Field service management software
Field service management software (FSM software) helps companies deliver effective onsite service by tracking requests, managing personnel, and maintaining visibility into operations. Common field service management software features include. Work order management. Inventory management.
Best Field Service Management Software for 2021
Field service software helps modern companies process job orders, dispatch technicians, collect payment in the field, and so much more.
What is field service management software (FSM)?
Field service management software (FSM software) helps companies deliver effective onsite service by tracking requests, managing personnel, and maintaining visibility into operations. Common field service management
software features include
Work order management
Inventory management
Dispatch
Scheduling
Reporting and analytics
The best field service management software (FSM)
Field service software helps companies who manage installations, services, or repairs of systems and equipment, but they also benefit any company whose workers spend time in the field. Though telecommunications and cable service providers, utility engineers and inspectors, and HVAC workers are most commonly associated with field service work, the FSM user base is much broader. Mobile nurses, plumbers, maids, pest controllers, window cleaners, and any other kinds of field workers all need tools tailored to their unique challenges. Field service management means juggling critical tickets, upset customers, and dynamic service routes and schedules. Furthermore, company-owned vehicles pose safety concerns, as well as fuel and maintenance costs. Field service management software automates and streamlines repetitive and detailed tasks and enables executives to focus on growing the business, not managing minutiae.
The field service management software (FSM) market
Field service management software vendors who provide cloud solutions and cater to global customers will likely see the largest growth as the market expands in the next several years. We can also expect to see FSM companies move from sales and operations software like CRM and ERP to FSM software with the specialized features that best serve this growing industry. Historically, CRM and ERP solutions have failed to address the explicit needs of the field service industry. FSM technology was created because these tools lacked the ability to automate field service operations, improve efficiency, and provide visibility into the day to day processes. These features covered those gaps:
Complex scheduling and dispatch
Customer and work order management
Tracking and performance
Features and benefits of using field service software
Successful field service management operations play a critical role in customer satisfaction and loyalty. These systems help field service companies communicate with technicians in the field, electronically manage work orders, organize and balance warehouse inventory, and more. These management tools increase technician time with customers, reduce the technician’s back and forth between the site and the office, and speed time to delivery and payment.
Customer service and experience
Improving your customer experience has a direct positive effect on customer lifetime value and revenue. A field service management system not only increases the accuracy of scheduling and dispatching but also streamlines the processing of quotes and work orders between the technician and the home office.
Inventory
Inventory management tools have come a long way from spreadsheets and physical stock counts at 3 am. Using barcodes, scanners, RFID tags, and Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices, companies keep better track of their material assets and run leaner warehouses.
Work order management
Work orders have been both the lifeblood and stumbling block for service companies since their early days. Work orders communicate job details and invoicing between technicians, office workers, and customers, but as with most paper filing systems, they are notoriously unreliable. Without a highly organized filing system, work orders quickly stack up, get lost, or go unfulfilled.