When you think of any type of HVAC field service call that requires a technician to come to a job site, one thing always remains constant; the technician must drive to the site.
It’s such a simple part of the service call that can be overlooked and taken for granted. Dispatchers have to communicate with their technicians the location of their next appointment so they can hit the road in their truck or van, loaded with parts and tools and get to the call.
And considering many HVAC organizations are still not using HVAC dispatch software to help with scheduling and routing technicians, just in the travel from job site to job site there is a possibility to lose customers due to poor customer service levels, and miss opportunities for increasing revenue by having technicians on the road driving, as opposed to working on a repair.
Recently, GPS tracking has made a large mark on HVAC business software, as its capabilities are improving a technician’s workflow from site to site. The greatest benefit of a GPS tracking system has been revealed to be an increase in punctuality in field service technicians.
In fact, 95% of field service companies that implement a GPS tracking system in their HVAC dispatching software see an increase in their technician’s punctuality to a job site. Technicians know they are being tracked and their time is being monitored, so they are less likely to take unscheduled detours. It also provides better routing, which keeps the technician off busy roads and highways during peak times, offers alternative routes and the shortest distance to a job site.
Considering customer expectations are getting increasingly higher and they are less likely to hire your company if you’re over an hour late, it’s crucial to many in the HVAC field service space that their technicians arrive on-time.
This form of smart scheduling gives your dispatchers the confidence that when they tell a customer a technician will arrive within a frame of time, they know the technician will be able to make the call and get the work completed.
GPS tracking also increases HVAC organizations ability to answer unscheduled calls by looking at a map and picking the technician that is nearest to the call and make a change in their schedule. HVAC dispatch software gives a map view of your workforce and allows for real-time decisions to be made when an emergency call comes in.
Once your call is scheduled with the customer, the clock is running on the technician. In this fast-paced, on-demand world we are moving towards, being even 15 minutes behind schedule runs a risk of losing a customer and over time, substantial profits from technicians driving instead of responding to calls. So, a simple tool for adding GPS tracking into your HVAC business software ensures that meeting your timelines is a reality and becomes a selling point for your organization.