When customers experience a situation in which they need a technician on site, the timeless way of getting a hold of a field service organization is to just pick up the phone and call them. For some, that is a simple way of doing business, however, depending on the business and nature of the repair needed, it could mean long hold times waiting for a dispatcher to get on the line, and a lot of information needs to change hands to create the work order. No one wants to spend an extended period on the phone to get a technician on site, so field service management software is designed with many ways to automate the process of creating work orders so that customers can get back to their own business. With quick input from customers, work orders are generated automatically and are ready to be scheduled, without the need to tie up a phone line.
From a field service organization’s standpoint, it not only puts the control of creating work orders in the hands of the customers, automating the process fully, but also reduces the amount of administrative staff they would need answering incoming phone calls.
Here are some examples of ways field service management software is making it faster to generate work orders by the customers:
Customer Portals
Giving a customer their own personal portal is a great way to streamline the work order creation process. The portals can be customized to fit the needs of the customer, giving them all the fields and options they will need to narrow down the service call to a specific type of service, machine or piece of equipment. They simply log in, fill out the details of the service that is required, and through the integration with the field service software, a work order is generated and ready to be scheduled with the appropriate technician, without the need for a dispatcher to create the work order manually, collecting company information and service information over the phone.
It can be as simple as sending an email to get at technician to the door. Tickets can be automatically created through emails that are filtered to the correct department. It can be as simple as setting up specific email addresses for a certain department. Emails can be pulled and tickets can be created based on the information inside the email and where it got sent to and from. Considering the mobile age and the accessibility to email, this is an option that allows for customers to create a work order from wherever they are, through a simple and timeless method.
Automated Phone
Eliminating the phone call outright isn’t about to happen, but there are ways to streamline the approach so that customers aren’t listening to hold music any longer. An automated phone system can create work orders automatically through the customer’s prompts on the phone. Let multiple customers navigate through an automated phone system at the same time to get their service requests in, as opposed to waiting in the queue, hoping someone picks up sooner or later. If you’re relying on the phone to do business, leaving customers on hold gives them plenty of time to reconsider your services and find another option, so get them inputting their problems fast, so they don’t have time to reconsider the service you give them.
QR codes
By using mobile phone technology, ways of generating a work order can be as simple as scanning a barcode. QR codes can be generated for any type of service call, and with a quick scan using a mobile phone, a service call can be triggered. With QR codes being simple to generate, any type of call can be made into a simple scannable code and given to the customer to streamline the process. No waiting on the phone, no inputting of information. Just a quick scan and back to work, with full confidence that service call is being scheduled.
Making it simple for customers to schedule a service call is a great way to retain your customer base, and field service management software offers multiple ways in which you can keep your customers in control of their service calls while respecting their valuable time and not keeping them waiting on hold.