculating billable labor hours and drive time take away from more urgent tasks? Technicians can provide timestamps that connect to GPS breadcrumbs to give a detailed breakdown of where they were and when. The time saving opportunities provided by Smart Service simply can’t be dismissed.
