Field employees managed, efficiently.

Schedule optimization software plays a pivotal role in enhancing the efficiency and productivity of an employed field service workforce. This technology offers multifaceted advantages that significantly impact both employees and the company as a whole.

AI-based schedule optimization software streamlines the allocation of tasks, ensuring your workforce is assigned jobs based on proximity, skill set, and availability. It automates the selection and scheduling of field technicians, ensuring that the best technician, with the right parts and information, at the least cost, is always dispatched for the job within the least amount of time. By doing so, it minimizes travel time between jobs, maximizing the time spent on actual service. This means your employees spend less time on the road and more time helping your customers. 

Scheduling software also makes real-time adjustments easy, enabling immediate responses to unexpected changes or urgent tasks. This flexibility minimizes disruptions in the schedule, empowering your workers to adapt swiftly to new assignments or urgent client needs. Previously, a last-minute schedule change could result in the inability to resolve a service issue or even the complete loss of a service job. Scheduling software algorithms reassign the best technician for the job, update the necessary parts and customer information, and ensure the technician is ready to fix the problem. Consequently, customer satisfaction improves as services are delivered promptly and efficiently.

Improving the productivity of field employees might seem easier said than done, but a productivity boost is one of the key advantages of leaning into digital transformation. Here’s how equipping your field service team with the right digital tools sets them up for success and more productive, efficient jobs.

One fundamental way to boost your field employees’ productivity is to use smart scheduling. Instead of fielding phone calls and manually figuring out who should answer which call. Allowing smart scheduling software to make these decisions for you improves productivity. This software will give you a clear, immediate view of your field employees’ schedules, their current location, and the time they spend on each job. You’ll have a better understanding of travel times, arrival times, and job completion times– everything you need to make data-driven decisions about scheduling. This helps ensure the right technicians are at the right jobs, improving productivity. 

Another meaningful way to improve employee productivity is to improve your first-time fix rate. The more jobs your employees can successfully complete on their first attempt, the less time they spend re-doing work. Having to complete the same job multiple times has a significant negative impact on your technicians’ schedules and is very frustrating for customers. Field service management (FSM) software gives your technicians more information, better visibility into part availability, and the tools they need to enhance their ability to get the job done on their first visit.

Mobile access is one of the best ways to set your field service technicians up for success. Mobile access means instant communication, which allows your technicians to update you in real time and receive guidance, additional information, and anything else they need on the fly. 

The best way to equip your field technicians is with a mobile app. Mobile apps allow your technicians to be more flexible and deal with issues as they come up. They give you insight into employee analytics, letting you have a better understanding of where your employees’ strong areas and weaker performance points are. Another key advantage of mobile apps is the elimination of paper-based processes. Work orders and other forms can be done digitally instead of forcing your employees to deal with printing, filling, scanning, and filing different printed paper forms. 

Mobile access also gives your field technicians access to Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality (AR) capabilities. IoT empowers technicians to remotely monitor equipment performance and determine precisely when and how a piece of equipment needs to be serviced, all before setting foot in the field. AR capabilities allow your field technicians to perform services they’ve never done before on the first try. These innovative capabilities enable technicians to easily overcome roadblocks during service all while expanding their repertoire of knowledge. It also improves customer satisfaction as first-time fix rates go up. 

Dispatch software is a tool used by organizations to manage and automate their field service
operations. The software helps to efficiently schedule and dispatch technicians, track job
progress in real-time, and optimize routes and resources to maximize efficiency and
productivity. Key features typically include job scheduling and dispatching, route optimization, real-time tracking and communication, and performance analytics and reporting.

Field service management software is a digital platform that automates and optimizes field
service workflows. By transforming traditional, manual processes into seamless digital
workflows, field service organizations are enabled with increased visibility, productivity, and efficiency. Moreover, embracing field service management software is a critical part of the digital transformation, empowering companies with the field service tools they need to succeed in the changing industry.

Workforce management software is an online platform that manages staff scheduling and
operational processes to optimize employee productivity. It generally includes features including attendance management and timekeeping, scheduling and shift management and labor planning and forecasting. In field service organizations, mobile technician enablement and work order management are also key to look for when choosing a solution.